General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsUm.... The Sun's Gone Down.. Got Lots Of Candy... Not One Kid.. Not One Family...
My 84 year old mom is asking me... basically...
"What the hell is going on?"
All updates are appreciated. How did your neighorhood do?
It's only 7pm on the West coast, Yet...
Go Vols
(5,902 posts)and rain here.I prolly had 10 groups of kids.
JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)Here in manhattan. Tens of thousands of people. Really loud.
Omaha Steve
(99,580 posts)It took 2 & 1/2 hours. We turned off the porch light at 8:30 our time. We have a lot of kids in our sub-division.
All my candy is gone. But I give the good stuff none of that stuff in the big bags. All full size candy bars. Had about 300 kids. Ok I did stash 6 of the reese peanut butter cups but the rest, gone.
Of course I go all out and the yard was all done up. People remember me from last year cause I made a "Zomeny" poster and had a romeny zombie. romeny was still there this year only he was runned over by the lawn mower and I had vultures.
arthritisR_US
(7,286 posts)calimary
(81,209 posts)Bad lawn mower!
madaboutharry
(40,205 posts)We had at least 100 kids.
Daemonaquila
(1,712 posts)I keep the porch light off until dark, because all the kids who come early are suburban kids driven in by their parents. As soon as the sun is down, our local kids fill the streets like zombie hordes, whether in groups, with a parent, or with older sibs. I lost track early on of the numbers, but we usually get 5-10 per group, and they were nonstop for about 45 minutes.
question everything
(47,467 posts)Used to be dark at 5:00 and kids would show up at 6:00. Now it starts at 7:00.
Still they came in large groups. Young teens with some kids in between.
We just had one bag of "nut roll" and at some point I panicked that we were running out of them but we ended up with four to spare.
Normally we buy two bags and are left with too many.
Did not know any of them. All the neighborhood kids are all grown but i think that the high school, perhaps the middle school organized groups.
Viva_La_Revolution
(28,791 posts)mom and 2 little ones.
We usually get no more than 5
questionseverything
(9,649 posts)but 5 bags candy gone
xmas74
(29,674 posts)The downtown area puts on an incredible trick-or-treat, even including free hot dogs and lemonade. The local churches all offer trunk-or-treat from their parking lots after the downtown is closed and lots of free parties open to the public, with bobbing for apples "bounce houses" and hayrides. The local university has offered trick or treat throughout a number of dorms, along with games. The veteran's home and the local nursing homes all offer trick or treat to the public after the downtown closes too.
The businesses have to be approved by the city council, the nursing homes work with the health department and the dorms all have their activities approved by university housing, with university staff always present.
frogmarch
(12,153 posts)it's probably because there's school tomorrow and also, a lot of parents have to work.
It's 8ish here in western Nebraska. A little chilly but not bad for October.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,669 posts)Lots of candy left over for me.
abelenkpe
(9,933 posts)My kids would love more candy
WillyT
(72,631 posts)warrior1
(12,325 posts)also in Sacramento
My neighbors had decorated their homes because they have little ones and then they went over to T street and left their porch lights off. It made the street really dark so I only had two other kids besides the two that live on this street. I let my neighbor know that also, I'm a little pissed. I had candy and toys to give out. Last year I ran out of candy.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)With lots of kids...
NOBODY
n2doc
(47,953 posts)oh wait, that was Skinner....
We had a lot show up, but fewer than last year. weather was fine, so I don't know the reason.
earthside
(6,960 posts)We've had maybe 20-25 kids.
Weather is very, very nice.
I don't know what is up this year; maybe because it is a school night?
I've been thinking all day though about how Halloween has changed. It used to be a holiday for KIDS.
Back in the 50s, 60s and 70s, maybe even into the 1980s, it was still a rather rare thing to see adults dressed-up for Halloween -- the focus was on what the kids were doing at school and in the evening.
But these days Halloween has pretty much been appropriated by adults.
I wonder if the main highlight of Halloween even twenty years ago -- that is 'Trick or Treat' -- is now something that today's overprotective parents shun and that going to costume contest parties for their kids and themselves is what it is mostly all about now.
TransitJohn
(6,932 posts)I think most people take their kids to controlled environments nowadays.
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)...so the kids don't go out on the streets.
And meanwhile I see more adults in costume, which I approve of.
JimDandy
(7,318 posts)Still, my d-i-l's parents have the scariest decorated house for miles and they were slammed. Candy was gone by 7:30.
doxyluv13
(247 posts)Had about 30 trick-or-treaters. Sort of average. We've had from about a dozen one year to close to 150 another. Couldn't figure out why in either case.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)But in years past I have come to learn that a lot of kids in the "middlin'" neighborhoods get over to the nicer hoods to get their treats and then come home.
Less gunfire or whatever.
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)You know all those big dumb "people are poisoning your candy / kidnapping your children" bullshit stories?
My theory is those were made up (Well, we KNOW they were made up, but...) by the peopel who organize shit like halloween mall-walks and whatnot. 'cuase invariably that seems to be where all the trick-or-treating is done. No moe public space, no more neighborhood streets, you're collecting candy at the GAP and Footlocker instead.
Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)long before there were Halloween mall walks.
And I remember going to several Halloween parties as a little kid, but I still managed to go door-to-door trick-or-treating as well (unless Halloween was on a Sunday, then it was discouraged).
USAF Brat
(40 posts)kids dieing from eating candied apples that were poisoned or getting badly hurt from eating candy with razor blades hidden inside. For about 8 years my Mom would inspect the candy 1st to get rid of anything obviously open or homemade and then we'd go to the local hospital where they would x-ray it for free to make sure there wasn't anything but candy in the packages. So please, this don't joke about it.
And I really missed the cool popcorn balls and other homemade treats the older retired couples would give for Halloween. And all because there were a few real jerks in our country who thought it'd be cool to poison or hurt kids out trick or treating.
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)Whatever the source, it's certainly helped contribute to the institutional paranoia that defines American culture these days
dem in texas
(2,674 posts)We have had only a few children come for trick and treat, mostly in the early years when more young kids lived around us. I think it has been five years since we had any trick or treaters. I still get a few bags of candy just in case.
You are wondering why they don't come here. We live up on a hill and they don't want to climb the steps to get up to our house. Our neighborhood is hilly, so lots of walking involved. Guess the kids go to neighborhoods with more houses and easier walking. If know if I was a kid, I wouldn't treat or treat around here, too much effort.
Now this is a great place for a Halloween party, and we have had them before, real blowouts, topped by a midnight visit to the old cemetery down the road.
Brother Buzz
(36,415 posts)Last edited Thu Oct 31, 2013, 11:48 PM - Edit history (1)
Maybe five last year, and ten the year before. For the last couple of years, our Downtown Business Association has been sponsoring a trick-or-treat thing with all the local merchants in the afternoons for the little ones, and it has really caught on.
Looks like I've got the basket to myself, and that fine with me.
On edit: Eleven kids ultimately showed up. Light go dark in another few minutes.
JesterCS
(1,827 posts)We had prob 2 dozen kids while we had a quick break from rain. Otherwise its been pouring all day, windy, and thunderstorms still otw
Aerows
(39,961 posts)We are getting enough rain to float.
haele
(12,646 posts)We are in the 'hood, there was some police activity earlier, and all the kids I've seen walking around have been around the churches or near gated apartment complexes.
We were also gone until 5:30 at a doctor's appointment, so we missed the few little ones who might have gone by.
We might get some kids between 8pm and 9:30 - they'll all be the older kids.
Haele
840high
(17,196 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)and we got wind and a deluge of a thunderstorm that still hasn't let up
ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts)I did not think we would have that many because we only had a few last year.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)It's raining so hard here on the Gulf Coast to your east, that you could drown if you look up.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)My lil town has a 7:30 curfew on Halloween.
But even the kids on our street do not trick or treat anymore, the parents tell me they do a chruch function for them.
Plus, we live down a long dark driveway so anyone not familiar with the area would not come to our house.
Still, for the last 2 years have not seen or heard any trick or treaters.
none the less, Mr. Dixie , AKA Mr. Sweet Tooth, insisted we buy 2 big bags of the "good" candy bars.
He is SO transparent.
ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts)Flood warnings and the whole bit. It's a bad one
Be safe.
Tx4obama
(36,974 posts)Had enough candy for 150.
What a bummer
I'm gonna have to eat all the left-overs
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)Historic NY
(37,449 posts)we get a lots of Latinos from the nearby city. Everyone polite lots of little kids.
LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)Historic NY
(37,449 posts)and they aren't from my town. They come because it safer. You apparently have the problem.
TeeYiYi
(8,028 posts)Maybe you could make us a Trick or Treat pie chart or a Halloween demographics by ethnicity bar graph to go along with your candy report.
TYY
tularetom
(23,664 posts)This area is filled with cranky senior citizens, real get-off-my-lawn-you-kids types. So there aren't any local kids walking around, and I guess the people who have kids stayed in their own neighborhoods.
So now WTF are we going to do with all this candy?
LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)And I got home too late for the daylight toddler trick or treaters.
Isoldeblue
(1,135 posts)Our four grandkids and maybe a total of 10 other kids came. That's it. We have lots of organic lolly-pops and peanut butter crackers left over. We live in a nice, small development with other ones around in NW Fl.. The weather was great. But there were few houses giving out treats as well. Our kids going around the circle was the fastest ever.
Halloween sure isn't like it was when we were kids.... I don't get it.
AndyA
(16,993 posts)It was a group of ORU (Oral Roberts University) students asking for donations of canned goods. Not a single trick or treater. Last year we had one.
My house sits back pretty far from the street, so that could have something to do with it, although I haven't seen anyone going down the street, either.
Rene
(1,183 posts)I couldn't hear any chatter on any nearby streets anymore, so I figured no one else was coming by..........so I put my orange pumpkin with all the left over candy on a shelf on my porch and went out for a quick errand to the store... Gone less than 15 minutes. I came back and the plastic pumpkin and all the candy it was full of, were gone. I had mostly little tots with parents in two come by....with ONE group of older boys. we're an isolated neighborhood...and this would have been their route back home. damn little thieves. Now we have no leftover candy to nibble on .....I sure am hankering for some of that chocolate. damn. I guess some people will take anything not nailed down, and they're starting early/young. I've always wondered how people can take and use stuff that they've stolen without their conscience biting their butts all the time. It's only a pumpkin filled with candy....but heck......it's symbolic of not being trustworthy. I've xxx'd that little family of rugrats off my friendly neighbor list.
GreenPartyVoter
(72,377 posts)so few kids were out.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)boguspotus
(286 posts)My wife and I live in the Bancroft neighborhood of South Minneapolis, MN. It's somewhat close to some scary areas (38th and Chicago). But the neighborhood has only gotten better over the years. It's a place now where younger families can afford a house in the city making the area so much better. It's funny, I commented to the wife tonight that it is so cool that the Bancroft neighborhood is so diverse. So many cute kids with totally different ethnic backgrounds - the kids, the parents - everyone being so friendly and nice - it's really great. We went through $35 worth of candy - for us that's pretty good. And less leftovers the better!
ProudToBeBlueInRhody
(16,399 posts)6:30 until 7:45 we got about 30 kids who almost wiped me out. Then a large group came by near nine and finished us off.
RebelOne
(30,947 posts)That's OK because I bought Reeses Pieces, my favorite candy, so all the more for me.
Shrike47
(6,913 posts)I give them money, of course, but I figure they can find a home for chocolate.
JI7
(89,246 posts)handmade34
(22,756 posts)good thing all I had for treats is Rum Balls and the kid's parents might get pretty upset??
Retrograde
(10,133 posts)I think they're still roaming around, but we turned off the light when we ran out. Mostly kids in groups of 6-12, ranging from just barely able to walk to maybe 12. Mostly homemade costumes, including 3 representations of Munch's Scream, 4 Heisenbergs, a thunderstorm, and the Declaration of Independence (who gave me some candy).
ETA: last year they started at about 5, but this year we had no one until the sun went down.
Codeine
(25,586 posts)I went out with my kids and the crowds made walking difficult in some spots.
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)But I'm in a new area and many houses on my street aren't done yet so people don't bother. Next year we'll probably have more. We know people in more established areas in town that got over 100 kids. I don't think the weather slowed them down any - it's super windy and pretty chilly but I live in an area where it isn't unusual to have a blizzard on Halloween so windy and chilly is 'not bad' trick or treating weather, lol.
I have a ton of left over candy, but I also have 4 kids so it'll disappear fast.
TeamPooka
(24,220 posts)BlueJazz
(25,348 posts)riverbendviewgal
(4,252 posts)from 5:30 - 7:30. We had about 50 kids which was better than last year. It warm about 8C but there was some drizzle. When we ran out of chips we shut the lights.
ohheckyeah
(9,314 posts)trick or treat here for years. It's a long walk up the hill to the house.
ChazII
(6,204 posts)This year over 100 kids with parents.
subterranean
(3,427 posts)Weather is not a factor. There just aren't many kids in my neighborhood.
MFM008
(19,804 posts)then we had a number of them, might have been more if no rain.
dmr
(28,347 posts)It's been raining for hours, temps in the 50s.
When I was a kid, the rain and much colder temps never stopped my friends and I. But that was in the 'olden' days.
joshcryer
(62,269 posts)Glad I bought 6 bags of candy.
Grammy23
(5,810 posts)We probably had the most kids we've had in years. The weather is nice (but rain on the way) so they lucked out tonight. A few more hours later and it would have been miserable.
I bought two bags of Kids Mix and was modest in what my husband and I gave out. Two or three pieces to each child. Some of them came with pillow cases nearly full of loot!!! Tootie Rolls, Tootsie Roll Pops, Dots and several kinds of taffy were what we gave out. We ran out around 8:30 so we turned off the light and unplugged the electric jack o' lantern. Probably had 40 + kids....some teens, but mostly 12 and younger. All polite and said thank you. Even the older ones. Lots of great costumes, too....many home made and very clever. Gotta love it!
mrsadm
(1,198 posts)What a nice evening! We are in a very rural area, and I miss the kids!
panader0
(25,816 posts)kid on Halloween. I'm in the boonies in the "last house on the left".
RandySF
(58,752 posts)Went to the Laurel Heights neighborhood in San Francisco where there were so many kids that you could not walk on the sidewalk. Of course, we had perfect weather for it, too.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)For the past few years, kids tend to get driven to certain areas that have a good reputation for candy... and adult fun. One neighborhood has a number of houses giving out alcoholic drinks to parents. A few years ago, one had an open bar on the porch but that got a little weird.
For those of us not in the anointed neighborhoods... bubkes.
Mz Pip
(27,436 posts)The stores on the main drag and at the local shopping center have trick or treating and the schools often have something going on.
I had one group of four kids. Last year I had none. But we don't live in a central location and kids have to walk up a steep hill to get to our street.
I buy a couple of bags just in case and end up eating it myself, so I always buy the good stuff. 🎃👻
calimary
(81,209 posts)All the little kids that used to swarm this area are grown up. We had several large groups of teenage girls from a local school, though...
gopiscrap
(23,756 posts)proReality
(1,628 posts)Pounding rain and wind gusts up to 55 mph.
ourfuneral
(150 posts)Not one person!
Lugnut
(9,791 posts)I bought bags of candy and made up little bags for the kids. Nobody showed up. I got candy we liked just in case and we ended up having to eat it. That was it!
stevil
(1,537 posts)Not ONE trick or treater in the 25 years living in this house. Tonight we had a family with triplets come by, I just happened to have three full size candy bars available and the kids made friends with my awesome Golden Retriever who lost his best buddy (our other Golden) a week ago.
ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts)I'm so sorry for the loss of your dog.
sakabatou
(42,146 posts)Must've gave out over 150 pieces.
liberal_at_heart
(12,081 posts)they use to. I wonder if it's because parents just don't want to bother taking their kids trick or treating anymore. I've spent the last 17 years trick or treating with my kids. This was the first year we didn't because my youngest is 15. It was a lot of fun when my kids were small and even when my kids got older I still dragged my butt out there every year because I knew how much fun they were having. But parental involvement isn't what it used to be. I could count the number of parents I saw at curriculum night and parent teacher conferences on both hands. Also noticed people don't really decorate their houses for Halloween anymore. Every house on the block is decorated for Christmas but no one seems to want to go through the hassle for Halloween. It's kind of sad. We need a Halloween Renaissance.
Nay
(12,051 posts)we got about 50. It varies so much year to year that I can't really figure out the reasons. The weather was perfect.
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)Not as many as in years past but I find it varies from year to year so you never know. The older "kids" (20+????) got ONE candy each. The little guys get the handfuls but they're so CUTE!
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)of my local hospital. Since I get home after most of the trick-or-treaters are done for the night, I buy candy to give out at work.
This year I also decorated my desk, had hair decorations for myself, and non-candy treats (including homemade play-dough) to give out. What's fun is that lots of adults help themselves to my candy. Next year I'm going to make a lot more play-dough.
I bought ten bags of various "fun" sized candies and gave away all but about ten pieces by 8pm. I also gave away most of the non-candy goodies.
I love Halloween.
NutmegYankee
(16,199 posts)Normal for the area.
FreeJoe
(1,039 posts)We ran out of candy and had to start giving out other things we had on hand...juice packets, bags of chips, fruit.
Blue_In_AK
(46,436 posts)got a couple, but we didn't see any. I'm used to not having trick-or-treaters. Our unit is in the back of the building, through a gate. Almost all the kids on this street have grown up, as well. When my daughter was young, there were a lot of kids her age. Now they're all grown and gone.
Skidmore
(37,364 posts)we also have no smaller children in the village now. Most of the kids are high schoolers this year and they don't make the rounds any longer.
Javaman
(62,517 posts)I attribute it to it being a thursday.
Next year, I expect a ton of them.
LWolf
(46,179 posts)There aren't any trick or treaters on my little private, dead end dirt road. There never are. Many of our families live semi-rurally outside of town, so they go into town for trick-or-treating. Downtown businesses stay open, have scarecrow contests, and pass out candy; there's a large crowd of families making their way up and down main street. There are also some "trunk or treat" events, where people show up with their car decorated, and pass out candy from their trunks; in a parking lot or field, it doesn't matter.
Listening to the grapevine at work, plenty of kids had something planned.
Up here, though, people usually try to be done by dark, and it's dark before 7. It can be COLD out there. It's not unusual for costumes to be hidden under winter coats.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)I almost wanted to egg my own house...
gollygee
(22,336 posts)rain and wind so way down this year.
JanMichael
(24,881 posts)that we SAW...and we are not even on the "popular" street. I have never seen so many-- we were out of candy before 8
MineralMan
(146,286 posts)blue collar neighborhood in St. Paul, MN. We handed out full-sized candy bars, and we know how many we had. All of the trick-or-treating happened between 6 and 8 P.M., like it usually does. No early birds and nobody after 8 P.M.
Our 5-year-old beagle-basset mix had his first Halloween with us. I had him on leash, and he got to go to the door to visit all of our costumed guests. Dude, the dog, loves children, and stood there patiently in the open door for each group of kids, letting them pet him and feel his long droopy ears. He was beside himself with joy, his tail spinning around like a helicopter rotor.
Many of the local kids already know Dude, and greeted him by name at the door.
Our busiest Halloween since we move in in 2004.
bhikkhu
(10,715 posts)Big crowds have been the norm for years, though we are just off the beaten path. Weather was perfect too.
Notable this year was babies - several moms out with their babies, who weren't nearly old enough to eat candy. Showing off cute baby costumes, I suppose.
Also notable was the lack of late-night teenagers. Every year the regular crowd would taper off around 8:30, then there'd be another hour or two of older kids - as much out screwing around than really dedicated to candy-gathering. This year, 8:30 was it, and there were no older kids out late. Maybe they had better things to do.
Avalux
(35,015 posts)I live near an elementary school and middle school and usually have a good many kids show up; last night there were a lot more than usual; mostly in groups. Great costumes. I gave the last of my candy out around 8:00 to some middle school boys dressed in their football uniforms. After that I turned out all the lights and locked the door, but felt bad because I didn't have more candy - I could still here kids going up and down the street.
Warpy
(111,241 posts)probably because my porch light was one of the few that was on. I got about 6 big groups of kids out with parents and a couple of groups of teenagers.
I live in a poor area where kids wear homemade costumes instead of store bought Walmart costumes.
I think there might have been a big Halloween party at one of the schools to cut down on the number of trick or treaters. I do know that this is one of the few times a year the kids get to chow down on lots of candy.
Orsino
(37,428 posts)I'm sick and moving to a new place, so I kept the lights out. Just one knock on the door--sorry, kids.
deutsey
(20,166 posts)where our candy supply wasn't wiped out.
We usually have two large bowls of candy and by the end of the night both are empty. Last night, however, only one bowl was empty.
There also didn't seem to be the same kind of spirit (so to speak) that usually goes along with Halloween in our neighborhood.
msanthrope
(37,549 posts)know we go all out....I rise from a coffin to hand out candy...