Photo: Carol Yepes (Getty Images)
Halloween is less than a month away. Usually, this is a night of trick-or-treating and gorging on candy by young people. For adults, it’s a night of dressing up and maybe drinking a little more alcohol than usual. This year, things are a little different for obvious reasons. That’s why the CDC released its list of Halloween activities ranked from lowest to highest risk.
Low-risk activities include carving pumpkins at home, decorating your house, having a scary movie night, or an at-home scavenger hunt. Obviously, these activities are low risk because you’re literally staying at home. But many people plan to venture out on Oct. 31. That’s why the list we care most about is the high-risk activities. While the CDC didn’t rank them, we did and you can check them all out below (plus a few of our own).
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CDC High Risk Halloween
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10. Traveling to a Rural Festival
If you live somewhere with higher COVID numbers, traveling to a rural area to attend a Halloween festival is a pretty terrible thing to do. Even if you feel fine, you might be asymptomatic and spread it to a whole area that previously had low numbers.
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9. Going on a Halloween Tinder Date
While not specifically on the CDC’s list, it’s probably a pretty bad idea to meet someone from Tinder or another dating app on Halloween. You’re likely to have had a few wobbly pops and making out with a mask on just feels weird anyway.
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8. Trunk-or-Treat
In normal years, taking your kids to a parking lot to participate in trunk-or-treat seems like a great idea. It keeps you from having to spend your night walking all over your town and keeps your older kids safe from weirdos. But this year it also means they’re going from trunk to trunk filling their bags with Snickers and COVID.
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7. Attending a Haunted Hayride
Like haunted houses, the haunted hayride is a Halloween staple for many of us. Take a year off. While outside, you’re still going to be huddled together with a bunch of strangers. It’s not worth it just to get frightened by a man in a ski mask holding a fake chainsaw.
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6. Drinking at an Indoor Bar
If you live somewhere that allows indoor dining, you might want to spend your all hallows eve drinking beer or cocktails inside a bar to avoid the chilly night. Instead, just make a few drinks at home and watch a scary movie or two.
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5. Going to an Indoor Costume Party
If you’re going to attend a costume party (first of all, just don’t do it this year), it better be outside. Attending an indoor costume party (or any party for that matter) is just asking to be infected. Don’t be a dummy. Halloween will be just as fun next year.
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4. Going to an Indoor Haunted House
We get it, Halloween isn’t Halloween without a trip to a “haunted house.” Pretty much every city in America has a handful. But that creepy dentist’s office or insane asylum better be outside this year. Otherwise, just watch a scary movie at home.
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3. Going Out Already Inebriated
According to the CDC, one of the highest-risk things you can do this Halloween is getting drunk or high before you head out to do anything. That is because your inhibitions will be lowered, and you might not have the wherewithal to keep your mask on and social distance.
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2. Bobbing for Apples
Also, not on the CDC’s list, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention one of the most common Halloween-ish activities of all time. It’s probably not the year to bob for apples. We don’t know the science around it but swirling around your saliva in a bucket with other people’s saliva doesn’t seem like a great idea.
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1. Traditional Trick-or-Treating
It’s no surprise the CDC listed this as one of the most high-risk activities. You’re literally going door-to-door asking for candy from strangers. Can you imagine doing this on any other day? No, you don’t even answer the door for delivery drivers.
