Skeleton on a lamppost
California,  Culture & tradition,  Monochrome Madness,  Nevada,  Sunday Stills,  Travel galleries

Gallery: seeing Halloween in black and white

Stephen King

While the UK is starting to embrace Halloween as a holiday, it is still pretty low-key compared with in the States and really just seen as a bit of fun for children. Family homes do decorate these days, with pumpkins on a windowsill and maybe some giant spiders or even a skeleton in the front garden. But it isnโ€™t the norm for whole towns to do so, as we came across on our recent road trip in California.

All over the state, and beyond, we found Halloween dรฉcor. We came across it in the tiniest of villages, like Woody, a scattering of homes and farms in the foothills of the Greenhorn Mountains (population 108 according to Wikipedia). At the other end of the scale, when we finished our trip in Las Vegas there were Halloween skeletons to be found among all the glitz and bling of Downtownโ€™s Fremont Street.

One town in particular, Ferndale, was really embracing the Halloween spirit (pun intended!) Iโ€™ve included a few photos from there but will have many more, in colour, next week when I take you on a Monday Walk through the town.

Meanwhile here is a selection from all over the state for this weekโ€™s Monochrome Madness challenge set by Dawn with the appropriate theme of Spooky. Iโ€™m not sure many of these truly are spooky but a few certainly come close! And as Terri has chosen Eerie as her Sunday Stills theme this week, they should work for her too.

My feature photo was taken in Grass Valley

Skeleton and US flag on a roof

On a rooftop in Ferndale


Skeleton on a lamppost

Skeleton wearing a cowboy hat

Skeleton astride a moose's head on a wall

Pumpkins decorated with skulls

Fairy lights shaped like pumpkins

Bucket with a pumpkin face

Skeleton wearing a straw hat

Large bird-like skeleton in tattered robes

Two skeletons on a sign

Man in fancy dress leaning out of a bus with spooky decor



I visited California in September/October 2024

48 Comments

  • Alison

    I find it strange that Halloween is celebrated at all. It’s also celebrated in Australia and we used to have parties in Hong Kong for the kids. For kids it’s just a day to have bags of sweets.

    • Sarah Wilkie

      Yes, when you think about what it really means, the child-focused celebrations are just plain odd! Here too it’s an excuse for sweets but also dressing up and I can see the fun in that so I don’t want to be too grouchy about it ๐Ÿ˜€

  • Annie Berger

    I hadn’t known about Halloween’s roots before but that small line between life and the spirit world makes sense. I’m not a fan of spooky things so the crow image was over the top for me, Sarah, in terms of spookiness! Halloween was even celebrated here in Tunisia or perhaps it was just another way to make money if I’m being crass. I remember our children, and now our grandchildren, all loving the holiday or perhaps just the chance to get a sugar high!

    • Sarah Wilkie

      Yes, that’s an interesting background to the holiday. I agree the crow is over-the-top, but I had to credit the imagination and dedication that had gone into decorating that whole large room – this and the skeleton in the hat were just in one corner of it! I’m sure that unfortunately it’s largely commercialism that’s driving the spread to other countries, including our own.

  • grandmisadventures

    I do places that get into Halloween as it is a favorite holiday for me. I love all the clever ways that skeletons are displayed. I keep wanting to get a couple of bendable ones and have them in different scenes every day of October, maybe I’ll actually do that next year ๐Ÿ™‚

  • the eternal traveller

    It was never a thing here until a few years ago, now it’s highly promoted by commercial enterprises and it does seem to be more popular every year. I’m happy to let the children have a bit of fun provided they’re supervised and safe.

    • Sarah Wilkie

      I agree, but I’m not so happy if they’re allowed to go out knocking on just any door! And it’s a shame when commercialism drives what and how we celebrate rather than tradition.

  • Marie

    We’ve had maybe 15 callers in the past hour – time was there’d be around 80 or more… but nice to see some new families in the area!
    I LOVE the first skeleton Sarah – what a great perch he has!!!

  • Heyjude

    All this commercial stuff annoys me, but I realise it is a big part of American tradition, I just wish it had stayed there! Kids coming round basically demanding sweets is not something I applaud. And fortunately it doesn’t happen around here. And skeletons and worse, zombies, are not really suitable for children, are they? I did enjoy seeing the pumpkins and decorative corn and less frightening decorations in New England on my visit which was shortly before Halloween, but I am glad we don’t go to that extent of decorating towns like that. Or maybe we do and I just haven’t seen it! (Another GOW)

    • Sarah Wilkie

      We used to get more kids coming round some years ago when the US influence started to get more prominent, but it’s quietened down in recent years as they are more organised and get taken by parents only to houses where their friends live etc. There’s an unspoken ‘rule’ that if you have decorated for Halloween you’re open to visits by trick or treaters, but not otherwise. We’re often away however – this will be our first Halloween at home for several years. And I certainly haven’t come across any English towns which decorate en masse as some US ones seem to do!

  • thehungrytravellers.blog

    Itโ€™s grown so much since we were kids, hasnโ€™t it. Halloween meant absolutely nothing in our childhood, I doubt many would even have known the date. The big thing was Bonfire Night. Nowadays, Halloween is huge for my granddaughters, we seem to have inherited a big American swing with this one, long since. Whatever next, huh? An electoral system where the winner is the one which is least disliked? Perish the thought!!

  • Stlvia

    Great collection of photos! Have seen more Halloween displays this year than I have in a long time! Maybe itโ€™s because the weather has been so warm and people can get out to put them up! In any case, I love it!!

  • Ilze

    Iโ€™m not surprised to see so many decorations for Halloween, here in Latvia (Europe) we don’t celebrate, few items are showing up in our shops, but no decorations in whole city ๐Ÿ™‚

  • Anne Sandler

    Great captures Sarah! Living in a gated senior community, we don’t get trick or treaters. But, some residents still decorate their homes for the holiday. These days, communities gather in a local park or shopping mall lot, have trunk or treat where families load up their car trunks with festive or scary decorations and treats. The young kids are in a safe area and get treats from people the parents know.

      • Anne Sandler

        In the good old days, one parent would take the kids out around their neighborhood while the other manned the door. It was safe and fun, but things change and not for the better. I’m glad today parents have come up with this safe alternative.

  • Terri Webster Schrandt

    Wow, I’m not surprised to see so many decorations for Halloween, Sarah, in the US. Halloween and Christmas are so commercial, they’ve become a huge draw for who has the best decor.

    My young neighbors next door decorate for Halloween all year long. It’s low key but a month before, they put up everything including huge inflatables. Their yard is full!. Fun but a bit spooky.

    You really captured the spookiness and eerieness of the season! B&W bumps ups the spooky factor. That skeletal bird in Lee Vining is spine tingling! Thanks for double dipping!

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