More teen are trick-or-treating; costumes reflect pop culture.

Haunted lighthouse volunteer Mary Westmaas welcomes visitors to the Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum at Leelanau State Park on Saturday afternoon. Hundreds of children and grownups toured the lighthouse last weekend, took part in a treasure hunt and wandered a haunted maze.

Dressing up and begging for candy on Halloween is mostly for kids around age 12 and younger, right?

Not anymore. Homeowners and families throughout Leelanau County may have noticed in recent years that the average age of trick-or-treaters appearing on front doorsteps has inched upward.

“It seems that trick-or-treating is becoming more and more cool every year for kids in high school.” said Raphael Rittenhouse, the principal at Suttons Bay High School. “The kids love it. And our exchange students especially think it’s cool.”

Suttons Bay this year boasts a dozen foreign exchange students. For some of them, Halloween is an exotic and nearly unheard-of foreign custom – an American tradition that also sounds like a lot of fun.

“We just don’t do it in Finland,” said Wilma Turtiainen, “so I’m really looking forward to dressing up and going out with my friends on Halloween.”

Ariane Marchand of Belgium said trick-or-treating is not unheard of in her home country, but it’s rare – and it’s only for little kids.

“It seems like a big deal for everyone in this country, even kids my age, said Marchand, 18, “and I think that’s great.”

This year, as in recent years, the most popular costume choices for younger trick-or-treaters seem to be trending toward characters from popular culture. The final installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean film trilogy earlier this year is apparently leading many children to choose pirate costumes – either store bought or home made. Characters from the Harry Potter film series are also popular.

“I’m going as a Dementor,” said Glen Lake second grader Gus Slack, referring to one of the scariest creatures in the Harry Potter stories.

Gus’s little brother, Glen Lake kindergartner George Slack, said he planned to dress up as another Harry Potter nemesis, Voldemort.

Other popular costumes this year and in recent years include Spiderman and Shrek.

Added to the list this year is “Optimus Prime,” a giant robot in the 2007 film Transformers. Dressing up as a Spartan warrior in the movie The 300 appears popular this year for older kids.

Leland fifth grader Mariah Kalchik said she was sticking with the tried-and-true this year – a homemade clown costume.

“I’m going to be happy clown, not a sad one,” Kalchik said. “Last year, I was a devil. The year before, I was a hippie.”

Classmate Antonio Mosqueda said he hadn’t yet decided what costume he would wear this year. Last year, he went as a skeleton.

Leland fifth grader Kate Bishop said she was going with a store-bought Hermoine Granger costume this year. (Hermoine Granger is another Harry Potter character.)

“My mom can’t sew and that’s why we get the costume at a store,” Bishop explained.

A number of kids, mostly girls, said they were going as Hannah Montana – a fictitious preteen pop star featured in a new television series of the same name. Watch for girls in long, blond wigs, jeans and trendy vests.

But Leland fifth grader Spencer Crimmins – who is all boy – said he plans to dress up as Hannah Montana as well.

“Since so many of the girls in my class are going as Hannah Montana this year, I thought it would be pretty funny and original for me to go as her too,” Crimmins said.

Crimmins’ choice of costume seems to be more in line with what many of the high school kids are going for – irony.

“I’m going as a DEA agent,” said Suttons Bay senior Ryan Gardner, who boasts Colombian ancestry.

Leland senior Juliana Lisuk said she was going as “Peace Corps Barbie.”

“I’m not sure what Peace Corps Barbie looks like, but I’ll figure it out,” Lisuk said.
“I’m going as Superman,” said Suttons Bay sophomore Brandy Albarado. “The thing I like most about Halloween is you can be whoever you want to be for a night. The free candy is good, too.”

Caitlin Woods, a Suttons Bay senior, agreed.

“Sure, I love the candy,” Woods said, “but I think just handing out the candy like the old people at home is boring. We don’t want to grow up and we just want to keep having fun,” she said.

“Besides,” added Suttons Bay sophomore Sara Vanover, “Halloween is a great excuse for not doing your homework and staying out late on a school night with your friends.”