How Downtown Boone Brings Halloween to Life

An image capturing the “haunted” Jones House on Halloween night. Trick or Treaters of all ages surround the house and anticipate the excitement of their chance to enter. 

Photo Creds: Ria Titus

Harper Costin, Staff Writer for The Powderhorn

Tradition is defined as “the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation, or the fact of being passed on in this way.” Each Halloween, that definition plays out in a very special way in Downtown Boone, where the usual routines shift into a celebration locals have grown up with. From roaming the streets during Boone Boo to taking in all of the detailed decor strung across houses on Grand Boulevard, Downtown Boone truly encapsulates the Halloween spirit.

King Street businesses prepare for weeks leading up to the highly-anticipated event. Sarah Long, Founder of 828 Real Estate and a resident of Grand Boulevard, noticed a stark difference between the Halloween traditions in this area compared to what she was accustomed to before moving here. 

“I had been used to just normal trick-or-treating and I had, you know, a good amount of candy,” said Sarah Long. “In about one hour I was out of candy, so I had to shut the whole house down, turn all the lights off, and I went to the gas station and I bought full-size candy bars, as many as I could, and came home and handed the rest of it out.”

This memorable experience of her first trick or treat experience here led her and her family to become greatly involved in the spectacle that is King Street Halloween. Sarah Long is also a local business owner, and the responsibility of having a business located downtown comes with the expectation of participating in the annual “Boone Boo” event, an opportunity for local businesses to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. 

“We do a lot of work with the town of Boone. They actually provide a little bit of candy from donations, and then each of my agents brings a full bag, and I buy a boatload,” said Sarah Long. “The town of Boone gives us a teal pumpkin [basket] for the kids who have like allergies, so they give you the pumpkin and then I order a bunch of bouncy balls and bracelets and things so that we can give that stuff out too, and we advertise and post about how we're going to participate.”

Along with businesses passing out candy, notable Boone staples such as the Jones House also engage in the event by creating an annual haunted house. The haunted house pairs with a costume contest, for which Sarah Long is one of the judges. This always has a large number of participants and creates a heightened spirit throughout the evening. 

“I think about my costume about six months in advance and buy all the parts and pieces, and so, obviously, I like dressing up,” said Sarah Long. “I love seeing the other costumes, especially the homemade ones, where people get really creative or they do a play on words or something like that. I love that.”

The Watauga County Public Library also gets involved by hosting its Halloween Crafts and Storytime that night, which increases options of involvement for the younger demographic.

Another custom most locals have gotten used to is the extravagant decorations of the houses that line Grand Boulevard. Sadie Rose Long has lived on Grand her whole life and describes one of her favorite Halloween traditions as always seeing her neighbors put up all of their decor. Her family begins their setup in early October. She also describes her family's tradition of passing out candy to the mass of trick-or-treaters that pass through each year. 

“We get seven or eight bags of candy because there are so many trick-or-treaters that come through, and we get completely wiped out,” said Sadie Rose Long. “I'll get done with the Boone Boo, come home, eat my chili---that's our tradition---and then I'll go sit on the front porch and hand out candy, and you can see like a mob of people coming down the street.”  

Aside from the well-known traditions, one that has become a favorite of the Grand Boulevard locals is the yearly spotting of the “Hairy Fairy”. This may sound silly, but spotting him on Halloween night is a comforting, funny, and familiar sight that marks the holiday. 

“The Hairy Fairy is a neighbor of ours who dresses up in a fairy costume, no matter how cold or warm it is, and he just wears a sparkly pink skirt with suspenders!” said Sadie Rose Long.