Trick or Treat... Well Mostly Tricks, I think. Spooky Illustrations 2025 Ends
Welcome back, Friends. I think I can say that it is an understatement when I say that Spooky Season has come to a close. lol. Obviously, it has been over for quite some time. I had originally meant to finish this illustration, write this blog, and post it all before Halloween. However, I had become very sick at the end of October, unfortunately. So, here we are. A bit late, but not dead... yet. And it's always better to be late than never finish anyway, at least when it comes to Art.
Anyway... Before we get into the ghosts and the goblins (the REAL business of things) of talking about this Illustration and Trick-Or-Treating, I wanted to finally share with you all some of my Spooky Season Activities I did this past October.
The first Autumn activity I participated in this year was going Apple Picking with some very good friends. This was officially my 3rd time going apple picking since I moved North from the South. Now, while apple picking isn't particularly a "spooky" activity, it is a Northern Tradition, and I guess I am northern now. lol. It is also a very Autumn-y activity as well. The orchard we had selected to go to also turned out to be a winery and distillery. There was a delicious Pear Cider (alcoholic) that was delicious and dangerously way too easy to drink down. I might admit that I got a little tipsy in the orchard that day off of pear cider. Yum.
We each had a bushel (a burlap bag) full of all different kinds of apples. Most of my bushel was Courtland apples, as they make the best-tasting "baking" apples. I also discovered a type of apple called an Autumn Crisp. Most people are familiar with the Honeycrisp apples, which are yummy. (Don't get me wrong) However, the Autumn Crisp apples are SO NEXT LEVEL... they might be the most delicious fresh apple I have ever eaten. They were sweet without being too sweet. They were tart without being too tart. They were perfect. I thought they would make excellent apples to "candy."
I have been wanting to make candy apples for years now, ever since I started going apple picking (which is appropriate for this illustration). I bought the kit, and now I have the perfect apples to try that with... Though unfortunately, my schedule got so busy that those apples ended up spoiling before I could get to candy them. Talk about a Spoiler Alert... literally. I was quite sad. I did make some apple crisp and mulled some apple cider, and ate some apple cider doughnuts. SO, not all bad. I will make sure I candy apples first thing next Autumn... or DIE trying.
The next spooky activity I did this Season was that I finally made it back to seeing Beetlejuice on Broadway for a second time! I had seen it once back in 2019, and I had vowed to see it again as I loved it so much, but COVID and unemployment made other plans for me :( But... It came back from the dead after its national tour. I was SO EXCITED to have the chance to see it again! I went with a friend, and we had so much fun. It is possibly the Most Fun Show on Broadway right now. If you are in town, I highly recommend seeing it. The sets, the costumes, the transitions, the special effects, the music, the puppets... ALL OF IT is AMAZING! The perfect show to see during Spooky Season! It will have you singing Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice all the way home!
For a friend's birthday, I went on a Spooky Trolley Tour through the macabre and violent history of Brooklyn, NY. Madam Morbid's Trolley Tours are very fun and very educational in a skewed sort of way. The trolley itself is decked out in Gothic attire, ready to show you a bloody night on the town. The tour guide is all dressed up and "on theme," and it is just so much fun. You also learn so many things about Brooklyn, and its strange history that you might not learn about otherwise. I love this tour, and I highly recommend it. It's in Williamsburg, runs year-round, and is SO WORTH IT! I've been on the tour 3 times. It was not only my first spooky activity that I did right after moving to NYC, but it was THE VERY FIRST activity I did after moving to NYC. And now I pitch it as something to do for friends who visit or for birthdays or other special occasions.
I rounded out Spooky Season 2025 with one more show: Stranger Things, the First Shadow. This show was so good! It is a play and not a musical, so those of you who do not like musicals should probably check this one out. It is a prequel to the show we know and love so well. It is basically the origin story of how Vecna becomes Vecna, even before the scenes of his life we see in the show. The play expands upon them. The special effects are some of the best that I have ever seen in a Broadway show. I mean... It blew me away. All the actors were SO GOOD!
That was my Spooky Season in a nutshell, more or less. I didn't really "go out" for Halloween. I had thought about going to the parade down in the Village, but, to be honest, I was so exhausted at the end of that week, and I felt like I had already done more than plenty to celebrate the Season. I hope you all enjoyed me sharing that with you... Let's get back to talking about the Art again, shall we?
As many of you may know, I participated in Inktober last year, and it almost killed me lol. Well almost... Which is appropriate for the season. It's such an intense and dedicated thing to participate in. I've done it twice and, to be honest, I think I'm "done" with that. I've done it, and that's enough for me. It was such a grueling art challenge, just thinking about it gives me the "chills."
It made me miss the Good Ole Days of Illustration Friday... I know. I talk about IF ALL THE TIME and whine about its absence from this dark and horrible world we are now living in. However, I really did enjoy those art challenges. A week is a perfect amount of time to develop and complete an Illustration. So, this year, when Inktober was gearing up, I decided that I would do something a little different to participate. I decided I would do weekly Spooky Season-themed illustrations based on one of their daily prompts as if it were Illustration Friday. I would make an illustration, blog about it, and post it.
I have made one additional new discovery regarding Inktober. It's Inktober 52. A weekly drawing challenge that is year-round. I may participate in 2026. As for now, I reviewed their weekly prompt, reviewed 7 of the daily prompts for regular Inktober, and then chose one of those prompts to base an illustration on. Now, I know what you may be thinking... that's cheating... and maybe it is, a little, but it's not like I had anything in my head for any of the prompts as I was reviewing it, then picking the one that closely fit what I already had in mind... I didn't have ANYTHING in mind. I just picked the prompt that most appealed to me, and then I brainstormed illustration ideas for it.
...So, now, Spooky Season Illustrations 2025 ends with Candied Onion, a Trick-Or-Treat Trick that you DO NOT want to get in your Halloween bag. lol.
On the prompt list for Inktober 2025 (Day 27), there was a prompt for "ONION." Since I try to marry the prompt idea to something befitting of Spooky Season, I immediately thought of this meme from many, many moons ago. I remember it and remember how much I laughed at it every time I looked at it. It is very old, so I had to dig on the internet to find it again, but here it is in all its mischievous glory. I thought, "How diabolical!" and then I would lmao about it. What a very clever and definitely hilarious prank to play on unsuspecting Trick-Or-Treaters! They definitely put the "Trick" in Trick-Or-Treat. It reminds me of the kind of pranks that get played on people on Mickey Night, which is celebrated in the UK. Let's discuss a little about the origins of our most Hallowed of Traditions during this Season.
While the origins of "Trick-Or-Treating" itself are not finite, there are some traditions that it can be assumed that it traces back to due to similarities in those traditions. In ancient Greece, children used to go door to door dressed as swallows, and they would sing a song. This prompted the owners of the house to give them food. There was also an implication of a threat to cause mischief if the owners did not give them food.
In the Medieval Christian Era (15th Century), in areas such as Britain, Germany, and Australia, there was a tradition called "Souling." In the beginning, people went from door to door carrying (what was called a) "soul-cake." These soul-cakes represented the dead and would be given to the residents of the home in exchange for prayers for the dead or for that person giving the cake. In later instances, this tradition sort of flipped its head, and people would go door to door begging for soul-cakes in exchange for the beggars to pray for the dead of the residents who gave the cakes.
This engraving depicts mummers at Christmas time.
My Own Treasury, 1847 (unknown engraver), via Wikimedia Commons, public domain license
During the Middle Ages in areas of Britain and Ireland, there was the tradition of mumming. Mumming involved dressing up in costumes and going door to door to perform short scenes or parts of plays in exchange for food and drink. Many think that "trick or treating" may have derived from this and the belief that on Halloween, supernatural beings and the souls of the dead roamed the earth and needed appeasing.
Echoing the above belief, many consider that trick or treating finds its roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain. Held from October 31st through November 1st, it was believed that the souls of the dead were, once again, allowed to roam our world. In order to appease these spirits and protect yourself from potential harm from the spirits, offerings of food and drink were left out for them. The custom is that people would dress up to impersonate the spirits and go door to door for these offerings of food and drink. It was also believed that just by impersonating the spirit, you were also protected because the spirits would think you were one of their own.
In Scotland and Ireland, there is a tradition known as "guising." Named so by the disguises that children who participate wear. Children would dress up in costumes and go door to door. However, instead of saying "trick or treat," they would ask for "Apples for the Halloween party?" A gift of apples, nuts, or coins would be given to them.
The actual interjection of "Trick-Or-Treat" originated from central Canada and didn't "catch on" until much later. It did not become popular in the United States until the 1930s and then nationwide in the 1940s. In the beginning, the phrase had 2 meanings: The first was more akin to the tradition of mumming, where Trick meant "I will perform a trick for you in exchange for a treat." The second is the more common association of the idle threat of "Either offer a treat, or I will perform a prank on you." Geography and culture often determine which version.
In many cultures, the appeasement of treats was often a way to avoid the normal tradition of only mischief during that night. For example, England calls it Mickey Night, a night of pranks and tricksters played upon unsuspecting victims.
Several years ago, I wrote a short story and created an illustration for it based on the English tradition of Mickey Night. I will link that HERE. That was a fun story and illustration to work on, and it definitely fits in with the theme of this illustration as well as Spooky Season in general.
On a more personal note, I may want to add that I grew up in America. However, I never got to go Trick-Or-Treating like many of my peers. Unfortunately, my family was "overly religious," and I never got to have or enjoy that experience as a child. I think I make up for it with my determination to participate in the Spooky Season in as many ways as I possibly can. I just remember explicitly my mother saying that we do not celebrate Halloween because "We don't celebrate Satan's Birthday!" lol. Did anyone else get the "Satan's Birthday" excuse growing up? I'd be curious to know.
Now that we've discussed some of the fun things I participated in this Spooky Season and some of the origins of Trick-Or-Treating in the context of this illustration's origin, let's talk about the Art itself.
So the concept comes from the meme: This prank idea to candy onions instead of apples to lure unsuspecting people into biting into a raw onion... I admit, I don't even know if the person who made the meme actually ever gave those candied onions out, but it never ceases to get a chuckle out of me thinking about it lol.
I thought it would be fun not only to illustrate a candied Onion but to take the sentiment of that meme another step further by making the candied onion even more appealing by making it super cute. Kawaii is a huge trend right now that is making its home within design, illustration, and even fashion. Kawaii comes from Japan and encompasses a broad "cuteness culture" that can be seen everywhere. Its aesthetic is often defined by characters with large eyes, small bodies, and pastel colors. In the illustration world, there is an associated term known as Chibi. Chibi is an illustration style used for characters that have large heads and small bodies, which creates a "cute" child-like appearance. I really wanted to incorporate this aesthetic into my illustration of this meme idea, if it were a character.
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Image copyright unknown.
I also thought, what would a Candied Onion dress as for Halloween if it could? My answer to myself was, of course, a Court Jester. While the candied onion represents a very naughty and mischievous prank, it is truly meant to be light-hearted and meant to be fun. So I thought of a Medieval Court Jester. Since the historical origins of tricking instead of treating also derive some from that time period, it felt very fitting. I wanted my Kawaii Chibi of a Candied Onion to be dressed and ready to go out Trick-Or-Treating this Halloween.
Granted, I did deviate from the Kawaii template somewhat. I did not use pastel colors as my palette. I used more Earth-tone variations of traditional "Halloween" colors or the colors most associated with the holiday. I wanted to use a "red" onion because I thought that would be puny, considering apples are red, and candied apples are VERY red, even though a red onion is in fact purple. So purple and red, of course, then orange and green for the jester costume.
I created him using my normal illustration process, a hybrid of both traditional and digital methods. So there is nothing new or unusual about the illustration process of this piece. Though the last element I needed for this illustration (the "trick or treat" on the bag) was a recycle from a previous Halloween illustration where I had done some hand lettering.
I think he turned out very cute and very adorable. I hope you all like him as much as I do and get just as much of a Halloween chuckle out of him as I do. That pretty much sums up what I wanted to say about the illustration and what I wanted to talk about in the context of him. I hope you all had a very cool, fun, and eventful Spooky Season. I will return next year with more new ideas and new haunts for Spooky Season Illustrations. Now... time to focus on Holiday stuff lol. Have a great weekend, EVERYONE, and I DARE you to go out and find some mischief to get into.
Until next time, friends,
Keep dreaming, keep sketching, keep thinking, keep laughing, and most important of all, keep making art.
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