A howling good time

COEUR d'ALENE — Downtown Coeur d'Alene was a bubbling cauldron of activity Saturday evening as hundreds of trick-or-treaters braved the wind and sprinkling rain to indulge in Halloween's best tradition: free candy.

Superheroes, werewolves, dinosaurs, witches, teddy bears, pirates, ghouls, bumblebees and many more meandered up and down the sidewalks, many with parents who also dressed in fun or frightening costumes. They visited friendly hosts at local businesses to say, "Trick or treat!" through big smiles and worked to fill their goody bags with as many treats as humanly possible during the Coeur d'Alene Downtown Association's annual Trick or Treat the Downtown event.

When it comes to Halloween's spooky side, North Idaho's costumed youngsters had no fear or lack of creativity when sharing what they think is frightening about the holiday.

Hope Slaven, 7, of Coeur d'Alene, dressed as a crazy cat lady — complete with wild hair, cat-eye glasses and many a stuffed cat on her costume — said houses are the spookiest part of Halloween, "because they put scary decorations out."

Dressed as a vampire princess, Ilexa Paszczynska, 5, of Coeur d'Alene, had the same idea about haunted houses being spooky around Halloween.

"Haunted houses, they're really haunted," she said, taking out her vampire teeth for a moment. "And most of them have chainsaw guys."

Coeur d'Alene 5-year-old Gideon Espe, in a puffy inflatable Baymax costume from "Big Hero 6," summed up Halloween's spookiness in one word.

"Bats," he said nodding his head for emphasis.

Elijah Peterson, 9, of Coeur d'Alene, dressed as a character from "Guardians of The Galaxy." In keeping with his character, he only had one thing to say when questioned about Halloween.

"I am Groot," he said. "I ... am ... Groot!"

With a black-and-white painted face and stripy tail to match, Julian Maben, 6, of Coeur d'Alene was one happy, candy-gathering, ring-tailed lemur for Halloween.

"I like pumpkins the best," he said. "And zombies."

"He loves nature and animals and wildlife," said his dad, Scott Maben. "He's always talking about Madagascar."

With the new "Star Wars" film on the horizon, it was no surprise to see a few Jedis walking through the crowd, as well as a tiny version of Princess Leia. Quinne Rozell, 4, rocked the Leia hair and costume as she trick-or-treated with her mom and stepdad, who went as Chewbacca and Darth Vader. Quinne was enthusiastic to share what she thinks is spooky about Halloween.

"Monsters," Quinne said. "Because they come to get you and eat you."