In honor of All Hallow’s Eve, consider these weird laws that apply on Halloween night:
1. Residents of Bellville, Missouri have to be under the age of 12 to go trick or treating (or in eighth grade or under) and ask for candy. I wonder if that precludes parents from grabbing a candy bar as they accompany their children knocking on doors in Bellville or maybe kids over that age should just ask for cash;
2. If you want to wear a mask in Walnut Creek, California on Halloween and plan to walk around in public, you better get a permit from the Sheriff – – or risk breaking the law;
3. The town of Vendragues, France made clown costumes illegal. They had “problems” with clown costumes and passed a law banning them in 2014 to “avoid any disruption… by evil clowns,” after a “terror wave” of clowns harassing innocent bystanders;
4. On Halloween (or any day for that matter), it is illegal to dress as a priest, nun, or any other clergy member in Alabama. According to Alabama law, you also aren’t allowed to wear a mustache or any other fake facial hair while attending church on Halloween since it may make people laugh;
5. If you aren’t at least 16 years old and decide to trick or treat in Dublin, Georgia, don’t go out in public wearing a mask. Maybe it’s like driving, they should offer a learner’s permit if you take a safe masking course and are accompanied by someone under 16 when you go out on Halloween;
6. If you live in Rehoboth, Delaware, you can’t celebrate Halloween on October 31st if it’s on Sunday. In that case you can only go trick-or-treating the day before (October 30), only between 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. or you risk a fine of up to $150;
7. To continue the silliness, you can’t use, sell, possess or distribute silly string in Hollywood, California from 12:00 a.m. on October 31st, until 12:00 p.m. November 1st or wind up with a not so silly $1000 fine. By the way, in case you were wondering, if your employer is a private company or you are own a retail store in California, you can ban anyone from entering if they are wearing a costume – Halloween or any other day – but you can’t discriminate – it’s everyone wearing a costume or no no one; and
8. The Kingdom of Jordan has simply outlawed Halloween entirely, making celebrating or attending Halloween celebrations illegal.
Boo!