Halloween night. The doorbell rings. You’re expecting kids in store-bought costumes, pillowcases half-full of candy, the usual parade of superheroes and princesses and characters from movies you’ve never seen.
But when you open the door, you freeze.
Standing on your porch are three dogs dressed as ghosts. White sheets draped carefully over their heads, eye holes cut so they can see, little pumpkin buckets held gently in their mouths. They’re not barking. Not jumping. Just standing there patiently, waiting, their tails wagging beneath the sheets, their whole bodies vibrating with the excitement of being part of something special.
What do you do?
If you’re the person who posted this, you lose your mind in the best possible way. You let these sweethearts come right into your house. You give them all kinds of treats—not chocolate, of course, but everything safe and delicious that you can find. You make a fuss over them because they deserve it, because whoever took the time to dress them up and teach them to trick-or-treat like this clearly understands that joy comes in unexpected forms.
They deserve all the treats in your fridge. Not because they’re dogs in costumes—though that alone is pretty incredible—but because they represent something we’ve lost a little bit in our rush through modern life: the willingness to do something purely for joy. No agenda. No social media strategy. Just dogs in ghost costumes, trick-or-treating, making everyone who sees them smile.
Think about the effort behind this moment. Someone had to make or find those costumes. Had to train three dogs to walk calmly together, to hold buckets in their mouths, to wait patiently at doors without getting overexcited or scared. Had to believe that this silly, wonderful idea was worth the time and energy it would take to pull off.
And they were right.
Because the person who opened that door didn’t just see cute dogs. They saw creativity and kindness and the kind of thoughtfulness that turns an ordinary Halloween night into something memorable. They saw proof that there are still people out there who care about making others smile, who put effort into small joys, who understand that sometimes the best moments are the ones that surprise us completely.
We live in a world that’s forgotten how to be delightfully silly. Everything has to be documented, optimized, turned into content. But these dogs weren’t performing for cameras—they were just trick-or-treating. Just participating in Halloween in a way that honored the spirit of the holiday: creativity, playfulness, community, joy.
The dogs didn’t know they were doing anything extraordinary. They just knew they were with their person, going door to door, getting treats and attention and praise. But everyone who saw them understood. Understood that this was special. That this was the kind of Halloween magic that used to be more common, back when neighborhoods knew each other and people put genuine effort into making holidays fun.
If you open the door and see trick-or-treaters like this, lose your mind. Let them in. Give them everything. Because they’re not just dogs in costumes—they’re a reminder that joy doesn’t have to be complicated. That sometimes the best things in life are the simplest ones, executed with love and creativity and a willingness to look a little ridiculous in service of making people smile.
These sweethearts deserve all the treats in your fridge. They deserve to be celebrated and photographed and told they’re very good dogs who are doing an excellent job at Halloween. Because they are. And so is the person who made this happen—the person who looked at their three dogs and thought “what if we did something that would make the whole neighborhood smile?”
That’s the spirit of Halloween. Not the scary stuff or the expensive decorations. But the moments when someone shows up at your door with something so unexpected and delightful that you can’t help but laugh and open your house and give them everything you have, just because they reminded you that the world is still full of people who care about creating joy.