Howling wind and pouring rain is supposed to set the scene this Halloween.

But the perfect horror movie atmosphere could be a safety nightmare for young ones walking door to door seeking candy, which is why one town is taking action.

"Due to the weather, Halloween Activities (Trick or Treating) will be postponed until Saturday night, November 2nd," East Lyme First Selectman Mark Nickerson posted on his Facebook page. "Please keep your little goblins safe (and dry) and bring them out to your neighborhood during the usual times on Saturday. This is an official announcement. Please Share!!!"

In reality, he said, the announcement was a strong suggestion from the town, not an official decree, as Halloween isn't a town holiday.

His post garnered 680-plus shares on Facebook as of 6:50 p.m. Wednesday. Some commenters thought the delay a prudent precautionary measure, while others lamented a new age of pampered kids raised to be afraid of a little rain.

"I didn't think it was a big deal when I posted it, I thought it was about common sense," Nickerson said. "It's about safety."

He mentioned East Lyme's winding, narrow, rural roads, where heavy wind and rain can lead to dangerous conditions for small children. Poor visibility coupled with country roads can make an already scary night terrifying.

"I don't want to be accused of coddling," Nickerson said, "but if it's the driving rain that was predicted earlier in the week, nobody wants to be out in that storm." Nickerson added that he received calls and messages from numerous concerned parents before making the decision.

East Lyme has canceled trick-or-treating in the past due to inclement weather.

For other towns, show must ghost on

Old Lyme First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder put out a statement Wednesday saying Halloween would go on even with the forecast.

"As a result of questions appearing on social media about whether the Town is going to make a decision about Halloween, I reached out to surrounding towns, and East Lyme notwithstanding, none of the other towns are taking any action to cancel, postpone, or make any announcement other than urging drivers to be extra cautious on October 31st, as large numbers of families will be out walking after dark," the statement read.

"I think it is best to leave the decision about going out on Halloween up to the families with children, as well as the homeowners who will be opening their homes to treat them," Reemsnyder continued.

Waterford First Selectman Dan Steward said he remembered Waterford postponing Halloween festivities once when there was a hurricane coming, but "the pushback was absolutely challenging."

As for this year: "At this point in time, if it's gonna rain, I'm sorry that kids might have to have an umbrella, or they might get wet," Steward said. "If it was an emergency, we could use reverse 911, but we don't qualify this as an emergency."

Groton Town Manager John Burt told The Day in an email that there are no plans to ask people to hold off celebrating Halloween on Thursday.

"I've been in contact with our Police Department and monitoring the weather," Burt wrote. "The Police Department will be putting out a message to the public asking everyone to be careful in case of limited vision due to rain."

Groton City Mayor Keith Hendrick said "we've trick-or-treated in the rain before."

"The City of Groton is going to hold Halloween as normal," he went on. "As a municipality, we're not going to regulate Halloween."

Despite receiving phone calls from several residents asking him to cancel Halloween due to the weather, Stonington First Selectman Rob Simmons said Wednesday he would not do so.

"I have no authority to cancel Halloween. I never scheduled it in the first place," he quipped.

"While there's concern about the rain, which happens here all the time, we'll leave it up to the parents to decide where to take their children out," he added.

Simmons said that if there was going to be a storm with high winds, flooding and downed trees and wires, emergency management director George Brennan would issue a weather advisory.

In 2012, the town was among several in the region that asked parents not to allow their children to go trick-or-treating on Halloween in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, as there were downed trees and wires along with flooding.

According to AccuWeather, New London has an 81 percent chance of precipitation Thursday, with 0.25 inches of rain and possible 51 mph wind gusts at night. East Lyme has a similar forecast, with gusts up to 48 mph possible.

Day Staff Writer Joe Wojtas contributed to this report.

s.spinella@theday.com