Last year none, this year I have two lots already.

Anyone else being visited?

It's still too early here, but from what my neighbours have told me, I think I bought too much candy! It's my first Hallowe'en in my house, so I'll have to wait and see. Last year my sister (who lives in a different part of town) had over 125!

Good grief. I bought a couple of bags of treat sized chocolate bars. I will have to eat any left overs.

Only a few here...quite surprised Don't mind giving a few pennies and few chocolate bars to young ones - as long as they are with their Mum/Dad. The little girl a few door down the road just came to see us, very nicely dressed up!

Much too early here yet.

I'm feeling a little sad, as I have just come from work, which is of course agog with excitement (I work in a day care centre, attached to an elementary school). The sadness is because of the costumes - not one homemade, or creative idea in the lot. Even the adults just went out and bought something. When I was a kid, a big part of the fun was rummaging through the house, looking for props - a collander for a helmet, a bathroom plunger for a lance....
A kid who wore a 'bought' costume was both envied (they must be rich!) and pitied - they were such shoddy things, compared to our ragtag glory. Halloween was always so much more a kid's holiday than the others - no dressing up in best clothes to have dinner at Aunt Edna's, no church-going, no best behaviour. Just subversive and just-a-bit-dangerous fun. Now adults and commercialism have taken it over completely. Sure, it is safe and easy to buy a costume and go around to the stores in the mall for candy, but it's not much fun.

OK, rant over. I'm going to grab one of the pumpkins and carve it before my kids get home, or I won't get a chance to do one. We lucked out and found a deformed, very oddly shaped pumpkin, and I could see the possibilities dancing through everyone's brain last night when they saw it.... Do I dare use it before anyone else gets here?

We only had a few kids last night - probably about a dozen. I had a bag of lollipops at the ready called "bloodsuckers" which turn your mouth red - seemed appropriate!

Hallowe'en is catching on here, but very slowly. A lot of Australians are against it as they see it as an American custom and not something we need to import. This attitude surprises me somewhat, as usually we are quick to embrace any excuse for festivities. Look at St Patrick's Day - I've never heard any Australian complain about a chance to have a beer on this day and it's an Irish tradition. I guess there's a difference between buying drinks for yourself and your friends, compared to having to buy candy for the neighbourhood kids or risk having your house "egged".

The kids, of course, love Hallowe'en - getting dressed up, getting free candy, and the chance of some mischief (like egging houses) - what kid wouldn't love it!?

The younger children are no trouble at all, as they are usually accompanied by parents. It's the teenagers who get into mischief. Last night, I had to call the police and the electricity company because there was a group of about ten teenagers throwing strips of metal (the kind that are used as strapping on boxes) up into the powerlines and causing them to spark like crazy. It looked like fireworks going off.

Speaking of teenagers, my daughter and her friends are going through a Goth stage at the moment, so it looks like Hallowe'en every day at our house!

Well, we had none! Not one visitor. Last year we got quite a few kids from up the road, but they moved out earlier in the year, so other than a few random houses, the majority are older couples.

MG, those kids throwing metal at the power lines reminds me of Halloween about 2 years ago. Our year 12's (Last year of high school) happened to fall retively close to Halloween, and they too decided to see what would happen if you threw metal at power lines. They got bored after a while, but people were yelling abuse at them all night!

Well, it is about quarter past eight here now, and I just turned out the porch lights. Nobody at the door for the last half hour, and the neighbours have all put their lights out so I thought I'd follow suit. Not much candy left anyway, as I had nearly 60 trick or treaters! Most were little ones with their parents, which was good.

We had maybe 80 this year, which is down from last year. I bought so much candy I was telling kids to come back for more. You think I'd learn!
When we lived in married student residence we closed our doors after 300 kids, so I always have that in the back of my mind when I buy!
It's about 8:30 and we are shutting down now.
Because the dog barks so much whenever anyone rings the bell or knocks, we tend to sit outside during the busy times. It's good fun, but cold.

Still early here, but it looks like it will be slow. We've only had about twenty or so. It's very cold here this year - not so bad temperature wise (- 5 C) but with a really bitter wind. I suspect the littler kids are staying home, and the older ones are not going far.

Keep the candy that you don't give out. I shall pick it up directly.

Kind of a long drive, Prof...

For the 10th year in a row, not one trick or treater, except this year our bull terrier gave us a trick on the floor, instead of scratching to go out. Oh well.....

No-one came to my house ...

LIke the Aussies have said, we don't go for it much (although my carved pumpkin did last until now although it's almost time to throw him out!) but it does seem to be growing.

Wonder what your pumpkin is growing Copago.
We had no one but think they may come around on Friday or Saturday night here. Will let you know.
Last year we had a couple of kids and had NO sweets in the house - this year I am prepared.

LOL - okay ... Halloween is growing in Australia, the pumpkin is shrinking

News on the radio this morning reports that the police in Jersey had a busy evening but only one arrest. Oh, and a number of police vehicles got damaged from kids throwing stuff at them!

It is the same part of the island which has trouble every year. Our shops are pretty good, they refuse to sell kids eggs and flour in the run up to Halloween, but I think they stockpile it from before the ban comes into force, they don't care if the eggs are stale.

I was in a supermarket a couple of days ago where some teenage girls were refused the sale of some eggs and flour. Trick and Treat in UK is often not carried out in the same 'spirit' (hmmm ) as it is in USA. It gets taken over by what's known as 'the yob culture' that we have here. Halloween gets a very bad press because of that.

Halloween was never celebrated when I was a child. It was just a date in the calender that would perhaps only cause a remark or two. Well, times change I suppose. Now it's a big event but not one that seems particularly well suited to us.

I'm kind of tolerant to children of a young age going around the houses providing the are chaperoned by a parent. It's a bit of fun for them and I don't want to dampen that. The trouble comes as children get older and go out on their own.

A sensible idea, in my opinion, is one I heard that suggested an age limit on house-callers. Maybe Trick and Treating should be illegal for those over 10 years of age. Also, children are encouraged never talk to strangers but I'll bet some parents see fit to let the guard drop for Halloween. To prevent that happening, let's also say that that a child should always be chaperoned for their own safety.

Will that ever become law? Perhaps after many years of being debated and after lots of hassle from certain youth elements.

I had a bit of a dilemma this year. I'm neighbourhood watch coordinator for our road. The Police made me aware that there was a supply of 'No Trick or Treat' posters available at the Police Station. Well, half our road is inhabited by parents with young families. They generally do something for for the children when Halloween comes around (including Trick or Treat). The other half of the road has older (or old) people.

The question was if I should deliver the posters to all houses and seem a miserable old devil to the young families? Or should I not deliver the posters, which would deprive those who don't agree with Halloween, the option of using them. Might the posters actually invite trouble from trouble-makers? I kind of felt I had an obligation to deliver them, no matter what my own opinions on the matter are.

I was let off the hook in the end. My next door neighbour is the assistant neighbourhood watch coordinator. He persuaded me that the posters should be delivered so that people had the choice of displaying them or not. I went and got them from the Police Station and he delivered them to every house.

I didn't use a poster myself. I knew that the chaperoned kids (certainly below the age of 10) would be knocking on the door, so I got some sweets to give them.

no trick or treats came round as they cant be bothered to walk down the road as there are no houses opposite so would have to walk down calling on houses and back again for nothing

my kids who are 14 and 15 have never been trick or treating

we did do a hallowean party at beavers and cubs and the kids got dressed up they did look good.

When my children were young we lived in a hamlet with about ten houses, they went to just one and that was with an invitation so to do.

Last night the first couple of children had an adult standing by the gatepost waiting and looking, the second pair were alone but still no more than about ten. This is a quiet neighbourhood and they probably live around the corner.

We tend to get more vandalism and egg tossing and such on Devil's Night, which is the night before Halloween. My husband was walking the dog and some kids, driving by in a van, threw an egg at him. Fortunatley they missed. Then a car drove up and the driver asked my hubby if he had seen any (expletive deleted) kids in a van. When my husband indicated the direction they were headed the car tore off. I wonder what they did.
The pumpkin I carved was put in the garage for that night or it would have been smashed for certain.

Not one kid last night--I'm still eating Snickers and Junior Mints....and will be for at least another week. There goes my diet again. Nuts.

Halloween is big here in the US, obviously, and I've only failed to dress up one year, and that was the year I was 8 1/2 months pregnant on Halloween. I went from Trick or treating to parties, to bars, to dressing up with my daughter. This is her 4th Halloween, and we go to a special event at the zoo every year, called Boo at the Zoo, where business give treats, and then to a kid's party on Halloween at a friend's house, where their street is trick-or-treated by the partygoers, and the neighbors love it. But it is for that reason and the fact that we rarely get more than a handful of kids at our house that my husband just turned the light off this year and didn't give out candy. I don't think Trick-or-Treating should really even be called that in my town anymore. It's just Treating. No one is mean enough to Trick.

Also, for the record, no store-bought costumes in my house! I have few skills with a sewing machine, but I make all of Kit's and my costumes. This year I was a rose and she was a poppy. Frilly circle skirts, tights, hand-knit yellow legwarmers for pollen legs and fake flower "wands" to help give it away.

Hmmm, I wonder how long it would take me to get to Jarsma's place ...