Despite what we all had hoped for, COVID-19 is here to stay as we enter the fall season, meaning we will have to face the frightful reality that Halloween will not be the same this year.

Halloween is one of the largest celebrated holidays in the U.S., coming in at an approximate $9 billion annual industry with raucous parties, haunted attractions and festivals, and capping it off with a grand night of trick-or-treating. And with two full moons this October, paired with the holiday landing on a Saturday, 2020 was on track to see one of the biggest Halloweens yet. Of course, with the ever-present threat of the pandemic looming over our shoulders, these celebrations have become very limited, causing a financial blow to multiple industries.

In Salem, Massachusetts, all the stops are pulled out for celebrating Halloween, garnering “30 percent of the city’s annual tourists” according to the New York Times, a rate which has plummeted this year. In Virgina, Lorenzo Caltagirone’s costume shop saw a sales decline by 80 percent this year, and there is an expected eight percent decline in overall Halloween sales according to the Washington Post. The National Retail Federation, having conducted their annual Halloween survey, saw “overall participation down to 58 percent” planned for this year.

These statistics, however grim, do not necessarily mean all hope is lost for celebrating the beloved holiday. Sure, the grander celebrations will be missed, but many of the traditional, contained ways of celebrating live on. Getting in costume, decorating homes, and carving pumpkins are key celebration factors that are completely risk free. And that’s not even considering the plethora of Halloween movies that can be viewed safely at home. In fact, the same National Retail Federation survey witnessed a $92.12 average spending per person this year up from $86.27 in 2019, showing that consumers are making the most of what can still be done to celebrate. Ideas have also been put out to leave individually wrapped candy at the end of the porch to make trick-or-treating still possible or to throw social distanced outdoor parties.

With all the upset brought by the pandemic, it is easy to get carried away in the prospect of missing out on yet another joyful occasion. But Halloween does not have to be canceled so much as it can be adapted.