So I will buy a small bag of KitKats and place a pumpkin next to the front door, but it is unlikely that any little space aliens will come to our house on Halloween. And on the first of November, I will eat those mini chocolate bars and not feel a twinge of guilt. We do not abide waste around here.

It has been a long time since any little witches roamed our street. A lot of the houses in this part of town have changed hands in recent years, leaving life-timers John Athearn in the house where he grew up, Tom Hodgson across the field, Deborah Mayhew around the corner from her childhood home and our own empty nest.

This neighborhood must have been Halloween heaven at one time. Back when Debbie Mayhew was a kindergarten princess, (I’m guessing) in late October, her mother Shirley and her camera were never far away. Over the years, Deb has posted many of Shirley’s photographs of the sizable neighborhood gang, now mostly grandparents, and long since scattered to places like the Netherlands, California and Maryland. But it was a booming boomer-family part of town back then. Halloween must have meant hordes of giggling goblins at our respective kitchen doors.

There have been little pockets of activity since—the Mazer kids, the Huntington kids, Sarah Saltonstall’s son Milo D’antonio—but much too silent over the years. Two small girls and their parents now live across the street; maybe it is the beginning of a new cycle.

In the rest of town, we know there are plenty of children at this very hour trying on their costumes and masks.

Brace yourself for a truly frightful sight. There is an enormous black spider clutching the upper body of the central Tom Maley sculpture at the Field Gallery. I shuddered when I saw it, turned as pale as the lady herself.

The gallery is joining the library and Howes House after school on Thursday, Halloween Day, from 3 to 5 p.m. for a a scavenger hunt at the gallery, for those who dare to go near those figures, familiar and unfamiliar, in the field. There is trick or treating at the Howes House, hayrides around the area, games to play and of course scary-looking not-too-sweet refreshments. “Another cup of monster blood, Sonny? Heh, heh, heh”.

Halloween-related activities had a head start this past weekend at the agricultural hall’s Harvest Festival and will continue this weekend. On Sunday, Oct. 27, from noon to 2 p.m., the animal control officials from both West Tisbury and Tisbury will sponsor the first ever Halloween Kids Dog Show and Costume Contest. Prizes will be awarded for best, most, smallest, biggest and even least – that is, least obedient dog in the show. Even for dogless and childless grown-ups, this might be fun to watch. Participants are asked to register in advance at aco@westtisbury.mc.gov.

Happy birthday to Susan Reidy Sunday, Oct. 27. And happy anniversary to Katryn Yerdon and Rob Gilbert on Wednesday, Oct. 30.