BY NICOLE BOWMAN-LAYTON

For years, I’ve experienced Halloween in Edenton the way most parents do—with one hand holding onto a camera, trying to capture memories, and the other hand wrangling some part of a kid’s costume that has already been taken off or has fallen off by the time we make it partially down Broad Street.

This year was different. Two of my kids were gone. One of them is a middle-schooler who would not want to be seen with me, especially during trick-or-treating. So he went his own way, and I went mine. I got to see our town’s Halloween tradition through a completely different lens—yes, as a journalist like before, but as someone who could finally stop and notice everything.

A photo gallery appears at the bottom of the story.

As I walked from my house toward downtown around 5 o’clock, I started to see the mass of families—a large line stretching down Queen Street toward Broad, where our downtown businesses are. Parents adjusting princess crowns and superhero capes, double-checking candy bags, quieting eager children who just don’t want to stand still anymore. There’s a mix of excitement and electricity in the air, tinged with a little bit of chaos that only happens right before trick-or-treating begins.

It was fun watching them as they waited for shop owners and community members to set up their tables, fill their candy bowls, put those final touches on decorations, and double-check their costumes. I have been a part of this process so many times as a former employee of a downtown business, always running out of candy very, very quickly—sometimes within the first 10 minutes, my longest stretch being about 30 minutes. But this time, I watched and embraced the uniqueness of being an observer.

The Downtown Experience

Downtown Edenton transforms on Halloween night. This year, it seemed like all of Chowan County showed up, along with people from surrounding counties. When the official trick-or-treating kicked off at 5:30, hundreds—maybe even thousands—descended on Broad Street.

The route itself becomes a living, breathing thing. You start near the intersection of Queen and Broad, pick one side of the street (most people go left first if you’re looking toward the waterfront), and hit every single table until you get to the intersection of Water and Broad. Then you turn around and go back up on the other side. Once you’re done downtown, you scatter to the neighborhoods, seeing historic homes decorated with pumpkins and mums and sometimes cobwebs and skeletons. It’s a pretty unique experience.

And everyone went all out this year.

Full Productions, Not Just Candy Bowls

The businesses really committed. I’m not just talking about a bowl of candy on the counter—I’m talking full-on productions with coordinated decorations and costumes.

At Vaughan’s Jewelry Store, the staff dressed as Cruella de Vil, dalmatians, and some of her evil henchmen. They were committed. Down at Broad Street Bazaar, the Flintstones were there. Over at Byrum’s Hardware Store, SpongeBob SquarePants was helping Patrick hand out candy, which is exactly the kind of fun you want to see—the adults getting into it as much as the children.

Velma Dinkley, you know, the nerdy detective that hangs out with Scooby-Doo, was at Carrozza handing out candy with her eyeglasses and magnifying glass. Right next door, Mrs. Frizzle from the Magic School Bus was stationed at Southern Bank. The artist at Edenton Tea Company—he runs the 21 Windows Gallery—was dressed as Bob Ross, complete with the hair, the beard, and pants covered in paint. He was ready to paint some happy trees, or at least some big smiles on trick-or-treaters’ faces.

Edenton-Chowan Schools superintendent Tammy Ward was dressed as a cookie as she handed out items, and right next to her table was Dawson Tyler from Downey’s Preservation, along with some of his employees handing out candy. The library was there. The Cupola House Association was there. Retail Therapy had people dressed all in black. Every storefront seemed to have its theme. It was an experience at every stop.

The Unexpected Moments

My favorite moments were the things I couldn’t have planned for.

While walking down Granville Street, I saw a couple help someone get into a WALL-E costume—you know, the little robot from the Pixar movie. The person knelt over one of those hoverboards, and the costume kind of collapsed around it so it looked like WALL-E was gliding down the street like it was supposed to, able to wave and everything. It was pretty awesome.

At the corner of King and Broad, the King—as in Elvis Presley—was there doing his best to entertain the crowd. Over near IBX Escape Room, they even had a little haunted house. They were careful, though. They wanted to be scary enough to be fun, but not so scary that they’d make anybody cry. Up on West Church Street, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church’s youth group ran a haunted house, keeping an annual tradition alive.

Community in Action

Part of what stuck out to me was how the whole community showed up. County agencies had set up tables. Different organizations brought equipment and vehicles. Of course, the Edenton-Chowan School District was out in force.

The police department blocked off streets to keep everyone safe. They even decorated one of their patrol cars with a skeleton in the passenger seat with light-up eyes, and there was an officer dressed as a Ghostbuster. They handed out candy while others conducted patrols in the neighborhoods to make sure kids, parents, and everyone stayed safe. The fire department was downtown too, handing out treats.

This year there was something new: a food truck—Shipwreck Catering—and a hot dog stand. Having that food option, especially with the timing of the event and how long it runs, made Edenton’s Halloween seem more like something where you could stay and hang out, do more than just trick-or-treat.

One of the costumes I liked was Councilman Patrick Sellers, who was out with a group pulling a wagon decorated like an Edenton garbage truck. All the adults were wearing safety vests and hats like sanitation workers. There was someone dressed as a bear and a hunter—lots of hunters this year, actually.

Organizations like North No. 4, Access Point Church, Needs 2 Be Clean, and Project Herren (a school club run by Johnny Holmes) all had tables set up downtown, handing out treats.

Into the Neighborhoods

Part of the Edenton Halloween experience is going into the neighborhoods. Families sat on their porches, some with elaborately decorated yards, some with just a pumpkin or two or maybe some mums. Others had a simple bowl or pot full of candy on a table or chair.

Kids would walk—or try to run—up different walkways shouting “trick or treat,” or just kind of staring, trying to figure out what’s going on if they were a little bit younger. Then they’d run back to their grown-ups with almost-full bags.

One homeowner I talked with told me she expected to see a lot of K-pop Demon Hunter costumes this year after reading an article about how popular the Netflix movie is, but she thought she saw more Iron Man and superhero costumes. I’d have to agree with her. There were a lot of superheroes and Iron Man. I noticed a lot of Star Wars characters, too, and some of the scary stuff—killer clowns and Wednesday Addams. The classics that have been around for a while are still going strong.

One of the things I really enjoyed was seeing dogs in costumes. There was a shark, Super-Dog (maybe Krypto in disguise), a dog dressed up like a hot dog (a dachshund, of course), and a dog dressed with a sundae on its back. Groups of friends coordinated their outfits. Some people, like my youngest son and some of his friends, just wore their sweatshirts and hoodies and went as a “YC,” which is apparently a “young civilian.”

Looking Back, Looking Around

As the sun set over the water in downtown Edenton and the temperature started to drop—it got a little cold—I found myself just sort of watching everything. Watching families full of laughter and happiness walking down the streets. Kids comparing candy hauls. Parents trying to direct their children, some of them tired, some of them high on sugar. Watching shop owners interacting with the little superheroes and princesses, giving high-fives or smiles or trying to figure out what exactly they are and getting them to talk.

For years, I was in the middle of it—checking my camera or phone battery, making sure my kids didn’t eat all the candy (or at least the candy I wanted to have), trying to document all of it for the newspaper and the community while trying to live it at the same time. And while those years were wonderful, this year’s experience was something special. I was able to see the whole picture, unfiltered through my phone for the first time.

Really, Halloween is an example of what community does. When Halloween comes around, the whole town shows up. Businesses get ready, set up tables. Organizations and churches and businesses that aren’t located downtown coordinate with people to find a spot. Families from all over converge together, and they make this kind of—I don’t know—magic, really. Magic in the middle of historic downtown.

It’s the kind of community tradition that makes small-town life special, the kind of thing kids will remember years from now when they’re adults. Maybe they’ll bring their own children back to walk the same streets they did when they were growing up.

I’m very fortunate to be able to see all of this this year—every costume, every decorated storefront and table, every smile. Sometimes when you get a chance to step back, you can really see what you’ve been a part of all along.

I hope you had a great Halloween, northeastern North Carolina. Thank you for letting me be a part of it this year. And to all the businesses, organizations, families, and volunteers who make this night possible throughout our region—you remind me of why I love this area.

Until next year.