“Are you ready?” I called out as Anya slipped into the room with her overnight bag.

“You bet. This is going to be so much fun celebrating Halloween in the elves’ home town, Elfkoti, in the Korvatuntori Mountains.”

I stepped back and smiled. “You look amazing as a snow sorceress. Those twinkling stars look great on your blue outfit. My tattered red coat and worn boots can’t compete.”

“But you’re The Ghost of Christmas Future, so you can’t look outstanding.” We howled with laughter, picked up our overnight bags, and left.

“With Christmas 55 sleeps away, I don’t know how I let you talk me into this,” I said, as we walked down the hallway. “There is still plenty of work that needs to be done.”

“Oh, Santa! It’s only for one day. Besides, it’ll give the elves a boost to work even harder when they return to Christmas Village.”

“I guess, but Halloween has only been a thing in Lapland since the late 90s. They don’t even go Trick-or-Treating. Instead, they have parties for the kids at schools and daycare centers!”

“I think that’s the point, dear. The elves want to share the fun of Halloween here with their friends and families back home.”

Rubbing my beard I responded, “I guess it can’t hurt, after all it is only one day.”

Anya nodded and when she looked at me, a smile filled her face. “Thanks.” After giving me a quick kiss, we pushed open the side door and headed for the barn.”

The flight was quicker than I expected but as beautiful as I remembered. When we arrived, the elves were cheering, waving lanterns carved from pumpkins.

After our sleigh landed in the moonlit clearing, we were startled by the changes. Usually decorated in red and green, the area was done in orange and black. Tiny pumpkins of polished amber glowed among the snowdrifts, and garlands of colored leaves hung between the pines.

“Welcome to the First Annual Korvatunturi Halloween Festival!” cried Mythanthar, the leader of the elves in Elfkoti.

“How wonderful it is to be here!” Ms. Claus cried, slipping her hand through my arm. “This is going to be fun!”

I chuckled. “Mythanthar, this mountain has seen magic for centuries, but never anything like you’re going to see tonight!”

The three of us walked into the center of town where a bonfire had been lit. “Let the celebration begin,” Mythanthar yelled and led Ms. Claus and me to our seats in a pumpkin shaped gazebo.

Lyra waved and skipped over to greet us. “I love your costumes, especially yours Ms. Claus.”

“Thank you, but tell us what’s been taking place before we arrived.”

“Well… you’re not going to believe this,” she began, “but the North Pole elves built a ‘Haunted Trail’ that wanders away from town through the pines where glowing golden candles flicker among the needles. Everyone was warned about the ‘Frost Spirits’ whispering in the forests and the ‘Midnight Moose’ who wanders the valleys with glowing antlers.”

“Were you scared?” I asked

“Not really, but it was beautiful.”

“You better be careful,” Anya warned. “Unusual things happen on Halloween.”

Lyra giggled and took off for the Trick or Treat Parade.”

Anya and I waved and sat back to watch the elves march through the village tossing snowflake-shaped candies. Every so often one would shout, “Trick!” and pull a prank.

Afterwards, we joined in the trick-or-treating fun. Going from hut to hut, everyone received something different: candied bearberries, cinnamon snow puffs, chocolate reindeer, and more. At each hut, Anya would tell me, “Just take one, dear,” but I ended up with two or three treats.

Later, we gathered around the bonfire. When enchanted wood was added, flames of every color danced skyward. The elves roasted marshmallows after the fire died down and sang silly Halloween songs they had written:

🎵 “We’re spooky, we’re kooky, we’re tiny and fluky,
We scare you with giggles, not fangs or eyes spooky!” 🎵

When the elves were stuffed, they danced in circles, their laughter rising into the cold Lapland air. Eventually, they settled down and told ghost stories, adding scary details and weird sounds.

When Quentin, a gifted storyteller, stood up, the merriment stopped. Clearing his throat, he scanned the crowd. “The Haltija have lived in Lapland for centuries,” he announced. “Though rarely seen, these guardian spirits can be helpful, mischievous, and even frightening.”

“One night,” he began, “Alta, an elf who loved playing tricks, took a shortcut through the forest to get to his hut. Though it wasn’t safe the night of Halloween, he believed the Haltija were harmless, even towards those who were tricksters.”

The crowd giggled while Lyra gave Sledge, who enjoyed pranking others, an impish grin. “Remember, don’t go home alone tonight,” she warned.

After the laughter died away, Quentin continued. “On his way home, Alta kept looking up at the glowing stars, amazed at their beauty, until an eerie light dominated the skies and filtered through the pines. When the elf took another step…”

Everyone smiled until the crowd heard a loud trumpeting sound. As they turned in the direction of the noise, the elves saw something glimmering.

“What?” I mumbled and took Anya’s hand in mine. “This is getting weird.”

The elves stopped talking as a huge reindeer with glowing antlers emerged from the forest into the clearing on the hillside. Gasps and groans drifted throughout the crowd when they noticed a man with fierce eyes, seated on the animal. Clothed in black, its crimson cape flapping in the wind, the figure urged the beast forward and screamed while whirling a sword above his head.

Shrieking in terror, the elves scattered in all directions. I stood up and tried to pull Anya to her feet, but she stopped me and burst into giggles. Turning, I saw the horse and rider stop suddenly by the fire. I watched the figure rip off his mask and heard familiar laughter.

“BERNARD!!!” roared the elves. “What are you doing?”

“Ahh come on, you know the Haltija would never hurt any of us, and neither would I.”

“Why are you in that costume?” I yelled. “Unbelievable. And you,” I said staring at my grinning wife, “were you in on this?”

“You bet she was. In fact, it was her idea,” Bernard shouted. “After reading The Legend of Sleepy Hollow that Ms. Claus lent me, we brought in Quentin and began planning the big scare.

Quentin quickly joined us and gave Ms. Claus and Bernard high fives. “We definitely pulled off this trick and almost scared the life out of everyone.”

“Anya,” I exclaimed, “what got into you.”

“Come on Santa. Everyone knows that Halloween is the spooky time of year. Either you get a treat,” she laughed, giving me a kiss, “or you get tricked.”

“And we thought it was time for a trick.” Bernard gave me a side-hug as laughter and teasing flowed throughout the crowd. Then everyone settled down by the fire to enjoy the night.

As the moon climbed high over Korvatunturi, Ms. Claus and I sat together, watching the elves chase each other through the snow, their lanterns glowing like tiny pumpkins in the night.

“You know,” I said, “this might be the first Halloween where I had fun being scared.”

“Mischief has its own kind of magic, Santa.”

I nodded, watching one elf accidentally frighten himself with his own shadow and then burst into giggles.

“Indeed,” I chuckled. “And you’re frightfully good at making mischief.”

As the embers drifted into the cold northern sky, I thought, Perhaps Halloween isn’t about fright at all, maybe it’s about the warmth of laughter that glows in the dark.

Notes From Santa

I hope you enjoyed today’s story. Stories are posted on the 1^st and 3^rd Saturday of each month, except December. Santa’s next story will be posted on Saturday November 15, 2025.  If you have any comments or if there is something you would like me to tell you about, please feel free to leave me a comment. Until the next time . . .

To read other Holiday Events at the North Pole please check out:

Santa’s Elves Help The Easter Bunny – April 19, 2025
Mother’s Day – May 6, 2023
Wearing The Green – March 15, 2022
LEON Day – June 22, 2020

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