Murray Wood: Who's scary... and who's scary good?
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week, in a specia...
The most frightening part of Shawn Hilborn’s yard might not be his haunted displays; it might be the price tag on the candy he plans on giving to trick-or-treaters.
According to the 2025 Halloween Treat Cost report, Canadian households will be spending between 10-20 per cent more on treats.
Hilborn paid $600 to give candy to 1,500 trick-or-treaters last Halloween.
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This year, he’s paid $700 for goodies and said he’s noticed prices go up a bit.
“There’s nothing better than chasing somebody out the yard and down the street and then apologizing to give them some candy,” Hilborn said with a laugh.
Hiborn’s haunted display rakes in trick-or-treaters to his Dewdney Avenue home in Glencairn each year. (Gillian Massie/ 980 CJME)
The report by Dr. Sylvain Charlebois with Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab shows that the average treat cost has gone up by three cents compared to last year.
Charlebois said people are being more generous while handing out candy, despite prices going up.
He said part of that problem is that all the treats are getting smaller.
“What’s really happening with shrinkflation is that it really entices households to give even more candy – given all the small pieces,” Charlebois said. “What we’re figuring out is that a lot of people feel guilty … they’ll give more and make sure that kids are happy.”
Hilborn gives out a generous handful of treats to kids who come through his yard, with twenty boxes of mini-chocolate bars sitting in his house.
The sweets are packaged into treat bags with three or four chocolate bars and a sucker.
Hilborn has over 30 terrifying props in his yard for people to enjoy. (Gillian Massie/ 980 CJME)
According to the report, the average suburban family expects about 60 trick-or-treaters, handing out about 180 pieces of candy a night.
Charlebois said other factors, like cocoa crop failures and an increase in packaging costs, are also causing prices to go up.
This year, Hilborn’s expecting even more trick-or-treaters with Halloween landing on a Friday night.
“We’re going up a little bit because we always expect more,” he said.
Charlebois said there is more traffic in general when Halloween lands on a day when there’s no school afterwards.
“They may actually stay out late longer,” he said. “We do think that this year, traffic will intensify, and people should expect more trick-or-treaters at their doors this year, compared to last year.”
Hiborn said he’s never run out of candy for trick-or-treaters, but has had a few close calls over the past several years.
He said he has an emergency stash of soda cans to give to kids just in case.
Charlebois said soda is on the more expensive end of Halloween treats, hovering between $0.65 to $0.85 – a price that’s gone up by 10 per cent from the year prior.
Despite the cost haunting his wallet, Hilborn said he won’t let the expenses ruin his frightening fun.
“It’s the fun,” he said. “People come and thank us. The screams, the cries, all that sort of stuff. It’s the entertainment.”
