Some observations about this Halloween;

[Hector]

I can't relate to Halloween anymore...if I had kids...it would be different.

Halloween was my second favorite event after Christmas as a kid...but today...it ranks behind Christmas (duh), Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, and perhaps even Cinco de Mayo...

[Adam West]

We always get a huge turnout. Since we have the biggest housing community in our town, everyone buses into our neighborhood for trick or treating. I don't even know how many pieces we hand out but it is in the 100's.

Most of the kids are nice but I occassionally get a few who just walk up and open up their pillow sack with no words. There are also a few who will ask for more than you give them. It's usually the exception and not the rule and don't let the few take away from the fun. Most of the kids are great and I always enjoy looking at the costumes. The younger kids always get a handful from us instead of the usual two or three pieces.

[Duncan]

We had a decent turnout. 4 teen girls dressed as jailbait, but not much else to complain about. Lots of kids with parents; everyone having a good time. Even the teens that came by were polite.

[ramsey37]

This is a shot of my home this Halloween:

I'd love to more fully decorate my yard, but I'm not a fan of having my stuff stolen or vandalized. The family that used to live a couple doors down used to fill their yard with props and decorations, but the last couple of years they set it up, someone started stealing or vandalizing parts of it. What little you see outdoors was set up that evening so I could keep an eye on it. I had a couple of kids who were leery of knocking on my door because of the web, and one little guy who gave the Sonic Vampire a wide berth, but most folks seemed to like them
I probably had fewer kids this year than last year. Most of the young kids who used to live on my street have grown up or moved away, so my turnout seems to dwindle from year to year. When my daughter was little, we used to cover the whole neighborhood and she'd score enough candy to last most of the year.
George

[tactile2]

YOU GAVE OUT ACTION FIGURES!!! MAN I WISH I LIVED IN YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD!!!

Good Stuff...any pics?

[cjefferys]

Halloween is still big in our area. There were tons of little kids out and about this year, as usual. A couple folks in our neighbourhood went all out with haunted houses and such, but those scared my son a little bit. I would be so sad if Halloween started to disappear, but luckily it doesn't appear to be happening here.

[4NDR01D]

The 10 and 11 year olds from my group home went out, got tons of candy, had a great time. not much has changed since I was 10.

[4NDR01D]

4 teen girls dressed as jailbait, but not much else to complain about.

What exactly is there to complain about?

[starsky]

not a single person came to my house. sad! i think lots of people were watching the series here in the bay area.

[mazinz]

And our generation had Atari, Colecovision, Intellivision, Commodore Vic 20, Magnavox Odyssey, arcades, Mattel hand held electronic games, etc. Video games have been a big part of our culture since the 70s. Video games were a huge part of the childhoods of 70s and 80s kids.

Right but they did not have the huge epic gaming types that the latter day systems do have, nor the greater push for technology or cell phones or I-whatevers.

What we did not have back then was the technology being shoved down our throats and we actually went out side to do things. It is the other way around today

[Werewolf]

Right but they did not have the huge epic gaming types that the latter day systems do have,

I don't know about that. Graphics wise the Colecovision was the XBOX/PS3 of its day. I remember looking at the Colecovision as a kid and thinking "Holy cow, the graphics on that thing is insane. No way they will ever get that better than that." It was a pretty epic game console in it's time.

I think people forget those game consoles weren't cheap back then either. The Intellivision was $300 when it launched. That was a heck of a lot of money in 1979.

I certainly don't disagree that things have changed since the 70s. Just don't see video games as the cause of it.

[boynightwing]

This year I'm told we had about 80+ kids come by. Last year it was only 30. Though when I was a kid it was over the 100 mark.

My dad thinks that maybe more younger families have moved in to the neighborhood this year. Before that...well we all grew up and moved out but the old people still owned all the houses. Now they're trading up for apartments or condos or whatever that might be more manageable. Thus giving the new families a chance to move in. I figure that's a pretty good theory anyway.

My theory involved social paranoia. Everyone worried that one of the neighbors might be a potential creeper or serial killer or some such thing may have kept parents from letting kids out on their own. One thing I'm noticing as I get older is a tendency for people to not know or socialize with the people living around them. My girlfriend for example doesn't know her neighbors beyond what they look like and she's lived at her place for years. I know pretty much all of my neighbors and every year we have a big Canada Day BBQ together.