Key Biscayne’s streets filled Friday with a colorful assortment of witches, ninjas, and super heroes Friday, part of a national event called Halloween that seems to grow bigger each year. Indeed, the National Retail Federation says total Halloween spending will top $13 billion this year, with Spider Man and various princesses being the most popular child costumes. (It’s still way behind Christmas and other holidays for spending, despite myths to the contrary).
The Khouri family poses as various sea creatures to greet trick or treaters on Halloween, Oct. 31 in Key Bisayne, Fla. (KBI Photo/Tony Winton)
The area around the Village Green was thick with parents and children making their way to elaborately decorated homes for the distribution of candy and other treats. A partial listing of costumes would include vikings, band members, ghosts, soccer players, Batman villains, and other fiction characters ranging from Dorothy to the Flintstones. It was clear that for many adults, the opportunity to dress up brough just as much joy as the collecting of confections.
Treats being handed out with a Day of the Dead theme in Key Biscayne, Fla. on Halloween, Oct. 31, 2025 (KBI Photo/Tony Winton)
And of course, many pets joined in, also in coloful costumes. They had no comment.
Technology boosted both the trick-or-treaters and those turning their homes into miniature haunted mansions. Lightweight inflatables allowed one group to dress as sumo wrestlers, while others opted for inflatable sharks. Some homes had electronic displays rivaled Disney World imagineers, complete with moving mannequins, puffs of scary smoke, and even screams. Others lawns were laid out with graveyards and scary monsters. However, there were pleny of protectors, so the scariness was kept within limits.
Dressed as sumo wrestlers, a group poses for a photo on the Key Biscayne Village Green, Oct. 31, 2025 (KBI Photo/Tony Winton)
Key Biscayne police chief Frank Sousa and his team of officers – cleverly dressed as policemen and women – handed out candies and posed for pictures at at tent on the Village Green. Aside from a bit of sugar overindulgence, the department did not report any issues.
Police Chief Frank Sousa poses for a picture with a trick or treater on the Key Biscayne Village Green, Oct. 31, 2025 (KBI Photo/Tony Winton)
Editor-in-Chief
Tony Winton is the editor-in-chief of the Key Biscayne Independent and president of Miami Fourth Estate, Inc. He worked previously at The Associated Press for three decades winning multiple Edward R. Murrow awards. He was president of the News Media Guild, a journalism union, for 10 years. Born in Chicago, he is a graduate of Columbia University. His interests are photography and technology, sailing, cooking, and science fiction.