Halloween is always a favorite time of the year on Ocracoke and Hatteras, but this year there seemed to be more celebrations than ever.

There were parties, carnivals, parades, a haunted house, and a dance for costumed grown-ups – all culminating in the trick-or-treat ritual that played out in all of the islands’ villages on Saturday evening, All Hallow’s Eve.

There was something for all ages – from little kids to big folks. Islanders wore costumes at preschools and parties, and even at work.

The events began the week before Halloween, on Friday, Oct. 23, on Ocracoke with the annual Ocracoke School Costume Parade and Carnival.  Later in the week, the preschoolers at Ocracoke Child Care Center had a costume party.  And on Halloween night, the streets and lanes on Ocracoke were crowded with trick-or-treaters.

Halloween evening began in Hatteras village at the Volunteer Fire Department, where costumed youngsters picked up orange boxes to collect coins for UNICEF.  Then they fanned through that village to collect treats. Kids and their parents and teens made their way up and down Kohler Road, the main trick-or-treating corridor in the village.  They stopped are houses with festive and elaborate Halloween decorations and lights, as scary sounds and music from various loudspeakers hung in the air on a warm, fall evening.

Down the road, at the U.S. Coast Guard’s Station Hatteras Inlet, kids lined up for the haunted house and a party.  The haunted house, some kids said, was scarier than ever with chain saws buzzing, “bodies” in caskets, and ghouls and goblins jumping out to give them a good scare.

Saturday night in Hatteras village ended with the first annual Hatteras Halloween Bash at the Civic Center. The costume party with dancing and a DJ was for grown-ups only.  A small army of volunteers decked out the room in suitably ghostly décor and provided a spread of hors d’oeuvres and munchies for the dancers.  The proceeds will benefit Hatteras Island meals.

At the other end of the island in the tri-villages of Rodanthe, Waves, and Salvo, young and old began the festivities with a costume parade along Highway 12.  Afterwards there was a party with treats and games at the tri-villages’ Community Center.  The Lifeboat Community Church sponsored a “truck or treat” in the evening, and, finally, youngsters collected treats at homes in the villages that were marked with a special pumpkin sign to let them know where they were welcome.

We have prepared four slide shows -- Halloween celebrations on Ocracoke, in Hatteras village, and the tri-villages and the Hatteras Halloween Bash.

A fifth slide show, “More Halloween Scenes on Hatteras,” includes a potpourri of photographs contributed by islanders.

Among the photos are the “U.S. Ghost Guard’s” haunted house by Don Bowers; Carved and lighted pumpkins at Avon Realty; costumed employees at Comfort Inn, Conner’s Supermarket, Diamond Shoals restaurant, Dare Building Supply, and Natural Art surf shop; Natalie and Jay Kavanagh’s “little stinker,” Joe, 1 1/2, enjoying his second Halloween at Frisco Rod and Gun, Hatteras Harbor Marina, and other island stops; Midgett Realty’s party on Friday, Oct. 30, for the costumed youngsters at Hatteras United Preschool; Robin Leach’s photo of her daughter, Sydney, of Frisco in goblin garb and gathering treats in Avon with friends Hope Sturgill, Maddie Chandler, and Finni Harmon; John Cavins’ photo of Earl, a costumed canine that belongs to his sister and brother-in-law, Angela and Ervin Gaskins, who own a home in Salvo.

We thank all of you who contributed to this celebration of Halloween on the islands.

Halloween In Hatteras Village

Hatteras Halloween Bash

Halloween in the Tri-Villages

Ocracoke 2009 Halloween

More Halloween Scenes From Hatteras Island