With a mask on no one can hear you scream.

As Colorado faces a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic before Halloween, what are the holiday celebrations going to look like this year?

Trick-or-Treating

Though in September the Centers for Disease Control advised against trick-or-treating, it has since changed its position. Now, CDC says trick-or-treating is safe with added precautions.

“With the appropriate physical distancing, trick-or-treating can safely happen,” said former CDC official Dr. Stephen Ostroff. “This type of activity can easily take place this October with little risk of COVID-19 transmission.”

The CDC recommends maintaining a 6-foot distance from other trick-or-treating groups, incorporating cloth masks into costumes and bringing hand sanitizer during trick-or-treating.

For those handing out candy, CDC suggests avoiding direct contact with trick-or-treaters, handing out candy outside, providing individually bagged treats, washing hands before giving candy and wearing a mask.

Despite the pandemic, participation is bound to be high as 80% of the general public and 90% of young parents said trick-or-treating is “irreplaceable” in a Harris Insights & Analytics poll.

​36.70% of adults said they will be giving out candy to trick-or-treaters and 19.18% said they are putting out self-serve candy in a Signals Analytics poll.

Denver’s new COVID-19 regulations mean trick-or-treaters must limit themselves to groups of 10 from two household and wear masks at all times, even while outdoors.

Haunted Houses

CDC classified indoor haunted houses as higher-risk activities to be avoided to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but that hasn’t stopped all of them from opening.

Denver’s 13th Floor Haunted House, Commerce City’s Haunted Junk Yard and Colorado Spring’s HellScream are only a few that have opened for the season.

Many haunted houses have taken precautions such as limiting actors to decrease person-to-person contact, maintaining 50% capacity, grouping participants by households, requiring masks and distancing lines.

“IF haunted attractions continued to operate the same way they have up until 2020 we would find the CDC’s assessment to be fair and accurate. HOWEVER, HellScream LLC and many, many other haunted attractions … have taken the CDC’s, WHO’s, federal and state regulations with extreme seriousness,” said the haunted house HellScream in a statement.

However, other haunted houses have changed their approach altogether.

Denver’s City of the Dead Drive-In Haunted House is a new attraction this year, allowing attendees to stay in their vehicles while a series of scary short films are displayed on a 40-foot screen and costumed actors run between cars scaring the customers.

Tickets to the near-daily event sell out nightly, showing the public’s desire to participate in Halloween traditions safely.

Costumes

Though costume sales took a hit in the early months of the pandemic, HalloweenCostumes.com CEO Tom Fallenstein said Halloween sales are as high as ever.

“Within the past few months, we’ve seen our sales increase year-over-year,” Fallenstein said. “Most people are still very much excited to celebrate holidays. Even if they have to celebrate in a different way.”

Signals Analytics found that 42.32% of people plan to decorate and celebrate at home, 12.44% will attend an in-person party and 5.36% will attend an online party. All of which are celebrations that incorporate costumes.

CDC recommends making cloth masks part of costumes; however, costume masks should not be worn over cloth masks because it can make breathing more difficult. Costume masks are also not acceptable alternatives to cloth and medical masks.

Fallenstein said the sales surge in his company’s busy season happened later this year than usual, a fact he attributes to consumers wanting to avoid in-person shopping.

Despite the initial lag, Fallenstein said he has seen families implementing several creative Halloween celebrations including costume fashion shows and car parades.

“Despite all of the changes, there is one aspect we believe will remain the same, Halloween-lovers across the globe will still experience the joy of dressing up in a costume this year,” Fallenstein said.

Other Celebrations

Even without traditional celebrations, there are countless ways to get into the Halloween spirit. CDC recommends lower-risk activities like pumpkin carving, movie nights, corn mazes, pumpkin patches and orchards.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is holding a free “Owloween” event at Highline Lake State Park on Oct. 31, providing hayrides, s’mores, scary stories and animal education.

Coloradans across the state can spend Halloween night stargazing and taking in the once-in-19-years blue moon.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment suggests using slides to deliver candy at a distance or setting up outdoor, socially-distanced scavenger hunts for children to find candy.

Signals Analytics said 12.58% of respondents said they will trunk-or-treat rather than traditional trick-or-treating; however, the CDC still defines trunk-or-treating as a higher-risk activity.

Regardless of how people celebrate, it is clear that Halloween is still on. And even with the health risks, many feel that is a good thing.

“Family traditions can endure, as they always have,” Fallenstein said. “Halloween is a happy time of year for people around the world and I think we all need that now more than ever.”