obligatory clavidvs halloween post October 31, 2009 9:13 PM   Subscribe

clavidvs didn't do it this year, so I will.
How many Trick-or-Treaters did you have come by this Halloween?
-and-
What did you give out?
posted by yhbc to MetaFilter-Related at 9:13 PM (154 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite

None, unless you count the woman across the street who came by with her 23-year old daughter who was lamenting her lost childhood.
Butterfingers and Nestles Crunch, although I did bring a fresh-baked apple pie to the couple next door (while wearing a gnome mask - I got a few dark chocolate Hershey Bars and their last remaining York Peppermint Patty)
posted by yhbc at 9:16 PM on October 31, 2009


for all instances of "clavidvs" pls read "clavdivs". thx.
posted by yhbc at 9:19 PM on October 31, 2009


0
posted by Netzapper at 9:20 PM on October 31, 2009


I gave the kids that knocked on my door The Important Lesson That Sometimes Life Does Not Give You What You Want and in turn they gave me The Important Lesson That Flaming Paper Bags Left on My Doorstep Usually Contain Poop.
posted by Kattullus at 9:21 PM on October 31, 2009 [11 favorites]


What ever happened to clavdivs?
posted by xmutex at 9:26 PM on October 31, 2009


None. They would have got Reese's Cups. I'll just eat them myself.
posted by marxchivist at 9:28 PM on October 31, 2009


We had maybe 10. Gave out Tootsie Roll mix by the handful and still have a 3 1/2 pound bag left over.

On the bright side, I did get the chance to test my birthday gift (the Kitchen Ninja) and it is definitely a margarita-blending wondermachine.
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 9:33 PM on October 31, 2009


Well the dog went nuts once or twice but I forgot to turn on the porch light and we ran out of votive candles, so the house wasn't the most welcoming front. Plus the gate. But I had bite-size snickers, butterfingers, and 3 muskateers ready. Ready for me to eat. Which I've been doing.
posted by carsonb at 9:36 PM on October 31, 2009


Four visits, maybe 10 trick-or-treaters. Here's what we had for them.
posted by ignignokt at 9:46 PM on October 31, 2009 [2 favorites]


None. Kids in this neighborhood don't go house-to-house, they go to business-to-business on the busy strips. This saddens me. I would give out the best candy EVER if the kids came here.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:50 PM on October 31, 2009 [1 favorite]


Had maybe 6 sets until it got dark and the doorbell ringers were closer to my age and smelled of weed. To those I gave only one kit kat each, the kids got to have as many as they wanted. Only one kid took this literally.
posted by Space Coyote at 9:55 PM on October 31, 2009


White chocolate kit kats. Like giving crack to an addict. Me that is. We had about 25 kids come to our door. That leaves about 25 bars for me!!! Too many non show halloweenies this year. Maybe it was the rain?
posted by JohnnyGunn at 9:56 PM on October 31, 2009


Maybe forty kids came to my house.

I bought two big bags -- one containing Nerds, Sweet Tarts, Laffy Taffy and Bottle Caps, the other containing Snickers, Milky Way, Three Musketeers and Twix.

I gave most of it away. I have a small tupperware container with the leftovers.
posted by jayder at 10:01 PM on October 31, 2009


Zero. I'll be taking several pounds of M&M bags to work on Monday.

Walking the dog earlier, only one house in the neighborhood had a pumpkin out.
posted by dws at 10:02 PM on October 31, 2009


About 30-40. Our first visitor was a little pirate who was out trick-or-treating for the first time and didn't quite get the concept. He walked past the candy I held out and wandered into our house in a daze. Cute!

We had a mixture of mini Hershey bars, Charleston Chews, Almond Joys, Take 5's and mini Tootsie pops. Way too many leftovers...
posted by extramundane at 10:12 PM on October 31, 2009


What did I give out? Chocolate, of course!
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:15 PM on October 31, 2009


Less than 10 doorknockings with maybe 25 individuals total spanning from 5:45pm to about 9:15pm. We gave away full-size Ritter Sport chocolate bars because we got a bunch on sale for about $1.25 each and knew the probability of a large turnout was slim.
posted by bz at 10:19 PM on October 31, 2009


Around 9:00, I was dealing with a gaggle of kids, having each one come up in her or his turn and choose a piece. All of a sudden the next person in line was a forty-year-old woman talking loudly on her cell phone who didn't appear to be with any of the children; without directing a word of her ranting to me, she casually reached into my bowl, grabbed three pieces, and walked off.

I am hereby marking this in the list of things that I would have said if there weren't seven-year-olds present: "So you decided to dress up as a colossal shit this year, eh?"

That was just one person, though. All in all, it was awesome, though I have way too much candy left over. I love Halloween!
posted by koeselitz at 10:21 PM on October 31, 2009 [6 favorites]


Also, I didn't remember how damned good kids are at stealing shit. I'm not the kind of old lady who says "only one! only one!" but even though I wasn't saying that it was funny to watch how casually almost every kid took one obvious piece while palming another second piece – and sometimes even more – that I wasn't likely to see. Kids are awesome.
posted by koeselitz at 10:24 PM on October 31, 2009 [3 favorites]


3 sets of 3-4 kids.
mini bags of peanut m&ms (one for them one for me is the rule around here)
and mini assortment of varies candy bars, one set of girls were very excited by nestles crunch, which i didn't think anyone got excited for, but they forgo peanut m&ms for them. weird.

i now have three bags of candy sitting by the door, waiting for me to eat them.

if anyone had rang the bell after 830 they would have hit the mother load.
posted by bottlebrushtree at 10:25 PM on October 31, 2009


We gave out all of the candy from the first 5 bags, and got partway through 2 more emergency-store-run bags. Heath, Mounds, Tootsie Pops, Reese's cups, Sour Patch Kids/Swedish Fish, Twizzlers, Nerds/Sweetarts/Laffy Taffy. The bags were all around 20 or 30 units per; most kids took one unit but some took more. I'm thinking we had 100 - 150 kids, pretty much all happy and polite. We also have squishy eyeballs, which are some kind of petroleum product that are toys not candy ("these are toys not candy. do not eat squishy eyeball, it is made of poison"), which we offered to the older kids. Great night. A lot of storm troopers, and a few jedis, which was heartening to see.
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:34 PM on October 31, 2009


I gave out 320 mini candy bars mixed between Reese's, Kit Kat, Milky Way, Snickers, Hersheys, 3 Musketeers, Butterfingers and Skittles. Also about 150 Various Tootsie Rolls in their huge 5x variety packs.

I live on the Victory Memorial Parkway in Minneapolis, a place known for trick or treating. Our neighbors had warned us to have at least 300 pieces.

The masses descended as soon as night fell. Cars parked up and down the parkway (I don't ever remember cars like that when I was a kid, must be a new thing?). They started lining up on the other side of the parkway. We had no takers. About an hour later they had made it around and we were set upon by the horde. Literally filling the block. The last two kids showed up at about 8:30 and got a shitload of tootsie rolls, all we had left. Then it was over.

We had the perfect amount of candy. The last two took their handfulls, and we had no more takers.

It's a funny case study in manners though. Some kids come up, say "trick or treat", take a piece, say thank you and leave. Some ask how many they can take. Some just grab at the bowl and stuff it in a pillow case. Without fail though, the little ones look intently at the bowl full of candy bars and pick out a single tootsie roll like a treasure.

Living on the parkway is really great. It seems like the neighborhood really makes an effort to have a great show and put on a great Halloween. I guess that's why everyone comes here for treats.
posted by sanka at 10:36 PM on October 31, 2009 [2 favorites]


About 40, way down from previous years when I've had as many as 200. Last year I had enough for about 100 and ran out about 8:00. I bought 180 small bags of chips this year and 200 small rolls of candy called Rockets here in Canada. So I'm left with 160 Rockets and 140 bags of chips. Some will go to work, most will be dropped off at the local police station where they collect treats for kids whose candy has been stolen.
posted by angiep at 10:40 PM on October 31, 2009


None. At the last minute we got football tickets: Oregon 47, USC 20.
posted by neuron at 10:42 PM on October 31, 2009 [2 favorites]


I went to Bushwick to help fuq with his "haunted house" in the basement of a somewhat decrepit church / community center. It was very dark with scary sounds and a maze made out of black plastic tarps, and three people jumping out with masks. We had maybe 25 preteens. Anyone younger than that started crying before they even entered and had to be taken out. Several groups of kids panicked to the point that they charged out screaming, knocking over equipment, and in one case leaving a shoe behind. At the debriefing someone seriously mentioned that the kids should have some kind of counseling as follow-up.
posted by StickyCarpet at 10:48 PM on October 31, 2009


About 120-150 maybe? The weather was clear here in Chicago, so we had trick-or-treaters from 3 pm to 9 pm, or so. We live on a street in the city that is all houses, so we get kids from the blocks or apartment buildings nearby.

Lots of great costumes, polite kids, no flaming bags of poop or thrown eggs. Things were calm enough that my almost 4 year old set up shop on the front stoop with the bowl of candy, her rocking chair, and a pumpkin after her own trick or treating. Her loud screams of, "COME AND GET THE CANDY, CUSTOMERS!!!!!" echoed through the neighborhood. A good time was had by all.
posted by jeanmari at 10:49 PM on October 31, 2009 [6 favorites]


We live out in the country so none of that here, but we did take our kid to our friends' suburban neighborhood like we did last year and it was almost like a ghost town compared to then. Either people are skittish with this flu/cold bug going around, the tradition has lost its glory, or that corporate-sponsored trick-or-treating thing has co-opted the holiday. It was kind of depressing and makes me feel old.
posted by crapmatic at 10:51 PM on October 31, 2009


On second thought, I just remembered there was a big OU football game tonight, so I guess it's the NCAA's fault.
posted by crapmatic at 10:54 PM on October 31, 2009


Zero for the eighth consecutive year. A NEW RECORD
posted by Joseph Gurl at 10:56 PM on October 31, 2009


"candy called Rockets here in Canada" = USA Smarties
Canadian (and elsewhere) Smarties
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:59 PM on October 31, 2009


Several dozen.
Caramels laced with needle fragments.
posted by milarepa at 11:10 PM on October 31, 2009 [4 favorites]


30 +, gave out miniature Twix and Reeses cups, almost ran out so I had to turn off the light till my friends little kid came over, dressed as a cheetah ("the cheetah is not the bun"... don't ask), he was so tired he had to crawl up the porch stairs and as I sat down next to him he promptly showed me the bottom of his boot, then just wandered inside.

Remember though the cheetah is not the bun
posted by edgeways at 11:10 PM on October 31, 2009


No kids, but I live in a building that's a little mazelike inside, so it's no surprise. The surprise of the evening was a guy from the party across the hall, dressed like Eeyore, coming over to ask if he could PLEEEEEEASE use my restroom. I told him yes, but only if he gave me candy corn and didn't leave me any treats in my terlet.

(Then I made him give me the candycorn first, which was hilarious because it took him a while to find some, and he reallyreally had to pee.)
posted by heyho at 11:13 PM on October 31, 2009


Only two kids. Mini Reece's Cups, Kit-Kats, and Dove chocolates.

I made a Jack-o-lantern, too!
posted by mr_roboto at 11:15 PM on October 31, 2009


We never get any kids here except the one house next door, so I took the kids there some treat bags full of Reese's, KitKats, Skittles, and more.

I jokingly said to the 6-year-old "Trick or treat!" and bless his little heart, he took some candy out of his pumpkin and gave it to me!!! I snuck it back in his pumpkin when he wasn't looking. :)
posted by IndigoRain at 11:21 PM on October 31, 2009 [1 favorite]


None. Lucky for them.
posted by dg at 11:32 PM on October 31, 2009 [1 favorite]


For the second year in a row, Halloween has served as a stark reminding of the California housing crisis. We moved into our current neighborhood (new construction) at the beginning of 2006. In the first couple years we lived here, I could take my son up and down our block and that would provide more than enough candy for any one kid to want or need. And the crowd at our house always exceeded our expectations, regularly requiring additional visits to the drug store as the night wore on.

Last year and even more dramatically, this year, so many of the houses in this neighborhood have gone into foreclosure that we ended up having to walk blocks and blocks just to reach a minimum acceptable number houses. I would say less than a third of the houses in this tract were open for business tonight.
posted by The Gooch at 11:44 PM on October 31, 2009 [6 favorites]


20 or 30 here in Queens. But I had to go out and say, "Aren't you going to trick-or-treat me?" to a few wee monsters and princesses who were just passing us by. And we had all our lights on and FOUR lit jack-o-lanterns on the porch!

Some kids in our neighborhood think our house is haunted. We'd heard rumors of this before, but tonight some kids actually ASKED me if it was true. I said we really haven't been able to figure out for sure.

Tootsie rolls, smarties, and mini-candy bars, to answer the second question.
posted by torticat at 11:51 PM on October 31, 2009


Xero. Not sure what we would've given them, but didn't worry about it too much since we had zero last year, too. Had a carved-up pumpkin out front and everything, too!

Does anyone else think that Tootsie Rolls are yucky?
posted by amtho at 11:53 PM on October 31, 2009


and... The Gooch, that is a really sad story. I'm sorry, for your son's Halloween experience, and for all those neighbors. :(
posted by torticat at 11:54 PM on October 31, 2009


27! Down from 120+ last year. But a very blustery evening. Had a look out at about a quarter past seven, and the neighbourhood was deserted. We started giving double candy by about the fourteenth person.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 11:56 PM on October 31, 2009


Ten, maybe? We gave mini KitKats and Musketeers.

A bunch more at the store downtown this afternoon, though. We gave out little toys, like little rubber duckies in Halloween costumes and glow-in-the-dark bouncy eyeballs.
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 11:58 PM on October 31, 2009


We had about 35-40. The first was an angel; after her, they became a giggling blur. Strangely, we rarely see children of that age in the neighborhood.
We gave candy bars and Tootsie Pops because I wanted the Butterfingers for myself. My husband had a few Tootsie Pops and we are wondering what to do with the leftovers. Besides the fattening obvious that is.
posted by Cranberry at 12:00 AM on November 1, 2009


47. Reese's Cups and Kit Kats initially, then after an emergency candy run, Snickers, Take 5's and Hershey's.

One young kid asked his mom in a whisper, "Do I...go in?" "No, dear, don't go in. Just hold open your bag and say thank you."
posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 12:07 AM on November 1, 2009 [1 favorite]


Apparently like 80% of the kids in my neighborhood are under the age of 4 and adorable. Tonight redefined cute overload. A++ would hand out candy again.
posted by oinopaponton at 12:11 AM on November 1, 2009 [1 favorite]


It took a few drinks, but we got our host to bellow "Weeeelcome to hogwarts!" in her hufflepuff costume to one group of trick-or-treaters.

We had a healthy sized amount come by, my friends can't wait for the kids to get older, then they're gonna deck out the lawn into something scary.
posted by hellojed at 12:22 AM on November 1, 2009 [1 favorite]


I'm the neighbor who gives the good candy. We give out name brand chocolate and not those skimpy little one-bite minis. It's Fun Size or better here at Casa de 26.6. Also, we dress up in old (not scary) costumes to hand out candy. We gave out:
- 1 bag of Fun Size Milky Ways (60 candy bars),
- 1 bag of Fun Size Whoppers, Kit Kats, Milk Duds, (75),
- 1 bag of Fun Size M&M (60),
- 1 bag of the bigger Tootie Rolls, Charleston Chews and Junior Mints (80).

We have 9 items of candy left in the bowl and we ate about 15 items between the two of us.

That means we had roughly 200 kids stop by which seems about right. This is a family neighborhood and there are lots of kids. Plus, I saw several people park cars and get out with a crew of kids.
posted by 26.2 at 12:48 AM on November 1, 2009


No trick or treaters here. But the only treats I had on hand were a half-empty bag of Baby Ruths and two dozen cans of sauerkraut lovingly mailed to me by family in Minnesota, and I sure wasn't about to give those out.
posted by vespertine at 12:51 AM on November 1, 2009


"None" and "swine flu."

(Diagnosed on Friday! Wash your hands, kids!)
posted by Scattercat at 1:11 AM on November 1, 2009


Our Shanghai apartment complex has a bunch of Taiwanese moms who are very professional about the whole parenting thing, so every trick-or-treating apartment registers in advance and participating trick-or-treaters get a list of the apartments that hand out treats. We handed out glow-sticks, suckers and blueberry marshmallows to a little over 200 kids over the course of about 3 hours.

Was disappointed that not a single student at my school dressed for Halloween, and the (my) science department was the only department that wore (pirate) costumes.
posted by msittig at 1:11 AM on November 1, 2009 [1 favorite]


None, but I did see some kids in costumes when I went to the grocery to get some yogurt and stuff. I also saw two guys flinging insults at one another. I guess they had been fighting because one guy's friends were really struggling to hold him back. All in all, it was a typical Halloween night.
posted by daniel_charms at 1:21 AM on November 1, 2009


I'd say about twenty. I bought a pack of Milk Duds/Kit Kat/Whoppers, as well as a bag of Mini Blow-Pops. When I realised I wasn't going to get many, I started giving out crazy amounts. The kids seemed pleased.
posted by Partario at 1:44 AM on November 1, 2009


19, average height 5"4'. Ok, feedback please. Our across-the-street neighbor has never (since '72 as far as I know)(I'm back at the house I grew up in helping out mom and all.) ever given out candy. Tonight I left an egg on his porch with the words "You've been warned" written in red ink. I didn't egg his house mind you. He is in his 80's and has been forever. Did I do a bad thing?
posted by vapidave at 1:45 AM on November 1, 2009 [5 favorites]


Zero. We live at the very top of the hill, on a dead-end street, with empty lots on either side and apartments across the street.

That is why I buy nothing but peanut butter cups to give out, since they'll be all mine.
posted by cj_ at 1:08 AM on November 1, 2009 [2 favorites]


This year I'm fighting off a terrible cough that's a holdover from the flu, so rather than frighten parents by answering the door to their little treasures rather than open the door hacking up a lung (FOR A TREAT YOU GET SWINE FLU!!!!!), we closed up shop this year. I felt terrible, the neighbours were all set up for it and having fun. Only saw one other group in our area out for candy, so I don't know how well they did for kids.

We went to Metrotown to eat, it's a big mall and there were plenty of little ones from the surrounding apartment buildings going around the stores with their parents as the mall merchants hand out candy on halloween. Lots of little toddlers in tiger and cow outfits. I don't like people taking their tots to the mall to trick or treat, but it was nice to have a chance to see some kids in costumes after all.
posted by Salmonberry at 1:27 AM on November 1, 2009


actually, none. Almost disappointing considered the place (block/community/villa/it's complicated) I live in has no less than 20 kids of trick-or-treating age and apparently Halloween is getting big this side of the ocean too.
posted by _dario at 2:14 AM on November 1, 2009


About 50. We've been working on the "If you build it, they will come" model. Started with a flying crank ghost, added the giant animatronic scarecrow, giant throne of evil (for the wife the sit on and rule over all of Halloween), not quite good enough for a medical school or eighth grade science class skeleton (hint: Reject skeletons are really cheap in April) or two and this year a giant spider.

We would have had 51, but some kid, maybe eight, saw the giant spider and had a screaming freakout from about a block away. Good times. Good times.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 3:04 AM on November 1, 2009 [7 favorites]


there were literally thousands of kids in my neighbor hood...all the country folk bring kids into the village for this...

I turned off the lights, and spent my time with dawg on the back deck drinking cheap wine until they went away...

I have a lot of candy left to take to work....
posted by HuronBob at 3:27 AM on November 1, 2009 [1 favorite]


We had about 50 here and gave out a mix of M&Ms, Reeses, Butterfinger and Starburst. Costumes ran from the typical cheerleaders, pirates and superheroes to a very realistic werewolf and one Pinhead doppelganger who was so short that I had to stifle a laugh. There was one little boy in a Thomas the Tank Engine costume who, while holding his mother's hand, shyly held up a hand lettered paper that said "Trick or Treat." I don't know if he'd lost his voice or his nerve, but he was the cutest thing I saw all night.
posted by contrariwise at 3:51 AM on November 1, 2009 [1 favorite]


Over 100. Sadly we did not make it to Costco to do full size this year; that was THE treat, it turned out. Mostly mini Hershey bars and Maynards gummies -- the "Fruit Mania" variety is tops.

My 2yo cat dragged me all over town and got a massive haul. There a few strange houses -- one overdecorated house had overly enthusiastic occupants who were basically inviting everybody to hang out in their living room for five minutes. We ran into one anti-sugar see-a-dentist crank, but his treat was a pack of fairly cute cards; no foul.

I am still percolating rants re. tipsy adults -- can you not wait until 8pm to crack a beer? You sound ridiculous drivelling on like that in front of little kids -- and the replacement of flocks of Kleenex ghosts and construction paper pumpkins with giant WalMartiana, and the excess of store-bought costumes. Some are, I admit, quite nice, but I still cannot disassociate "store-bought costume" with the cheap mask + plastic sack indicating what you were supposed to be, viz.

Much of the evening was socially embarrassing; there was an awful lot of "Hi Kia" from totally unrecognizable people who seemed to expect a "Hi Yourname" rather than a "OH!" and a blank stare into the pitch dark at an outline of a costume. Next year I'm going to go out in a full mask and stuff and let them be the ones to flub the recognition.
posted by kmennie at 3:57 AM on November 1, 2009 [1 favorite]


we had about 100-150. mostly young children. we've had an influx of young kids in our neighborhood and it showed itself last night. i was down with the flu so ms lester took care of passing out duties, except for when she took the not quite two lesterette around. we gave out fun sized butterfingers, nerts, almond joys and some trader joe's product.

one thing that surprised me, and ms lester--the number of parents and/or adults also getting candy. i found several parents eagerly asking for a share. never noticed that before.
posted by lester at 4:27 AM on November 1, 2009


Over 150. Like jeanmari said, it was a beautiful day in Chicago, the last gasp of daylight savings time, so I ran out to get more candy. Then around 7:00 PM it just dried up leaving me with a big bag of Pixie Stix (the only candy left at the local Walgreens).

The laws of supply and demand are very tricky.
posted by readery at 4:53 AM on November 1, 2009


Who knew!? [Rockets in Canada] == [Smarties in the US] != [Smarties in Canada]. Part of my forced Canadian indoctrination has been learning that [Smarties] > [M&Ms], which I now seem to believe.

~80 in Ottawa. It rained all morning, but the sky cleared just in time. One little Bernie Madoff came by our door twice with different groups. I gave him candy both times.
posted by ~ at 5:31 AM on November 1, 2009 [2 favorites]


Probably 20 or 30-the most I've had since we moved here. We had Almond Joy, Mounds, mini M & M's and wrapped mini Ritz crackers with peanut butter.

Someone in our neighborhood was giving out bottles of water.... I have no words.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 5:33 AM on November 1, 2009 [2 favorites]


Reptile and I helped out at his parents', which is only a few blocks from us anyway. I am seriously not kidding when I say we handed out over 500, mostly to people of appropriate age and costume status. This was running from 4:30 pm to about 7:20, and then we were out and had to shut down.

Because they usually run 300-400, it has to be small stuff - mini snickers/mway/3musk, a few precious reeses' cups in the beginning, 2-bar kitkats and the equivalent size whoppers. Everyone in the neighborhood runs at about the same size, but the sheer density of the neighborhood means these kids end up with a ton of candy. I grew up in the suburbs, and they probably get to hit a block in the time it took me to do two houses.
posted by cobaltnine at 6:12 AM on November 1, 2009


We had 10, up from 2 last year. The last 4 kid had no costumes, just pillowcase for the loot. They were dressed as urchins, I guess. Mini Snickers and Milky Ways, though my neighbor's son screamed 'No Peanuts, please! I am alergic!'
posted by fixedgear at 6:16 AM on November 1, 2009


Probably 30, I gave out reese's pb cups and twix. It was my first Halloween in the new house. 30 adorable and appropriately-sized trick or treaters was a marked improvement over the old neighborhood where I'd get 2 or 3 batches of surly teens, at least one kid in each group smoking, wearing masks from the dollar store and an attitude that said "we'll be back later to rob you".
posted by donnagirl at 6:22 AM on November 1, 2009


I had about 60 kids, of which, TWO were in costume. Did anyone else have this happen? No costumes and lots of moms with their own candy bag.

Needless to say, I was frustrated and disappointed and felt no need to run out and get additional candy when I ran out.
posted by banannafish at 6:23 AM on November 1, 2009


None. There is super low turnout in this neighborhood, which is probably due to the haloween parade just up the hill that seems to be The Thing To Do (actually went this year, it was pretty awesome). Back in Pittsburgh, it was amazing - we lived in Bloomfield and would have to go out to get refills at least once each year despite buying a couple of supersized bags.

Oh, and we had fun sized 3 Muskateers, Snickers, reeses, hersheys, almond joy, crunch (my fav, these have been going), kit kats - came in a single bag.
posted by deliquescent at 6:25 AM on November 1, 2009


For those dying to know if my daughter chose princess, mermaid or tinker-fairy, in the end she went for tinkerbell (as discussed inthe princess thread) she went as Tinkerbell - that's green pyjamas, flower boots, some kind of peasant tunic thing with a tutu from the toy store and wings from a different toystore. Hey, we might not do the home-made thing but we're creative shoppers and combiners.

We traipsed around Wallingford (top Seattle trick-or-treating neighbourhood! A++, would trick or treat again) and got a huge haul of candy, with which we have no idea what to do*.

We were done pretty early, because she was getting tired. At our own house we had one set of trick-or-treaters who stopped by and petted our cat and who were very nice, and then we put a bowl of candy out, because we had to do the bedtime routine. At some point we heard a noise outside and when we chekced the entire contents of the bowl were gone - I suspect teenagers. Fuckers.

* Not let a 3 year old have it all, obviously. You'd suspect we'd sneakily mix it inwith the outgoing candy, but that just seemed wrong.
posted by Artw at 6:36 AM on November 1, 2009 [1 favorite]


Zero. I live on the 5th floor of a locked building.

However, my cats got some extra fancy Fancy Feast and in return, they left a "treat" for me. Boy howdy.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 6:43 AM on November 1, 2009 [3 favorites]


Here in a fourplex, I don't have to give out candy. My neighbors across the hall sat out front and did it anyway, though, in costume and everything. I figure they were also responsible for the cool carved pumpkins out front that they got about a week too early and that are now covered with flies for that special hellish touch.

This is a destination neighborhood for trick or treating, with people bringing carloads of kids from elsewhere in town to walk around, but there was a football game last night at 7. So the street was crawling with little goblin princesses from 6 to 7, then completely deserted after 7. Must have lots of leftover candy in the neighbors' houses.
posted by dilettante at 6:45 AM on November 1, 2009


I had maybe...7? First year in a new house, so I didn't know what to expect. I have much candy left over.
posted by Stewriffic at 6:46 AM on November 1, 2009


Oh, and I did have a gaggle of teens as my first group, and though I was put off by their lazy costumes (funny teeth), I chilled when they told me I looked pretty in my costume. I love being told I'm pretty. Y'all, that's the way for teenagers to trick-or-treat. They did a good job.
posted by Stewriffic at 6:47 AM on November 1, 2009 [1 favorite]


None. I live on the third floor. But my local bar was aswarm with dippy NYU brats in costume, so I had to do my drinking elsewhere. Lousy amatuer night.
posted by jonmc at 6:59 AM on November 1, 2009


Well, the weather was crappy and for some reason my side of the street was not seeing the love so less than 10 candy loving kids at my door. Gave away starbursts, mini m&ms, hershey and snickers bite size, kit kats, reeses cups, skittles and if I had not eaten all of them, some almond joy. I am wealthy in candy and as back up, I had collected all the fortune cookies and mints from the year's restaurant excursions and take away. Oh yeah, no one was walking away with my vegetables like they did one year. Hmm...also offered bottles of beer to the adults.
posted by jadepearl at 7:14 AM on November 1, 2009


I had 80+ kids stop by. We live in a great part of town, carloads of kids kept showing up.
I gave out measles, mumps and rubella, along with a handfull of chocolate and Wonka sugar.
posted by Balisong at 7:14 AM on November 1, 2009


About 20 total, which is kind of low for our neighborhood. I guess we're gentrifying. We have a ton of candy left over, but the greedy kids took all the Reese's, leaving us with fruit snacks, Smarties and tiny packs of M&Ms.

I guess I'll blame the rain and the recession, but that strikes me as kind of odd. You'd think in a depression/recession/collapse of Western capitalism, you'd get more Trick-or-Treaters, mostly adults dressed up in very convincing hobo costumes.

BTW, I'm not so keen on Smarties, so if any Canadians want to trade these "Rockets" for public healthcare, I'd be glad to work out a swap. I live in NJ, so I can either coordinate meeting halfway in NY to trade them for pills, or we could do it via mail.
posted by mccarty.tim at 7:27 AM on November 1, 2009 [1 favorite]


We had a bunch, but we only were able to give out candy while we were on our porch and front yard waiting for our friends and friends' kids to show up. Our neighborhood is pretty good for treats, being a giant '70s subdivision in a sea of crappier '70s subdivisions, so the kids from a big walking radius come to ours.

We gave away Snickers, Milky Way and those snap-n-glo bracelets. One house we went to gave us hot dogs, which was nice.
posted by dirtdirt at 7:33 AM on November 1, 2009


none and nothing.
there was a big block party in yaletown - the part of vancouver in which I live - so I think that all kids went there, instead of door to door inside the buildings.
posted by seawallrunner at 7:37 AM on November 1, 2009


We had about 10 - which is the most we've ever had.
posted by blaneyphoto at 7:41 AM on November 1, 2009


In Tokyo? i got nuthin'...
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:27 AM on November 1, 2009


We're in the process of moving into our house, so we had no one knock (who wants paint on their candy? No one, that's who). But the house across the street had a party going on, including a firepit in the front yard, and while we were navigating out of the neighbourhood we realised why there were so few kids being walked around - they'd shut down an entire street and filled it with bouncy castles. Which instantly melted away any remaining British cynicism left in me. This was my first Halloween in the US, and holy wow do you guys pull out the stops.
posted by saturnine at 8:41 AM on November 1, 2009


9.

I think door-to-door t-or-t is more or less dead. Why would anyone do it instead of going to one of the mall or science center or rec center events? More kids, more socialization, more fun, and safer.

It does strike me that if H1N1 is really a threat, Halloween should have been cancelled. All those grubby little paws sorting and trading candy, and then using those grubby mitts to stuff said candy into their faces? Talk about a disease vector supreme.
posted by five fresh fish at 8:43 AM on November 1, 2009


0! Last year, I got two. Major bummer.

Our Shanghai apartment complex has a bunch of Taiwanese moms who are very professional about the whole parenting thing, so every trick-or-treating apartment registers in advance and participating trick-or-treaters get a list of the apartments that hand out treats. We handed out glow-sticks, suckers and blueberry marshmallows to a little over 200 kids over the course of about 3 hours.

This sounds amazing. I'd be happy to register with some sort of parenting organization, and it seems like it would cut down on those bogus razors-in-apples fears. Why don't we do this in the US?!
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 9:06 AM on November 1, 2009


0, Butterfingers.

I was hopeful enough to rake all the leaves off the path up to my front door but not surprised at the turnout; in the 9 years I have lived here we have had a total of 6 trick-or-treaters. I do know how to attract them, however-- just don't buy any candy. The one year I didn't bother, I had 3 children show up. They each scored a can of tomato soup and a granola bar.

lots of moms with their own candy bag.

Wow. Don't they know that it is the duty of parents to skim 30% off the top? That way when your kids grow up and get their first paycheck, they won't faint from sticker shock.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 9:15 AM on November 1, 2009


We had about 4 kids before I went out around 7:30. Either a whole bunch more came after that or the teenager who was supposed to be manning the door ate a terrifying amount of candy in an hour or two. I am leaning towards explanation number two. Trick or treaters and my son enjoyed reeses cups, almond joys - it's strange: I used to hate almond joys when I was a kid; now I'm totally addicted - malted milk balls and hershey's milk chocolate bars. The malted milk balls fueled my first 600 words of Nanowrimo; if that keeps up I'll weigh around 3000 pounds by November 30.

It's not that door to door is dead, really, but all the kids in Asheville get driven over to one of three heavy trick or treating neighborhoods instead of walking their own neighborhoods. I think this is kind of sad, but it's been this way for a long time and most people in the non heavy trick or treating areas don't even bother getting candy anymore, so you can't really blame the kids.
posted by mygothlaundry at 9:18 AM on November 1, 2009


In my neighborhood it's been quite a while since there was trick or treating....
posted by Kronos_to_Earth at 9:20 AM on November 1, 2009


0. Saw four or five little ones dressed as skeletons, witches, etc. and a couple of very convincing teen-aged suicide bombers make their way up the street, but no one stopped at our house. I even checked the porch light. Two bags of Snickers left and I'm just dying to give one to the big fat squirrel outside.
posted by Heretic at 9:59 AM on November 1, 2009


None, which surprised me. It's my first Halloween here. I'm in a quiet, single-family residential neighborhood with a middle school a few blocks away. I thought I would be answering the door all night.

Not-a-one. The town did close down the main street along the harbor where all the little shops are for the kids to mill around down there safely, though. Still, I thought people did that AND trick-or-treat at houses still. Guess not.

Now I have ALL the good stuff to take to work. Fun-sized of just about any candy bar there is. Two giant mixing bowls full. Ugh. I should just put it on the front steps of the school Monday morning.
posted by ctmf at 9:59 AM on November 1, 2009


I think we probably had about 30, maybe a bit more. I got an assortment of those miniature candy bars (pb cups, snickers, butterfingers et al) we still have waaayyyyy too much candy left...into the freezer!
posted by supermedusa at 10:15 AM on November 1, 2009


None. None at all.

I think I'm still paying the price for that one year I handed out little bags of baby carrots and hummus.
posted by jason's_planet at 10:30 AM on November 1, 2009


I am still percolating rants re. tipsy adults -- can you not wait until 8pm to crack a beer?

Heh. Last year or the year before there was a dad leading his kid around, real polite and made sure the kid said thanks and all that, and as he was leaving I noticed he had a bottle of beer in his back pocket: awesome.

Next year if I remember I'm going to get a case or two of either labatt or molson cans (one of them is the Standard Beer Unit around here) and hand them out to the parents.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:50 AM on November 1, 2009 [1 favorite]


I think I'm still paying the price for that one year I handed out little bags of baby carrots and hummus.

please tell me you're kidding. please.
posted by jayder at 10:53 AM on November 1, 2009 [1 favorite]


Blast, I forgot:

Maybe 15 groups and a total of less than 50 kids. Mostly real young kids too; my modal customer may have been carried by parents.

We had Reese's cups and a wide variety of mini-bars and US Smarties and Nerds and Laffy Taffy and probably some more. No chili though. I was disappointed that we didn't round out the evening with an assortment of probably-too-old teenagers with distinctly half-assed costumes. If any had shown up past 8, they would have received an entire bag of Reese's cups. Do you hear that, teenagers in Amherst who couldn't be bothered to even put on a half-assed costume? An entire fucking bag of Reese's cups, and now I eat it.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:55 AM on November 1, 2009


This year I bought good candy, thinking that it would be like every other year and there'd be tons left over for meeeee. But Mr. Corpse handed it out by the scoopful to our 20 - 40 trick-or-treaters, and I have to resort to stealing mini Milky Ways from my kids.
posted by The corpse in the library at 10:59 AM on November 1, 2009 [1 favorite]


We had one trick-or-treater, which is about par for the course for this neighborhood, sadly. I was giving out Trader Joe's chocolate, knowing that it would all be going down my gullet anyways.

I took my tender lumpling to the neighborhood around her elementary school, figuring that anyone who lived that close to a school had to expect to be visited, and my zombie princess made out like a bandit.
posted by lekvar at 11:09 AM on November 1, 2009


After 4 or 5 years of no trick or treaters, we had about 25! I was thrilled. All very polite, with parents, age appropriate, cute costumes, they ranged from about 2 to 13 years old. I gave out individual packages of Honey Graham cookies and when those ran out, I ran downstairs and brought up the peanut butter Ritz Bits packs, which I usually take with me in my lunch. It was wonderful!
posted by Lynsey at 11:22 AM on November 1, 2009


I live in a rural area, and it would take the kids a long time to go down streets like this - dirt roads with no streetlights - so they don't. And it's sparsely populated, so the kids here go into town about 10 miles away (of 5000 people, but they have paved streets and houses are close together).

It's OK. My previous neighborhood was very popular with trick-or-treaters, and we went through many bags of candy, and some busy years they came after 9pm. It was fun, but I'm enjoying not living in a suburb more than I miss the kids on Hallowe'en.
posted by krinklyfig at 11:46 AM on November 1, 2009


45 or so legitimate trick-or-treaters, followed by the late surge of teenagers who apparently feel their dignity prevents them from saying "trick or treat."

Assortment of fun-size candy bars.
posted by palliser at 12:01 PM on November 1, 2009


BTW, didn't see one store-bought costume last night when I went shopping, though I was at the local hippy-dippy organic store. In fact, I saw a group of kids dressed as ghosts wearing sheets with holes, which I hadn't seen for a while. Some really great costumes, too, and an OK Elvis with a three-day beard, who could not resist people egging him on for a performance and completely blocked traffic leaving the store for several minutes, but who really didn't understand how to do an Elvis impersonation and instead looked a bit like Elaine Benes dancing. Yeah, the whole store stopped and watched Elvis dance.

I don't drink anymore, but this is the sort of thing that in the past would have set off a night of insanity and debauchery.
posted by krinklyfig at 12:11 PM on November 1, 2009


Not a lot. I opened the door maybe ten times.

Reese's Pieces. I know, peanut butter, allergies, gah, but like I said, not a lot of kids came by, and now I have a lot of Reese's Pieces to eat. Yay! Besides, all those allergic kids have EpiPens anyway, right?
posted by Sys Rq at 12:12 PM on November 1, 2009


62 trick-or treaters stopped by my place and got assorted comic books, Swedish Fish and Reese's peanut butter cups.
posted by JDC8 at 12:27 PM on November 1, 2009


Thanks Commish. I knew i could not post on halloween and had intended to forward my qustion to cortex, you or Languagehat to post for me.

qustion was:

if you could be a political figure , which Phamplet, Manefesto or book, would you hand out?

Flint only had 5 fires, heard not one gun shot and not one trick or treaters.
posted by clavdivs at 12:57 PM on November 1, 2009


I'd be Hegel, passing out copies of "Phenomenology of Mind"
that would slow the buggers down
posted by clavdivs at 1:02 PM on November 1, 2009


We had 9 kids. We gave out little boxes of goldfish. Yes, we were THAT house. Even worse than "I got a rock."

My son went out in his 3/4-finished ghillie suit, claiming to be some guy who shaved his back but never got all the way done.
posted by not_on_display at 1:48 PM on November 1, 2009


I had 40-50 kids and I gave out snickers, mars bars, skittles, starburst, m&ms, and tootsieroll pops. I did not buy any dark chocolate bars because I always dig them out and eat them myself.

A facebook friend posted that she was giving the older ones sans costume ketchup and parmesan cheese packets.
posted by francesca too at 1:55 PM on November 1, 2009


We gave out little boxes of goldfish. Yes, we were THAT house. Even worse than "I got a rock."

Whatever. Goldfish kick ass.
posted by adamdschneider at 2:12 PM on November 1, 2009 [1 favorite]


giving the older ones sans costume ketchup and parmesan cheese packets

I am so doing that next year. I'll have real chocolate for the kids, and condiments for the teens who should be out at the school dance instead of playing baby.
posted by five fresh fish at 2:22 PM on November 1, 2009


I had none because I live in a back house, but a friend of mine lives on "THE Halloween street" in his neighborhood and had over 1,500. I couldn't believe the stacks of candy he had by the door in preparation. It was like he was preparing for war.
posted by miss lynnster at 3:10 PM on November 1, 2009


We had about 75 kids come by. All ages and some super cute costumes. We gave out a big bag of Tootsie Roll products and a big bag of mini candy bars. I went out with my kiddo and among the strange things she got were a bag of easy mac and cheese and a pamphlet about jesus.
posted by shmurley at 3:18 PM on November 1, 2009


We participated in a Halloween extravaganza in a Tucson neighborhood where Halloween is a Big Deal, so the final "candy distributed between 6-9pm" count ended up somewhere around two thousand pieces. Yes, really. There were ghosts hung from the trees, fog machines in the yard, and spooky masks for us. It was a whole lot of fun, but I, also, am slightly disheartened by the trend of apathetic teenagers horning in on the trick-or-treating without even bothering to put on a costume or, in some cases, even say "trick-or-treat". I honestly don't mind passing treats out to grown-up people, but really? Ketchup and cheese packets, indeed.

Anyway, all in all, super-excellent. Best costumes spotted this year: pint-size hobo, complete with bindle and carefully-drawn five-o-clock shadow (unfortunately, no harmonica or can of beans); equally pint-size Link from Zelda; couple dressed as Bettlejuice and Lydia.
posted by teamparka at 3:24 PM on November 1, 2009


(Beetlejuice. Argh!)
posted by teamparka at 3:25 PM on November 1, 2009


I live in a college neighborhood, so it is perhaps encouraging that we got none. Would have given out Caramel Apple Pops to anybody, including college kids, had they stopped by. I might have forgot to turn the porch light on, though.
posted by flavor at 3:29 PM on November 1, 2009


We had 30 trick-or-treaters, because we got 30 pieces of candy. That was the first 30 minutes. We had to take our jack-o-lantern in after that, because we had nothing left to give out! Next year we'll buy five times as much candy at least.

We gave out organic vegetarian gummy bears, and I'm not a bit ashamed.
posted by Cygnet at 3:34 PM on November 1, 2009


I know a lot of people who were bummed that none came. I think Halloween is being co-opted by adults and in 50 years people will be surprised that it was once a holiday for kids.
posted by zardoz at 3:41 PM on November 1, 2009


I had the brilliant idea of giving out small bottles juice that I'd bought at Costco that my daughter has shunned. My husband gave away all those (maybe 18 bottles), two boxes of granola bars, and a bag of fun sized candy. There are only three lit up houses on our block, so 30 or so kids is a really good turnout.
posted by vespabelle at 3:43 PM on November 1, 2009


Three. Giant Costco Bag o' Candy. Most of which is going to work with me tomorrow.
posted by TochterAusElysium at 3:55 PM on November 1, 2009


I'd be 100% interested to see an anecdotal # of trick or treaters distributed geographically.
posted by GilloD at 3:57 PM on November 1, 2009 [1 favorite]


2 knocks on the door for a total of 5 kids, and the youngest was maybe 12. (It was raining all night, which I guess lowered the turnout.) They got fistfuls of skittles, starbursts, and tootsie pops. And I still have a ton left over.
posted by somanyamys at 4:04 PM on November 1, 2009


About 40, I think. We gave out Baby Ruths, Butterfingers, Kit Kats, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
posted by Zed at 4:09 PM on November 1, 2009


We had 6 kids come to our door. One was my niece, who was making the rounds to all the family members, 3 student council members who were trick or treating for cans for the need (which my mom forced them to take candy anyways) and then 2 real trick or treaters.

We gave out the Hershey miniature bars since my mom loves them and knew that we would have left overs.
posted by lilkeith07 at 4:12 PM on November 1, 2009


hundreds.

we were staying at a bed and breakfast in a residential area that is evidently a huge trick or treating destination. I helped the owner hand out candy, it was tremendous fun. We had puffy peppermints and dum-dum suckers, with a few pieces of chocolate mixed in to give out.
posted by pinky at 4:35 PM on November 1, 2009


Zero, but then I live pretty far away from any young kids. Amusingly, this was the first year in several that we actually bought stuff to give out. Oh well.
posted by knapah at 4:41 PM on November 1, 2009


"We traipsed around Wallingford (top Seattle trick-or-treating neighbourhood! A++, would trick or treat again) and got a huge haul of candy...."

Heh - I'll take some credit for that. I grew up in Wallingford and the young teenagers here used to, via traditional means, strongly encourage our neighbors participation in Halloween.
posted by vapidave at 4:43 PM on November 1, 2009


I had about twenty kids. (I think one group hailed from my employer, the local SUNY.) As for the treats: all chocolate, all the time. Hershey's minis, dark chocolate squares, Kit Kats, Reese's mini peanut butter cups, Milk Duds, Take 5s.

Lots of leftovers, so my department will be chowing down on chocolates for the next few days.
posted by thomas j wise at 4:43 PM on November 1, 2009


Just posting that made me crave something, so I've just eaten a small pack of Smarties (of the European variety). Damn.
posted by knapah at 5:19 PM on November 1, 2009


Had about 75 kids this year. Down from the 94 last year - despite the house being decorated. By the way, thanks to everyone who helped suggest names for the tombstones this year.

Some highlights... Last year, I had a few teenagers with no costumes. So this year, any kid who came with no costume got raisins. A few raised a stink, but most said next year, they'd dress up. But to the costumed, I had good treats - full-sized Snickers, Skittles, Starburst and mega Smarties. Also gave out other goodies - temp tattoos, spider rings, etc. I think the kids were pleased. A few "double-dipped", but hey - more power to 'em! Had about a third of the candy left over. I hope my co-workers will help get rid of the excess.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 5:48 PM on November 1, 2009 [1 favorite]


shmurley: Hey, at least it wasn't this Jack Chick pamphlet!
posted by five fresh fish at 6:02 PM on November 1, 2009


Only about 20, maybe 30 kids tops, I was somewhat disappointed because this is my first Halloween not living in an apartment complex as an adult. Should have been more generous with the first huge crop of kids because I have A LOT of candy left over!

Gave out a pretty good mix of stuff, lots of chocolate and some Smarties. Also bouncy eyeballs and pumpkin erasers. Fun times! I love Halloween!
posted by sararah at 6:07 PM on November 1, 2009


About thirty. Gave out the mini Hershey's/Dark, Krackle, Mr. Goodbar. 2-3 pieces per trick-or-treater.
posted by hjo3 at 6:35 PM on November 1, 2009


I had meant to go to the Mexican grocery and get these mango-flavored suckers they have that are coated in chili powder. That's what I was going to give the too-cool-for-a-costume teenagers.

Lucky thing I forgot. I would have to eat them now.
posted by ctmf at 6:52 PM on November 1, 2009


I'm in Australia, where for almost the past 30 years of my existence, Halloween was not celebrated.

In the last two, maybe three years, Halloween stuff has been appearing in stores and I've been getting knocks on the door from kids wanting candy.

On Saturday night this year I had two groups of kids show up. Not a lot but still. I told them I had nothing to give them. One of the groups of kids walked away saying we should get into the "Halloween spirit."

I don't know what that is, exactly, but I don't want it. Seems to me that the only reason this 'Halloween spirit' has made it to these shores after all this time is because retailers didn't like the quiet period between Easter and Christmas. How very crass.

Halloween, whatever its origins may actually be, seems basically to be a very American tradition and while I'm happy you Americans have it and enjoy it, I can't get into it. Not because of any religious convictions but because it's not an Australian tradition, and I would prefer that we resist the seemingly inevitable march towards Americanisation with more effort than we have so far, especially if it's only about chocolate and shopkeepers making a few more bucks in October. DO NOT WANT.

But uh, yeah, to answer your question... we had two groups of Trick-or-Treaters.
posted by Effigy2000 at 7:10 PM on November 1, 2009


We made papier-mâché pumpkins and put the candies inside (in little baggies). I think we got the idea from Martha Stewart's website last year. We gave them all out except for one so there were about 30 treat-or-treaters.

In some of the years past, I've given out little individual PlayDoh's, Halloween pencils/erasers/stickers and other non-candy items. My kids were always concerned we were going to get egged for not giving out candy. That hasn't happened so far, but on the other hand, the kids really seem to want just candy.
posted by nelvana at 7:38 PM on November 1, 2009


Not because of any religious convictions but because it's not an Australian tradition, and I would prefer that we resist the seemingly inevitable march towards Americanisation with more effort than we have so far, especially if it's only about chocolate and shopkeepers making a few more bucks in October. DO NOT WANT.

Oh, please! Halloween's not about lining shopkeepers' pockets at all! Come on! I mean, really.

It's about lining dentists' pockets.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:48 PM on November 1, 2009


(It's probably better that Australia doesn't celebrate Hallowe'en, though. They'd probably try to make jack-o-lanterns out of butternut squash.

THAT'S NOT A PUMPKIN, AUSTRALIA.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:51 PM on November 1, 2009


We had only 10 - 15 groups of trick or treaters, about 20 to 30% of what I expected. My theory is that Halloween parties were more popular this year because of it being on a Saturday. I had a sign on my door that said "CANDY OR POTATO: WHICH DO YOU CHOOSE?" Yes, I really did give out potatoes. You'd be surprised how many kids will choose a potato. In previous years, I have also given them the choice of candy or dog biscuits.
posted by Daddy-O at 8:36 PM on November 1, 2009 [1 favorite]


I took little Nicky and Nicolette out yesterday to the spooky looking houses of a few neighbors. While the kids loved getting candy I think they really wanted other people to come and ring on our door because they kept counting the number of groups that came to our house, and really loved that.

Wee little Nicolette (6) tried a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and spent the rest of the day feeling unwell. Teach her to skim from daddy's tax. Mrs Verstayne thinks it might be an allergy. I, however know that it is JUSTICE!

Of course young Nicky wanted to go out to the back yard and give candy to all the deer that are gambolling about or... ahem, wrestling, but I told him that they probably didn't need candy. He's nine, so I'll fill him in on the rest of that particular story this winter.
posted by Nick Verstayne at 9:57 PM on November 1, 2009



we were staying at a bed and breakfast in a residential area that is evidently a huge trick or treating destination


That is actually a cool idea for people like me who don't get any trick-or-treaters. Does the place advertise this fact or was it just accidental? Because I can see it being sold as a fun Halloween weekend package. "Stay at our lovely B&B and help us pass out candy to the charming crowds of little trick-or-treaters."
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:09 AM on November 2, 2009


There's only 4 apartments in my building, and only one houses any children -- and the oldest is only about 2 and a half. So they didn't come out, and I didn't get any candy to give out. I think that a lot of families just take their kids to the 2 blocks that are set aside for a block-party and they do all their trick-or-treating there. Some other buildings elsewhere in the neighborhood do decorate their stoops, and I'm sure some of the bigger apartment complexes may do their own schtick. But those two blocks are an all-out orgy of houses bedecked with fake cobwebs, pumpkins, scarecrows in the yard...one guy even set up some kind of weird maze-thing in his front yard with day-glo streamers and a strobe light. And it's a sea of kids.

And outdoor pageants: my street is host to a group that's put on an annual show for 10 years running, usually some goofy dorky thing that gives some pop culture reference a halloween spin. Another house the next block over does a free concert (everyone in the house plays an instrument, so they all dress up in costumes and jam outside), and still another house that had a garage started their own show in their "proscenium stage" which mainly consisted of guys dressed as King Kong and Godzilla beating the crap out of each other.

But there are tons of kids running around in the midst of all of this -- only a couple had store-bought things. One kid really impressed me when I noticed he'd made himself a full suit of saumurai armor, helmet and everything, out of construction paper and cardboard boxes. Lots of fairies, a Cleopatra, a baby dressed as a chicken...my favorite sight, though, was when I saw two little boys -- who didn't know each other -- dressed in identical Spiderman costumes, eyeing each other dubiously.

I did get a couple big bags of "halloween colored" M&M's for myself. I have a dark black bowl and they look kind of awesome all piled in it. At some point I was at a bar (met up with my roommate, who was watching the game) and a waiter gave me a fun-size Pay Day.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:12 AM on November 2, 2009


Like 5 groups. Gave them a few each of Snickers and Butterfingers.

Oh how I wish for a neighborhood with like 50 groups a night. I'd get a massive bowl and a kalidescopic variety of candy and let everyone take big handfuls.
posted by cowbellemoo at 6:22 AM on November 2, 2009


We must have had close to 400 kids. Lineups at our doorstep. Never seen such a thing. Spent about $150 on candy. Next year I'm buying a Costco membership and hiring private security.

Dasein, you know that it is perfectly acceptable to close up shop after you run out? Put up a little sign, "sorry, out of candy!". You went above and beyond. Now, those kids will remember. They'll be lining up the morning of, next year. (You're a nice neighbour.)
posted by typewriter at 6:25 AM on November 2, 2009


Forgot to mention... Had one kid who had a sign, "Diabetic. No candy please." So he got lots of temp tattoos, spider ring, etc. Never saw that before.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 6:51 AM on November 2, 2009


Ugh, that Lisa tract is... something. So the town doctor and the neighbor decide to keep it covered up because he found Jesus?

That sounds like something James O'Keefe would dig up on Planned Parenthood.
posted by mccarty.tim at 8:05 AM on November 2, 2009


Hundreds and hundreds. We gave out 32 pounds of candy: less in total weight than last year but more in pieces, as we went mostly non-chocolate and were fairly disciplined in giving out two or three pieces per trick-or-treater, on average. Windigo and her boy came over to help distribute candy, and I think she tacked on another two or three bags of M&Ms and wax lips. Pretty crazy evening, as usual.
posted by eamondaly at 8:46 AM on November 2, 2009


I went with my friends and their daughter to the children's parade in Cobble Hill and I have to say it was really awesome, total cute overload, literally thousands of children in costume trick or treating and marching in the streets. People sit on the steps of their brownstones with giant bowls of candy shoveling it out to the kids. 100% chance of my attending again next year.
posted by The Straightener at 10:02 AM on November 2, 2009


I had none, which sucked, because there are two little kids directly across the street from me.

Would it be weird to take my leftover candy across the street and offer some? :( I am going to obesify myself on mini candy bars.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 10:32 AM on November 2, 2009


eamondaly isn't exaggerating; there really were hundreds and hundreds of kids. It was like a movie set. Of course, he had the most tricked out house is the general vicinity, so I'm sure that helped.
posted by Windigo at 10:37 AM on November 2, 2009


We had four kids -- sullen tweens. Dressed as Army guys. I felt that I should offer them money or beer instead of candy.

Last year was a bit better -- maybe 8 kids, including some very young ones (I remember a super cute toddler dressed as a pony).

I think this tradition is dying out in the States. My (British) husband tells me that going door-to-door asking for "a penny for the guy" for Guy Fawkes Day has also fallen away.

Perhaps I should move Down Under, where the Halloween tradition seems to be just starting!
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 11:56 AM on November 2, 2009


Our neighborhood seems to get a ton of people driving around in cars stopping at the houses with lights on. All the local kids were done by 7:30 or so...probably 30 kids...then easily another 100 kids after that. We went through 25 pounds of candy.

It's been getting worse each year, less costumes, more teenagers, an amazing amount of surly adults not in costumes shaking bags at us threateningly, a lot of trying to see inside the house. I got a really bad feeling this year. I don't think we'll be doing it next year. I think we'll try to find a community event instead.
posted by dejah420 at 7:37 PM on November 2, 2009


Adults collecting candy? WTFBBQ?
posted by five fresh fish at 7:41 PM on November 2, 2009


Adults collecting candy? WTFBBQ?

As I was taking my daughter around the neighborhood, people kept insisting that I take candy too, even though I had no interest in doing so, as I knew I'd still have two pounds of chocolate waiting for me at home and I really didn't need more. But the insisted even after I politely declined.

So the inverse was in effect, too.
posted by lekvar at 11:51 AM on November 3, 2009


170. Half as many as last year, due to more city sponsored parties.

M&Ms, Reeses cups, Almond Joys, etc. Rather a chocolately mix.
posted by small_ruminant at 4:41 PM on November 3, 2009


Talked to a neighbor who apparently writes his trick-or-treater tally on the inside of his doorframe every year. (Like recording your kids' heights.) Neat idea.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:13 PM on November 3, 2009


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