The town banned after dark trick-or-treating because in 1992 an 11-year-old girl was abducted off the street and murdered.
But tomorrow pint-sized witches, princesses and vampires will once again be shuffling from house to house at night, thanks to a petition drive by a fifth-grader.
Elizabeth Roess gathered signatures, wrote an essay outlining her argument, and persuaded the City Council to bring back nighttime trick-or-treating.
Hoping to move Halloween back to night hours, Elizabeth, her mother, grandmother and family friends gathered 175 signatures. The 10-year-old also wrote a paper in which she made her case. Among her reasons: Halloween decorations are best appreciated at night, and many people aren't home during the day to give out candy.
The council vote was unanimous. Elizabeth plans on dressing up as a Goth princess bride.
For weeks now, children and their parents in this struggling, working-class town of 10,000 about 80 miles north of Pittsburgh have been eagerly anticipating Halloween's return.
The police department plans to have seven officers on duty Friday night, or about twice the usual number, in addition to four school security guards and all 10 of the town's crossing guards.
Just some background on the Halloween ban, that sort of makes it seem like the good people of Oil City were using a sledgehammer to kill an ant.
Shauna Howe was abducted while walking home from a Halloween party on October 27, 1992.
Three days later, her battered body was found under a railroad trestle eight miles away.
With the town gripped by fear that a child killer was on the loose, trick-or-treating the next day was held in daylight for the first time. Police watched from helicopters as parents led their children from house to house along quiet streets.
Residents also began locking their doors and driving their children to school. And every year afterward, the City Council voted to allow trick-or-treating in the afternoon only, a move duplicated around the same time by many other U.S. cities and towns worried about children's safety.
The police chief said Shauna's murder shattered the "Mayberry attitude" many people in Oil City had toward their hometown.
The Oil City murder remained unsolved until a witness came forward four years ago and police turned to DNA evidence. Two brothers were arrested and convicted of murder and sexual assault. A third man pleaded guilty to murder.
"Unfortunately, Shauna's tragedy seemed to define Oil City for many years," Oil City blogger John Noel Bartlett wrote on his Web site. "It's time to move on."
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