Halloween (or, at least trick-or-treating) is dying off where I
live. I'm sad to see it go, though I know it is different depending
on where you live. 4 years in my house and the only trick-or-
treaters have been my next door neighbors kids, but I live on a
busy road and it isn't safe to be walking on it. In my former
residence (an apt complex) you'd see maybe one or two groups of
kids, always with a chaperone. But my brothers neighborhood has
visiters until around 9pm. Same with my parents neighborhood.

Here, you leave your front porch light off. But that doesn't
guarentee that the kids without chaperones aren't going to knock.

Pennies? Expect to be tricked though. lol j/k

No rewarding, all of them are treated equally in my book. 2 peices
each is what I give (or used to give)

Yes, they should be. When I was a kid, Halloween was a time for bad
behavior among older kids, though. Little kids would get their
candy bags taken, houses would get "toilet papered" (or worse).

When Eric was a little won, Halloween was one of our fun times. I
always made his costumes and went out with him through the
neighborhood. For that reason I have mixed feelings about "trick-
or-treating".

Following advice is what I grew up with with modern adjustments:

Kids generally don't approach the house if a porch light is not on. And
usually there is a lit pumpkin on the premisis as well.

We just turn the light off and blow out the pumpkin when a) candy runs out
or b) it is after 10.

Never have had a trick played, but in general it used to be egging the house
or toilet papering the trees. I think mostly the kids today are just set on
candy and wouldn't have a clue what to do if they were rebuffed except move
on to greener pastures.

Used to be a good one, but since a rash of razor blades stuck in apples,
only factory wrapped candy generally makes it past parental supervision.

See the above.

We do. Little kids get more candy. Those who are well old enough to be
moving on in the world get the "bad" candy (ie. not as desirable ie. NOT THE
CHOCOLATE). Unfair life may be, but we tend to be more generous to those
little ones that seem super excited and cute as hell about it. If older
brother or sister are doing chaperone duty taking the wee ones around, there
is usally extra booty tossed in for such vigilance and extraction of promise
from little kid to share. General rule of thumb three of something
(depending on on hand supply and number of treaters going around) for the
really derserving.

Some people drive their kids around, but that was often because in my neck
of the woods it's often freezing or even snowing. I've never much cared for
Halloween. I still remember being thrilled though one Halloween when I
seemed to be scoring the "good" stuff (ie wrapped mini candy bars) by the
score. It was very snowy out though and in the dark, three houses from home
I tripped and spilled ALL my candy and couldn't find most of it in the snow.
That really was an unfair turn of events if you ask me.

Because of the inherent dangers of modern whackos in this world (news
stories featuring poisoned candy etc.) a lot of people now go to planned
events with people they know and trust or around to relatives and friends
only.  Grocery stores seem to do a lot of stuff for Halloween giving people
an option as well. It's not nearly the volume any more of door to door
treating as there used to be because of this. Smaller towns most likely have
more.

There is *usually* one lurking in the background if the kids are under 10.
(see car referenced) or an elder sibbling (see reference above in "amount of
booty). It's pretty foolish if they don't.

That is a bit late in my book.  We usually "close up" around eight.

As a rule if the house doesn't have any outside lights on, you leave it
alone.

The little ones are usually around at twilight.  Between 5 and 6 pm.
Then the kids get older as it gets later.  I don't have much patience for
kids over 12 or later than 8.

No tricks around here.  And most of the tricks (vandalism for the most part)
is unrelated to treats.  It kids out to cause trouble.  From rubbing soap in
windows to smashing jack o lanterns to tossing toilet paper into trees.

In the "good old days"  they might drop cherry bombs down outhouses or light
a paper bag of dog poop on the porch of someone they disliked.  Or move the
outhouse onto the front porch.

Yes.  The kids usually bring home one or two.  But if you kids get an apple
you need to take a good look at it to be sure it hasn't been tampered with.

Turn off the outside lights and stop answering the door.

reward stupid costumes (putting a plastic cowboy hat on is *not* good
costuming, IMHO) by reducing hte amount of candy? What is the proper amount
of candy per brat, err, kid anyway?

Right now I'm passing out foil wrapped chocolate that looks like gold silver
dollars.  Cost something like $3 a pound.  Each kids gets two or three.

CUte little kids get admired and talked to.

Kids will often go to a neighborhood that they perceve will have a better
class of treats rather than to where they live.  Parents will drive them
sometimes.  The smaller children usually only do their own neighborhood and
the parents will be with them or wait at the curb.

Here, it's about from 6 to 8 p.m. When you're out of candy, you turn the porch
light off. After 8 p.m., when the trick-or-treaters are bigger than you, and
their cigarettes fall out of their pockets when they bend over, it's time to
turn off the porch light.

Sherry

Apologies if I sound like a killjoy, but here it goes.

I loathe trick or treating.  For the rest of the year, children are
discouraged from talking to and accepting sweets from strangers.  How
come it all changes around Halloween?

NB: I don't have any children, so to the majority of children round here
I *am* a stranger.  They might recognise me, but they certainly don't
know me at all.

A few years back, mid-October I got a knock on the door.  It was two
little dots trick or treating, no sign of an adult, and it was dark.

I explained that not only was it well before Halloween, but that it was
dangerous to go around knocking on strangers; doors asking for sweets.
They thought about this for a minute, and then informed me that they
went to school with the children who lived next door.

"But that doesn't mean you know me" I replied.

After a bit more thought, they informed me that they "usually washed the
man's car what lives here".  Biting my tongue at their appalling grammar
(!) I told them that I'd never seen them do so.  They gave me up as a
bad job.

About half an hour later, a group of teenage oiks appeared.  When told
it was too early, they advised me in no uncertain terms that they were
away at half-term (when Halloween fell) and wanted some money for that,
but that they'd be back at Halloween (? - I thought they were away?) and
that I'd better have something for them.  Needless to say I wasn't
around, and I saw no sign that they'd been back.  But I hate to think
what they might have done to the little kids out earlier.

/rant

(snip)

Having been in that position last year, and also having good memories of
going trick-or-treating when I was tiny in the US (I still have my
plastic pumpkin bucket) I got a bag of 'fun-size' chocolate bars in
readiness for Hallowe'en this year.  I sadly have to report that we got
not one single knock on the door, and so must eat the chocloate
ourselves. Why *do* they call those titchy small versions of full-size
sweets 'fun', anyway?

Deb.

We got about half a dozen groups of kids last night. The first was the
worse, two girls, one a bit too old to be doing it (at least she was in
costume) and both rude! They kept grabbing candy and didn't even say
"trick or treat". Tom was appalled at their rudeness.
The rest of the kids were lovely, particularly a little tyke in Spider
Man jammies who said something like "tweak or tweet"... :) he was
adorable and he *loved* my carved pumpkin!
We also enjoyed a group of what seemed to be underprivileged kids being
led by a group of college students. They got extra candy!

Victor, who is up for an obscenely early 7am meeting.

No decorations (yes, some people decorate their houses like they do for
Christmas), no lights visible from the road, in particular, no light in
the porch or by the front door. I went out yesterday (ahh, not
trick-or-treating), and it was suprisingly easy to decide which houses
were participating and which weren't. Darkness in the front door/front
porch/front room area is key.

Early evening (very early evening) is the big time here. Little kids and
their parents usually go out around dusk. It got dark very early here, and
it was full dark by 6:30 PM, and there were still some trick-or-treaters
out. I wouldn't expect many past 7 or 8 and none past 9.

Very regional, I think. I've never had a problem, and the ones I've heard
about here are more a case of ordinary vandalism happening on Hallowe'en,
really. I've heard about other places where tricks are more common.

Kids prefer sweets! A few people give out fruit, but apples are subject to
the usual paranoia about some nutcase sticking needles into them.

Turn out all the lights.

Some people do. When I was a child, one of our teachers always gave the
best goodies to the small kids in costumes, and merely a token amount,
plus a comment on the lack of costume, to the ones in the early teens who
simply grab one of Mom's pillowcases and pull their hats down over their
faces or whatever.

How much depends on how expensive it is and how fast you are running out.
If you are handing out cheap hard candies, give a handful or double
handful. If it's full-sized chocolate bars, one each. And so on.

We did, but it was a small town! There are two schools of thought on this.
Many people only allow their children to go to selected homes in the
immediate neighbourhood, with, of course, a special visit in costume to
Granny or Auntie if they live in another neighbourhood. Many people figure
'Subdivision X has rich families", pile their kids in the car, and visit
every house in Subdivision X. The older kids - early teens, up to the age
when they decide it's too childish to trick-or-treat, and costume parties
are much more fun - go wherever they want.

Children up to age 7 or 8 or so, maybe end of primary school age, always
seem to have an adult lurking nearby keeping an eye on things. Sometimes
the adult is also in costume. The older children go around in groups. You
never see one trick-or-treater.

The latter is best, I think - just don't answer the door
(and do not leave a porch-light lit).

Theoretically, it's supposed to be for younger kids, who are
normally put to bed at a reasonable hour.  As the evening
wears on, you notice the "kids" who turn up being older and
older.  Use your own judgement about "treating" hulking
teen-agers.  You seldom get children after nine P.M., and
most people don't answer the door later than that.

Judging by the U.S., not really - not any more.  (Of course,
it may depend upon how rough the neighborhood in which you
live.)  Fortunately, most kids are too busy trying to amass
as much loot as possible, and tricks take time - however, if
they REALLY want to be mean, they can "toilet-paper" your
trees and shrubbery, or "egg" your house.  (Or "soap" a
window, or write on your cement walk with colored chalk).

Used to be, but for some years now, ever since some sicko
gave out apples with embedded razor-blades here in the U.S.,
some parents won't let their kids keep anything not
commercially wrapped.  (Or anything home-made - I seem to
remember an incident of marijuana brownies, back in the
1960's - although I think those donors were more likely
stoned, not deliberately malicious.)

A pity - when I was a kid, I remember wonderful home-made
cookies, ditto fudge.  One neighbor even provided hot-dogs,
one year!  Unfortunately, times have changed, not always for
the better.

Tell them so.  I live in a "controlled access" building, and
I don't think there are any families with children living
here, but last night I was startled to find a couple of kids
at my apartment door.  They were cute, and I'd have happily
given them treats, but like you, I had none on hand because
I hadn't expected anyone to gain access to the building.

That's all entirely up to the donor!  (But unless the hands
are tiny, it's not the best of ideas to let them help
themselves.)

Depends upon how far they can con someone's parent or older
sibling to drive them, sometimes.

a) As many as they can and b) probably not, in this day and
age, but they do (and always have).

Some parents aren't very responsible!  (And of course, some
are there, but stay out of sight - at their kid's urging -
unless they're needed.)

You could just pretend not to be home.  We would have if we had run out of
candy.

My personal preference would be 2:30 PM, but I'm just an old grouch.  We
turned off the porch light at 9:00 PM.

When I was young, it might have been toilet paper in the trees in the yard
or an egg on a house window.  Kids today?  Who knows?

In the States, it's not a good idea to give substitutes for
manufacturer-wrapped candy.  There have been some sickos who've put razor
blades in apples and/or poisoned homemade (or even store-bought) candy.

We were going to turn off the porch light but didnt' need to.

Depends on how much candy you've got.  It was obvious that we weren't going
to get as many as we expected so the last few kids "hit the mother lode" at
our house.  We started with two pieces per kid.  By 8:00 it was a handful
per kid.  By 8:30 it was a double-handful.  And we've still got candy left!

Can't help you there.  We haven't had a "halloween-aged" kid for 20 years or
so!

IMNSHO, you bet your A$$  there should.  Too much crap happens even in
daylight these days.  I wouldn't let a kid of mine out alone after dark
until they were at least 16.  (make that 18).

First of all, I don't see why Australians should have to go by Merkin
rules.  That being said...it varies, to some extent, by area.  My
in-laws were scandalized that the area we live in had tricks and treats
on Saturday.  Seems that some churches get scandalized by a pagan
celebration on a Sunday.  Works for me.  I got my own problems.

Candy must be individually wrapped, and in the original package.  No
loose wrapping or personally wrapped candy should be given out.  It was
different when I was a brat, but then we only visited friends and
relatives.  I loved going to our aunt and uncles, as one of them gave us
home made taffy, and another one peanuts.  A friend was good for popcorn
balls.  None of this would be considered proper nowadays, no matter how
it was wrapped.  Sigh.

Costumes SHOULD look like some effort was put into them.  Just putting a
pillowcase on one's head is not a costume, just a fashion statement.
rewarding for effort isn't done, though it should be.  Rob rewards for
age and cuteness, but we don't tell the kids that.

If the child is old enough to go out around the neighborhood without a
parent, the child is WAY TOO OLD for trick or treating.  Generally, such
kids don't receive rewards, even if they do as Mike did last year and
steal one of my dresses and go out terrorizing the neighborhood in drag
with all his chest hair hanging over the top of the thing (it was low
cut).

No matter what the age, any kid who pokes a gun in my face and demands
in a bass voice to have the treats, gets whatever is in the bowl.  I'll
call the cops later.

Anyone who doesn't want the little bats and ghouls to come to their door
should turn off all out-door lights.  Barricading the door is also a
good idea.

Slicing the dog on the trick or treaters is just not done and could
cause a law-suit.  So don't do it no matter how tempting.

Treat hours vary, depending upon location.  Here it is usually 6-9 PM,
but it is possible to have them come around both earlier and later.
Personally, I think any parent who takes a little kid out after eight PM
should not only have their head examined, but should be talking to a
therapist.

If you smell smoke and/or see a burning bag that looks like it might
have something in it, do NOT stomp it out.  It is also considered tacky
to remove, then use, the toilet paper hanging from one's trees.

Some people really get into the spirit of the thing and play spooky
music, set up a haunted house, have the door answered by the undead and
so forth.  Personally, I think these people should be either
applauded...or shot.

As the holiday becomes more popular, don't be surprised to see tour
buses pull up and let out mobs of celebrants.  We've had mini-vans pull
up and release as many as twelve of the little monsters at a time.  It
is a terrifying experience to be frantically counting candy while
twenty-four hostile eyes stare intently at your fingers.  Worse is if
one of those sets of eyes drove the mini-van.

For future reference, when you take Cary out (we had a mom with her
four-year-old daughter and four-month-old baby complete in bunny suit
come up to us so that we could admire the little one as well as give a
goodie to the little bumblebee) check all candy and dole them out to
him, one piece at a time.  Otherwise you may get hate mail from his
teachers the next day.  This is extremely difficult, especially when
your child is in the tenth grade.

Just a few thoughts, willing to provide more upon request.

Pam S.