I went looking for old Halloween stories from Luzerne County and found a wagon on a barn roof. I had expected pumpkins. Apparently, I underestimated the Valley’s commitment to a project.
With HalloweenTown preparing for another season in West Pittston, Horror Hall opening its doors again and a new historical program coming to Wyoming, I wanted to know what came before today’s displays. The trail led through newspaper memories and decades of organized scares. It also helped me understand why I am getting attached to this particular holiday.
The Valley had Halloween stories long before I had tabs open
A 2018 Sunday Dispatch retrospective revisited a question the newspaper asked residents in 1949 about their childhood Halloween memories. Pittston’s Don Williamson remembered watching a Mummers parade. West Pittston’s William Earley recalled a group dismantling a small wagon, carrying it onto a barn roof and assembling it again.
That last one stopped my research briefly. There was planning involved. Somebody apparently looked at a perfectly serviceable wagon and decided its principal flaw was being on the ground. This is a recollection preserved by the newspaper, not an independently documented account of the prank, and certainly not a suggestion for this October.
Another discovery came from Tony Callaio’s October 2023 column. He remembered growing up in West Pittston and singing for Halloween treats, which could include fruit, candy or coins. I had been treating the candy transaction as fairly straightforward. The singing requirement adds an audition I was not prepared for.
Callaio also traced HalloweenTown’s neighborhood momentum through the Pugliese family’s elaborate Delaware Avenue decorations and neighbors joining in, including John Phillips and his family across the street. Displays spread along the blocks before residents gave the celebration its HalloweenTown name. I like finding that human-sized beginning: someone makes something fun, and another household decides to participate.
Some of those traditions are still growing
In West Nanticoke, Horror Hall describes more than 40 years of haunted tradition. Its archived anniversary ticket page even billed a season as its 40th year of fear. That is a substantial amount of practice at making visitors regret turning a corner.
For 2026, its official site announces weekend operations from September 25 through October 31, with Friday and Saturday hours of 6–11 p.m. and Sunday hours of 6–10 p.m. Horror Hall Underground is new this year. The separate, more intense October 31 After Dark event is restricted to adults 18 and older.
Meanwhile, the HalloweenTown organizers report that 2025 brought more than 4,500 trick-or-treaters and over 280 decorated houses. Those are organizer-reported figures. Their 2026 preview lists an updated map, selfie stations, live music and a DJ dance party, although music details remain forthcoming.
I wrote earlier about HalloweenTown’s return. Learning how neighbors helped build it gives me another reason to keep watching. I would check the organizer’s latest notices before planning a route; a preview is not a complete street-closure or entertainment schedule.
Even the history is getting an October invitation
The Luzerne County Historical Society’s new Haunted Spirits and Shadows at Swetland runs October 16 and 17, 2026, from 7–9 p.m., at 885 Wyoming Avenue in Wyoming. The announced program includes museum artifacts, local folklore and a Victorian funeral presentation in the historic homestead. Tickets are listed at $25 for members and $30 for nonmembers.
That is what has me excited about Halloween here. There are several ways into it: a neighbor’s display, a familiar attraction with something new, or a reason to learn what happened in an old house. Each gives people something local to talk about and somewhere to go together.
I cannot supply childhood memories of these streets. I can keep finding the stories people left behind, and I suspect this October will give the Valley a few more. Preferably with every wagon remaining at ground level.
Sources and event details checked September 25, 2026. Follow the linked organizers for updates.