SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Here in the North the extreme weather conditions during the winter months pose a myriad of unique challenges, which makes Halloween celebrations in Yellowknife no simple walk down the street.

Matthew, left, and Stuart MacLellan were testing out Halloween masks at the Shoppers Drug Mart on Sunday. - Charlotte Hilling/NNSL photo

Residents are forced to be creative when it comes to the holiday and be ready to adapt to range of weather conditions.

Take the tale of woe from Yellowknifer Julie Hintz, 18, who as a five-year-old was forced to abandon her best laid plans due to the need to stay warm.

"I wanted to be an angel for Halloween but, as Halloween is usually really snowy I couldn't be one because my costume wouldn't fit over my snow suit," she lamented.

However all was not lost, and the younger Hintz soon devised a comical solution.

"Because my snow suit was purple and I still had the angel wings I went as a sugar plum fairy because I looked like a plum with wings," she said.

Hintz, like many Yellowknifers, claims she has not seen a Halloween without snow.

"We always have snow before Halloween, we've never had a snow-less Halloween," she said.

"We've had a Halloween where there was a frosting of snow, so not a super amount, but there's always snow before Halloween."

She said the biggest hurdle to the celebration of Halloween in the North is simply avoiding freezing to death in the pursuit of candy.

"The biggest challenge would be staying warm while trick or treating - it takes a lot of effort," said Hintz.

Despite her difficulties in the past, Hintz is getting back on the Halloween horse this year.

"I haven't in a long time, but I really want some free candy," she said.

While wandering through the Halloween section at the Shoppers Drug Mart on Sunday afternoon with their parents, Matthew and Stuart MacLellan agreed that finding a costume to fit over their parkas was the biggest difficulty.

However, the haunted holiday is not all about people, what about the pets? Does Rover fancy himself as Batman, or Yoda, or even Snow White?

Well, while not catering to the human species on Halloween, JJ Hobbies Ltd has got the pooches covered.

"The people down south went nuts for costumes for dogs - it was crazy. So, I'm hoping that the trend will continue up here," said owner Scott Anderson.

"I just moved up here from Edmonton in June, so this will be my first winter and Halloween in Yellowknife," he said.

While most of this month's snow has melted away, it remains to be seen if this year's Halloween will snow-free.