Halloween is already here. At least it is in West Lebanon, where little orange lights glow while little white ghosts sway in the breeze on certain porches. It’s better than Christmas decorations in September, I suppose.

I don’t know exactly when All Hallows’ Eve became a month-long thing. In keeping with the spirit of the season, it’s been creeping up on us. Some locals heighten the mood by hoisting Trump banners to rattle the liberals. They make me shiver every time I pass by, but I respect the effort, seeing as how this is a deep blue town and polls say the race in New Hampshire is all but over for their man.

National polls show my candidate is ahead, behind, tied, sputtering out and gaining momentum. So is yours, so we have that in common. It’s Election Anxiety, now through fright night, Nov. 5.

But enough about politics. Halloween goes way back, before the Founding Fathers and the Electoral College. History.com and others say it originated with the Celtic festival of Samhain, “when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts.” Calling them “costumes” doesn’t quite capture it. They were, according to History.com, “typically animal heads and skins.”

Now that would give the kids who come by a scare on Oct. 31! The police might even swing by to take a peek.

This season got off to a worrisome start in the Upper Valley when shoppers learned the national pop-up store, Spirit Halloween, wasn’t popping up here this year. It seemed we’d be bereft, until alert online posters reminded us that you could still buy things at a couple of area retailers or the costume-packed Listen store. Or, to be devilishly clever, you could make your own costume. Remember that?

Like most people, I’d forgotten there was an alternative to national chains, but it doesn’t matter much since I’m going to dress as a frumpy old man once again. I’ll be watching the nightly news and then Jeopardy! when revelers make their rounds. I could doze off, so let’s hope they yell “Trick or Treat” really loud. A scream, maybe.

I feel a little guilty about the mini candies we hand out. I’d like to tell young whippersnappers about the full-size Hershey Bars and Milky Ways that were passed out when we were kids, “The Golden Age of Sweets and Neighborhood Dentistry.” I could go on and on about how a standard candy bar was a nickel and premium bars were a dime, but trick-or-treaters race to the next house as soon as candy hits their bag.

Kids aren’t great listeners on Halloween; I blame cellphones and maybe banned books.

Costumes are one thing; some adults are taking decorating to another level. I used to put out an “Ask Me About Whole Life Insurance” sign to give kids — or at least their parents — a little scare, but now Home Depot of all places has gone all in on Halloween. It has a large display of fearsome characters such as Frankenstein, Chucky the killer doll, a psycho clown, and many more. They lurch and leer most menacingly. You could spend hundreds there, but my house of (maintenance) horrors already soaks up my dough.

Though we complain about inflation and moan about the economy, Halloween spending seems to have no limits. USA Today says Americans will spend $11 billion this year. We are going to the poor house in high style. History.com reported that Americans spent almost $500 million on holiday swag for pets in 2021, nearly double from 10 years earlier.

I don’t get this. Mackie pets were reluctant to don costumes of any sort through the years. Dressing the dogs offended their dignity and cats didn’t want anything to do with nonsense. As I recall they allocated their portion of the household budget to tasty fare, and little else. The cats could be fussy, but the dogs opted for quantity — a little gravy or sauce over anything made their day.

Things change. Halloween gets bigger and longer, and now even pets are getting into the act. Weirdly this is also true of national politics, but this column is not going to get into the strange reports of pets in danger in Springfield, Ohio.

Instead I will remember the days of my boyhood loot: Payday, Oh Henry, Heath Bar, Mike ‘n Ike, Good ‘n Plenty, Bit-o-Honey, Clark Bar, Milky Way, Raisinets, Baby Ruth, KitKat, 5th Avenue, Skybar, Mallo Cup, Twix, Butterfinger and old friends M&M’s, plain or peanut.

A disciplined kid (not me) could make it last through Thanksgiving and even Christmas, with scorned candy corn spilling into the New Year. How sweet it was.

Dan Mackie lives in West Lebanon. He can be reached at dan.mackie@yahoo.com.