Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services
Time to fire up the treats, lest your house get toilet-papered by ghouls and goblins bent on mayhem most foul.
Elaine McBain is making sure that anyone who needs supplies is looked after. The Iqaluit florist keeps a variety of Halloween decorations and costumes in stock for Iqalungmiut eager to curdle your blood.
It's a job that starts before Labour Day.
"I sold my first costume on Sept. 2," said McBain. Limited storage space means a limited amount of costumes, which means things get picked over early and quickly.
"People tend to snap stuff up pretty quickly here," said McBain.
Iqaluit loves Halloween, according to McBain. She usually receives about 400 trick-or-treaters at her home near Apex.
"It's really neat how everyone dresses up here, including the parents," she said.
Nothing much has changed on the candy front, but costumes are always tailored to what's going on in the wider world. A few years back, Power Rangers were all the rage. This year seems to be the season of the witch, said McBain.
"I've sold a lot of the cutesy witch costumes this year," she said.
While keeping any item stocked is a challenge in Iqaluit, Halloween pinatas in the shapes of witches, ghosts, and pumpkins have been a particular challenge this year.
"I've brought them in three times this season, and I keep running out," said McBain. The pinatas invariably wind up getting the living daylights beaten out of them, after a brief life as decorations.
Still, once the pinatas have been burst, the tricks played and the candy sorted, McBain has to worry about more pressing issues.
Coming Nov. 1: everything you need to celebrate Christmas.
"I usually start tearing down the Halloween stuff on Halloween eve, so the Christmas stuff is ready Nov. 1," McBain said.
