I was looking forward to Halloween this year because for the seven previous years that we lived in the apartment the holiday was always a bit of a letdown for me because for some reason kids just didn’t trick or treat in our complex. The first year I lived in the apartment I got really psyched about Halloween because I was going to be handing out candy to hundreds of thousands of trick or treaters dressed in wildly imaginative costumes who gazed with awe upon my awesome jack o’ lantern and marveled at my vegetable carving skills. I went out and bought huge bags of candy in preparation of the event and made sure I had appropriately scary sounds and music on the stereo for when the little tykes came by.
I think, in the end, we had a total of three groups of kids stop by for a grand total of 12 people.
Of which five of them were teenagers who were picking up the next door neighbor’s daughter to go to a Halloween party. I seem to recall screaming out “FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS UNHOLY! TAKE SOME FRIGGIN’ CANDY WITH YOU!” as they started toward their car.
So this being the first Halloween we were in an actual house, albeit in my in-laws house, in an actual neighborhood and everything, I felt pretty confident that it would be different. My enthusiasm was tempered by my wife who pointed out that the house is set pretty far back from the road with spooky trees that make it hard to see whether or not the porch light is on. We’d get some trick or treaters, she said, but not tons. Still, I thought, it should beat the hell out of the apartment, right?
In the end we had a total of three groups of kids for a grand total of 12 or so people.
The really sad part is the first group of five or so where all teenagers who had almost put some thought into actually having a costume of some sort. The last group of two kids accompanied by their father made up for it quite a bit by having really cool costumes complete with glowing eyes. So I’m still missing out on the massive kids trick or treating on Halloween experience I remember from my childhood, but I’ll get there someday.
Posted on 11/01/2006 at 05:05 PM 
I was a Tricker Treater from 1960 to about 1966, Back when it was safe to walk around the small town I grew up in. I strongly discourage the practice today. My 25 year career with the Medical Examiners Office and also witnessing one the biggest US Trauma Centers which was right next door to our building has led me to feel different. I use to Love Halloween. But today I would no more let my Children leave my sight and venture to a strange house, or eat an unknown substance given to them by someone who’s character is yet to be determined. It’s sad that it has come to this, But we clearly do not live in the same world we did 40 years ago. The US is full of dangerous stupid evil shitheads that harm children. Type into Google for the US Sex Offender Data Base and see who your neighbors are if you want to see the reality of your neighborhood. And thats just the one’s that got caught fuckin around. I feel for you Les. But next year maybe you could have, or attend a private Halloween Party.