Comments (144)

1. I tend to splurge on Halloween. Hold open your bags kids because you are getting Dum-Dums, Smarties, and at least one piece of chocolate (Kit Kats or peanut butter cups).

   posted by Janix on 10-26-2007 at 10:45 am

2. My neighborhood has few kids, and the kids we have apparently don’t even bother going house-to-house in our neighborhood, so I haven’t developed my own strategy yet. My parents, however, always had a really nice method. They’d buy about 6 different bulk bags of different kinds of candy (one extra bag of Tootsie Rolls just for our family), and little Halloween treat bags. My mom would stuff each bag lovingly with an equal variety of good treats. The kids liked it so much, sometimes we’d get repeat offenders (i.e. “Trick or Treat! I’m a ghost under a sheet!” then, “Trick or Treat! I took off my sheet, now I’m a pirate!”) which never really fooled my mom.

   posted by Molly on 10-26-2007 at 10:51 am

3. The more enthused the kid, the more enthusiastic we are about giving out the goods. Big smile and decent costume = 1 big ADULT-sized handful of the yummies. Extra points for creative, not-store-bought costume. Half-hearted “trick-or-treat” = a few candies. Teenagers with no costumes and a pillowcase = small handful… hey, I don’t want my house egged!
   (By the way, teenagers, with or without costumes, are not meant for trick-or-treating… one kid last year was talking on his cell phone when he came to our door! Not really the Halloween spirit!)

   posted by Flipper on 10-26-2007 at 11:16 am

4. My strategy is to be a cat lady living in a big ol house with a quarter mile driveway. Make ‘em work for it, if they can find it, which they never attempt anyway.
   *sigh*

   posted by LorinJuliet on 10-26-2007 at 11:17 am

5. I find my neighborhood lacks Halloweeners each year. I think last year I had 5 kids stop by total. Unfortunately, I have a sweet tooth and tend to buy way too much candy. This year so far… 4 bags snickers, 3 bags Nestle’s Crunch, 2 bags of 1000grand and 3 Musketeers. So I have a very full candy cauldron. Fortunately, I also know the candy is probably bad for me, so try to get rid of it.

   Usually, the first kid or two gets a ton. The next set I worry it will be an odd year and I’ll not have enough candy, so I give a little less. As the night progresses, and I realize I will have few kids again, I start increasing.

   The last kid, well… let’s just say I am probably extremely disliked by that kids partents as I tend to give almost 1/2 of what’s left.

   posted by Chris on 10-26-2007 at 11:22 am

6. One of my neighbors growing up was a dentist. He and his wife handed out apples and TOOTHBRUSHES.

   posted by Lindsay on 10-26-2007 at 11:22 am

7. In the apartment, in my study (usually anyway)– with a note on the front door “NO CANDY”. Might as well say “GO AWAY I HATE KIDS” which is apt and true. Yeah, I was a “beggar” — we did our T&T on 10/30, which was called “Beggars’ Night” where I’m from — but I don’t want to be disturbed. Crabby Appleton. Yup. Hey, you kids, get off my landlord’s lawn!

   posted by WizardBoy on 10-26-2007 at 11:27 am

8. Our wealthy next door neighbours (as kids) would give out those giant Gobstoppers that had 13 layers and could barely fit in your mouth. It was definitely the talk of the subdivision!

   posted by Kate on 10-26-2007 at 11:28 am

9. Higgins – “The Fruit Peddler” – you have “At worst, you get a weird lecture about how candy is better than fruit.” Is that supposed to be “how FRUIT is better than CANDY?” or am I just reading it wrong?

   posted by caitlen315 on 10-26-2007 at 11:30 am

10. First, everyone in my family makes Chili on halloween and, of course, when the kids come to the door we approach with the pot of chili and ladle and tell `em to open their bags. Some of the reactions are priceless.

    Anyway, when I was a kid, the best was getting full-size bars candy bars. Now that I give out candy, I found buying full-size bars (in bulk from Sams Club or Costco) and giving one to each kid is less expensive than giving out handfuls of mini’s.

    Also, like flipper, we keep a few mini’s on hand to give teenagers who have no business going out, but we still give them a little to keep our house from getting egged.

    posted by It's good to be the King on 10-26-2007 at 11:31 am

11. There is a house near where I used to live, and every Halloween they’d wheel their cotton candy machine (!!!) out in the front yard & give good-sized portions to all of the trick or treaters! :)

    posted by caitlen315 on 10-26-2007 at 11:32 am

12. Caitlen315 – oops, you caught me in a typo. Fixed!

    posted by Higgins on 10-26-2007 at 11:36 am

13. We live on a road which, in a quarter-mile stretch, has maybe six occupied houses. We’ve gotten one set of trick-or-treaters in thirteen years, and that was my friend with her little brother.

    On the topic of teenagers, I agree that you get to an age where you are too old to trick-or-treat. I still dress up, but I hand out candy instead of taking it; I’ve camped out at a friend’s house in a large housing development the last two years, and that was more fun to me.

    posted by scoobnut on 10-26-2007 at 11:37 am

14. We are known as the Nerds Rope house. Kids LOVE us.

    posted by Jill on 10-26-2007 at 11:40 am

15. Hmmmm. . . .

    The Phat Phree just did a piece on this a couple of days ago, eerily familiar… I’m just sayin… Google “phat phree halloween ultimate eleven”

    posted by John on 10-26-2007 at 11:48 am

16. I leave an empty plastic bowl outside the front door and then go to the local pub. Everyone is forced to assume some greedy kid took all the candy before they got there.

    posted by dim wit on 10-26-2007 at 11:49 am

17. Trick or Treaters have kind of trickled off since most of the neighborhood kids have grown up and moved off (including me!). My parents are the type who hand out whole candy bars. But since barely anyone ever visits anymore, they end up giving all the extras to me.

    It’s kind of like passive Trick or Treating, in its way.

    I’ll make sure to pick up some treats to hand out at my apartment – I have gotten a few knocks in years past.

    As a kid, my favorite house was always the one with the guy who would jump out of the bushes in a scary mask, then hand over a huge handful of candy! Classic!

    posted by Katherine on 10-26-2007 at 11:52 am

18. Anyone have a good strategy if you’re not going to be home? We love Halloween, but this year we’ll be at a friend’s house for a “fancy Halloween dinner.” I always thought it was incredibly lame (and naive) to leave a bowl with a sign saying “take one,” but what else can you do if you’re not going to be home but don’t want to stiff the kids?

    posted by Eric on 10-26-2007 at 11:52 am

19. I live in a house split into 3 apartments and my door is on the side down a little allley. My first year there I made a sign and put allt kinds of spooky lights and such but only 8 kids came! I was so jealous of my upstairs neighbor who has the front door. I could here a ton of kids up there. The last two before I shut down for the night got the “I don’t need 80 little chocolate bars around the house tempting me” treatment. I split the bowl between them and went inside to pout.

    posted by Lisa on 10-26-2007 at 11:55 am

20. There was a talented, artistic woman in my neighborhood when I was a kid who would decorate her very big house on a hill as a haunted house. She’d dress as a witch, and open her door into a dark, spooky front hall with genuinely scary sounds in the background. We all knew her – she was the mother of schoolmates of ours – but when she’d tell us (every year) that we had to step inside and get our treats from a bowl behind the door, only the bravest of us could bring ourselves to do it. To me, THAT’S Halloween!

    posted by Betsy on 10-26-2007 at 11:59 am

21. One more:
    When my husband was a kid, there was a family that gave out full-sized chocolate bars with a coin taped to each one – anything from a penny to a half dollar. The trick was that they’d put them coin-side down on a glass table, and the kids could pick whichever one they wanted but were not allowed to crouch down to look up through the glass to find the biggest coin. The way my husband tells it, the kids (including him) would stand there for great lengths of time trying to somehow figure out which one to pick while overcoming the almost irresistible temptation to try to peek.

    posted by Betsy on 10-26-2007 at 12:16 pm

22. In the last two cities I’ve lived in kids just don’t do door to door anymore. There are community events or neighborhood parties. Last year I was sitting at home and a mini van pulled into the driveway and a four year old knocked on the door. First kid in 7 years. I gave him a dollar… it was that or a pop tart.

    posted by Trevor on 10-26-2007 at 12:16 pm

23. In my neighborhood, we had one mom who would let us choose between a handful of candy or 3 lightsticks (choice of colors!). There was also an old lady who painstakingly taped a nickel to a piece of orange paper.
    Since so few children still trick-or-treat in my neighborhood, my mother gives out huge (and often multiple) handfuls of candy.
    Once, though, my dad and I were attacked by a guy raking his leaves (at night??) calling us devil-worshipers and stuff. My dad got MAD and told him to let us have our fun and stay inside if he didn’t believe in the holiday. Even dressed as a hippie, my dad could scare the crap out of anyone bothering his little girl (who was a zebra).

    posted by Lea on 10-26-2007 at 12:17 pm

24. I am the ‘The Monty Hall Mom’ except I am not a mom but a poor kid at heart who remembers loving the candy and never getting enough! So I use my hands and give out two large handfuls to each kid.

    HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

    posted by InkdGemini on 10-26-2007 at 12:20 pm

25. This has been so fun to read!
    Our current neighboorhood is quite barron on Halloween which is sad; we have some lovely neighbors. The upshot is our two boys are welcomed with enthusiasm and extreme candy generosity. They only need to visit about seven houses before their containers (one jack-o-lantern and one cauldron) are too heavy to continue.
    Oddly, if you venture 2-6 blocks south of our house, there are swarms of trick-or-treaters – some even come on busses. A friend of ours in that area says she buys $100 worth of candy each year and always runs out before 8:00 pm. By contrast (and a somewhat lame suggestion for Eric in #18) last year I set out nine individual cups (the idea being “Please take one”)of Wonka candy (BottleCaps, Nerds, Laffy Taffy, SweetTarts,…) on our front steps while we took our boys trick-or-treating and to a party. When we came home several hours later, all nine cups were still as we left them.

    posted by elizabutt on 10-26-2007 at 12:21 pm

26. I have no problem with teenagers trick or treating as long as they have a GOOD costume. We usually get a few teenagers that put some real time and effort into making awesome costumes, and I think that’s better than going out causing trouble. But the ones that aren’t dressed up are just jerks.

    Last year we had so many kids we ran out of candy in the first hour. I want to be able to give candy to all of them, but I’m not made of money either, so I’ll probably try to get a bunch of bulk things like sweettarts and dum dums, which are good treats and I can afford to give more than one to each kid.

    posted by Amber on 10-26-2007 at 12:23 pm

27. We used to enjoy getting trick or treaters… but in recent years it’s become kind of a drag.

    One year we made candy apples… and got a lot of angry parents ticked off at us because we were giving away homemade treats instead of prepackaged (and hence safer) candy.

    Nowadays if we get kids we give them a handful of candy each. The candy bowl stays well away from the door, we’ve had too many grab-n-runs. More often then not we get high schoolers or sad-sack 20-somethings dressed in street clothes saying, “Gimme candy”… at this we all mercilessly make fun of them until they go away. The ones that stick it out get one tootsie roll each.

    I’m seriously considering doing what one of my friends did… he got so sick of trick or treaters that one year he handed out chick pamplets on the evils of halloween to every kid that came to his door. He claims not to have had a tricker treater since then.

    I guess I’ve lost the halloween spirit…

    posted by Jason! on 10-26-2007 at 12:27 pm

28. I grew up in a huge trailer park as a kid. Even people from the nearby towns would come to the park because you could hit so many homes in such a small area. It was not uncommon for me to collect three pillow cases of candy on Halloween. My parents always kept track of the number of kids, an average of 500 a year. Everyone of them got a treat bag with at least 5 assorted candies in it. Come around 10:30 when my parents and the neighbors started running out (it was usually older kids anyway at that point) I use to get so frightened because the trailer would get egged and soaped. It was like that every year.

    posted by Rekkid on 10-26-2007 at 12:28 pm

29. One year we gave out little snack size packets of goldfish crackers, and the kids seemed to like them. I’m a big fan of handing out all the “good” candy early on, when the tiny kids are out, and saving the dum dums for later when the high school bums are out. I keep a box of Milk-Bones by the door too. Anyone who’s taller than I am, or has a beard gets a milk bone. If you’re old enough to shave, you’re old enough to buy your own candy. Now get off my lawn, or I’ll untie the dog.

    posted by Maggie on 10-26-2007 at 12:29 pm

30. The coolest giveaway I’ve seen so far was when my then toddler (as Yoda – homemade, of course) went trick-or-treating for the first time. One man gave him candy, then snapped a Poloroid and gave it to us. Expensive, but cool. We still have the picture to laugh at eight years later.

    posted by elizabutt on 10-26-2007 at 12:29 pm

31. theese here is a desi indian house… give somasa….

    posted by fatboy on 10-26-2007 at 12:30 pm

32. I was a kid during the razorblades in the treats scare of the mid eighties.

    There were three people in our neighborhood that would give out whole fruit, usually apples and we were never allowed to actually eat them because our parents were convinced that anyone who gave out fruit on Halloween was mentally unhinged.

    Though I’m sure none of our neighbors were interested in harming little kids, fruit on Trick or Treat, just plain wrong in my opinion. So are Smarties or Fizzers for that matter. Those are cop out candies.

    posted by Thomas on 10-26-2007 at 12:32 pm

33. Can’t fathom trick-or-treating as a teenager. It was so uncool after, like, fifth grade! One definitely did not want to get caught out by a classmate on door/candy duty. Too, too humiliating.

    posted by Megan on 10-26-2007 at 12:33 pm

34. I’m pretty generous. I buy the good stuff: Peanut Butter cups, m&ms, mini milky ways, etc.

    As long as I get a pleasant “trick or treat” out of everyone, you’ll get a nice handful. If you don’t say anything, just push your bag at me, you’ll get a look. And if you STILL don’t say “trick or treat,” I usually say something along the lines of, “Aren’t you supposed to say something first?”

    I do a wee bit of costume chatter, mostly with the younger kids. I get it with the older kids–they don’t care what they’re wearing, they just want the loot.

    posted by Jenny on 10-26-2007 at 12:34 pm

35. the best fun I had giving out treats was one year when the stream of kids had wound down, and I dumped the entire bowl of candy into one kids bag, which filled it to the top. He stood there for the longest time, looking down through his mask (perhaps taking in the spiritual experience), finally said “thanks” and skipped down the driveway.

    posted by Nipper on 10-26-2007 at 12:38 pm

36. suggestion for if you’re not home:

    instead of just a note that says “please take only one,” make a note that has a pair of eyes, and says “You think we’re not home…. But we’re watching you!” slightly creepy, but there have actually been studies that people are more honest when confronted by a pair of eyes (even just drawn) then when they think they’re truely alone.

    It’d be interesting to compare, like with a neighbor or something. yes, I’m a dork.

    I’ll probably get 3 kids total this year. I think I’ll do full size candy bars. I live in a small apartment complex full of seniors and weirdos. not much candy to be had. I still may carve a pumpkin, but just for myself.

    posted by bcj on 10-26-2007 at 12:48 pm

37. John – wow, I hadn’t seen that Phat Phree thing. It is kind of eery, though they took it a lot further than I did.

    posted by Higgins on 10-26-2007 at 12:51 pm

38. We have one neighbour that gives out comic books. Superhero genre to boys, Archie to girls. There’s always a line up at his place. I always wondered where he got them.

    posted by Irene on 10-26-2007 at 1:01 pm

39. My grandmother and I have always fixed tiny “grab bags” for trick-or-treaters. We get together a night or two before Halloween, and make the bags while having coffee and a chat. We stuff each one with 3 or 4 pieces of “dime-store” candy, as she calls it, and one really nice piece of chocolate. The kids love to take the bags and be surprised with what they get! Having bags also lessens their temptation to take more than one, and it seems more like they’re getting a present!

    posted by Kathryn on 10-26-2007 at 1:04 pm

40. I also had a dentist in my neighborhood who gave out toothbrushes every year.

    posted by Brian on 10-26-2007 at 1:04 pm

41. I live in a small apartment complex of 16 units. Every year for the past ten years that I’ve lived there each tenant contributes candy into a giant pot and the apartment manager then divides up all the candy. She then makes up 100 individual bags with an assortment of candy that is handed out on Halloween.
    This keeps kids from having to go door-to-door and takes away the worries of some kid falling down the stairs in the complex.

    posted by Niekon on 10-26-2007 at 1:05 pm

42. Eric, if you have neighbors you get along with, here’s our tactic: If someone has other plans or needs to go out, he leaves his candy supply with a neighbor who’s also giving out candy. Then it’s like, “Here you go, Happy Halloween, and this one’s from my neighbor.”
    We are lucky to always get hundreds of kids. I buy good candy, all the same kind, good-sized pieces but not full-size. (I have a discount source, 99 Cents Only stores.) I have it divided into several bowls inside the house and I make myself comfortable on the porch with a bowl at a time. I put the single piece of candy into each bag myself. If they ask for more, I tell them we have hundreds of kids, so I need to save it for the others. I love seeing the kids on Halloween. We’re almost the only people on our street with a real jack o’lantern.

    posted by kittymama on 10-26-2007 at 1:08 pm

43. I grew up on the beach in Maine so my friends and I would start early and hit our old neighbors who had mile long driveways first (They always had home made stuff…which ROCKED) then my mom would drive a group of us into town.

    Three years in a row one house would do an Adam Family routine and scare people who came to the door. When they moved everyone thought it was a part of their joke and would wait on the stairs for a long time before moving on hoping they were still there.

    This year I’ll be passing out candy for my parents while they take my little brother and sister out (8 and 10). They live in the suberbs of WI.
    Im planning on giving candy to the cute kids and creative teens and a blast from a super soaker filled with ice water to the idiot teenagers who dont dress up.

    posted by Diane on 10-26-2007 at 1:12 pm

44. I only give candy to kids with costumes. if you are a teenager and wearing regular clothing, you have to impress me to get candy. surprisingly we haven’t been egged! this year we won’t be handing out candy because we are having a halloween party at work and I’d rather be there!

    posted by sarakenobi on 10-26-2007 at 1:18 pm

45. I am the crazy overboard twenty-something in a neighborhood full of young families – I get somewhere in the hundreds of children at my door, and I love it!

    I give out small handfuls to average costumes, big handfuls to fabulous costumes (or particularly polite/adorable children) and rolls of Smarties to teenagers – UNLESS said teenager is clearly escorting their younger sibling and not complaining about it – then they get extra.

    I also keep a handful of King Size candy bars for children I know. Their parents just LOVE me for it. ;)

    posted by Megan on 10-26-2007 at 1:19 pm

46. I have a real dilema this year, my entertainment room is in the basement far away from the from door, so I’m either going to be making laps up and down the stairs or I’ve gotta come up with another solution. It may not be an issue as I live in a very conservative neighborhood, and I expect most of the kids won’t go trick or treating as its an occult practice (sheesh).

    I will however buy a bundle of good candy and I give a handfull to any brave soul who rings the doorbell… and who can wait for me to run up the stairs this year.

    posted by Scott on 10-26-2007 at 1:32 pm

47. I always take extra care every year to put together treat bags that have stickers, pencils, toys and of course candy! I love when kids get excited at the prospect of getting a huge bag stuffed with goodies. I’ve even gone gender and age specific as to make sure the really young ones don’t get toys with small parts or choking hazards. I still remember the houses in my old neighborhood that took the time to make an impression when it came to holidays, I just hope that I can make those kkind of memories for the children in my new neighborhood.

    posted by Talula Blue on 10-26-2007 at 1:34 pm

48. My strategy this year is the same every year since I got dogs that want to eat all strangers that ring the doorbell. I unhook the doorbell. Seems mean, but my dogs scare the crap out of most kids when I did try to give out candy once, and even when I turn out all the lights and the front porch light, those kids don’t seem to get it and ring the doorbell anyway…

    posted by demilu on 10-26-2007 at 1:49 pm

49. I put out a big empty box and post the following sign on the door:

    “HAPPY HALLOWEEN
    Welcome Kiddies!
    Leave all of your candy in the box below,
    go quietly, and no one will get hurt.”

    posted by Sorcerer Mickey on 10-26-2007 at 1:52 pm

50. Scott- an entire neighborhood full of non-Halloween?! Where do you live?

    In college I lived in an old house that had been previously split into four different apartments. When I live there, we re-converted it back to one house. There were still 4+ doors to the house, and children would come to every one of them. We always needed tons of candy and multiple hander-outers.

    It was amusing to open a different door to a kid you’d already given candy to and see the confused, yet “may I have more anyway” face.

    posted by WarTiger on 10-26-2007 at 2:16 pm

51. I give out one full-sized candy bar per kid. If I know the costume, I’ll probably say something about it. If a kid doesn’t say “trick-or-treat”, I’ll usually stare at them for a minute then give them the candy anyway.

    I don’t find it odd that teens trick-or-treat – I’m a teen myself. I’d trick-or-treat, but I’m a very picky eater and my parents usually eat most of my candy. So I just stay home and give out candy to everyone else. I do think the teens that don’t dress up are stupid, however.

    posted by Misty on 10-26-2007 at 2:31 pm

52. Ugh, when my parents (well it was my stepfather’s idea) did give something out they gave out those awful Jack Chick tracts to the trick-or-treaters, one year without any candy at all and another at least with lollipops (the other years we were forced to go to church to watch a movie about the evils of Halloween.)

    My husband and I have a tradition of going out to eat on Halloween, so we won’t actually be home; although, now that we have our own house this will probably be the last year that we don’t hand out candy. We handed out candy for my dad at his house once, and we both dressed up in kind of scary costumes and didn’t intentionally scare the kids, but that’s what usually happened. I think we only gave the kids one little candy bar or something, but that was because my dad only had enough for us to do that. I haven’t figured out what my strategy for next year will be yet.

    posted by Kristy on 10-26-2007 at 2:38 pm

53. I’m giving away those awful Bananna Peanut Butter Cups Resses’ made in honor of Elvis. I had to find something that I wouldn’t eat up before the trick-or-treaters even had a chance!

    I do really creepy/gruesome makeup, resolve to be all silent and spooky, and then end up feeling bad and gushing over the tyke’s get-ups. (Perhaps scarier than saying nothing?) I’m not a very good frightener.

    And I give out about 3 peices to each kid. I’m about fairness, but I’m not stingy, either.

    posted by frumpiefox on 10-26-2007 at 3:30 pm

54. I’m going as the Energizer Bunny. I always go with my friend who lives in an older neighborhood- way less traffic. Also, there’s always nifty candy.

    posted by Mal on 10-26-2007 at 3:35 pm

55. Depends.
    Small kids get the good stuff, such as full size candy. I love to go to the local dollar store and get the movelty stuff such as light up suckers, gross gummy stuff, and other candy toy combos.
    Kids over 13 get a handful of candy.
    Kids over 17 and adults, get a strange look and a “sorry out of candy” I always have a sign handy when I run out, so that I can have peace and quiet after it gets too late.

    posted by Patrick B on 10-26-2007 at 3:36 pm

56. I know that this may not be a stategy exactly but I will never forget the Halloween where my father created a haunted house so incredibly frightening that noone would approach our house; kids or adults. That is, until late in the evening when a little girl of about 6 years old wearing an angel costume had the courage to walk all alone passed all the bloody dummies hanging from the trees, passed all the body parts strewn all over the sidewalk, and through all the spooky sound affects. When she climbed the steps and gave her “Trick or Treat”, my father dumped the entire bowl of candy into her bag. It must have been 10 pounds worth. The look on her face and that of her parents when she showed them what she had gotten was priceless.

    posted by Rayzor on 10-26-2007 at 5:13 pm

57. I’m going out that night, so I’ll be leaving a big bowl of assorted hard candies (dumdums, blow pops, butterscotch ect) outside the door. no stupid rules, I live in an apartment and I doubt we’ll get many, so they can take as much as they want!

    posted by moonablaze on 10-26-2007 at 5:35 pm

58. I grew up in a very small town. My father was a teacher at the only high school. He’d stay home and do candy duty while we terrorized the neighborhood. He’d scoop up a handful of gravel from the driveway and hide it in the bottom of the bowl of candy. Whenever someone high school age came by, they’d get a couple candies and a couple of rocks. If they were especially bad students, they’d get all rocks.

    I have friends give out cold cans of generic soda to their visitors. A nice treat since it’s still usually pretty warm here in Florida.

    posted by pam on 10-26-2007 at 5:48 pm

59. I think it’s a blast to hang out at the door handing out the candy. We usually get a lot of kids going door to door in our neighborhood, and our house is well known for being generous with the goodies. My eldest son is too old for trick or treating, so he’s planning on dressing up as a scarecrow, flopping himself on a bench in front of the porch, & jumping up to scare kids when they get close enough. He’s done that a couple of times already, and it’s almost worth setting up a video camera to catch some of the reactions!

    Scott: I think you may be surprised how many of your neighbors will have their kiddies out & about on Halloween. We conservatives aren’t the sticks in mud you might imagine. ;0)

    posted by Dave on 10-26-2007 at 6:36 pm

60. My husband loves the little kids in costumes on Halloween and sseing them at the door. I dress up as a witch but am a nice one :-) It’s my headless man on the front porch with spiders climbing out of his neck and a jack o lantern head held in his lap that the really young trick or treaters have a problem getting past to ring the bell.

    To each kid we hand out a couple of pieces of mini candy bars, one mini pack of micro popcorn and a “Halloween” pencil. Kids love it and we get repeats. We’re generous to a fault as bribery to keep them from skate boarding on our property and playing in the ravine next to our house or as an apology for when we yell at them for doing so…

    My favorite treat was a full sized Payday bar from an old lady in the neighborhood. Sometimes we’d change costumes and go back to get another one before the night was over but she usually turned the lights out early and we knew better than to ring the bell if the house was dark.

    posted by T-belle on 10-26-2007 at 7:13 pm

61. Nobody comes to our house, despite the Jack-o-Lantern. It’s on a hill, and the houses are kinda far apart. Still, I buy candy. One year, I bought a big bag of Snickers bars. My dog ate every bit of it, wrappers and all! He somehow lived for several years afterward.

    posted by Miss Cellania on 10-26-2007 at 11:17 pm

62. At 48 Im just a big kid I dress in costume decorate with inviting fall traditionals (pumpkins, haystacks & corn stalks) but my huge front lawn is covered w/ gouls and headstones w/ bodyparts coming out of the ground.
    We love when cars slow down to look at our displays. On halloween we get every trick-or-treater in the area (we live in a rural area and I hope the gas prices wont deterr the parents) but year after year they come in droves. This year I am an old crone witch I sit on a chair in front of my house w/ a like-dummy sitting next to me When possible I stay absolutely still and then move just at the right time to give them that thrill. I do take it easy on the little ones. I go through approx. $100 worth of goodies and its worth every dime to see their faces…long live halloween!

    posted by sandy gioia on 10-27-2007 at 7:23 am

63. Miss Celania, it was probably the wrappers that protected the dog. One year we were dogsitting a Shih Tzu in our home just before Halloween, and the smell of the little Almond Joys drove him right round the bend. I kept moving them to where I thought he couldn’t reach them, and then I’d find one in his bed, where he cherished it like a teddy bear.

    So on the morning of November 1, I’m walking the doglet and he takes a poop that contains a whole candy bar still in its intact wrapper. I thanked him for disposing of it before I was to return him to his owner later that day.

    And to answer Higgins’ other question: This year and last year, fun-size $100,000 Bars. Must give chocolate.

    posted by kittymama on 10-27-2007 at 9:03 am

64. Did I grow up in the only place on EARTH that requires kids to tell jokes to get candy??

    posted by becky on 10-27-2007 at 1:00 pm

65. I never get trick-or-treaters in my neighborhood, but one year I was visiting my parents on Halloween, and remembered that they get oodles of ‘em.

    I dressed as the Tooth Fairy and sat myself on the stoop with a giant bowl of candy. (;

    I got one group of teenagers in plainclothes, holding out pillowcases. They stared at me, and I stared back. They shook their pillowcases, and I smiled. One looked at the candy and at me, and I smiled. Another tried to reach for the candy, and I said, “Ah, can I help you gentlemen?”

    Mr. Grabby said, “Can we have some candy?”

    I replied that there was something I’d need to hear, first.

    “Please, can we have some candy???” was the response.

    I acknowledged that it was good to hear young men using their please and thank-yous, but as it was Halloween, there were some special words that I needed to hear.

    They all looked at me, as if to ask, “You aren’t really going to make us say it, are you, lady?”

    I just smiled.

    Around this time, a queue had started forming at the base of the driveway, watching this little exchange. Suddenly, a wee tiny fairy princess burst through the gaggle of adolescents, and held out a plastic pumpkin and exclaimed, “Twikotweet!!!”

    I gave her two handfuls of candy!

    The boys looked at me, and I looked at them… and then they finally mumbled, “Trickortreat….”

    I gave them each a Dum-Dum.

    They turned and started to cut across the lawn. I yelled, “Don’t cut across the lawn – there’s a sinkhole in the middle from the sewer work!”

    They cut across it, anyway, and one of them tripped and fell into the sinkhole.

    All the parents at the end of the driveway laughed at them.

    posted by Mel on 10-27-2007 at 1:41 pm

66. Jason! said: “I’m seriously considering doing what one of my friends did… he got so sick of trick or treaters that one year he handed out chick pamplets on the evils of halloween to every kid that came to his door.”

    Last year, two middle-aged women came to my door, grabbed fistfuls of candy from my bowl and then handed me that same Chick tract on how Halloween is evil. As they walked away, I shouted after them that they certainly weren’t shy about stuffing themselves with the Devil’s candy while prostelytizing.

    posted by bibli0phile on 10-28-2007 at 9:45 am

67. THANK YOU, BECKY (#64)!! I have read every single post, all of which are great by the way, but until yours have not read a single thing about having kids do a “trick” or tell a joke to get candy!! Throughout my many years of T.O.T.-ing, I was almost always asked for a “trick” and I came prepared, usually with a lame joke about Dracula or ghosts or something. When I crossed over from T.O.T.-er to candy-hander-outer, I expected the same; I would hear “Trick or treat?” from some adorable kid, and would say, “Well, what’s your trick?”. I was shocked to find out that at least 50% of the time, if not more, the kid had NO IDEA what I was talking about! They would look at me with a blank expression, not knowing what to do! I would give them a small handful of candy anyways, but would shoot the parent/guardian a semi-dirty look, as if to say, “For shame! Don’t you know that a trick/joke is part of the deal of this holiday?” I will say that some kids are still hip to this notion, and come prepared with some adorable jokes. And then, we have the plain-clothes teens….sigh….if they don’t have a joke or SOMETHING to impress me, they’ll get maybe one lousy treat, but only as anti-egging insurance….

    posted by Erin S. on 10-28-2007 at 2:44 pm

68. it’s sad to hear how negative everyone is about older trick-or-treaters. if teenagers wear a good costume and say “trick-or-treat” and are enthusiastic, what’s wrong with them trick-or-treating? i went out every year until i graduated high school and never, not even once got hassled for being too old. i love halloween. it’s my favourite holiday. not all teenagers are lazy slackers looking for free candy.

    posted by oldblackhen on 10-28-2007 at 5:07 pm

69. I live in a somewhat rural area and we have a long driveway, so if we do get any trick-or-treaters (most is one a year, and always kids we know), they generally will get the entire bag because we know we won’t see any more. Also, the local tavern is a great place for kids to get lots of candy.

    posted by Katie B. on 10-28-2007 at 6:19 pm

70. We normal give a few pieces per kid, or let them choose a few. We also seem to get way more candy than the number of kids that visit. By the time 9:00 rolls around we’re normal ready to settle into a movie. The last kid that comes gets whatever is left. Even if it’s half of what we bought! The most interesting things that I got were: A full size candy bar, a pencil, and a 12oz. soda of my choosing. They seemed to have about 30 cases of soda!

    posted by Emily on 10-28-2007 at 6:55 pm

71. I have a very meticulous manner of handing out candy that I have dubbed the “Judge Dredd Method”. It is named such because, when it comes to halloween candy, I AM THE LAW!

    You get three kinds of candy:

    Larger candies like Snickers, Reeces Cups, Skittles
    Mid sized candies like small Nestle Crunch bars and little Twix
    and small, abysmal candies like generic bubble gum or diabetic sugar-free lollipops with those ring-shaped sticks.

    Then what you do is you decide who has good, mediocre or terrible/non-existant costumes or bad attitudes.

    For example:

    a little kid dressed like a spider – that’s fine, you get a good candy

    a 10 year old dressed up in a generic villain-from-scream costume – you get a smaller-sized twix.

    a 17 year old dressed in their street clothes frowning at you to give them candy – enjoy your diabetic lollipop.

    posted by Christian on 10-29-2007 at 7:39 am

72. I live in a neiborhood with few children but their are some around. This year we will be giving out cans of soda again probably pepsi. We like this because it makes the children work a little and maybe burn a few calories. Then they may be more deserving of the sugars they desire. I do this for another reason, I alway visited a home in my parents neihborhood that still does this and I always thought that it was funny. Plus you get oten get thirsty out walking around.

    posted by Aric on 10-29-2007 at 10:51 am

73. Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. The first few years after we bought our house, I sat by the door with a bowl of candy desperately waiting for kids to arrive. I felt like Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin, as no kids came.

    Unfortunately I was one of only two houses that faced a busy street in between two seperate subdivisions that the kids rarely came out of. So I started decorating my house and adding 1500 wats of halogen lights shining up into the tres like a search light to attract them from a distance.

    Finally I got a group of kids and their parents who had seen the lights and decided to investigate. Wheeeee!

    I handed each kid a huge 3/4 pound candy bar and told them to remember me and to to tell anyone they saw on the streets about me. It worked and I got a couple more groups that year.

    Nowdays the front of my house is a big cemetary full of tombstones and crosses. I still use the halogen lights, and a couple big giant propane powered torches to lure the kids in, and a sign goes out in front of my house that says – don’t miss us on Halloween.

    That gets my 12-15 wandering kids each year + the kids of friends and relatives who know I still I sit by the door with my stack of giant candy bars, hoping more kids show up.

    Fernando

    posted by Fernando on 10-29-2007 at 11:27 am

74. In St. Louis, trick or treaters are supposed to tell a joke before getting treats. This really confused me when I first moved her. Why are these kids telling me a joke… Glad I didn’t have to work for my candy when I was a kid.

    I think Trick or Treating has an age limit, unless a teen is chaperoning younger siblings. Chaperones deserve extra candy.

    posted by Stephanie on 10-31-2007 at 1:01 pm

75. We give out goody bags b/c of greedy adults. I don’t mind adults or teens trick or treating, but a few years ago, a greedy grandmother (I’m not kidding) burnt me with her cigarette shoving her hand in the bowl. She took half the bowl and her grandkids only got a piece each. So we started making goody bags with candy, rings, and toys. Now, I can give out a bag to everyone (no age limit) and not have to worry about cigarettes or rude adults. I do have 2 different types of bags, though. Good bags for kids and adults with costumes and lousy candy for adults and teens that just grabbed a Walmart bag and came up to my door in street clothes. We had 40 people, mostly kids this year.

    posted by Stacy on 11-2-2007 at 3:55 pm

76. Long before “Pirates of the Carribbean” came out, we would decorate the house as a pirate ship, dress up as pirates, and hand out “treasure” – bead necklaces, toy rings, gold-foil wrapped chocolate coins, toy cars, whistles, etc.

    One year, a group of 10-12 year olds came by and you’d have thought we were giving out real treasure from their reactions. As they left, one of the younger boys hung back, and (once his friends were out of earshot) shyly asked if he could have a ring for his girlfriend. Delightful!

    posted by Desert Grrl on 11-6-2007 at 9:02 am

77. My Dad will not give candy to teenagers. One of my sisters friends said that her mother would give cheap candy to kids with cheap costumes, and she would let them SEE that they were getting the cheapies.

    posted by Sara on 10-22-2008 at 2:02 pm

78. I have watched the Door for my Mom the last few years, and we have had one little girl come to the door, and no other kids, every year my Mom gets a ton of Candy “Just in case” but then it is just the little girl, I usually give her more Candy than what her Parents are probably happy with. I don’t get it, because my Mom lives in a Town House, that was prime T or Ting because it was closer to the next house than regular houses. So I guess I have been the house that was all ready that no one came to. Mehhh more Candy for me.

    posted by Mat on 10-22-2008 at 5:45 pm

79. I never had to say a joke or do a trick, but that’s a good idea. People don’t have the spirit anymore.

    As a kid, other than full size candy bars, my favorite thing to receive was those little plastic juice hugs, with the foil top. My town was rural, spread out, and built on a hill, so it was good to have something to drink on the trek.

    The mentioning of those “religious chick” pamphlets gave me the idea of making a “Flying Spaghetti Monster” version. Proselytize this! Maybe next year!

    posted by Scott on 10-22-2008 at 7:22 pm

80. My husband and teenage daughter go all out to decorate the front yard. Couple of years ago, when he took her and the little guy back to their mother’s, I actually gor creeped out sitting there to hand out candy – we live on a very dark street. Now they live with us. Now, my son wants to go as a stormtrooper, so we bought his costume this year. (Last year his mother had him and sent him out in street clothes. He was 9. His sister wore his football uniform.) Anyway this year she is making her own costume – she’s a goth ninja vampire (don’t ask, I don’t know either). She is going to take him out, so I hope the people in our neighborhood give her something too. Afterward he and I will go to my parents’ for “scary” movies, and my husband and daughter will go work at the local haunted trail.

    That said, I’ll hand out candy based on whether the kids bothered or not. And anyone obviously chaperoning gets extra. Parents around here stay on the driveway and send the little ones up. I give the little ones extra and tell them in a loud voice, “make sure you tell your (Daddy, Mommy) that the extra is for them, for bringing you out!) I don’t care if they’re dressed up. When I was a kid, it was always on the 31st and we started around 6 PM, ended when we were tired. None of this two-hours-the-day-before stuff.

    posted by Lea on 10-23-2008 at 10:39 am

81. I really don’t do well with socializing with children, but I want to see the costumes. So I’ll chill on the couch with a big bowl of yummies and wait for the bell. I plan to give out the stuff I always liked getting, fun-sized reese’s and snickers and other candy bars. And there is no “one is the limit” with me. I just dig and dish out. But, I live in an apartment complex, so I don’t expect to see many kids. :( oh well. (I’m making vampire cupcakes for a Halloween party that’s sure to be a blast)
    ReCaptcha: Canvas feet….hmmmm…gives me artistic ideas

    posted by Chelle on 10-23-2008 at 1:43 pm

82. My single annual rule is “no gum.” In prior years, when we were flush, I always gave away chocolate of some kind. One particularly good year, I wanted to give the coolest thing they would get. I bought giant Pixie Sticks – they’re about two feet long. I eagerly anticipated the delighted looks I would get from my trick-or-treaters, and was deflated when their expressions were more like mystified. It didn’t occur to me that these things would be a pain to haul around all evening. I also usually choose something better suited to the really young trick-or-treaters, like halloween theme cookies. This year is really tight, so it’s going to be Smarties – my favorite when I was a kid. How many? One apiece until it looks like we’ll be stuck with a lot left over, then we’ll give them out by the handfuls.

    posted by Kerry on 10-23-2008 at 4:27 pm

83. I love halloween and my favorite thing to get was always the paper goody bags! We fill goody bags with candy & little toys. We also buy the little Play-doh cans at BJ’s and give those to the little kids. We decorate outside with a graveyard and black arch & a pumpkin patch so we tend to get over a hundred kids but we really enjoy it! Also this year we have the halloween potato chips, cheese curls & pretzels. My husbands favorite thing to give the kids is the gummi body parts that come in the coffin!

    posted by gina on 10-23-2008 at 5:46 pm

84. There’s nothing wrong with older trick or treaters as long as they make an effort. You’re 16 or 17 and your idea of a costume is jeans and a black hoodie with a ski mask and I’m waiting for you to ask for my wallet not some candy.

    We’re experimenting with non-food treats this year: pencils and little plastic bookmarks in the shape of frankenstein, pumpkins, spider, and dracula. That, and the candy. We’ll see how it goes. Being as it’s a Friday this year, I expect we’ll give everything away. If not, anyone want a gross of Halloween themed pencils?

    posted by woodstock on 10-23-2008 at 6:53 pm

85. We have about 100 to 150 kids show up on halloween. We decorate the yard with tombstones and cover the porch in glow in the dark spirder webs and illuminate with black lights. This year I splurged and got glow in the dark insects and little skeletons for the kids to go along with a few pieces of candy. The treats should glow pretty good under the black lights.

    posted by Scott on 10-23-2008 at 10:54 pm

86. I guess I’ve had it wrong all these years. I grew up thinking “Trick or Treat” was a multiple choice for the home owner: “Give me treats, or I will trick you”.

    posted by seven on 10-24-2008 at 6:29 am

87. I kind of cheat. hehe I have 3 kids so I put out a 3 gallon plastice kettle full of candy then my wife and I take our kids door-to-door. When their bags get heavy, we go back to the house and refil the empty kettle with their gatherings (while they are giggling about it) and hit more houses. We learned that we can give out candy all night doing that and still have over 20 pounds of candy left over.

    posted by Tim on 10-24-2008 at 6:54 am

88. We go all-out in decorating and usually have a party going on so we get hit heavily by trick-or-treaters.

    I have developed a system that rewards endurance:
    1. If the front yard is particularly scary, we usually have better treats. You get three, unless you have to send someone up for you because you’re too scared–then you get one. Unless you appear to be under 6, then I might send out 3–especially if it appears its your chicken-hearted parent holding you back.
    2. Yep, I make you say trick-or-treat. I paid for this stuff–I gotta get SOMETHING back. 6 treats if you come up with something creative like the smell-my-feet song.
    3. After 10PM I start giving out 2 huge handfuls (my hands, so no small hands issues. Ok, actually, I have pretty small hands, so I have a lot of sympathy here, and use the “scoop” method)
    4. After 11PM I start upending the kettle and pouring large amounts of candy into trick-or-treat bags. It is not unusual at this point for moms to borrow their kids’ masks after they get back from trick-or-treating and come to my house. I’m ok with this.

    posted by Jaye Lee on 10-25-2008 at 12:09 pm

89. I usually get a mix of chocolate and lollipops or smarties (or anything I liked as a kid that I see in the store). I’m on the “I don’t care how old they are, as long as they’re wearing a costume” side.

    posted by Misha on 10-26-2008 at 10:31 pm

90. Wow. I’m surprised at all the hate towards store bought costumes. I love to get creative and would love to make my kids costumes, but they don’t want any part of it. Grandma buys their costume each year and she goes all out. Their costumes are generally very elaborate and very expensive. At first I thought it was goofy, but it has become their tradition and they scour magazines and the internet for the best costumes. What a bummer that some people penalize them while trick or treating because they didn’t make their own costume. :(

    They always pick a costume that relates to an interest they have and I always try to find a Chrsitmas ornament of the costume or theme. My son will be an astronaut this year and when we visited Kennedy Space Center I bought a couple space themed ornaments. As we hang the ornaments we have Halloween memories as well.

    posted by Karen on 10-29-2008 at 8:43 am

91. When I was little, my dentist father would give out toothbrushes. One year we conducted an experiment and offered kids candy or toothbrushes. 99% of kids went for the toothbrushes. I later learned that kids from other neighbourhoods would come to ours, just to get their damned toothbrushes!

    posted by Meghan on 10-29-2008 at 12:05 pm

92. oh crap. I’m out of town through Sat and left my porch light on. Sorry kids!

    We had a neighbor that gave out bags of potato chips and a dentist that gave out dimes. Mom always bought the weird cheap taffy stuff that no one liked -she didn’t want us kids eating it all before Halloween.

    posted by Michelle on 10-29-2008 at 12:11 pm

93. This will be my first year giving out candy. I remember being painfully shy growing up, so I don’t think I’ll be able to force the kids to say “trick or treat” if they don’t want to.

    posted by Mandragora on 10-29-2008 at 12:12 pm

94. Worst trick or treat experience ever = bibles. Someone handed out bibles. On the upside, they had plastic orange covers. But bibles. Also got toothbrushes once, I liked those better than the bibles.

    Unfortunately, we live in an apartment complex with a gate, so we never get trick or treater. But I buy a bag of candy every year just in case a kid in the complex stops by.

    posted by Bug on 10-29-2008 at 12:47 pm

95. I hand out gobs of candy (one large man-hand full per child) and have beers in a skull cooler for the parents as well. It’s a fun time to be able to share my luck in life by being generous with others. I have yet to be “tricked” in the 14 years I have done this too- unlike my “one Mary jane for each kid” neighbor.

    posted by Scott-O on 10-29-2008 at 1:16 pm

96. We have a big chili dinner in our garage with our neighbors. When trick or treat time rolls around the Dads take the kids out along with a wagon holding a cooler of beer. The moms build a fire in a portable fire pit and line up all their candy in bowls on a table by the street. Kids just walk by and fill up.

    posted by chubley on 10-29-2008 at 2:32 pm

97. my family has done a big hayride every since i can remember. we live in the boonies, so it’s no big if we hitch up 2 trailers overflowing with kids onto gigantic john deeres and rumble down the street. everybody we know comes, because we have a party before hand with both kinds of chili everybody gets loads of candy, even the adults. we had 150 little kids at the party last year, not counting the teenagers and the parents. the old folks dont care that about a quarter of the kids they get are between 13 and 19, because to come to our party, you HAVE to be in costume, and you HAVE to be nice to the people in the houses cuz both sets of my grandparents live there (they write down the costumes of the kids who are mean and inform me ASAP- they get to walk back to the house (5 miles tops) and go home immediately)

    posted by emily on 10-29-2008 at 7:43 pm

98. I once for freeze pops one year, and it was awesome because we were just sooo thirsty!
    Thing is we had to bite them open cause we didn’t have scissors.

    posted by ab on 10-29-2008 at 10:44 pm

99. The neighborhood I grew up in always gave fun-size bars to trick-or-treaters, so that’s what I’ve always given out. The last few years that I was still at my mom’s house, we started collecting random pantry items to use as joke “treats”. Cans of soup, boxes of Jello, fruit, mac & cheese, canned vegetables, brownie mixes, etc. One little girl insisted on a banana instead of the candy we finally admitted we had, some older kids were happy with Jello and one boy was excited to get Spaghetti-Os.

    posted by steph on 10-30-2008 at 1:49 pm

100. We get a lot of idiots who are too old to trick or treat or dont really even bother with much of a costume. We are giving out full sized cany bars to the KIDS who spent some time or effort (not necessarily money) on their costumes. Anyone else will get an individually wrapped prune.

     You wondered why they sell indivilually wrapped prunes at the grocery store? This is why.

     posted by Fatty McBastard on 10-30-2008 at 1:53 pm

101. after years of being an undergrad living in apartments where no one came to trick or treat, i moved into a house in the historic district in athens, ga. not thinking about the possibility of getting trick or treaters, we didn’t actually buy any candy. this led to some very odd exchanges. first, one little kid and her parents came up while we were working on painting our hair on the porch and after we quite apologetically said we didn’t have any candy, the little girl gave *us* some candy. it was quite heartening. second, later, when i was smoking a cigarette on the porch before leaving, i had to apologize again for no candy and the girl, quite pitifully, asked if we had any apples or anything at all. i did give her an apple we had, though i can imagine the mother tossed it given all the razor blade scares.

     posted by lotus on 10-30-2008 at 2:00 pm

102. My parents handed out packets of hot chocolate – we live in Canada and regularly have snow on halloween – but it makes things nice, curling up afterwards – warms the kids up quicker, too.

     posted by Eilonwynn on 10-30-2008 at 2:32 pm

103. I live on a gravel road practically in the middle of nowhere so I’ll probably only have my two youngest nieces (9 & 4) who will get to split a pretty huge bag of Reese’s, Hershey bars & York Peppermint Patties (though those are mostly for my sister), and anything else I have in the cabinet or refrigerator. Last year the youngest only wanted a pudding cup, some carrots and a box of raisins.

     posted by Wendy on 10-30-2008 at 2:57 pm

104. Being a pagan, and I witch at that, this day is more than just candy to me. Saying that, I give out full size candy bars, one per child.

     I am open about being a witch, and sometimes kids will visit just to say they meet a witch on Halloween.

     Then at 9, I shut off my porch light, and set up a Saimhan altar to remember those I have lost in years past. Which is what this night really means.

     posted by fibrowitch on 10-30-2008 at 3:14 pm

105. We are going to a party this year, so we won’t be passing out candy.

     I feel the same about teens who don’t dress. One small piece of candy, then get off my property!

     I can’t believe no one has mentioned giving or receiving rolls of pennies. One year my Grandma gave out rolls of pennies. One per person. Little kids got candy too, but the older ones got 50 pennies. Needless to say, I didn’t stick around when she passed these treats out.

     I remember another year we had the same group of older kids try to come back to our house a second time. I started yelling at the first one that started up the walk that I knew they were already at my house and they weren’t getting anything else from me and to go away. They took off down the street in a hurry.

     The only thing I didn’t like about Halloween candy was that after it sat, all mixed up for a week, it takes on this funny smell of mixed up candy. So anything I didn’t eat after the first few days got taken to school to give to other kids or tossed in the trash.

     posted by Jamie on 10-30-2008 at 3:15 pm

106. Until I was 10 we lived in a neighborhood FULL of trick-or-treaters. We’d make a witch out of an old decorative can on the front stoop, hang a dummy from a tree and give everyone a handful of candy. It was also the only day all year we used the front door instead of the side porch door, so it was extra exciting. When we got home we weren’t allowed to eat any candy until my mom had personlly searched all pieces, searching for syringe holes and razorblades. Once we moved I stopped trick-or-treating and we stopped getting trick-or-treaters. We lived on a main road next to a highway anddespite having all sorts of jack-o-lanterns and scarecrows, over the years we’ve only gotten (at most) 4 kids – all of which were family. Last year I lived in my first apartment and was so excited about Halloween – but alas, I got 1 egg to the kitchen window and 0 kids asking for candy (I spent the night watching Treehouse of Horror episodes with my bf and brother instead). This year I’m living in another neighborhood and, being there only for a month, I have no idea what to expect. We’ve bought minimal candy and not even good stuff. =\

     As for the joke telling, where I come from (RI) the “trick-or-treat” translated to “if you don’t give me candy I’m going to do something bad. Bribe me with sweets to prevent such actions.” This was supposed to be because of the spirits that were around causing trouble on this night. Obviously no one followed through with the tricks, but that’s how it was understood. I’ve NEVER heard of the joke/trick until now! I think it’s crazy to expect a joke from every kid!

     posted by Bri on 10-30-2008 at 3:27 pm

107. While I celebrated my 60th birthday earlier this year, I still remember how hard it was (for me, as well as for my kids years later) to FINALLY give up going out Trick or Treating. I was probably at least 14, and my kids lasted almost as long. For that reason, the older kids really don’t bother me. They’ll be adults soon enough. Let them hold on to this last bit of childhood a little while longer. It really doesn’t cost me that much.

     posted by Old Guy on 10-30-2008 at 3:31 pm

108. So maybe Im a bastard… ok more then likely I am, but If I have to leave on halloween nite to attend to something… I will put an empty bowl out with a note, asking to please take one. Based on the experience of when I was a kid, I would steal all of the candy from the first bowl I saw so, figure why not let someone else think the same. But while I am home I do shower the kids in candy.

     posted by peter on 10-30-2008 at 3:34 pm

109. I think Trick or Treating is for the little kids and I get the big bags of smarties, tootsie rolls pieces, ect. For the kids 12ish and under, I give them a handful (ends up being 10 or so pieces).

     I don’t mind teenagers Trick or Treating if they dress up, say Trick or Treat and are having a good time. The problem in my area are the teens who just wear regular clothes (what they’d wear to school), ring the bell, and hold out a bag. They say nothing. I generally just act dumb and ask “yes, can I help you?” I get some ugly looks, but I generally give in if they say Trick or Treat and give them one piece of candy.

     One year a “boy” (he was 6′2″ 180) groused at the one piece and I told him he was too old to be trick or treating anyway and was basically stealing candy from babies. He should be so proud!

     posted by Fran on 10-30-2008 at 3:43 pm

110. We give last year’s leftover halloween candy that my kids didn’t want to teenagers. I don’t care if they wear a costume or not. They have no business trick-or-treating.

     posted by Eric on 10-30-2008 at 3:44 pm

111. Wow Eric, that’s harsh! I went trick-or-treating when I was in college! We didn’t really care about the candy, we just thought it’d be fun to dress up and go out like when we were younger. However, we did go door-to-door in the neighborhood where all our professors lived, so they couldn’t have been all that surprised, and I’m sure we weren’t the only college students out collecting candy.

     My husband and I live in an area that doesn’t have many kids, so we always buy conservatively. Each kids gets one or two and if we find an overabundance, the kids near the end of the night get a lot more.

     Growing up, my parents lived near a gated community. We heard that there was a famiy that lived way at the top that would give out dollar bills. Never figured out how to get in and make my way to their house to see if the rumors were true though…

     posted by CK on 10-30-2008 at 4:11 pm

112. I usually give every kid about three pieces. Two if they’re obviously teenagers.

     Last year, we had shut off the outside lights and taken in the decorations at about 9 pm. At 10 pm, we are startled by loud banging at the front door. It was three high school kids looking for candy. My husband explained to them the intricacies of trick-or-treating, and told them to go home. They didn’t get any candy. Nor did our house get egged.

     posted by Amy D on 10-30-2008 at 4:22 pm

113. We don’t get any kids, alas. However, I must have been a six-year-old cynic, because even then I knew that Dum-Dums were lousy treats. The lowest candy in the candy food chain, by far.

     By the way, Halloween is my anniversary. We wanted a day that would be the peak of fall colors, memorable, and we both love autumn. Perfect! Happy ninth anniversary to my beloved best friend James tomorrow!

     [And an anniversary captcha: unsecured heart. Eerie how often the captcha is fitting like that. A ghost in the machine?]

     posted by Southern Buddhist on 10-30-2008 at 4:40 pm

114. By the way, Chris, does the allusion to trick-or-treating there mean that you grew up in Sarasota? Hubby and I both graduated from New College, and a lot of our closest friends are Pineview alums who went on to New College.

     posted by Southern Buddhist on 10-30-2008 at 4:43 pm

115. @Southern Buddhist – I beg to differ. The lowest in the candy food chain are those saf-t-pops. They’re the lollipop with the looped twist of paper at the end instead of those scary sharp ends that dum-dums have that could so very obviously poke your eye out. THOSE are the very bottom of the candy food chain. Followed closely by mini chic-o-sticks. Gross.

     posted by Stacy on 10-30-2008 at 4:50 pm

116. Amen on the mini chic-o-sticks–nasty!

     My mom is a teacher so they always get lots of kids, even though it’s a rural area. She’s been at it so long that she now has former students bringing their kids. She always makes little treat bags with a pretty good assortment of candy (one per kid), and always makes a big deal out of the costumes, telling the kids how scary/pretty/funny they look. I’m terrible at that so I’ll probably leave the porch light off after my nieces come.

     posted by wmp on 10-30-2008 at 4:59 pm

117. We live in a rather small neighborhood, so we don’t get too many kids. BUT we’re the full-size candy bar house. When I was a kid, I LOVED those people and I swore that I’d be that person when I grew up. I spend $15 and get 30 full-sized bars every year. I get such a kick out of it!

     posted by Erica on 10-30-2008 at 5:46 pm

118. What’s this nonsense about having to tell a joke for a treat. The whole trick part is on the person handing out candy not the one asking for it, hence the scary costumes to intimidate them ritual. It’s either you give me a treat or else. Weirdest thing I’ve ever heard. I’m from California, what parts of America practice this?

     posted by Billy on 10-30-2008 at 6:30 pm

119. 1) Buy Halloween candy
     2) Go out to dinner and shopping, leaving the house dark
     3) Come back when trick-or-treaters are all gone
     4) Have candy for dessert

     posted by Michael on 10-30-2008 at 8:58 pm

120. Something that I ended up doing this year when I ran out of candy was handing out cans of soda. The kids loved it so much that I decided to do it again.

     posted by Katy on 10-30-2008 at 9:10 pm

121. One year, my husband chose balsa wood airplanes in cellophane wrappers for the boys and the candy bracelets for the girls. The Trick or Treaters went crazy for the airplanes – even the girls preferred them! Parents were heard saying “Oh, cool, I loved those when I was a kid.” Our two oldest boys were in the Navy then and I always sent them the same packets we were handing out. They called (collect!) to ask that we send more, since they were flying the planes from one deck to the next and got lots of sailors involved. It was buzzed about for months.

     posted by Allie on 10-31-2008 at 12:01 am

122. hey hey hey, for those that said that trick or treating wasn’t for teens…you are crazy. haha. not to be mean.
     but trick or treating is what relates us teens to our childhood. so lay off.

     anyways, i always give kids an amount of candy depending on their enthusiasm. a “uh, trick or treat?” will get you a piece of candy. a “TRICK OR TREAT!!!!” yelled at the tops of kids lungs will get them a huge handfull. they deserve it =]

     posted by brittany on 10-31-2008 at 12:08 am

123. I loved Trick or Treating so much I have not missed one in 38 years! Either as a child myself, or as a babysitter, then my own kids!
     This year is the first my own kids are too big, they are going to partys.
     So I plan on giving out FULL SIZED BUTTERFINGERS to anyone who arrives! I am also decorating with lights, but nothing scary.

     posted by Molly on 10-31-2008 at 12:46 am

124. I’m 28 & I STILL go trick or treating. I do the whole costume thing & everything. I refuse to grow up. I’ll hand out candy early in the evening for the little ones, & then at about 6 or 7, I’ll go out myself. My partner stays home & wears a mask & pretends to be whatever character he’s dressed up as. We were really popular with the kids in our last neighborhood. We make them laugh. This will be our first year in a new neighborhood.

     The coolest candy givers in my neighborhood growing up were the ones who gave out FULL size reeses. I give a wide variety of awesome chocolates: snickers, Butterfinger, peppermint patties, reeses etc. You really can’t go wrong with chocolate.

     Trick or treating is a great way to meet your neighbors & scope out how awesome your treats & decorations are in comparison to what’s around the neighborhood.

     I usually donate the candy I get to a local hospital for kids who couldn’t go trick or treating.

     I also get donations for UNICEF while I’m out trick or treating.

     posted by V on 10-31-2008 at 12:47 am

125. I’m 28 & I STILL go trick or treating. I do the whole costume thing & everything. I refuse to grow up. I’ll hand out candy early in the evening for the little ones, & then at about 6 or 7, I’ll go out myself. My partner stays home & wears a mask & pretends to be whatever character he’s dressed up as. We were really popular with the kids in our last neighborhood. We make them laugh. This will be our first year in a new neighborhood.

     The coolest candy givers in my neighborhood growing up were the ones who gave out FULL size reeses. I give a wide variety of awesome chocolates: snickers, Butterfinger, peppermint patties, reeses etc. You really can’t go wrong with chocolate.

     Trick or treating is a great way to meet your neighbors & scope out how awesome your treats & decorations are in comparison to what’s around the neighborhood.

     I usually donate the candy I get to a local hospital for kids who couldn’t go trick or treating.

     I also get donations for UNICEF while I’m out trick or treating.

     posted by V on 10-31-2008 at 12:53 am

126. I can’t believe everyone loves the Soda Pop! My mom used to do that and I know kids who skipped our house (We live in the Northwest, so they aren’t hot enough to drink luke-warm soda and it’s very heavy to carry)
     My mom also handed out coupons for a free glazed donut one year and now she knows the three children coming to our house so she will buy specialized candies for each of them.

     I like the roll of pennies story though… One guy in our neighborhood let you take a handful,of pennies, so each year as you got bigger, you got more pennies!

     posted by Liz N. on 10-31-2008 at 1:06 am

127. Another fun Halloween tidbit (@Southern Buddhist) my husband and I met on Halloween, at a friend’s party. We were both dressed as Catholic Schoolgirls. It was love at first sight :)

     LOL!

     (recaptcha: tickle insisted)

     posted by Lidiu on 10-31-2008 at 1:20 am

128. Sigh. I don’t think this post submitted the first time — crazy internet connection. Here we go:

     Higgins — last sentance in your post “tracts.” I assume you meant to type “treats?”

     Actually a few years ago, Sam’s Club gave me a great idea — they were selling huge packs of single serving size (for playing, not eating) play-doh in fall/fun colors (including black). At $9.99 for a pack of 60, how could I resist? I quickly discovered the kids in our neighborhood couldn’t either. We never got many trick or treaters before that, but apparently word got out — now our house is very popular, especially with the TEENS! The goth teens love the black play-doh.

     Sam’s Club did me a disservice this year — no play doh packs, so I went to Dollar Tree instead and stocked up on Magic Dough. The colors are still good (no black though), and the containers are a little larger. It’s also about half the price of the other stuff. So we’ll see how it goes over tonight!

     I apologize if anybody else already posted about giving out play doh or if anyone else found that typo. I haven’t had time to read through the whole comments section yet. There’s a lot of great stuff there!

     Great post!!!

     posted by Lidiu on 10-31-2008 at 1:23 am

129. When I was a kid, I helped my grandma make candy airplanes to hand out. we would take a roll of Smarties and lay a stick of gum (always my favorite – Fruit Stripe) across it. Then, we’d put a rubber band around one “wing”, string 2 Life Savers on the rubber band for wheels, and put the other end of the rubber band on the other “wing”. Looking back, not horribly sanitary with the Life Savers, but hey, you can’t have a plane without wheels!

     Oh yeah, and I beg to differ with you on the Fruit Peddler’s worst encounter. I hated it most when they hand out no candy, no apples, not even a toothbrush, but instead give you religious pamphlets. I’m alright with sharing your beliefs, but do they have to do it to trick-or-treaters? I always felt violated in a way because I trusted that I would get a treat – not a trick! Maybe this should be it’s own category – although it wouldn’t be PC.

     posted by Krista on 10-31-2008 at 1:31 am

130. i cant believe nobody likes teen t&ters! im 15 and my sister is 17 and we plan to go t&ting till the houses deny us! and yes we always have awesome costumes like this year im going as an escaped prisoner/bank robber and my sister is going as a princess in this really pretty old wedding dress we got at a thrift store i hate the houses that give some of us less candy cuz our costumes are not store bought! we just cant afford to buy costumes every year so i made mine out of a sweatsuit and permanent marker and yes last year at our house we got 1 teenager (but i think he was 20 something) and he kept coming back in different costumes but very dorky costumes like that sheet thing thats mentioned above somewhere im sorry for not using puncuation my keyboards being a butt but thank you for reading my very long comment and please be more considerate for costumed teens!

     posted by Kelly on 10-31-2008 at 2:06 am

131. Just about the only non-candy treat I find acceptable are the glow sticks or bracelets — the kids think they’re cool, and they’re a safety bonus, too. So we got a bunch at the dollar store. We also got a bunch of candy. The people we know, though, get to come in for homemade donuts.

     Sadly, not much in the way of decorations this year (just bought a house, still unpacking), but grandiose plans for the future…

     posted by Tobe on 10-31-2008 at 2:15 am

132. One of my co-workers just told me that they make the kids stand in the yard and they throw the candy for the kids to catch in their bags. Awesome.

     We take our kids to a different neighborhood to trick-or-treat (two blocks in the city with houses closer together that really does it up — and less walking is easier on little people), so we don’t have any candy at home. Last year I was running late picking up my husband, and he stood in the driveway, afraid someone was going to knock on the door if he waited inside.

     reCaptcha: 117th rival. That’s a lot of rivals.

     posted by Ms. B on 10-31-2008 at 9:07 am

133. Great article! Very entertaining.

     reCaptcha: fright obvious. How fitting!

     posted by Kelly on 10-31-2008 at 10:38 am

134. My dad loves to tell the story of the time he and one of his neighborhood friends took their 6-year old daughters trick-or-treating.

     This was the late-60s in a small, Midwestern town, so everyone knew each other. All they had to do was walk up and down a few streets and the girls would have more candy than they could ever eat.

     The kicker though, was that at every house the girls got some candy and the dads got a shot of whiskey. So by sundown, when the designated trick-or-treat time was ending, both the girls and their dads had had a VERY happy Halloween.

     posted by SpaceMonkeyX on 10-31-2008 at 11:02 am

135. Proselytizing on Halloween is the most shameful & cowardly stratagem.
     Q: What kind of contemptible ass would try to ruin a child’s holiday?
     A: A religious contemptible ass.

     posted by Amanda H. on 10-31-2008 at 11:07 am

136. I don’t have anything against teens trick-or-treating, I went until 8th grade (and I’me really tall, I had someone ask if I was one of her college students), but costumes are a must!!!! I don’t care if it’s store bought or home-made, just wear one! No costume = no candy. I don’t think that’s harsh.

     posted by Emily on 10-31-2008 at 11:37 am

137. I must have been a sheltered child. We lived in the middle of no where. When we went trick or treating, we only went to friends and family. And we called to let them know we where coming (so they’d be home). We also NEVER got trick or treaters to our house because we lived right next to a cemetry. Even our friends wouldn’t come! So we didn’t give out much candy. As an adult, I too live in the middle no where. I don’t get trick or treaters that I don’t know. I make up goodie bags for the ones I do know, tailored to what they like (baby gummies for the little little ones, spiderman for the spiderman fans, etc…) I wouldn’t mind getting to do the big dress up and scare the kids from the bushes thing! That would be awesome!

     posted by Jaime on 10-31-2008 at 11:44 am

138. my favorite Halloween story EVER was of a of a man in the neighborhood we moved away from who used to keep a couple of KING sized Caramellos wrapped with a 10 dollar bills behind the door for the un-costumed, un-enthusiastic teens. When they would show up he’d say, “Oh good- I was hoping someone would come for these! (producing the goods) I remember how hard spending money and decent candy was to come by when I was a teenager, so here…Oh Wait! Back up and lemme try to make a basket in your pillowcase! Yeah- hold it open and back up a little further, little further- I played basketball in school- little further…” and SLAM goes the door followed by maniacal laughter.
     I love men who like to play!
     Serves them right!

     posted by karen on 10-31-2008 at 12:04 pm

139. @Lidiu – nope, I mean tracts, as in religious tracts. Though “treats” would also make sense, and I hope you’re giving those out. :)

     posted by Chris Higgins on 10-31-2008 at 1:36 pm

140. mine was the type of household that would hand out the tracts. i read with glee the whole jack chick tract and it seems familiar. just love it. thanks a million for the old memory!

     posted by mrs. riggs on 11-1-2008 at 9:41 am

141. Halloween is over now, but it has taken me 3 days to read this. It has been an awesome journey though. I loved all the posts.

     I have lived in a condo community for 13 years. So no treat or treaters.

     I take it to the adults. I dress up as a witch or vampire or an angel, I make up treat bags 15 or 20(with a few mini choc. bars and some misc. candy from my year round candy bag) with a touch or confetti and tie it up with multiple ribbons. I hand them out to co-workers, or whoever I cross paths with on that day even the convenience stores I go in that day.

     This year in addition to the above, (daytime I was a vampire and night I was a witch) I made up some smaller treat bags and I went to several of the condos and said trick or treat. They looked at me really strange, I am a grown woman 50 yrs old. They said we don’t have any candy. I said, but I have candy for you. This went over really well. It was so fun. Actually I knew some of these people some I didn’t. I had a blast Halloween 2008.

     posted by Janet on 11-2-2008 at 7:57 am

142. All heard at the same house this year:

     You didn’t say ‘trick or treat’.
     You don’t live in this neighborhood.
     I don’t give candy to big kids. (I guess 11 years is too old for halloween according to this lady.)

     I say if you’re going to be grumpy about giving out candy, you might as well turn off your porch light and eat the candy yourself.

     posted by jlew77 on 11-3-2008 at 4:49 pm

143. Took me 2 days to read all the posts. Loved the article & posts. I always feel let down when holidays are over – so this was fun reading after Halloween. I was too busy on that day anyway.

     Yeah, I agree with Old Man and a lot of the others about teens. I went out with friends through most of high school. I never had any peers think we were “uncool” and I wouldn’t have cared if they had. Yes, there were a few grumps that said we were too old, but it was such a good time.

     So many people complain about teens causing trouble or acting too grown-up, why not let them be kids a little longer?

     As long as they are doing it more for the experience and less for “free candy”. We always had costumes, store-bought or home-made, always said “Trick or Treat” “Happy Halloween” and “Thank You”.

     My strategy this year: Just moved into a new neighborhood and bought WAY too much candy in anticipation of lots of kids. My husband & I took our daughter out T&Ting so we left a big bowl on the porch – sans sign – and it looked like hardly a piece had been taken when we returned. For the ones who came while we were home; we held the bowl out so they could take what they liked. My daughter even tried to offer treats to the pizza delivery guy!

     posted by Nerak on 11-4-2008 at 2:00 pm

144. It has been sooo many years since I went trick-or-treating for myself but I have been going the last four years with my son and the whole thing has definitely changed alot with barely any houses giving out candy and barely any people going door-to-door.

     It seems now that the big thing is to do it at the mall, a church or community center for “safety”.

     posted by Sarah on 1-17-2009 at 7:53 pm

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