My Halloween Decorations Were Destroyed Overnight — and I Knew Exactly Who Was Behind It

The kids’ favorite inflatable ghost bobs in the yard, and I always hang our big “Welcome, Witches!” banner right by the front door where everyone can see it.

Inside, I bake cookies shaped like pumpkins and ghosts, and we play Halloween music while decorating. Every year, we host a little party for our friends and neighbors, where the kids run around the house and the adults chat and catch up.

This year, we’d really gone all out.

The kids helped me carve pumpkins at the kitchen table, their little hands covered in pumpkin guts as they giggled and argued about what faces to make. Jake had spent an entire weekend building a fog machine from scratch, tinkering away in the garage like a mad scientist. I’d spent the night before Halloween outside in the cool air, decorating the fence and the stairs as best as I could.