gastech1949 Loc: Imperial Beach, CA.

In San Diego area, we had 122 kids, 26 parents and 7 dogs all in costume. First about 5:30 last at 8:44. Some came by the carload.

BrianFlaherty Loc: Wilseyville, CA

Here's a TRUE Halloween story that I've been telling for 50+ years. . .And, it always gets a smile:

A friend of mine was a doctor (GP) in Santa Rosa, CA. And, he had delivered MANY children; and, their parents during his years in practice. If you came to town, and, asked for directions to his house,you merely had to ask "How do you get to "The Doctor's house;" and, most anyone could tell you. He was in the habit of throwing a party on Halloween, where he enjoyed sharing the little kids' costumes when they rang his doorbell. One little girl came to the door; and, she was dressed as little angel with wings that her father had made for her. Blonde, blue-eyed; and, cute as a bug! The doc grabbed his camera; and, called all of us to see this "vision." His wife had made cookies and muffins to be given out to the children; and, he said to the little girl: "Here is a treat for YOU!." And, he gave her BOTH a large chocolate-chip cookie AND a big muffin; and, placed both in her bag. "And, here is a SPECIAL treat for you because of your lovely costume!" And, dropped a great big beautiful red apple into the bag. The little angel leaned over; and, looked into the bag. . .And, then, looked up at The Doctor with those big blue eyes. . .And, said: "You sonuvabitch! You broke my cookie!" And, all of us watching, nearly choked with laughter; as we looked at the shocked expression on the face of our friend. . .The "Norman Rockwell" white-haired doctor!

sueyeisert Loc: New Jersey

We have no trick or treaters. My husband likes Kit Kats so I bought him a bag.

TheShoe Loc: Lacey, WA

The only place kids go for T-or-T in this retirement community is to the main office, where there are all kinds of supervised activities. There is a law enforcement contingent and a guarantee that the plentiful treats are safe for kids. It is one-stop shopping instead of trudging to 1400 doors. Door to door solicitation is not allowed. I have had the same number of kids show up at my front door every year for the last 12 years, 0.

Klickitatdave Loc: Seattle Washington

The world seems far less safe for children, (Also teenagers and Adults), than it was when I was young. Even then any parent who did not keep a close eye on a 2-year-old would be woefully negligent. But you are correct that young children, unless taught to avoid strangers with candy when not with their parents, are at risk.

Brian J.

We stopped giving out candy several years ago when instead of little kids dressed in non-scary costumes we had several teenagers carrying pillow cases to collect handouts. Also the theme seems to have become much scarier & adults seem to have taken over with most of the costumes in the stores being scary & adult sized.

paulrph1 Loc: Washington, Utah

My neighborhood has gotten older also. The young kids have moved on leaving us older folks all here by ourselves. Funny but we have a neighbor who decorates their home like they are inviting someone but they have not been home once in all those years.

Rich2236 Loc: E. Hampstead, New Hampshire

It's a whole different world out there now a days, Jerry. When my kids were little, we just went on our cul-de-sac and then went to the mall. The stores there all stayed open to give the kids candy. It was the safest place to be with the kids on that night.

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

When we first moved into the neighborhood 32 years ago we would have around 100 + kids for Halloween. After about 20 - 25 years the number dropped to maybe 25-30 as all those kids became late teens and in college. For the last couple of years though the number has shot back up as the homeowners that were here have downsized and moved to senior housing or warmer climates. Now the neighborhood is filling back up with younger families and it is once again Halloween is like we remember it when we first moved here. Our daughters were 7 and 9 which are the ages of many families' kids at the time. Now a number of those kids live in homes abandoned by their parents or have bought in this area. My daughter bought a home in this neighborhood about 1/2 mile from ours.

ELNikkor

Had one group of 3, just after 8:30pm. I was delighted and gave them all a lot of candy, invited them back next year. As they went away, one said, "How 'bout at Christmas too?" I said, "Fine, Christmas too!"

ELNikkor

A lot of teens are out nowadays. My son is a senior and went out trick-or-treating with a group of his friends; all had interesting costumes; many other teens as well as the younger tykes throughout their small town. Out in the suburbs on a main road, only one family came to our house. In years past, teens considered themselves too old and mature to go trick-or-treating; that was for "the little kids".

Ava'sPapa Loc: Cheshire, Ct.

Condos for the past 17 years = 0.

robertcbyrd Loc: 28754

We had over 200 kids.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

We don't give out candy anymore because our two dogs get too excited over strangers being around. I did not even notice sounds of adults or children outside on October 31. We bought candy for ourselves. A variety pack from Costco of Hershey Chocolate Bars, Hershey Almond Chocolate Bars, Kit-Kat, and Reese's Peanutbutter Cups. Not really my favs though. I like Snickers Bars, M&Ms, Reese's, and Twix the best. From what neighbors say there was some trick or treating going on. Most people from what I understand go to organized events these days.

badapple Loc: Twin Lake, Michigan

We had nine plus inches of snow. Lost all power. Hand shoveled 100 foot plus path for trick or treaters. Usually get 100 plus, got about 12. Now they are talking about doing it again on Friday or Saturday because weather was so bad. I’ll have eaten all of the candy by then.