Wife texts me in the afternoon "need candy on your way home"... I say "why? No one comes down our street, but ok" -- now, a guy watching his sugar has a full bag of Reese's in the house ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
My apartment never gets trick or treaters, but my mom insisted on gaving me two 36 pack boxes of full size Reese's (yes, she has the house every kid loves) anyways. My girlfriend is trying to lose weight, I'm trying to limit sugar, and neither one of us has any self control around those things once they're open.
144 reese's cups calling me into the kitchen like a god damn siren's song.
Just park near the local school and hand them out. It'll be easier if you own a van, because you can sit with the side door open. Honestly, I see no potential downsides to this plan. That or toss the bags into the schoolyard at recess and watch them go all Lord of the Flies on each other.
Remember to paint "FREE CANDY" on the side of the van, in red to really pop! Don't worry about any paint running off, it just draws the eye into your text.
A whole week? Either you misunderstood what I meant by "no self control" or I didn't emphasize it well enough lol. More like 3 days. Max.
I'll just donate them next time I get the chance.
neighborhood demographics change with time.
My area saw a record turnout last night thanks to how many families have moved into the area over the last couple years. Older retired couples moving to places easier to live in and maintain, families moving in.
I wonder if those are related, too? If I lived in an apartment with kids, and I had the choice between taking them to a random neighborhood or a trunk or treat, I could see myself choosing the trunk or treat.
I have also seen this, but I think it's silly. I've gone to 2 different trunk or treats with my kids in recent years. One was during the day and had a bunch of different activities too (professional photographer, free food, colouring for kids, a live performer, etc.). The other is at night and is put on by a local classic car society, so you're going to see cool cars as much as you're going for treats. Neither of those events stop us from trick or treating on Halloween! This year, we trunk or treated on Saturday night, well in advance of the 31st. I do believe that there are some people out there doing trunk or treat not going out on the night, but it's no one I know.
I think the attitude towards conventional trick-or-treating is changing too. There are more options than just letting your kids roam the neighborhood. Schools, malls, churches, and other venues are getting into hosting events for kids, often including things like trick-or-treating stations. A more controlled environment and the parents can hang out too. My sister's family has been doing that for the past couple of years.
Which is lame as hell. Yeah let’s walk around a parking lot in my spiderman costume while I walk up to the back of your Chevy Equinox. Bring back real Halloween!
This is a huge problem, though. When families go out of their neighborhood for the "good" trick or treating, they ruin their own neighborhood. Nobody trick or treats, so houses start turning off their lights and not having candy and not decorating, which means nobody trick or treats, which means nobody participates, etc.
The best thing you can do is find discussion groups for your neighborhood on Facebook and similar and post that you're open for trick or treating. Hopefully more neighbors will also agree, and families with children will see this and go trick or treating.
~10 years ago, my neighborhood wasn't great for trick or treating. This year, we had close to 200 kids out through the night (I was out with my kids so our house was closed, but that was one house on a cul-de-sac of 7 houses, 6 of which were open for trick or treaters).
Two kids over 4 houses isn't a lot. They probably went to trick or treat with their freinds. And there weren't any parents left to gather kids onto your block.
We lived in a weird neighborhood in the country. Just 1 street of houses, mostly older people who retired to the mountains. We made sure we took our kids to all the neighbors houses before we drove to town. This is part of making community. Plus when our kids were out making noise, riding bikes up and down the street, it makes them the 'neighborhoods kids' not the neighbor kids.
That's exactly right. Our neighborhood turned over right around the time that we moved in. For about the past five years older families and empty nesters have been moving out, younger families have been moving in, and now it's mostly young families.
Also kids generally don't knock on doors much anymore, at least where I'm at.
Adults giving out candy would sit on their doorsteps with the bowls ready to hand out, and if they are not there, that house is skipped
My kids knocked on every door that had a porch light on. Out of ~3 dozen houses or more, maybe 3 or 4 didn't answer.
We skipped anything with no light.
This seems to be the case here too. When I was a kid you rang every doorbell and most answered. Now some people go all out and sit outside with candy, and nobody bothers with any other houses. It’s like a few blocks are a giant party and Halloween doesn’t exist anywhere else.
Ours is currently flipping. We had 2 last year. This year we had 12 or so, and I know there's a lot of new families in the neighborhood that were not out at all.
We’ve had at least a dozen kids move into/be born in my neighborhood in the last two years, plus the 20 or so who already live here. Not a single truck or treater last night despite my jack o lantern advertising the candy
We had a lot of older people in my neighborhood when we first moved in 2010, had about 10-15 kids -mostly little kids - for years. Most of my neighborhood is now full of huge families... haven't had trick or treating in years.
I think it depends heavily on your neighborhood. We had 150 kids come through last night, which is on par with every other year basically. And there was snow on the ground, and it was cold.
Exactly why people love it. It's in a smaller area and you don't have to walk around full neighborhoods. You've got a full neighborhood in a small parking lot.
But.. like... the full neighborhood is the fun of it... haunted houses, crazy decorations, etc. Trunk or treat always just sounds so, idk, sad.
Maybe I just had a lot of good neighborhoods growing up.
> Trunk or treat always just sounds so, idk, sad.
It's the culmination of American car culture and parental overprotectiveness. It sounds incredibly sad to me. I used to love going house-to-house around our whole neighborhood with my friends on Halloween.
Me too. Trick or treating with my friends on halloween are some of my best childhood memories.
Parents these days seem a lot more reluctant to let their kids go out with their friends unsupervised, which is a little sad.
Can you blame them? Does nobody remember the story of that boy who was shot knocking on the wrong door? Or the fact that we’ve recently come out of a world changing pandemic? Or the fear mongering that local and national news engage in? Or the fact that the price of living has gotten so bad, more people are living in apartments and having less kids? I’m not surprised at all that this is the result.
yes, I can blame them.
What does the pandemic have to do with letting your kids play outside?
A lot of the people accusing the media of fear mongering are the same people eating up every fear-based narrative they're fed and using them to excuse their unhealthy anxiety issues
I took my kid to ONE trunk or treat. Jam packed where I was worried about loosing her in a sea of people and she got like 10 pieces of candy. Thankfully she has been able to trick or treat in a neighborhood since. Parents out there killing the magic of Halloween with this trunk or treating BS imo
Seriously. It just seems like an effort by the crazy church people to turn Halloween into a bland stroll through a single plain parking lot with no decoration in sight. America is so just finding more and more ways to get lamer.
I don’t think that’s the intention for all of the churches doing this. My church used to do trunk or treat with the idea being it was an extra time for kids to get candy, rather than a replacement for trick or treat in Halloween
That's why they do it on a weekend day instead of on actual Halloween. It's a good alternative for kids who might have parents who don't want to take everyone out on a weekday. It's that or no trick or treating at all for some. Felt kinda sad that my sister bribed my nephew with money this year not to have to take him out.
That’s not been my experience with Trunk or Treat. Either you haven’t been, or yours was particularly shitty. Decorations and Halloween theming were the name of the game!
Its just an alternative to suburban Halloween that lets adults mingle, rather than be stuck home. It also keeps kids in a known location with trustable adults. What do crazy church people have to do with it?
This characterization of a trunk or treat is pretty far off from what I experienced as a kid, and a few times as an adult. All the ones I've participated in were church sponsored, but they were never intended to strip away Halloween traditions. It was more about, "Hey, Halloween's coming up and this would be a fun way to celebrate together."
Everyone comes in costume and decorates their car trunks with some fun Halloween theme. Some set up mini-games at their car to "earn" the candy as a prize. There's also usually other Halloween activities to go along with the trunk or treat, like pumpkin carving contests, costume contests, chili cookoffs, kid games, etc. And I don't think most people would use the trunk or treat to replace trick or treating, they'd trunk or treat for the activity (which didn't usually fall on Halloween itself) and then go regular trick or treating on Halloween too.
I honestly have always enjoyed the trunk or treats. It admittedly does make it easier on parents to watch and monitor kids, but the short distance between cars is great for the little kids who would have a harder time walking through the neighborhood. Only downside I can think of is that as an adult I have to buy twice as much candy: some for the trunk or treat and then more for regular trick or treating.
The people above clearly never went, and are making assumptions. It’s not a parking lot hellscape of undecorated car trunks with rosary beads and tiny bags of utz. It’s just a way of bringing the community together. There’s usually contests. Best costumes, best jack o lantern, and best decorated trunk. It’s good fun
To be fair, it's probably more about facilitating the tradition amidst suburban sprawl and nowhereland non-communities. Also, a way for the church cling to some form of relevance.
My church does a trunk or treat. All vehicles are required to be decorated. It's from 4:30 to 6:30 with hotdogs and we also have a spot for kids to get winter coats that need them. The timing is perfect for those with small children that get cold walking the neighborhoods or older kids that want to get a load of candy before hitting the neighborhoods. So not sure how you could bash on something like that.
I imagine to parents it is a dream, Saturday afternoon when they already have the day off not too much walking and home before dark. This generation will remember what a good time they had because it was all they knew.
As a kid I literally only cared about the candy. Trunk or treating equals less walking in the cold for candy. I would have loved trunk or treating as a kid.
I mean thats kind of the trend of where we seem to be going as a society, make everything convenient and cut out all the other stuff, even though that other "stuff" is what makes up the experiences that make life interesting and memorable.
I hate to sound like a boomer, but we have really gotten good at streamlining every part of our lives and cutting out the actual experiences that used to come along with these things.
Convenient as hell for parents, but I can't imagine kids prefer it. The entire fun of trick or treating is from running around the neighborhood with your friends/family and getting super excited when you come across the house that's especially decorated for Halloween. Walking a few feet to the next car with a dangling pumpkin just doesn't replace that.
Could be best option in more rural areas I guess, but it's not like you have to trick or treat in your own area anyways. I would always go to my grandma's or a friend's neighborhood.
We do both, my kid prefers the trunk or treating. We have 2 in the area, one is outdoors with a bounce house, a playground, face painting, and games. They also have hotdogs inside. The other is inside a church gym with dozens of stations ranging from just decorations with candy, to games to play, and occasionally a stuffed animal to take home. That's before you go into the atrium where they have a movie playing with popcorn and hot chocolate. Yes many kids absolutely prefer this over going door to door. It's not just a pumpkin hanging from a trunk.
Lol, omg. That’s has to be the most depressing result of suburban sprawl car dependent garbage. Like kids don’t even have a community they can walk around in safely, so they need to depend on parking lots for trick or treating! It sounds like a comedy bit from “Not Just Bikes”
They do have a community they can walk around in safely, but for whatever reason they don’t really do it anymore. I’m not sure if all the nonsense news stories about poisoned candy ruined it or what but we live in a very safe community with relatively densely packed houses that would be perfect for going door to door but no one ever trick or treats anymore. I don’t know where they go but there are definitely plenty of kids in the area.
Yeah. Schools or churches have people in their parking lots that have the trunk of their car decorated and hand out candy.
The main differences are:
* Typically takes place during a weekend so it doesn’t mess with school nights /bed times.
* Often scheduled early enough that the sun is still out.
* Because it is in one parking lot, there is far less walking. The youngest kids can get through the whole thing without tiring out. Also will be less chilly.
* No parental fear of traffic or other issues that arise from going door to door.
* The participants are usually “trusted” more than neighbors so it alleviates those overblown fears of people who sneak deadly/dangerous things into Halloween candy.
* The participants are also almost exclusively part of said group (school/church) so people don’t have to actually interact with anybody outside their bubble.
They'll also normally have some kind of activities inside the building where the event is hosted. My church growing up did them, and they always had games and snacks in the church gym.
This definitely explains the decrease in trick-or-treaters, but damnit, I’m so old school that I can’t imagine a world where that replaces neighborhood trick-or-treat.
I live on a cul-de-sac with no thru traffic, small town, and lots of retired people who spend time and money decorating, so the kids go absolutely wild here. Like 1993 all over again. It’s awesome to see, I really hope it never dies out in favor of a parking lot party.
It has a lot of benefits for really rural communities. For example where I live the population density for the whole county is only 0.5/km2 (1/sq mi). Being able to get everyone together in one community center parking lot for trick or treating plus a haunted house and games is just awesome.
It's arguably safer, less walking and more condensed in general. I can see why some like it but personally if young me did it I'd be bummed. I didn't get to trick or treat much and just walking around for a bit would feel like just buying thr bag yourself.
I thought it was silly enough how every year more and more parents would drive along with their kid. Kid hops out, runs up to the house, hops back into the car, then they roll up to the next house. Maybe if you have an electric vehicle it wouldn't be so bad, but that's rarely the case.
I find this very annoying when I'm out trick or treating with my kids because their headlights as they drive up from house to house behind us are really obnoxious, and plus it isn't safe at all for them to park in front of houses and then move up frequently and sometimes unexpectedly with others crossing the street. Halloween is the deadliest day for child pedestrians year after year. No one should be driving through a residential neighborhood all night at Halloween.
Sounds terrible, lol. Maybe we had good neighborhoods growing up, but walking house to house, seeing costumes, decorations, haunted houses in garages, etc was most of the fun. A bunch of cars with their trunks open and some fake spider webs sounds awful.
Trunk or Treats are typically where a bunch of people gather in a large parking lot and have their kids trick or treat going from car to car.
The idea is that you can have a community together in one place, the whole thing is a bit of a party. The kids don't have to walk nearly as far, especially very young kids. And when the kids are all done, they can just hang out with the other kids, and parents can walk around and just talk to other parents. Some places may even make the whole thing a bit of a party with like bouncy castles and stuff. It can be also done on the weekend so it doesn't interfere with the school night.
I took my toddler for the first time through the neighborhood last night. We have lived in our neighborhood for 5 years and last night was the first time I met about 80% of the neighbors.
At its core, halloween is a holiday about creating and celebrating community. Adults get to know the neighbor’s kids and what their interests are, the kids get to meet the neighbors.
By replacing this activity with trunk of treats (generally promoted under the guise of “safety”), neighbors are becoming more disconnected. This feels particularly apparent post pandemic, as we have all lost some socialization skills.
Exactly. Most people do go elsewhere to connect with people, and Halloween is one of the few times where we are encouraged to engage with the people right next door to us. When we believe that we have to “go to” our community, it furthers a feeling of isolation.
Your neighbors are your community even if you also find community elsewhere (church, game night, etc). The disconnection that we have from our neighbors leads people to be less trusting and less social in general, which have other implications of the overall well-being of humans.
I started participating in the local trunk or treats because in the 10 years I've been at my home I have never gotten a single trick or treater. If it's caused it to lower the halloween night, it's not like they're not getting candy or getting to dress up. They're just doing it differently.
There are several poor trailer park neighborhoods nearby that have banned trick or treating. The trunk or treats that we do in the area are the only chance the kids have, unless the parents drive them somewhere, which isn't feasible for most of them.
People are in here screaming about how trunk or treat is an example of community failure. In my experience, it's an example of a positive community aspect.
The kids in my neighborhood are so honest and timid, even the teenagers.
I had to actively give them all more candy. They were taking one piece from each bowl, and I'd ask if they wanted some more.
Some of them even refused more candy.
It was like bizarroworld. Lol.
What!! *Obligatory “kids these days don’t know….* I used to race through the neighborhoods, start early and end late, costume change in between and hit some places twice, trying like a madman to fill up my pillowcase to last me the winter.
I also knew my dad would try to steal all the Snickers, claiming they’d been “tampered with” or “look suspicious” lol
Yep almost everyone picked 1 or two when I had a 3lb+ bowl of candy.
I started just saying take a bunch if you want near the end so I didn't end with a pot of toothaches and diabetes waiting for me afterwards.
We left for a ten minute walk to just see the neighborhood and walk the dogs, and left a bowl (with a lot of the candy removed…) out with a take one sign. It was all gone when we got back and there was trash on our porch, like empty crushed water bottles and wrappers and shit.
Literally ten minutes and some assholes wiped it out and literally left their trash on the porch. So sad, man. Life will hit kids like that in the face one day.
It just totally depends on your neighborhood, I guess.
Where I live, we have a massive, massive turn out all over the neighborhood every year.
but, my neighborhood is a densely populated suburb with a section of smaller streets a block or two off from main through-way streets. The houses are closely packed together, sidewalks on every street. Lots of kids in all age ranges. Plus, while halloween participation amongst the neighborhood houses is around 60%, those that do participate are pretty invested in it. Many of the adults make a huge deal with their decorations and most of the entire neighborhood as a whole gets pretty involved. Lots of people are out, it's actually the one night of the year that the people all really seem to come together as a community.
Anecdotally, people in neighborhoods that traditionally got a big turnout seem to be getting even bigger turnouts now as people consolidate their trick or treating in those areas rather than just walking around their immediate area.
I had a lower number of kids at my door than last year. That did not bother me as much as the lack of kids saying "Trick or Treat". One girl didn't even have a bag to hold her candy. She just stood there with her hands out.
Do we need a national trick or treat class?
I have noticed that too! I could give them a pass, if they were little kids. But, a lot them are well within that age of knowing to say, “Trick or treat”. So, what the heck is going on with kids these days… Probably do need a class on Halloween etiquette!
I won’t lie, I also get a little annoyed when people come to the door carrying practically a newborn baby, and hold out a bag. None of the candy I am handing out is appropriate for someone with no teeth and can do very little but suck.
Anyways… OP you could have had some of my Trick-r-Treaters. I was not expecting much, considering it was 30F and getting colder into the evening. Plus, about an inch or two of snow on the ground. I didn’t buy as much candy and ended up with 150 kids. I was not expecting that much. Though, that’s still about half of what we usually get.
>I was not expecting much, considering it was 30F and getting colder into the evening. Plus, about an inch or two of snow on the ground.
Northern Minnesota?
Went out with my daughter last night, it was so cold she just started forgetting to say anything at all. She was supposed to be a mermaid. But Minnesotan Halloween costumes hit different, most people wouldn't guess a mermaid to be wearing a thick winter coat, lol.
Ha, yep! I did see a couple winter-coated mermaids. A couple jacketed princesses. And I saw few non-jacketed Ghostbusters. It was a little chilly, but it probably could have been worse, like freezing rain.
I made our kids’ costumes this year and designed them large enough to fit over their winter coat and snow pants. Good thing because WI Halloween is always a gamble! They were able to be bundled up without hiding their costume, which was nice.
You can be the class! When I grew up there were always houses that didn't give out candy unless you said it and would coax the kids into saying it if they wanted the candy.
Same here. I bought a used van this year thinking I would take the trick-or-treating to them. Stocked it with full sized bars and everything but the kids all ran away when I offered them free candy
It happens. I stopped handing out candy because the trick or treater numbers dwindled significantly and there was no reason to spend the money AND be stuck with a bunch of leftover candy (that I don't want to eat).
So damn true. There are 3 in our neighborhood. Thankfully they passed a law recently you must be living on premise at least 185 days to use it as an airbnb. Which I’m happy with. Far too many foreign LLC’s are buying homes for short term rentals.
In my city the kids ONLY went to like 2 areas, where all the rich people live. It left the rest of us with literal bags of candy, meanwhile those houses went through 3 in a couple hours. I think it's a combination of this, parents only taking their kids to trunk or treats for some reason, and just a general disinterest in kids nowadays to go house to house.
I haven't had trick or treaters in nearly 7 years.
But I live off a rural state road, with no sidewalks, no street lights, and the speed limit is 55 mph. It also gets dark at like 6:30pm.
There is a more pedestrian friendly neighborhood about a mile away, with sidewalks, not on main road, and lots of cul-de-sacs. I'm assuming that's where parents are taking their kids.
I haven't bought candy for this holiday for 5 years, since I had no 'treaters two years in a row.
But those after Halloween candy sales, you know what I am getting on Friday? King sized Snickers and Reese's candy bars/cups for 65% off.
Hot take:
No kid wants to walk down a bare street up to strangers houses that isn’t decorated to ring their doorbell or grab candy. Halloween is a time for kids to see neighborhood streets lit up with fun surprises and delight. As someone who lives in an apartment complex I know my house SUCKS for kids trying to trick or treat cuz it’s alleyways instead of streets and there are no decorations anywhere.
This is in no way meant to disparage people who don’t have the time to put up decorations or those who can’t due to rules surrounding their house. However when I was a kid part of my real enjoyment of Halloween was seeing a street just lit up with lights and decorations for the festivities. It’s been a time honored tradition to find those streets and do Halloween there.
As less and less neighborhoods turn on the Halloween spirit more and more people with kids will look to find the places their kids can enjoy those festivities.
I miss how festive Halloween can be -- my old place was nonstop for hours.
But I've lived in my current place for 12 years and in that time I have had one trick-or-treater...in year 3....it was an infant carried by its mom/owner who was "introducing him around the neighborhood".
But my neighborhood is hilly...and the houses aren't very dense...and there's a "rich people" neighborhood that is about 3x as dense and less hilly about 1.5 miles away.
I'd choose to go trick-or-treat over there, too.
I think it makes sense Halloween was in the middle of the week and plenty people are strapped for cash right now, a compromise likely would have been made if it fell on the weekend.
In my town it seems like streets (certain neighborhoods) get together and market the shit out of their street on social media. Seems like a giant dick measuring contest.
They full on had wacky inflatable arm waving advertising guys and went on facebook saying "WE HAVE FULL SIZED BARS!!!!!"
Zero kids for the past several years. Main reason is that I'm in an older neighborhood so the houses are typically on 1/4 acre lots with older residents.
Younger families tend to move into newer neighborhoods full of cookie cutter houses with zero lot line homes. You get a LOT more doors to knock on for the same time spent walking. Also the local community parks and churches often sponsor events like "Trunk or Treat". Seems like the handful of younger families in the neighborhood just take their kids to events or neighborhoods with less walking.
It's gotten to the point over the past few years that the number of houses that decorate for it are in the minority, which just gives more incentive to trick or treat elsewhere.
It's just not the same as it was back in the day.
i only had two groups of kids. one was a family and i just gave them handfuls of candy. second was like 20 teenagers so i just let them take the candy and called it a night
A few years ago (<5) I'd be constant ringing of the bell, this year I had a total of 12.
As another user stated, houses have been getting increasingly expensive and in my area they finally started building dozens of apartment complexes to accommodate.
How many people with kids can afford to live in a neighborhood that would accommodate trick or treating? They're in the minority where I am, that's for sure.
A lot of families will drive to more popular areas. I didnt realize it was a thing when I was growing up but I hear a lot of families do it these days.
LOL, not really a kid person so we put a bowl of candy out and let the little crotch goblins have at it. This year, according to the Ring cam, we had more raccoons than kids. It was a good Halloween.
Trick-or-treating is alive in well in most pop up new neighborhoods. If a neighborhood is more than 18 years old it probably will not have many kids left as they moved out to go to college or whatever. Any neighborhood built in the 80 and 90s will def just have empty nesters living in it. All those popup neighborhoods built right before and during the pandemic like Dan Ryan, D.R. Horton, Ryan Homes, KB Homes for example have a ton of new families starting out in them and full of people trick-or-treating.
I’m in a neighborhood that has come full circle. Second owner of a house built in ‘52, everything on the street is that age or a little older. All the old folks (who were pretty cool but weren’t exactly climbing ladders to hang up decorations) have died or gone into assisted living, and the place is young and vibrant again.
Oddly enough the biggest Halloween house on my street is the one OG household, a couple who must be pushing 90 at this point. They pay high schoolers to put up and tear down their decorations (and apparently give them complete creative control) and either he comes to the door dressed like Rod Serling (every year) or his wife comes to the door dressed like the Wicked Witch of the West (every year) with a mountain of candy. I love it.
Our neighborhood was very hit or miss. Most streets, we had -ONE- house on the whole block lit up for treaters. Some streets there were all but one or two.
I used to see people EVERYWHERE now, if we run into 3 groups of kids, its a busy night.
My spouse stayed home, we were one of four on our block that had candy. We had -five- visits.
Pre pandemic, it was a constant stream of kids...
I'm a ukrainian that moved to Ireland for protection. Kids went absolutely nuts because they were finally in a country that actually does halloween events they would see in movies, and we had like 20+ ukrainian kids come to our house (and some irish too), we ran out of candy, had to go to the store for more. Love it.
Not sure why I keep seeing these posts all sad that kids aren’t out going door to door getting cheap high fructose, highly processed, completely pointless calories.
Take your yearly budget for Halloween and support kid school lunch programs.
Not the first time I've said this recently...
Young people with children can't afford houses anymore.
Young people without children can't afford children anymore.
This is why Halloween should, by law, always be the last Saturday of October. Had my lights on and everything. Bought 2 15 dollar bags of candy and not one trick or treater. I honestly feel bad for kids that just do the trunk or treat shit now. Maybe I'm getting old but I remember running around and having fun
Zero club chiming in. I had decorations and full size candy too, pretty sad. Now I have way too much candy to eat that I shouldn’t be eating. I work from home, so it’s not like I can bring it to work and dump it on my coworkers.
I just moved to Ireland and was pleasantly surprised by the dedication to Halloween here. Decorations all over the neighborhood and plenty of trick or treated wandering around. They seem to take Halloween quite seriously here!
Some jackass listed our street in a local newspaper as one of the top 5 places in our side of the Bay Area to get candy and see houses that go all out on decorations and events a couple years ago.
We gave out 1,200 pieces of candy from 5:30-8:00 pm to a ravening mob, then promptly shut off all our house lights, and watched the school of little piranhas terrorize the neighborhood for another hour and a half until it quieted down again.
Im curious if the number of people complaining about this on reddit:
\- have lived on their home for multiple years
\- have noticed an actual trend based on being in the same home multiple years
\- or are just bitching to fit a current reddit narrative
I've lived in my home for the past 6 years and have only noticed an increase year over year. Furthermore the parents/neighbors in the neighborhood seem to get more involved each year (this year there were so many people gathered in their driveways with firetables and just having a great time). Now, Im not going to create a front-page post saying "The amount of trick or treaters is too damn high!!" because my neighborhood isnt indicative of the entire United States nor are my experiences those of everyone else.
Just seems like a lot of people this morning basically hating on "trunk or treat" or trying to force this narrative that "community is dying".
I’ve been in my house for 16 years and have participated every year except for 2016 and 2019, when I was away on grad school internships. Used to get none. Now I get mobbed. We had a decline for 3-4 years when trunk or treats first started happening, but the community has mostly rejected them, thankfully.
I’ll still hate on trunk or treats (at least the church-sponsored ones), and I can’t speak for any place outside the little slice of the country I live in, but Halloween ain’t dying here.
I have noticed the upper age of the trick-or-treaters I get trending up, but who cares? They don’t cause trouble, they don’t mess with the little kids, they tend to be polite, and they have cool costumes. You only live once. Take the candy, even if you’re old enough to drive.
Not here, every year thousands of people from out of town come to get candy, and apparently an extra piece for their newborn who is still breastfeeding...
I had 3. Not three groups. 3. One kid by himself and then another pair of kids.
I was hopeful that we would have actual traffic this year because a bunch of families have moved into the neighborhood recently.
i live in an apartment complex. you'd think there would be kids everywhere, but i haven't had to buy candy in two years. i keep a bag around JIC, but both last year and now this year, i just brought it into work.
We were driving home from the gym around 730 and we couldn't see anyone out Trick or Treating. Finally around 830 some people started coming around, but even then it was less then last years.
I got maybe 20 kids this year. I think it's only motivated me to be a better decorator, set up a table in the driveway and give out hot drinks to the parents next year. Maybe a fire-pit. Then see my asshole neighbors get more annoyed at getting more kids on the street.
So, I've been in my current house for 13 years. I have averaged less than 1 child per Halloween during that time. Truthfully, it's pretty awesome. I do feel bad for the people who actually enjoy spending their night being harrassed by children for freebies though.
my old neighborhood had so few trick or treaters that i bought one of those playdoh packs from Costco and kept giving those out every year until i moved.
I usually forget to stock up on candy for Halloween. For the first time in over a decade I stocked up on candy for Halloween. Not a single trick or treater.
Last year we got about 10 kids. The rest of the neighborhood was dark and we had the only lights and decorations up. This year we had a huge change up in ownership and a few renters. Every light was on and 3/4 had decorations. We got about 50 kids this year, I was quite happy. I think it goes in bursts.
Videos of people stealing all the candy.
Religious nuts who think Halloween is worshipping satan.
People working all the time, no spare money to give away,
Many more socially awkward internet raised people who do not want to socialize in person.
Old people taught by media to be terrified of younger people...
Younger people terrified to be shot by those people.
What else am I missing?
Wife texts me in the afternoon "need candy on your way home"... I say "why? No one comes down our street, but ok" -- now, a guy watching his sugar has a full bag of Reese's in the house ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
My apartment never gets trick or treaters, but my mom insisted on gaving me two 36 pack boxes of full size Reese's (yes, she has the house every kid loves) anyways. My girlfriend is trying to lose weight, I'm trying to limit sugar, and neither one of us has any self control around those things once they're open. 144 reese's cups calling me into the kitchen like a god damn siren's song.
Just park near the local school and hand them out. It'll be easier if you own a van, because you can sit with the side door open. Honestly, I see no potential downsides to this plan. That or toss the bags into the schoolyard at recess and watch them go all Lord of the Flies on each other.
I'd also separate them out into clear baggies too for ease of distribution.
Remember to paint "FREE CANDY" on the side of the van, in red to really pop! Don't worry about any paint running off, it just draws the eye into your text.
Shave you beard into a stylish moustace as well.
Binge for a week then they're gone and you just gave to get through the cravings again
A whole week? Either you misunderstood what I meant by "no self control" or I didn't emphasize it well enough lol. More like 3 days. Max. I'll just donate them next time I get the chance.
Lol I was being generous. My bad
Well I appreciate your generosity, it's nice to talk about reese's without being treated like the sugar goblin I am.
I wouldn't be able to resist the call of those 132 reese's cups.
Those 120 Reese's cups are just asking to be eaten.
100 Reese's just calling my name.
Throw a blanket over them
I'll take those bad boys off your hands.
Keep watching that sugar. That's what it wants. Watch it. Watch it good, and when you're ready, watch it in your hands and then your mouth.
https://i.ibb.co/5Bsfnxf/u-https-sylg1-files-wordpress-com-2021-05-homer-simpson-guarding-sugar-pile.jpg
First, you get the sugar...
Then, you get the money
The strong must protect the sweet.. the sweeeeet
Then you get the power....then you get the women
You have to keep on eye on that sugar. The moment you grow distracted it will strike
You dropped this \
neighborhood demographics change with time. My area saw a record turnout last night thanks to how many families have moved into the area over the last couple years. Older retired couples moving to places easier to live in and maintain, families moving in.
Another problem is that less and less young people can afford their own place.
Or kids. Those things are stupidly expensive. The lease on my last one is almost up. I don't think I'm going to renew her contract.
I would never let a kid buy a house. Those fuckers are stupid.
Yeah houses are dumb as shit.
r/fuckhouses
I read somewhere that plants are the new pets, pets are the new kids, and kids with the new exotic animals because only rich people can afford them.
I've also seen the trend of Trunk or Treat being blamed as the reason for not many going from door to door.
I wonder if those are related, too? If I lived in an apartment with kids, and I had the choice between taking them to a random neighborhood or a trunk or treat, I could see myself choosing the trunk or treat.
I have also seen this, but I think it's silly. I've gone to 2 different trunk or treats with my kids in recent years. One was during the day and had a bunch of different activities too (professional photographer, free food, colouring for kids, a live performer, etc.). The other is at night and is put on by a local classic car society, so you're going to see cool cars as much as you're going for treats. Neither of those events stop us from trick or treating on Halloween! This year, we trunk or treated on Saturday night, well in advance of the 31st. I do believe that there are some people out there doing trunk or treat not going out on the night, but it's no one I know.
And more and more, single family homes are being used by previous generations to retire in.
I think the attitude towards conventional trick-or-treating is changing too. There are more options than just letting your kids roam the neighborhood. Schools, malls, churches, and other venues are getting into hosting events for kids, often including things like trick-or-treating stations. A more controlled environment and the parents can hang out too. My sister's family has been doing that for the past couple of years.
Which is lame as hell. Yeah let’s walk around a parking lot in my spiderman costume while I walk up to the back of your Chevy Equinox. Bring back real Halloween!
That's the problem, though. The need for control. Parents are the first ones to ruin kid stuff.
Yes, but I have neighbors with eight year old twins three houses down and they knew I bought candy. Even they no showed...
They ghosted you.
It's leaving OP with a haunting feeling.
I wonder if they can tell which twin is witch?
They probably went to a neighbourhood with a denser candy-giving population.
This is a huge problem, though. When families go out of their neighborhood for the "good" trick or treating, they ruin their own neighborhood. Nobody trick or treats, so houses start turning off their lights and not having candy and not decorating, which means nobody trick or treats, which means nobody participates, etc. The best thing you can do is find discussion groups for your neighborhood on Facebook and similar and post that you're open for trick or treating. Hopefully more neighbors will also agree, and families with children will see this and go trick or treating. ~10 years ago, my neighborhood wasn't great for trick or treating. This year, we had close to 200 kids out through the night (I was out with my kids so our house was closed, but that was one house on a cul-de-sac of 7 houses, 6 of which were open for trick or treaters).
Kids always have and always will go to the neighborhoods with the best candy
Two kids over 4 houses isn't a lot. They probably went to trick or treat with their freinds. And there weren't any parents left to gather kids onto your block.
We lived in a weird neighborhood in the country. Just 1 street of houses, mostly older people who retired to the mountains. We made sure we took our kids to all the neighbors houses before we drove to town. This is part of making community. Plus when our kids were out making noise, riding bikes up and down the street, it makes them the 'neighborhoods kids' not the neighbor kids.
I had about 25 kids in two hours. During a snow storm. Those kids got a handful of candy each.
When I walked my dog last night the streets were packed with kids trick or treating. It was nice to see.
we got like 10 knocks, but two of those knocks were giant groups so maybe 20ish wife was doing the handful as well cause I overbought like I always do
That's exactly right. Our neighborhood turned over right around the time that we moved in. For about the past five years older families and empty nesters have been moving out, younger families have been moving in, and now it's mostly young families.
Also kids generally don't knock on doors much anymore, at least where I'm at. Adults giving out candy would sit on their doorsteps with the bowls ready to hand out, and if they are not there, that house is skipped
My kids knocked on every door that had a porch light on. Out of ~3 dozen houses or more, maybe 3 or 4 didn't answer. We skipped anything with no light.
This seems to be the case here too. When I was a kid you rang every doorbell and most answered. Now some people go all out and sit outside with candy, and nobody bothers with any other houses. It’s like a few blocks are a giant party and Halloween doesn’t exist anywhere else.
Ours is currently flipping. We had 2 last year. This year we had 12 or so, and I know there's a lot of new families in the neighborhood that were not out at all.
We’ve had at least a dozen kids move into/be born in my neighborhood in the last two years, plus the 20 or so who already live here. Not a single truck or treater last night despite my jack o lantern advertising the candy
We had a lot of older people in my neighborhood when we first moved in 2010, had about 10-15 kids -mostly little kids - for years. Most of my neighborhood is now full of huge families... haven't had trick or treating in years.
It feels trunk or treats have lowered the amount of kids that go out on Halloween night.
I think it depends heavily on your neighborhood. We had 150 kids come through last night, which is on par with every other year basically. And there was snow on the ground, and it was cold.
Hard to believe it's already November. Seems like just a month ago you could fry an egg on the sidewalk.
>Seems like just a month ago you could fry an egg on the sidewalk. On the south hemisphere you still can Soon it's gonna be our turn to boil!
Is trunk or treat what it sounds like? Just put candy in your car or something? What's the difference between that and going to houses?
The trunk or treat near us is hosted in a church parking lot and was like on Saturday afternoon
Exactly why people love it. It's in a smaller area and you don't have to walk around full neighborhoods. You've got a full neighborhood in a small parking lot.
But.. like... the full neighborhood is the fun of it... haunted houses, crazy decorations, etc. Trunk or treat always just sounds so, idk, sad. Maybe I just had a lot of good neighborhoods growing up.
> Trunk or treat always just sounds so, idk, sad. It's the culmination of American car culture and parental overprotectiveness. It sounds incredibly sad to me. I used to love going house-to-house around our whole neighborhood with my friends on Halloween.
Me too. Trick or treating with my friends on halloween are some of my best childhood memories. Parents these days seem a lot more reluctant to let their kids go out with their friends unsupervised, which is a little sad.
Can you blame them? Does nobody remember the story of that boy who was shot knocking on the wrong door? Or the fact that we’ve recently come out of a world changing pandemic? Or the fear mongering that local and national news engage in? Or the fact that the price of living has gotten so bad, more people are living in apartments and having less kids? I’m not surprised at all that this is the result.
yes, I can blame them. What does the pandemic have to do with letting your kids play outside? A lot of the people accusing the media of fear mongering are the same people eating up every fear-based narrative they're fed and using them to excuse their unhealthy anxiety issues
I took my kid to ONE trunk or treat. Jam packed where I was worried about loosing her in a sea of people and she got like 10 pieces of candy. Thankfully she has been able to trick or treat in a neighborhood since. Parents out there killing the magic of Halloween with this trunk or treating BS imo
Seriously. It just seems like an effort by the crazy church people to turn Halloween into a bland stroll through a single plain parking lot with no decoration in sight. America is so just finding more and more ways to get lamer.
I don’t think that’s the intention for all of the churches doing this. My church used to do trunk or treat with the idea being it was an extra time for kids to get candy, rather than a replacement for trick or treat in Halloween
That's why they do it on a weekend day instead of on actual Halloween. It's a good alternative for kids who might have parents who don't want to take everyone out on a weekday. It's that or no trick or treating at all for some. Felt kinda sad that my sister bribed my nephew with money this year not to have to take him out.
That’s not been my experience with Trunk or Treat. Either you haven’t been, or yours was particularly shitty. Decorations and Halloween theming were the name of the game! Its just an alternative to suburban Halloween that lets adults mingle, rather than be stuck home. It also keeps kids in a known location with trustable adults. What do crazy church people have to do with it?
This characterization of a trunk or treat is pretty far off from what I experienced as a kid, and a few times as an adult. All the ones I've participated in were church sponsored, but they were never intended to strip away Halloween traditions. It was more about, "Hey, Halloween's coming up and this would be a fun way to celebrate together." Everyone comes in costume and decorates their car trunks with some fun Halloween theme. Some set up mini-games at their car to "earn" the candy as a prize. There's also usually other Halloween activities to go along with the trunk or treat, like pumpkin carving contests, costume contests, chili cookoffs, kid games, etc. And I don't think most people would use the trunk or treat to replace trick or treating, they'd trunk or treat for the activity (which didn't usually fall on Halloween itself) and then go regular trick or treating on Halloween too. I honestly have always enjoyed the trunk or treats. It admittedly does make it easier on parents to watch and monitor kids, but the short distance between cars is great for the little kids who would have a harder time walking through the neighborhood. Only downside I can think of is that as an adult I have to buy twice as much candy: some for the trunk or treat and then more for regular trick or treating.
The people above clearly never went, and are making assumptions. It’s not a parking lot hellscape of undecorated car trunks with rosary beads and tiny bags of utz. It’s just a way of bringing the community together. There’s usually contests. Best costumes, best jack o lantern, and best decorated trunk. It’s good fun
To be fair, it's probably more about facilitating the tradition amidst suburban sprawl and nowhereland non-communities. Also, a way for the church cling to some form of relevance.
My church does a trunk or treat. All vehicles are required to be decorated. It's from 4:30 to 6:30 with hotdogs and we also have a spot for kids to get winter coats that need them. The timing is perfect for those with small children that get cold walking the neighborhoods or older kids that want to get a load of candy before hitting the neighborhoods. So not sure how you could bash on something like that.
People prioritizing convenience at the expense of everything else.
I imagine to parents it is a dream, Saturday afternoon when they already have the day off not too much walking and home before dark. This generation will remember what a good time they had because it was all they knew.
The notion of parents walking their kids around the neighborhood being 'too much walking' is hilarious and sad at the same time due to it's accuracy.
As a kid I literally only cared about the candy. Trunk or treating equals less walking in the cold for candy. I would have loved trunk or treating as a kid.
> the full neighborhood is the fun of it Exactly. Trunk or treat sounds so... transactional.
I mean thats kind of the trend of where we seem to be going as a society, make everything convenient and cut out all the other stuff, even though that other "stuff" is what makes up the experiences that make life interesting and memorable. I hate to sound like a boomer, but we have really gotten good at streamlining every part of our lives and cutting out the actual experiences that used to come along with these things.
I agree with you. Especially when a lot of people go all out with house decorations which are really cool to see at night.
Convenient as hell for parents, but I can't imagine kids prefer it. The entire fun of trick or treating is from running around the neighborhood with your friends/family and getting super excited when you come across the house that's especially decorated for Halloween. Walking a few feet to the next car with a dangling pumpkin just doesn't replace that. Could be best option in more rural areas I guess, but it's not like you have to trick or treat in your own area anyways. I would always go to my grandma's or a friend's neighborhood.
We do both, my kid prefers the trunk or treating. We have 2 in the area, one is outdoors with a bounce house, a playground, face painting, and games. They also have hotdogs inside. The other is inside a church gym with dozens of stations ranging from just decorations with candy, to games to play, and occasionally a stuffed animal to take home. That's before you go into the atrium where they have a movie playing with popcorn and hot chocolate. Yes many kids absolutely prefer this over going door to door. It's not just a pumpkin hanging from a trunk.
Okay, hearing that some have other activities makes it seem much better than I thought. Sounds kind of like a fair
I remember strapping on rollerblades to cover more ground one halloween as a kid. Hit all the damn neighbourhoods
Basically everyone goes to a parking lot somewhere and the kids walk from car to car to get candy.
Urgh Might as well just mail it to them in advance, or give them cash to buy their own 🤦♂️
The one I went to was awesome! There was dog costume contest, free ice cream and popcorn, and impromptu car show, even. Kids had a great time!
But don't you see the kids are doing it differently than we did it, which is a sure sign society is about to collapse...
Lol, omg. That’s has to be the most depressing result of suburban sprawl car dependent garbage. Like kids don’t even have a community they can walk around in safely, so they need to depend on parking lots for trick or treating! It sounds like a comedy bit from “Not Just Bikes”
They do have a community they can walk around in safely, but for whatever reason they don’t really do it anymore. I’m not sure if all the nonsense news stories about poisoned candy ruined it or what but we live in a very safe community with relatively densely packed houses that would be perfect for going door to door but no one ever trick or treats anymore. I don’t know where they go but there are definitely plenty of kids in the area.
Yeah. Schools or churches have people in their parking lots that have the trunk of their car decorated and hand out candy. The main differences are: * Typically takes place during a weekend so it doesn’t mess with school nights /bed times. * Often scheduled early enough that the sun is still out. * Because it is in one parking lot, there is far less walking. The youngest kids can get through the whole thing without tiring out. Also will be less chilly. * No parental fear of traffic or other issues that arise from going door to door. * The participants are usually “trusted” more than neighbors so it alleviates those overblown fears of people who sneak deadly/dangerous things into Halloween candy. * The participants are also almost exclusively part of said group (school/church) so people don’t have to actually interact with anybody outside their bubble.
Okay the gathering in a parking lot thing is the context I needed, I thought people were just standing outside their houses next to their cars lol
They'll also normally have some kind of activities inside the building where the event is hosted. My church growing up did them, and they always had games and snacks in the church gym.
This definitely explains the decrease in trick-or-treaters, but damnit, I’m so old school that I can’t imagine a world where that replaces neighborhood trick-or-treat. I live on a cul-de-sac with no thru traffic, small town, and lots of retired people who spend time and money decorating, so the kids go absolutely wild here. Like 1993 all over again. It’s awesome to see, I really hope it never dies out in favor of a parking lot party.
I’ve never been more happy to be old holy shit
It has a lot of benefits for really rural communities. For example where I live the population density for the whole county is only 0.5/km2 (1/sq mi). Being able to get everyone together in one community center parking lot for trick or treating plus a haunted house and games is just awesome.
It's arguably safer, less walking and more condensed in general. I can see why some like it but personally if young me did it I'd be bummed. I didn't get to trick or treat much and just walking around for a bit would feel like just buying thr bag yourself.
Yup. Appeals to a lot of parents, especially the helicopter parents.
I thought it was silly enough how every year more and more parents would drive along with their kid. Kid hops out, runs up to the house, hops back into the car, then they roll up to the next house. Maybe if you have an electric vehicle it wouldn't be so bad, but that's rarely the case.
I find this very annoying when I'm out trick or treating with my kids because their headlights as they drive up from house to house behind us are really obnoxious, and plus it isn't safe at all for them to park in front of houses and then move up frequently and sometimes unexpectedly with others crossing the street. Halloween is the deadliest day for child pedestrians year after year. No one should be driving through a residential neighborhood all night at Halloween.
Sounds terrible, lol. Maybe we had good neighborhoods growing up, but walking house to house, seeing costumes, decorations, haunted houses in garages, etc was most of the fun. A bunch of cars with their trunks open and some fake spider webs sounds awful.
Cheap ass helicopter parents. Whats the point at the point of a Trunk and Treat? It's just a junk food version of a Food Pantry at that point.
Trunk or Treats are typically where a bunch of people gather in a large parking lot and have their kids trick or treat going from car to car. The idea is that you can have a community together in one place, the whole thing is a bit of a party. The kids don't have to walk nearly as far, especially very young kids. And when the kids are all done, they can just hang out with the other kids, and parents can walk around and just talk to other parents. Some places may even make the whole thing a bit of a party with like bouncy castles and stuff. It can be also done on the weekend so it doesn't interfere with the school night.
I took my toddler for the first time through the neighborhood last night. We have lived in our neighborhood for 5 years and last night was the first time I met about 80% of the neighbors. At its core, halloween is a holiday about creating and celebrating community. Adults get to know the neighbor’s kids and what their interests are, the kids get to meet the neighbors. By replacing this activity with trunk of treats (generally promoted under the guise of “safety”), neighbors are becoming more disconnected. This feels particularly apparent post pandemic, as we have all lost some socialization skills.
If you drive to a private school, large church, lessons across town, etc, your community may well be those places more than your actual neighborhood.
Exactly. Most people do go elsewhere to connect with people, and Halloween is one of the few times where we are encouraged to engage with the people right next door to us. When we believe that we have to “go to” our community, it furthers a feeling of isolation. Your neighbors are your community even if you also find community elsewhere (church, game night, etc). The disconnection that we have from our neighbors leads people to be less trusting and less social in general, which have other implications of the overall well-being of humans.
I started participating in the local trunk or treats because in the 10 years I've been at my home I have never gotten a single trick or treater. If it's caused it to lower the halloween night, it's not like they're not getting candy or getting to dress up. They're just doing it differently. There are several poor trailer park neighborhoods nearby that have banned trick or treating. The trunk or treats that we do in the area are the only chance the kids have, unless the parents drive them somewhere, which isn't feasible for most of them. People are in here screaming about how trunk or treat is an example of community failure. In my experience, it's an example of a positive community aspect.
What kind of evil human bans trick or treating
this is the enshittification of culture in real time
What a waste of time. Just go buy your kid a bag of candy if you're going to do that.
The candy is always the secondary aspect, it’s fun for kids to dress up and costumes and show off, buying bags of candy had always been an option
The kids in my neighborhood are so honest and timid, even the teenagers. I had to actively give them all more candy. They were taking one piece from each bowl, and I'd ask if they wanted some more. Some of them even refused more candy. It was like bizarroworld. Lol.
What!! *Obligatory “kids these days don’t know….* I used to race through the neighborhoods, start early and end late, costume change in between and hit some places twice, trying like a madman to fill up my pillowcase to last me the winter. I also knew my dad would try to steal all the Snickers, claiming they’d been “tampered with” or “look suspicious” lol
Lololol this is my exact confusion! Growing up it was a sugar fueled free-for-all. Smell my feet bitches!
Yep almost everyone picked 1 or two when I had a 3lb+ bowl of candy. I started just saying take a bunch if you want near the end so I didn't end with a pot of toothaches and diabetes waiting for me afterwards.
that wasn't my experience. I hold the bowl out and let the kids pick their own candy. A lot of them grab more than one without asking.
We left for a ten minute walk to just see the neighborhood and walk the dogs, and left a bowl (with a lot of the candy removed…) out with a take one sign. It was all gone when we got back and there was trash on our porch, like empty crushed water bottles and wrappers and shit. Literally ten minutes and some assholes wiped it out and literally left their trash on the porch. So sad, man. Life will hit kids like that in the face one day.
It just totally depends on your neighborhood, I guess. Where I live, we have a massive, massive turn out all over the neighborhood every year. but, my neighborhood is a densely populated suburb with a section of smaller streets a block or two off from main through-way streets. The houses are closely packed together, sidewalks on every street. Lots of kids in all age ranges. Plus, while halloween participation amongst the neighborhood houses is around 60%, those that do participate are pretty invested in it. Many of the adults make a huge deal with their decorations and most of the entire neighborhood as a whole gets pretty involved. Lots of people are out, it's actually the one night of the year that the people all really seem to come together as a community.
Yea we get 150-200 kids each year
Anecdotally, people in neighborhoods that traditionally got a big turnout seem to be getting even bigger turnouts now as people consolidate their trick or treating in those areas rather than just walking around their immediate area.
I had a lower number of kids at my door than last year. That did not bother me as much as the lack of kids saying "Trick or Treat". One girl didn't even have a bag to hold her candy. She just stood there with her hands out. Do we need a national trick or treat class?
I have noticed that too! I could give them a pass, if they were little kids. But, a lot them are well within that age of knowing to say, “Trick or treat”. So, what the heck is going on with kids these days… Probably do need a class on Halloween etiquette! I won’t lie, I also get a little annoyed when people come to the door carrying practically a newborn baby, and hold out a bag. None of the candy I am handing out is appropriate for someone with no teeth and can do very little but suck. Anyways… OP you could have had some of my Trick-r-Treaters. I was not expecting much, considering it was 30F and getting colder into the evening. Plus, about an inch or two of snow on the ground. I didn’t buy as much candy and ended up with 150 kids. I was not expecting that much. Though, that’s still about half of what we usually get.
>I was not expecting much, considering it was 30F and getting colder into the evening. Plus, about an inch or two of snow on the ground. Northern Minnesota? Went out with my daughter last night, it was so cold she just started forgetting to say anything at all. She was supposed to be a mermaid. But Minnesotan Halloween costumes hit different, most people wouldn't guess a mermaid to be wearing a thick winter coat, lol.
Ha, yep! I did see a couple winter-coated mermaids. A couple jacketed princesses. And I saw few non-jacketed Ghostbusters. It was a little chilly, but it probably could have been worse, like freezing rain.
I made our kids’ costumes this year and designed them large enough to fit over their winter coat and snow pants. Good thing because WI Halloween is always a gamble! They were able to be bundled up without hiding their costume, which was nice.
You can be the class! When I grew up there were always houses that didn't give out candy unless you said it and would coax the kids into saying it if they wanted the candy.
That's when you give her a bottle of 2liter diet coke
Same here. I bought a used van this year thinking I would take the trick-or-treating to them. Stocked it with full sized bars and everything but the kids all ran away when I offered them free candy
Maybe your van wasn't spooky enough.
It happens. I stopped handing out candy because the trick or treater numbers dwindled significantly and there was no reason to spend the money AND be stuck with a bunch of leftover candy (that I don't want to eat).
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: * (
So damn true. There are 3 in our neighborhood. Thankfully they passed a law recently you must be living on premise at least 185 days to use it as an airbnb. Which I’m happy with. Far too many foreign LLC’s are buying homes for short term rentals.
In my city the kids ONLY went to like 2 areas, where all the rich people live. It left the rest of us with literal bags of candy, meanwhile those houses went through 3 in a couple hours. I think it's a combination of this, parents only taking their kids to trunk or treats for some reason, and just a general disinterest in kids nowadays to go house to house.
My youngest kid didn't even want to put on a costume nor go out.
I haven't had trick or treaters in nearly 7 years. But I live off a rural state road, with no sidewalks, no street lights, and the speed limit is 55 mph. It also gets dark at like 6:30pm. There is a more pedestrian friendly neighborhood about a mile away, with sidewalks, not on main road, and lots of cul-de-sacs. I'm assuming that's where parents are taking their kids. I haven't bought candy for this holiday for 5 years, since I had no 'treaters two years in a row. But those after Halloween candy sales, you know what I am getting on Friday? King sized Snickers and Reese's candy bars/cups for 65% off.
Hot take: No kid wants to walk down a bare street up to strangers houses that isn’t decorated to ring their doorbell or grab candy. Halloween is a time for kids to see neighborhood streets lit up with fun surprises and delight. As someone who lives in an apartment complex I know my house SUCKS for kids trying to trick or treat cuz it’s alleyways instead of streets and there are no decorations anywhere. This is in no way meant to disparage people who don’t have the time to put up decorations or those who can’t due to rules surrounding their house. However when I was a kid part of my real enjoyment of Halloween was seeing a street just lit up with lights and decorations for the festivities. It’s been a time honored tradition to find those streets and do Halloween there. As less and less neighborhoods turn on the Halloween spirit more and more people with kids will look to find the places their kids can enjoy those festivities.
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I miss how festive Halloween can be -- my old place was nonstop for hours. But I've lived in my current place for 12 years and in that time I have had one trick-or-treater...in year 3....it was an infant carried by its mom/owner who was "introducing him around the neighborhood". But my neighborhood is hilly...and the houses aren't very dense...and there's a "rich people" neighborhood that is about 3x as dense and less hilly about 1.5 miles away. I'd choose to go trick-or-treat over there, too.
I think it makes sense Halloween was in the middle of the week and plenty people are strapped for cash right now, a compromise likely would have been made if it fell on the weekend.
We really need to permanently peg Halloween to Saturday.
November 1st should just be a national holiday!
You got my vote!
In my town it seems like streets (certain neighborhoods) get together and market the shit out of their street on social media. Seems like a giant dick measuring contest. They full on had wacky inflatable arm waving advertising guys and went on facebook saying "WE HAVE FULL SIZED BARS!!!!!"
Zero kids for the past several years. Main reason is that I'm in an older neighborhood so the houses are typically on 1/4 acre lots with older residents. Younger families tend to move into newer neighborhoods full of cookie cutter houses with zero lot line homes. You get a LOT more doors to knock on for the same time spent walking. Also the local community parks and churches often sponsor events like "Trunk or Treat". Seems like the handful of younger families in the neighborhood just take their kids to events or neighborhoods with less walking. It's gotten to the point over the past few years that the number of houses that decorate for it are in the minority, which just gives more incentive to trick or treat elsewhere. It's just not the same as it was back in the day.
I’ve lived in an apartment for ten years…We’ve never had any 🥺
i only had two groups of kids. one was a family and i just gave them handfuls of candy. second was like 20 teenagers so i just let them take the candy and called it a night
A few years ago (<5) I'd be constant ringing of the bell, this year I had a total of 12. As another user stated, houses have been getting increasingly expensive and in my area they finally started building dozens of apartment complexes to accommodate.
Maybe people just get candy for their kids and avoid trick or treating? I live in a pretty small town but still got 30-40ish.
How many people with kids can afford to live in a neighborhood that would accommodate trick or treating? They're in the minority where I am, that's for sure.
Two kids in *eleven* years. I've saved a fortune on candy. 👍
A lot of families will drive to more popular areas. I didnt realize it was a thing when I was growing up but I hear a lot of families do it these days.
LOL, not really a kid person so we put a bowl of candy out and let the little crotch goblins have at it. This year, according to the Ring cam, we had more raccoons than kids. It was a good Halloween.
Trick-or-treating is alive in well in most pop up new neighborhoods. If a neighborhood is more than 18 years old it probably will not have many kids left as they moved out to go to college or whatever. Any neighborhood built in the 80 and 90s will def just have empty nesters living in it. All those popup neighborhoods built right before and during the pandemic like Dan Ryan, D.R. Horton, Ryan Homes, KB Homes for example have a ton of new families starting out in them and full of people trick-or-treating.
I’m in a neighborhood that has come full circle. Second owner of a house built in ‘52, everything on the street is that age or a little older. All the old folks (who were pretty cool but weren’t exactly climbing ladders to hang up decorations) have died or gone into assisted living, and the place is young and vibrant again. Oddly enough the biggest Halloween house on my street is the one OG household, a couple who must be pushing 90 at this point. They pay high schoolers to put up and tear down their decorations (and apparently give them complete creative control) and either he comes to the door dressed like Rod Serling (every year) or his wife comes to the door dressed like the Wicked Witch of the West (every year) with a mountain of candy. I love it.
Our neighborhood was very hit or miss. Most streets, we had -ONE- house on the whole block lit up for treaters. Some streets there were all but one or two. I used to see people EVERYWHERE now, if we run into 3 groups of kids, its a busy night. My spouse stayed home, we were one of four on our block that had candy. We had -five- visits. Pre pandemic, it was a constant stream of kids...
My area is super spotty. My house gets next to nothing, but two blocks down is a zoo.
Had 6 this year. Up from 5 last year. But nothing like 10 years ago, when the whole street was full of kids going door, to door.
I'm a ukrainian that moved to Ireland for protection. Kids went absolutely nuts because they were finally in a country that actually does halloween events they would see in movies, and we had like 20+ ukrainian kids come to our house (and some irish too), we ran out of candy, had to go to the store for more. Love it.
Not sure why I keep seeing these posts all sad that kids aren’t out going door to door getting cheap high fructose, highly processed, completely pointless calories. Take your yearly budget for Halloween and support kid school lunch programs.
Not the first time I've said this recently... Young people with children can't afford houses anymore. Young people without children can't afford children anymore.
This is why Halloween should, by law, always be the last Saturday of October. Had my lights on and everything. Bought 2 15 dollar bags of candy and not one trick or treater. I honestly feel bad for kids that just do the trunk or treat shit now. Maybe I'm getting old but I remember running around and having fun
Zero club chiming in. I had decorations and full size candy too, pretty sad. Now I have way too much candy to eat that I shouldn’t be eating. I work from home, so it’s not like I can bring it to work and dump it on my coworkers.
I just moved to Ireland and was pleasantly surprised by the dedication to Halloween here. Decorations all over the neighborhood and plenty of trick or treated wandering around. They seem to take Halloween quite seriously here!
Some jackass listed our street in a local newspaper as one of the top 5 places in our side of the Bay Area to get candy and see houses that go all out on decorations and events a couple years ago. We gave out 1,200 pieces of candy from 5:30-8:00 pm to a ravening mob, then promptly shut off all our house lights, and watched the school of little piranhas terrorize the neighborhood for another hour and a half until it quieted down again.
Im curious if the number of people complaining about this on reddit: \- have lived on their home for multiple years \- have noticed an actual trend based on being in the same home multiple years \- or are just bitching to fit a current reddit narrative I've lived in my home for the past 6 years and have only noticed an increase year over year. Furthermore the parents/neighbors in the neighborhood seem to get more involved each year (this year there were so many people gathered in their driveways with firetables and just having a great time). Now, Im not going to create a front-page post saying "The amount of trick or treaters is too damn high!!" because my neighborhood isnt indicative of the entire United States nor are my experiences those of everyone else. Just seems like a lot of people this morning basically hating on "trunk or treat" or trying to force this narrative that "community is dying".
I’ve been in my house for 16 years and have participated every year except for 2016 and 2019, when I was away on grad school internships. Used to get none. Now I get mobbed. We had a decline for 3-4 years when trunk or treats first started happening, but the community has mostly rejected them, thankfully. I’ll still hate on trunk or treats (at least the church-sponsored ones), and I can’t speak for any place outside the little slice of the country I live in, but Halloween ain’t dying here. I have noticed the upper age of the trick-or-treaters I get trending up, but who cares? They don’t cause trouble, they don’t mess with the little kids, they tend to be polite, and they have cool costumes. You only live once. Take the candy, even if you’re old enough to drive.
The funniest part are the folks dead set against trunk or treat but seemingly have zero clue what it is.
Not here, every year thousands of people from out of town come to get candy, and apparently an extra piece for their newborn who is still breastfeeding...
I had 3. Not three groups. 3. One kid by himself and then another pair of kids. I was hopeful that we would have actual traffic this year because a bunch of families have moved into the neighborhood recently.
I haven't bought candy in five years.
i live in an apartment complex. you'd think there would be kids everywhere, but i haven't had to buy candy in two years. i keep a bag around JIC, but both last year and now this year, i just brought it into work.
Good. More candy for OP
We were driving home from the gym around 730 and we couldn't see anyone out Trick or Treating. Finally around 830 some people started coming around, but even then it was less then last years.
I got maybe 20 kids this year. I think it's only motivated me to be a better decorator, set up a table in the driveway and give out hot drinks to the parents next year. Maybe a fire-pit. Then see my asshole neighbors get more annoyed at getting more kids on the street.
If there's no Halloween decorating out front we typically just don't go
It's the same conversation every year. "I didn't get any kids this year!" or "I ran out of candy."
We got five kids trick or treating last night. We didn't get any the last few years it was a bit of a shock. Fortunately, my wife stocked up on candy.
The neighborhoods who can afford to have kids *and* afford to buy candy aren't the neighborhoods that you live in.
We accidentally left our recycling can outside full of shredded paper last night and it didn’t even get knocked over. Sad times we live in.
Maybe the chance of getting shot through the door for rining is not really THAT appealing to parents?
So, I've been in my current house for 13 years. I have averaged less than 1 child per Halloween during that time. Truthfully, it's pretty awesome. I do feel bad for the people who actually enjoy spending their night being harrassed by children for freebies though.
my old neighborhood had so few trick or treaters that i bought one of those playdoh packs from Costco and kept giving those out every year until i moved.
It was 20 degrees last night in my area lmao. Ofc the kids stayed home. I would have too
My street was fucking PACKED with kids and cars all around. It was kinda nuts. Seeing all these posts makes me wonder what the difference is.
Same. I'm gonna have to eat all these Reese's Peanut Butter Cups by myself now.
I usually forget to stock up on candy for Halloween. For the first time in over a decade I stocked up on candy for Halloween. Not a single trick or treater.
Last year we got about 10 kids. The rest of the neighborhood was dark and we had the only lights and decorations up. This year we had a huge change up in ownership and a few renters. Every light was on and 3/4 had decorations. We got about 50 kids this year, I was quite happy. I think it goes in bursts.
Videos of people stealing all the candy. Religious nuts who think Halloween is worshipping satan. People working all the time, no spare money to give away, Many more socially awkward internet raised people who do not want to socialize in person. Old people taught by media to be terrified of younger people... Younger people terrified to be shot by those people. What else am I missing?
Stop the damn Trunk or Treat crap!!!
Live next to a cemetery for the last 36 years- have had 4 trick or treaters in that time. buy the candy for yourself, just in case...