Will the Trick-or-Treaters Come to Your Home?

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

28 Oct 2007 05:11 PM

Will the trick-or-treaters be coming to your house? Have you noticed a drop off in kids from year to year? Here are some of the reasons that you candy bowl may stay full this year.

When I was a child, there was no mistaking the fact that we would all be going trick-or-treating. I grew up in New York City, and we would knock on all of the doors in our apartment building. Nearly every door opened and handed out one form of treat or another. We dressed as generic characters, such as ghosts, hobos, witches, princesses, and the occasional Wonder Woman (me) or Superman (my best friend, Michael) thrown in for good measure.

Flash forward to today, and I have no idea if trick-or-treaters will be coming to our door. I don't know if my own kids will be able to go out and be greeted by friendly neighbors who admire the costumes and give out treats. Every year we seem to have fewer trick or treaters. The trend today seems to be away from trick-or-treating.

If you do find yourself with the porch lights on for Halloween night and no one coming, perhaps it is because of one of the following reasons.

Bad strangers

When I was a child, we were warned about razor blades in apples and strangers. But our parents still happily sent us out to trick or treat, provided we only went to the neighbors we knew. In our culture today, families are less likely to know their neighbors and be more concerned about sending their children out for fear of danger. We are bombarded with stories of missing and exploited children, poisoned candy and such. Many families choose to skip going out for trick-or-treat, and instead have parties or simply stay home to carve pumpkins or watch Halloween shows.

Alternate treating

There are plenty of alternatives out there for concerned parents who don't feel comfortable with traditional trick or treating. There is "Trunk-or-Treating," in which communities or groups all meet in a parking lot and the kids treat from car to car. There is mall or retail treating, where kids go from store to store for their treats. And, there are a slew of other community and church sponsored events that keep kids out of the neighborhoods. Some of these events, such as fall or harvest parties, are organized as alternatives to celebrating Halloween because of religious or social reasons.

What do you think?

Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.

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Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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jonesx6 (1606) 29 Oct 2007 05:45 AM

In our "old" house we used to get car loads of trick or treaters. No joking!! People would actually pull up in vans, jump out and go around door to door. In our "new" house I have no clue how many trick or treaters we get, we don't celebrate Halloween. I was told by a neighbor that we don't many kids b/c our immediate neighbors don't celebrate Halloween either. Our family usually goes out to dinner w/ another family. Its always a good time. Laura

Mary Ann Romans (26886) 29 Oct 2007 05:55 AM

Many people in our old neighborhood used to pass out tracts with the candy, but I think most of them have stopped doing that.

thequeenofthecastle (413) 30 Oct 2008 10:58 AM

I had some hesitation about decorating and such for Halloween, because of religious reasons. I'm not particularly a huge fan of the holiday, but I have decided to go ahead and decorate and leave a light on this year for the very reason of meeting the neighbors. We know many of our neighbors, but it does seem like people are more and more reclusive and I think this is a sad thing. I would love to have any chance to get to know the people on my block and in my subdivision better. I don't want to miss a good opportunity.

Mary Ann Romans (26886) 31 Oct 2008 11:43 AM

That is a nice idea. We have non-carved pumpkins for decoration this year. Let me know if you get to meet some nice people.