What was Halloween like for you this year?

[Medusa]

Every year since I moved here, there were so many kids that I could never gauge it properly and I'd run out of candy after the first hour and would have to turn out the lights. This year hardly any kids showed up and I have a lot of left over candy. The most outstanding difference, though, is that I'd say 50% of the kids weren't in costume and many of them had no bag in which to put the candy. Also, many of them didn't say 'trick or treat'; they'd just stand there, no bag, no costume, so I wasn't even sure if they were even there for Halloween! LOL The costumes that I did see were usually just a funny wig or mask, nothing inventive. Spiderman and princess were the two that stood out.

In years past, I've commented on how polite they were and that's still the case. All said "thank you", many said "Have a nice night" or "Happy Halloween". There was only one kid, I'd say around age 7, who, when I gave him a Reese's peanut butter cup, said "I can't have peanut butter, stupid!" (Yes, I know peanut allergy is common but c'mon. He could've traded w/someone.)

I'm thinking that kids just aren't into Halloween much and if this is a trend that maybe beggars night will be discontinued by the city. Maybe next year I'll decide not to pass out candy. How was Halloween for you? Mine wasn't unpleasant; it just wasn't Halloween.

[Kirsten]

Well, it's only a couple of years ago that kids started trick-or-treating here in Germany, and many people are yet not ready for it. I only saw a few kids outside who painted their faces, and here at home, the door bell rang only once, but no kid came up to my floor. I think they were discouraged because my neighbors one and two floors down didn't have any candy for them.

I spent the evening at home, watching one of my favorite Halloween movies, Flatliners (actually not a classical Halloween movie, but the story's taking place around Halloween).

Kirsten

[davidpizzica]

It was a different Halloween this year since I moved here to the Home. On October 21st, They gave the residents candy to pass out and they allowed the children to go down the halls and trick or treat. Also on Oct. 30th some of the helpers had costumes on and some were kinda weird! ( they threatened to dress me up as a girl! A bearded lady!)

[BitsyNaceyDog]

This is the first year we took Nathan trick-or-treating and he hated it. We then went to my in-laws' house and he helped pass out candy to the other kids, which he LOVED.

Anyway, I thought most of the kids were polite- said trick-or-treat and thank you. There was however one girl, maybe 9-10 years old who was a total brat. She didn't knock on the door, she BANGED on the door, my MIL was right there ready to open the door, but apparently she didn't open it fast enough for the bratty girl, because the girl started waving her arms at the window. Then my MIL gave her 2 pieces of candy and her response was "don't you have Butterfinger?" My MIL said "no" and shut the door. That was the negative experience throughout the whole night though.

[Alysser]

Went into work at 2:00, got my make-up and costume done, did the "awakening" parade which I hate, went down to the trail - this is where it all goes down hill. I'd say about 8:00 it's starts raining. It rains on and off - it was a slight drizzle one minute and the next minute it was raining cats and dogs. The trail was all MUDDY by 9:00, finally they let us off early at about 9:38, and we walked back as opposed to getting out at 11:30 which is always nice I scared ALOT of people, it made me proud.

My parents said they only got rid of one bucket of candy, which is very low for us, we usually run out

[Daisy and Delilah]

Four kids and pretty quiet. It just isn't like it used to be. I really miss it. Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. I really hoped this year would be a good one for a change. NO. The same as it has been for 10 years.

[Pembroke_Corgi]

This year's Halloween was really fun for us. It was Lyra's first Halloween and trick-or-treating. She may not have gotten any candy, but she had fun! We went with my nephew, and Lyra got watch all the action. My husband stayed at home for a little while to hand out candy (and accidentally scared children with his scary costume), then headed out with us. We left the bowl of candy on the doorstep, and surprisingly, there were a few pieces left when we got back! There were quite a few kids out in our neighborhood, as well as some really scary displays at the houses we stopped at.

[Medusa]

This year's Halloween was really fun for us. It was Lyra's first Halloween and trick-or-treating. She may not have gotten any candy, but she had fun! We went with my nephew, and Lyra got watch all the action. My husband stayed at home for a little while to hand out candy (and accidentally scared children with his scary costume), then headed out with us. We left the bowl of candy on the doorstep, and surprisingly, there were a few pieces left when we got back! There were quite a few kids out in our neighborhood, as well as some really scary displays at the houses we stopped at.

LOVE this photo of Lyra and the kitty kat.

[sirrahbed]

Even though we had very nice weather - there were far fewer kids this year. There was a steady trickle for a couple hours and that was it - so have lots of leftover Reese's cups! LOL Hubby was wondering if the fear of flu was one of the reasons? The kids were very sweet and polite though - most brought by parents and grandparents. The costumes were really cuter than ever I thought!! There was one little girl dressed like a butterfly with hair in french braids like antenae and that was a treat

The night before Halloween we had a harvest party at church and invited the community - TONS of people showed up and it was fantastic! Maybe folks are changing the way they celebrate the season. Bringing the kids to an organized event may seem safer somehow. That does not give my flu-fear theory much though!!

[Casper]

My sister made me feel utterly worthless at the beginning of the night; the feeling kind of stuck around all night. A good night's sleep has helped and I feel much better today.

Last night I stayed home and visited with friends. This is one of the only years we gave out candy.

Sala greeted everyone at the glass door in her dinosaur costume. We knew kids were here before they even rang the doorbell because you could hear a chorus of "Awws!" when they saw Sala. All of the kids had great costumes, too! A nice surprise.

[sirrahbed]

I forgot to add that we did have two dogs trick or treating, and one was even in costume. I don't know what the costume WAS, but he was dressed up

[Medusa]

I was also surprised at how many kids were afraid of the Fur Posse. Coco Puff was there to greet everyone, Boo did a little but Yodie was afraid of the costumes and bolted to the kitchen. So many of the kids, though, were really hesitant and a couple even cried a little, grabbed onto their parents even. One father said "Don't worry, the kitty won't come out". That really surprised me.

[pomtzu]

When I was first married and my ex was still in the military, we lived in base housing. The woman that lived across from us was absolutely terrified of cats. We had a little mutt kitty at the time who was allowed outside, and if she saw him, would go running back in her house if she was outside. I asked her once what the problem was, and all she said was that she was scared of cats. Takes all kinds I guess.....

[momoffuzzyfaces]

Not a good one for me. No trick or treaters just a rude neighbor that started in with blasting the stereo at nine and kept it up until 2. I called once and he said he'd turn it down but didn't. Then he wouldn't answer the phone. So I went and asked in person. They quieted down until 11 then started up until 2.

[aTailOf2Kitties]

I was home a couple hours after dark and didn't have any trick or treaters at all. We ended up going to some friends' house and hanging out on their back deck roasting marshmallows over one of those little metal fire pits