5 Things Every Virginia Kid Did on Halloween in the 1980s

Halloween in the 1980s meant more than a pillowcase full of candy.

Virginians who grew up in the Washington suburbs may remember spook walks, contests and a few safety rules that sound pretty different now.

Here’s how the night played out for kids back then.

1. Haunted Houses

The Vienna Community Center listed a Halloween haunted house in 1985.

You could visit Saturday through Monday from 7 to 10 p.m.

Children paid $1.

The Unitarian Church of Arlington listed a haunted house that year too, as part of an old-fashioned Halloween party with games and a face-painting clinic.

In 1984, 25 Norfolk Health Department workers dressed up for their younger patients.

They turned a patient room into a haunted room that kids could crawl through.

2. Costume Contests

Wakefield Recreation Center in Annandale put a costume contest on its 1980 Halloween calendar, along with a carnival and a spook walk.

Fairfax’s David Pinn Community Center held a costume party that year for kids from elementary school age through high school.

By 1985, Lee District Park in Rose Hill was welcoming kids as young as two to its costume contest.

Judging for kids six and under ran from 3 to 4, with ages 7 to 12 from 4:30 to 5:30.

If you came for the Halloween movies, you could also walk down a haunted hallway and eat popcorn.

Over in Alexandria, kids ages five to 12 at the Ramsay Recreation Center could enter a costume contest, play Halloween games and take part in a monster mash dance contest.

Parents were welcome too.

3. Pumpkin Carving

Jack-o’-lanterns were part of Halloween in the Washington area in 1981, when families carved them, baked pies and toasted the seeds, according to The Washington Post.

By 1985, the nature center at the Ramsay Recreation Center in Alexandria listed a pumpkin carving contest with a $1 entry fee.

You had to bring the pumpkin, a knife, a spoon and any natural object you wanted to decorate it with.

Prizes went to the best in categories including most unusual, most creative idea, most traditional, most scary and best parent-tot team.

4. Spook Walks and Ghost Stories

A Halloween spook walk at Huntley Meadows Park in Alexandria was followed by ghost stories in 1980.

At Burke Lake Park in Fairfax Station, you could take a ride down the haunted trestles.

Anyone not in costume paid 40 cents.

Vienna’s Hunter House at Notoway Park offered tours through a haunted mansion, horror movies, contests and treats.

5. Parties

Some communities had shifted to Halloween parties as a substitute for trick-or-treating by 1985, according to The Washington Post.

In 1984, a Days Inn on Military Highway in Hampton Roads opened its doors to kids as an alternative to trick-or-treating.

If you were between six and 12 in Vienna in 1985, you could wear your costume to a free party with carnival games and clowns.

Candy X-rays

Some Washington-area hospitals renewed offers to X-ray Halloween candy at no charge in 1985, according to the Post.

In Hampton Roads, hospitals offered free X-rays for Halloween candy to put parents at ease, according to 13News Now's archive.

Humana Bayside in Virginia Beach was offering candy bag X-rays in 1988.

Local police in the Washington area were urging parents to inspect all sweets and report anything suspicious in 1985.

Patrols and Safety Tips

Police in all three major Northern Virginia jurisdictions were increasing regular patrols for the weekend of Halloween in 1980, The Washington Post reported.

Arlington police said they stepped up road patrols and asked people to turn on their porch lights.

Fairfax County planned school security patrols too.

Fairfax County's schools appeared to be the most popular targets of vandalism in Northern Virginia.

Of 1,500 adults questioned nationwide in a 1985 poll reported by the Post, 69 percent said they would give out treats.