First blood was at 5:02 p.m. this year, kicking off 4.5 hours of distributing candy to 1,166 trick-or-treaters. (Read the previous reports: 2023 and 2022.) It was a briskly cold evening for Halloween 2024, and at various points the accuracy of our data collection was compromised by the presence of jackets or shivering children and their escorts running full bore to and from the candy bowls.
Our team of six data analysts made a triumphant return to tracking candy containers for the first time since 2019. Pumpkins, be they hard-sided buckets or soft bags, remain a perennial favorite among children. The canvas tote has edged past the pillowcase within the bag category, but plastic shopping bags continue to enjoy popularity due to their accessibility.
Virtually all of the yellow costumes we saw this year were Minions. Color data otherwise remained stable from years past, with black continuing to shroud the lion’s share of trick-or-treaters. Modern costumes (post-1900s) continued to beat out retro ones (pre-1900s) at about a 2:1 ratio. Our researchers are aware that our decision to categorize Star Wars as retro due to its “long, long time ago” setting remains one of our most controversial practices.
Technological advances in costuming have led to a noticeable increase in inflatable costumes. Past years have exclusively featured the tyrannosaurus rex—with and without rider—and alien abductions, but this year we saw nearly 20 different puffy designs, ranging from a capybara to a unicorn skeleton to Teletubby Dipsy.
We welcomed a new experimental category this year, using the CDC’s height chart to determine that 3.5 feet is the median height for five-year-old boys, as well as the height of the ruler we were able to jam into the dirt by the front door. Using height as a proxy for age—it’s gauche to ask a guest how old they are—we estimate 17% of this year’s trick-or-treaters were under five.
Science fiction’s share over fantasy continues to dwindle, as does the presence of Disney properties including Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars, previously the top priority for youth costumes. While Elsa remains well-represented, most Marvel costumes were from the Spiderverse, with only a handful of Captains America and a single Killmonger to share the load. Marvel Phase 5 and 6 fatigue has now clearly set in and DC is rising in the ranks. We sincerely regret our oversight in not predicting this given the release of Joker: Folie à Deux, and plan on tracking the DC properties as well as the Disney empire in future years.
Prompted by a large number of Chuckys over the course of the evening, our group extensively discussed costumes centered around intellectual property that the costume-wearer is unlikely to have seen. We recognize Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers are considered to be “classic” scary costumes separate from their hard R movies, but were surprised to see that Ghostface and Chucky seem to have also entered that hallowed hall.
We recognize that an apology is a down payment on making things right, and last year we apologized to parents and caregivers for singing “Baby Shark” in response to shark costumes, only to engage in the same behavior again this year. At this juncture, we anticipate continuing to do this on an ongoing basis, so going forward we will no longer be apologizing, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo. In fact, we went so far as to customize the lyrics as “cozy shark” to acknowledge how warm these onesie costumes looked. We also sang the Spongebob Squarepants and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles themes when candy seekers in those costumes stopped by, so the problem will only get worse.
Lastly, as data analysts, we are advised to avoid building relationships with the subjects of our research. However, sometimes a data point is such an outlier in our eyes we cannot help but praise their ingenuity within the data set. While the family of four cranking Double Platinum while striding through the neighborhood in full KISS makeup and attire made us suspect they would rock and roll (our rankings) all night, the clear analyst favorite this year came in the form of a homemade costume—a vending machine, complete with interior illumination of its tasty snacks. It is possible we should leave the lab more often.
MacKenzie Stuart and Jon Spinner are Halloween Scientists based in Alameda. Learn more about their lab’s work at the Halloween Data website.
