Freddy vs. Jason vs. City Hall

The neighbor at the microphone, above, says hundreds of people have come through the neighborhood every October for three years. By then the township had already rewritten its rules. At a zoning hearing in February, Genoa’s zoning staff walked the trustees through a new version of the section on temporary uses, written “in response to some of the issues we had last fall regarding a certain temp use.” Much of the rewrite spelled out exemptions for government, religious and private uses. The trustees amended the zoning resolution in April, effective in May.

At the October meeting, a trustee told the neighbor that townships can act only where Ohio law gives them the authority, and that the township was working through its lawyers. In mid-October, the township sent Josh and Mailie DeLong a 148-page zoning violation notice, days before the planned opening of Slaybrook Manor, the haunt they had been building in their yard, and they canceled the season. Neither the hearing nor the meeting named a property, and nothing in the meetings or the reporting we reviewed says the complaint or the rule change prompted the notice. The township declined to comment to ABC6, citing pending legal matters. The family says it had worked with the township for more than a year, cut the haunt to one donation-only night and gathered nearly 1,000 petition signatures.

Genoa isn’t alone. In rural Cass County, Missouri, the Dorsett Hill Haunt has run for free for 12 years. After a neighbor complained about traffic in September, the county ordered it to stop: the property is zoned Residential Rural, where haunted attractions aren’t allowed, and the county says a special use permit isn’t an option.

Elgin, Illinois, tried the other ending. In July its council argued at length about parking for a haunted house in a downtown building, then approved it 8–1. It still won’t open this year. The city says the operators could not produce a complete, code-compliant set of plans in time. The vote said yes. The paperwork said no.

And for those wanting a clear vote on the issue, we have Waxahachie, Texas. In June 2025, its planning and zoning commission voted 3–2 to deny a permit for a new location of the Reindeer Manor haunted attraction, mostly over parking concerns. The city council tabled it so that the operator could come back with a revised plan, so like every horror franchise this story is not-quite-dead.

Halloween is always Oct. 31. Trick-or-treat night isn’t, and the reasons are local. Central Ohio spent decades trick-or-treating on Beggar’s Night, the night before Halloween, after the 31st became the night for community parties. For more than a decade, a regional planning agency has recommended the 31st when it falls Monday through Thursday, and the Thursday before when it falls Friday through Sunday, partly so families don’t have to choose between candy and Friday-night or Saturday football. Each town decides whether to follow it.

So somebody has to pick the night. Of the 59 places in Hamlet’s records whose fall meetings mention trick-or-treat at all, 18 had a council, board or mayor formally set the hours or the date. Nearly every one that named a date chose the 31st. Dubuque, Iowa, proclaimed Oct. 31 trick-or-treat night. Johnstown, Ohio, northeast of Columbus, set Thursday, Oct. 29, matching the regional recommendation, with the 31st as the rain date. Covington, Indiana, went longer: last year residents complained that the hours were too short, so with Halloween on a Saturday, the council stretched them to 9 p.m.

In Carson City, Nevada, Halloween lands on the same Saturday as the Nevada Day parade, which Carson Now called “the rowdiest day of the year.” To avoid that pile-up, supervisors proposed moving trick-or-treating to Friday, Oct. 30, on their June agenda. The children of Carson City will be going door-to-door on Oct. 30 as a result. Des Moines, Iowa, went the other direction — they opted to hold trick-or-treating on Beggar’s Night until a city survey showed most residents wanted it on Halloween proper. Last year, the city moved it to the 31st for good. Trick-or-treating, a traditional night of childhood mischief, is subject to scheduling conflicts.

The biggest displays end up at City Hall too. In Raleigh, North Carolina, Jesse Jones has run the Oakwood Halloween House for years. This month he brought a group of neighbors to the city council. He told them the city now classifies his display as a special event, and he has to “jump through a lot of hoops.” “My house is not a special event,” he said. Of his childhood: “My father thought Halloween was stupid. My grandfather thought it was a waste of money.” A neighbor told the council that close to 6,000 people came last year, and that the permit requirements could cost up to $10,000. Mayor Janet Cowell sent him to the city’s chief of staff: “I think we can help you.”

Some places pay for decorations to make sure local businesses get into the spirit of things. In Midvale, Utah, the redevelopment agency runs a Trick-or-Treat Decoration Grant Program, and approved grants for 10 Main Street businesses this month. Dallas is heading the other direction, with officials there talking about changing the definition of a “commercial amusement” after complaints about one particularly elaborate residential display. And last week, Reese’s named East Dudley Avenue in Westfield, New Jersey, the trick-or-treatiest street in America out of 150 finalists. The prize is a block party on Halloween, with the street closed to cars. This honor didn’t require a vote.