Halloween at your house

**mikandmari** · 10-14-2007, 10:52 PM

How many trick-or-treaters do you get?

What kind of treats do you give out?

How much do you spend on your treats?

How crazy do you get with decorations? Photos?

If you have kids, who walks them around, and who stays home giving out candy?

Any other quirky traditions?

Can you guys tell I love Halloween?

And I'm being nosey!

I usually get about 50 kids. I used to purchase juice boxes at Costco to give out, but this year I'm cutting back and hope to spend no more than $15.00.
I'm going to decorate this week, and I'll take a photo. We have lots of decorations! Another thing I love is all the cool shows on T.V., about houses over-decorated, haunted houses, anything weird like that!

**mikandmari** · 10-14-2007, 10:57 PM

I have to add this... I used to have a solid black cat. If I fed him late, he would sit on the front porch and give me the pathetic low-pitched meow like he was starving. So on Halloween I intentionally fed the little guy late, he didn't even realize he was the best decoration I ever had. The little kids loved it!

Of course, he got a nice big dinner after his 'show'. I really miss that old cat.

**Marie78** · 10-14-2007, 11:18 PM

I live in an apt. and every year we either get a small handful of kids or none at all. I don't know how many this year, but I always buy a small bag of my favorite choc. candy and a small bag of my fiance's favorite. That way we get to enjoy Halloween, even if we don't get any trick or treaters

.

**wanderlusting** · 10-15-2007, 03:40 AM

We get tons of kids since we live near a grammar school and they know our street of Americans give out loads of american candy! I give one or two pieces of candy per kid. We don't decorate b/c I'm too lazy to make decorations.

**Its_Donna** · 10-15-2007, 05:02 AM

Our neighborhood does not have small children anymore...they are all High Schhol age now so last year we had no trick or treaters. I have some decorations up to make the home feel fall-like...I will not turn on my outside light this year.

**baxjul** · 10-15-2007, 06:47 AM

Were we live there are tons of kids. Everyone from surrounding towns come to mine for their kids to go trick or treating. The main Blvd. in our town gets packed with people. You can't even drive down it, and it is 1/2 block away. Most people set up in their driveways, so they don't have to keep opening the door. We don't buy candy to give out, because we aren't home. We both go with dd.

**3-boys-4-me** · 10-15-2007, 07:14 AM

How many trick-or-treaters do you get? TONS! Both older kids and younger kids. Every year we get more, I think the word is out!

What kind of treats do you give out? The older kids get a couple pieces of candy and the younger kids either get juice boxes or little cans of play-do. This year I did the play-do.

How much do you spend on your treats? A lot, but Halloween is my favorite holiday. I enjoy Halloween even more than Christmas.

How crazy do you get with decorations? Photos? I don't have any pictures, but I will take some this year. I do a lot of decorating. Cobwebs everywhere, scary music blasting, strobe lights, fog machines, ect. Last year we had several older kids tell us we had the best decorated/scariest house in Stafford! I enjoy scaring the older kids. When I see younger children coming I meet them at the end of the drive to give them their treat. Most of the younger kids won't even come up to our house, too scared. I've had older kids running off our front porch because they got so scared!

If you have kids, who walks them around, and who stays home giving out candy? My DH takes the younger 2 boys out. I hand out candy with the assistance of my oldest son and usually one or two of his friends.

Any other quirky traditions? Nope. We just enjoy the day.

**Darlene** · 10-15-2007, 07:45 AM

We don't get any trick or treaters here. Walking past the cemetary & down a long dusty driveway is too much for them, lol. I still do by a bag of candy just in case and make it a kind we especially like so if they don't someone here will eat it. My guess it'll be those hershey minatures, snickers, m&m's... Oh for the first time in a long time I decorated the house with ghosts, skeletons & the like. Nobody to see them but it felt good to just do it for us, lol.

Dd will be going to a party so won't be there for trick or treaters. Ds and his college housemates are all excited & are going to decorate & dress up to answer the door to their house. I told him he's going to need more candy. He has 3 big bags (I think he said) but after years of this, I just know what neighborhoods are major for trick or treaters & which ones aren't. He's in prime candy begging real estate.

**Ceashels** · 10-15-2007, 12:55 PM

We get a couple dozen tricksters but not too many. When the candy is gone, the lights go out.

We will sit on the porch and drink hot cider though

But the last saturday in October is the day of my Pumpkin Carving Party which i have been hosting since 1991. We have games, prizes, and lots of food with the fire pit ablaze. I look forward to it as soon as the weather turns chilly.... and thank goodness it finally did.

**Izzy0906** · 10-15-2007, 01:04 PM

We usually get around 30-40 kids. I am normally not home halloween since I walk my daughter around my aunts neighbor hood but my bf usually is home ot hand out candy. Normally we just get a huge bag of mixed candy to give out. I don't normally decorate but this year we will be decorating the inside due to the fact we are having an adult halloween party.

**Missourimom** · 10-15-2007, 01:14 PM

We never get any trick or treaters at our house.

**mikandmari** · 10-15-2007, 06:01 PM

Dana, why is that? Is your area too rural?

I want to live in a quieter, more rural area (it's the big goal!). So Halloween is about the ONLY time I enjoy living near the city.

**halloweenfreak** · 10-16-2007, 08:42 AM

we got over 400 last year, i think i bought 30lbs of candy last year and it was nearly all gone. if its cold, we also hand out hot chocolate or cider and i have special treats for the little ones. this year i think i have bubbles, halloween rubber duckies, safe t pops, little cookies, necklaces, rings, stickers.... its a big deal at our house of course. i couldn't tell you how much i spend, its embarrasing. but i work on it all year long and i ask for props/decorations for b-days and christmas and such. my pics are here if you want to take a look.

kimberly73438.tripod.com

**anna021** · 10-16-2007, 09:06 AM

we get between 300-350 kids on halloween, no very few are actually from the neighborhood. But I've been dressing up as the witch who comes to the door for so many years that kids are actually bringing their kids. Can't believe that!!!! My girls now have gotten into the act, and last year we actually had quite the show going on outside. It does cost me quite a bit in candy, but the kids love it and we enjoy doing it. Actually, my girls friends ask to dress-up as charactors, roaming the yard for that stray trick or treater to scare! LOL, it's all good, Happy Halloween to all!

**Neeley** · 10-16-2007, 09:17 AM

How many trick-or-treaters do you get?Zero. We have been in this house since 2004 and have never had a single one. We live right in the middle of a neighborhood and the elementary school is 1/2 mile up the road from us - yet, not kids. We do live on a dead end street and most of the kids stay on the main road or go to a fall festival type gathering.

What kind of treats do you give out?We keep a couple of bags of good candy just in case. We do things like Snickers, Hershey's, Reese's Peanut Butter cups, Milky Way, etc...Yummy chocolate treats.Since we never get any trick or treaters, we get to eat all of the candy after Halloween.

How much do you spend on your treats?For the non-existing trick or treaters we spend around $10-$20.

How crazy do you get with decorations? Photos? We have blood coming down our front door right now with the ugliest bat caught in a big spider web. Still need to put out the tomb stones and skeletons in the yard and string up some spider webs across the windows.

If you have kids, who walks them around, and who stays home giving out candy?DH and I always took the kids together. I can not justify either one of us missing out on making some memories with the kids. We would always just turn off our porch light and go as a family.

Any other quirky traditions?For years we had a HUGE Halloween party for the kids. We have invited as many as 120 kids. We had the backyard all fixed up with games, activities, the grill going with hot dogs and hamburgers, all kinds of cakes, cupcakes, candy, punch, soda, karaoke machine and a stage with the strobe light and fog machine, apple bobbing, dry ice in a cauldron for the witches brew, jell-o made in the shape of a skull. We had a few movies and indoor activities just in case it rained. One year we had a small rain shower - we had about 50 kids in the house watching a movie and snacking until the rain passed. Every child always went home with a huge bag of candy and prizes. We normally spent around $300 for the whole thing. All of them were so worth it. All of our kids friends looked forward to the party every year and still talk about them. DH and I love parties - we are really big kids ourselves.

Now that the kids are too big for that type of party we are planning to take a few car loads of their friends (we are planning on about 15-20 kids) to the Haunted Hayride in the Forest and then to Zoo Boo to do take a ride on their haunted train. Maybe come back to our house afterwards for mid-night showing of a Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elms Street, or Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie.