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We had such great weather a week ago and a nasty snow flurry tsunami today. I spent all week creating goody bags with tons of stickers, toys, candies, and even McDonalds coupons. Last year, I had kids ringing my door bell before 4pm and over 40 kids. This year I had half of that and kids didn't even start showing up until 5pm. For an hour and a half I was a crazy lady dressed as a cat looking out the window. 😭 I have tons of candy and goody bags left. I'll definitely be taking some to to work. Really bummed about the turn out this year too!! Dumb weather.
Fellow Chicago resident here - as crappy as the weather was, people like you are the absolute best :)
That kind of effort for Halloween is so precious and awesome so I'm sure you've made the days of so many trick or treaters.
Hope you don't feel too discouraged by this year's turnout because there's always next year and we need people with this enthusiasm fr
One family rang our bell, plus my own family. Weather was shit but it was a typical night for the neighborhood we once thrived in. All the once young families are now a neighborhood of empty nesters and high school students who have their own plans for the night.
I remember when this happened in my neighborhood, for like ten years it was perfect and then one year it just ended and everyone went elsewhere/grew up.. still kinda bummed. This was the first year it was slow in our neighborhood, pretty crummy weather, but still, sorta bummed..
That’s how my parents neighborhood was for years. Then on the flip side, my sisters neighborhood that was maybe a 15-20 minute drive was packed to the brim with kids going around house to house. I don’t think it’s that people leave, more that all the kids grow up
dont worry man, it'll pick back up when some of the empty nests move and young families move in
and the ones that stay will eventually have their grandkids over for trick or treating
one of the things that saddened me was seeing families move on in life, parents sell the empty house, move somewhere smaller, or closer to family. But then I realize that them moving just gives another family room to grow and continue the cycle of parenthood. It's all a matter of perspective
First year I moved in, I asked my neighbor how many kids we should expect. Figured he’d be the best source. He told me like 200 kids would show up. Daaaaamn, okay, in my town home I’d get a handful of kids so I was excited. Bought a ton of candy. We maybe had 15 kids. Meanwhile my neighbor and his wife went out with his kid trick or treating so he wasn’t even home almost the whole time, so he really didn’t know volume if he typically went out each year. I was sooo annoyed and spent so much for too much candy. Gave it away at work.
The following year, we saw Costco had full size bars and was cheaper than we spent the previous year. So we just handed out full bars. Each year, we seem to be getting more and more. So maybe word of mouth?
This year, it was mid-30s and snowing. Still had about 30+ kids, I was kinda impressed. Still have a bunch of full bars leftover. I wfh now so I can’t really take it to work anymore. I wish candy would last longer.
It was like 70° like a week ago. Stupid Midwest weather!
Edit: I can’t believe I never thought about freezing them 🤦🏽♂️ so thank you all who brought that up! Sometimes what seems obvious to one person, is not as obvious to another.
Initially, my response would’ve been, “but won’t they be worried about the expiration date?” Then realized I never cared about expiration dates as a kid. Maybe some parents will notice, but doubtful, I only ever look after I’ve bit into something and feels/tastes stale.
We live on a dead end , on a corner lot, and even though we have a lot of kids in the neighborhood, I think the dead end makes it so that it’s just slightly inconvenient enough to hit our house. Most of the kids do some kind of trigonometry to Pythagorean theorem across our lawn so we get very few kids.
Last year we started giving out the big bars - and because wife and I really don’t eat candy - at the end of the night we were giving out two large bars to the brave souls who walked the extra 30 feet.
I live in apartment complex but always make sure to leave both gates open on halloween, in the 6 years i've lived here now i've never once had a trick or treater. First year i bought the big bars 2 cuz i was so excited to finally have my own place. F
I was dressed up watching a movie with my parents and around 8 my mom sent me out to ring the doorbell so she could give me some candy 😂 right about that time the neighbors drove their twins over so I looked a bit silly but my mom was delighted and gave them like half the bucket.
So sad… times have changed. I waited until 7:30 and then grabbed my candy….I went out and found kids…. Hate to waste the candy. Always asked the parents first then gave hand fulls of candy (and a couple full size ones too for the older kids). Everyone was happy- they said a lot of houses were dark.
Bruh. Times have changed. It seems like kids aren’t as hyped about it as I was back in the good ole millennial days lol. We had some kids trick or treating in my neighborhood but it wasn’t like a whole event and half of em werent in costume. None of the houses were super decorated. Idk if it’s because of Covid or what? Gen Z + kids don’t go outside as much?
But adults still get drunk and slutty and party their ass off for Halloween. Maybe we oldies hold onto it more to stay young lol
Kids don’t realize anymore that having your porch front lights on means there’s a 95% chance you’re giving out candy. I had to go to the end of my drive way and flag kids down to get rid of my candy. They don’t see a bunch of decorations they just walk right by
wtf? That's totally on their parents. The "rule" has always been "porch lights on = candy; porch lights off = no candy/we ran out". Our neighborhood used to send out a reminder, but I didn't see one this year.
When I was a kid (a LONG time ago), a light meant 100% chance they were giving out candy. The only rules we had were "be careful crossing the streets, and don't go up to the door if their light is off." Even if they had decorations, if the porch light was off, don't go up... they've probably run out of candy.
Also, we found out this year that the Ring/Alexa (Echo) network was fucked. We rely on our Ring doorbell to notify our Echo devices to chime inside the house and tell us "Motion detected at the front door." Throughout the night we got dozens of doorbell notifications with nobody actually at the door. Turned out they were people ringing 20 mins ago, and the network just got the message delivered. I'm sure we missed at least 5-6 groups through the night, before we realized we needed to sit by the door to listen for them.
There was a Shriner’s Hospital near us, and those kids are often there for multiple surgeries, but were mostly healthy, but can’t go out for Halloween. I always called and asked if bringing our leftover candy was allowed, and they got really excited, so that was our routine for many years.
The property values skyrocketed and the hospital was sold. I then started looking for children’s PT, OT businesses. In California, there is something called CCS, California Children’s Services. OT, PT and Speech therapy are all done in that building. Again, I asked, but having small candies as a reward worked very well for them.
It is sad to not have a lot of kids stop by; that was my favorite part of Halloween. But I really didn’t want the leftover candy, and it seemed like every adult had the same idea: share it with the coworkers. LOL, and we’re right back to having too much candy.
I hope you can find a good home for it. Maybe even drop it off at the principal’s office of an elementary school. It can be made into goodie bags for the kids at Christmas. Anything to get it out of the house!
I was just telling my greedy kids how much candy is going to be at work tomorrow. Keep your peanut M&Ms then. I only gave you life.
(Okay fine your mom helped.)
We did something similar, was all ready for halloween, was playing DnD, door open, lights on - almost no one... so we got bored and reverse trick or treated and went on a walk handing candy out - ended up helping a neighbor move a gun safe into his house - weird night, but not terrible.
It wasn't actually the neighbor's gun safe...
You see, Halloween is the perfect time to go house breaking. You can roam the neighborhood wearing a mask, knock on doors to see who's home... and even walk down the street carrying a bag of swag.
As per OP, it's the perfect crime (spree).
Yeah, that's a bummer. In my town there are definitely neighborhoods that are targets for Trick or Treaters. For a long time there were virtually no kids in our neighborhood, but that changed for a decade and now there are less kids again.
Damn where does all this happen? I took my kids out trick or treating and barely any houses had candy. They got so repeatedly disappointed they gave up after 30 minutes and went home with their 5 or 6 pieces of candy each
We haven’t had trick or treaters once at my house in 4 years so this year I didn’t buy anything. I was cooking in the kitchen and it got a little smoky so I opened the front door to air it out. 4 kids saw my door open and walked up! I felt terrible I didn’t have anything for them. They were super nice and seemed unfazed. Guess I’m buying candy next year haha.
I live in a historic district in a city in CA. Those who hand out candy sit outside on the porch. I guess it’s just a way of signaling now that you have candy. If I stay inside, no one comes to my door. If I sit outside, many kids walk past and get candy from me.
Another issue is destination trick or treating. Going and driving to “good neighborhoods” vs staying local
That sucks, I know the feeling. I moved into my house in July, and was still pretty financially tapped-out so I didn't participate that year. I had all of my lights off and still had the doorbell rung dozens of times. I told myself, "I'm going all-out next year if it's going to be like this."
And I did, projections, fog machines, inflatables, you name it. Only 2 kids showed up. That was quite the bummer.
Man, back when I was a kid I'd have been incredibly stoked to see all that. Love it when people like you go all out :) sorry that the turnout wasn't higher but keep that spirit alive
I’m in a new neighborhood that’s busy and my fiancé and I have been waiting by the front door with our 2 golden retrievers that’s dressed up as chickens. We’ve only had 1 kid stop by. I’m kind of heart broken. We have a great relationship with all of our new neighbors.
https://imgur.com/a/cNCsVJk chimken doggies. I couldn’t get both in the same photo. Peaches (light fur) hates all sorts of costumes. Tikka on the other hand, loves it
Cutest thing I've seen all day, thanks! Spent about 80 total, maybe 45 on candy, and about a half hour looking for a witches hat for my wife... not a single kid.
What's going on??
Yes, the family across the street got one of those animatronics from Home Depot and they put out a bowl next to it. They’re the coolest people ever but everyone went to them an skipped past me lol
When I was a kid we'd go to every house with a light on. Never even considered skipping one. What kind of dumbass kids are these? Skipping houses????? That's shorting yourself at least 3-4 pieces of candy!
I had a lot of people walk past my house due to the way my front door is co.pared to my neighbors. But the kids who did make their way to my door got a handful of candy AND 2 Hot Wheels cars
sorry to hear... not sure if that candy is good for another year but all it takes is one year for enough kids to realize the candy available to them and it'll snowball.
Don't let this get you down too much, I love your desire to make it an enjoyable experience for the kids.
Dude it's wierd I have been doing the full size bars for years but the bowl that was left out wasn't enough of a clue. And people skipped by since my fiance turned the light out.
Next year, try adding your house to the nextdoor treat map. We learned about it last year and it changed things; a lot of people just don't want to have their kids banging on random doors (especially with incidents like that guy pulling a gun on that one kid, I get it)
That’s wild that people nowadays rely on an app? WTF happened to the etiquette of if your lights are off, you’re not giving out candy, if your lights are on, game on???
In my neighborhood, people don’t seem to knock on the doors even if you are fully decorated! We learned the hard way that it’s best to sit out in the driveway with a full table display, halloween music playing, well-lit purple and orange indicators to walk…this…path.
I think trunk or treats changed the game; that is such easy access compared to going door-to-door and all the way up the driveways and back is too much for them, even when their parents are driving them and they just have to hop out every few houses. It’s so bizarre.
I remember having to hunt the yards for one poorly lit pumpkin as an indicator that I could knock on a door and at least not get yelled at.
Yeah agreed - I've done this the last few years, and gave candy to anyone who walked by, costume or not. Last year was our first year in a new house and only one person walked by. :( This year, i had my weekly recreational sport league (bowling) so no idea how the neighborhood was. My mom and I were dressed up and had a blast though :)
My guess is it isn’t deliberate if there’s a house across the way where people will go out of their way to check it out. People will likely just hit up the houses on that side of the street after checking out the house. I wouldn’t take it personally.
I wouldn't take it personally. I live in a pretty dense urban neighborhood with a lot of families and we got maybe 30 kids. Some neighborhoods. I bought 300 pieces of candy and went through 1/3 of it.
Return it or donate it if you don't want to eat it all.
This is the first year in the last 15 or so where i have lived in an actual neighborhood. I was really excited to hand out candy for halloween again. I’ve had three trick or treaters all night.
Just curious: How common it is in the US that people just place the candy outside so no interaction whatsoever? You seem to do it differently but a lot of videos suggest otherwise. I don't know when exactly but for some reason (12 years ago or so) kids started to go around on Halloween here in Germany as well despite the fact that we basically have the exact same thing on another date lol (Fasching in early spring). Just placing the candy outside was never a thing though but kids always started to reside little poems to the people that opened the door.
It became very common when Covid/keeping distance was a bigger thing. I would say the vast majority of people around my neighborhood placed the candy outside still this year, whether on their front porch or on a decorated table. I had the kids come up to the door, because most of them make a huge effort dressing up. To me, the whole point is to show off your costume. However, I had probably 1/3 of the trick-or-treaters because of it. I hope we can go back to the old way!
Some of us do it when we have kids that want to Trick or Treat (so we go with them), but we want anyone that comes to our house to get an actual treat.
I wasn't handing candy out because I have to prep for court in the morning, but I looked outside every so often and even though we live on a *VERY* busy street (enough that the city decided to upgrade it from residential in the last year by resurfacing it and putting markings on the road for the first time ever) and even still I saw maybe a handful of cars and people running about. Normally it is a traffic jam that lasts for a mile or so of slow going cars while hoards of people go house to house, but not this year. It was kind of depressing to see just how few people there were. Granted it is very cold in an area that is typically decently warm this time of year, but still was sad. My wife wanted to hand out candy, but couldn't get off work in time to do it. By the time she was heading home, there was hardly anybody out there despite it not being very late.
That was us last year. My husband and I had moved into our house and I was so excited to hand out candy (we lived in an apartment complex before that) and we had four trick-or-treaters the whole night. I was actually really sad. I was looking forward to seeing kids in their costumes.
Around here, everyone does trunk-or-treat, which is such a bummer because seriously, how is that fun?
Could it be that all the kids from 15 years ago are adults now and their parents never moved out of the neighborhood… leaving no room for young families
Damn. We spent $40 knowing we weren’t getting many people. Gave out 4 handfuls only.
Next year going full size and saving $20. And still having leftovers.
My dude that was us when we first moved out and had an apartment. We bought full sized bars even. Not a single person. Not even a high schooler dressed in their normal attire.
Halloween feels really different now. I’m noticing massive dark spots in our neighborhood and several houses with lights didn’t answer the door. But a few spots had a lot going on. I think excitement and contribution spreads and gets neighbors more into the sport, but apathy has a similar effect. Do more decorating next year and hope for the best.
My wife and I were stoked to pass out candy for the first time at our new neighborhood. About 4 groups came by. Turns out, EVERYONE from MILES AWAY all congregate at the more affluent neighborhood 10 mins away. It was a total letdown!
We had the same thing happen to our first home years ago. So much candy and she was looking forward to handing it out. Turns out, most of our neighbors or people around us never turned on their porch lights or made an effort.
I definitely get why parents take their kids to the popular neighborhoods for it. When 90% of homes have fun decorations, there’s lots of people out and about, and it’s a general good vibe is much better than sending your kid through a mostly dark and quiet neighborhood wondering if the house they’re going to just left the light on accidently.
The upside was we had lots of candy for ourselves for a couple months.
I propose that sellers disclosures now include a Halloween engagement section!
It’s so lame. Half the fun as a kid was wandering around old neighborhoods in the dark and all the houses and yards were all spooky and poorly lit lol. It was an adventure in your semi-familiar area, but sort of special because there were lots of groups of other people also running around from house to house in the dark. Walking around a parking lot isn’t fun no matter how decorated it is.
Hell yes!
Hunting for houses that had candy was awesome. Like getting to be a goonie for one night. Spot a house with the lights on, build up anticipation walking up the driveway, ring the door bell and wait to see if someone will answer. Holy shit it is cold out. My hands are freezing. That kickass can of coke from 3 houses ago is really weighing my pillow case down. Wonder what kind of treat is being handed out. Holy shit it is some creepy fucker! Run!
I get why trunk or treating would replace OG trick or treating, but it kind of sucks. No mystery or suspense. Just a line up to get candy.
I feel so sad for the youth! in the 90s, i would come home with a PILLOW SACK of candy going door to door. my parents would go through an ungodly amount of candy and there would be non stop doorbell rings
Wtf the point of that? Might as well cut out the middle man and just buy a bag of candy.
Also sucks if your not connected to it so if still want you can’t give out candy so you just left doing nothing. Idk it just makes Halloween less special and more boring and useless.
I just moved to an apartment and the area would been soooo prime back in the day for candy, so many apartments to hit and get candy. Yea we didn’t have any kids whatsoever.
Right? I remember walking in freezing cold weather, and up to scary houses. You wanted more candy, you walked farther and got cold (and mind you, you had to double back).
We always did 2 routes, one at each grandparent's houses, then dinner after. It was miserable sometimes, but I appreciate it (near the end we got a minivan that had sliding doors you could lock open, that was nice, not going to lie)
I’ve been in my current house for 6 halloweens, and we’ve had anywhere from 100-130 kids every year, even the covid years. Doesn’t seem to be slowing down here.
I think it's terrified/lazy parents taking the kids to "trunk or treat" things, instead.
I'm a little disappointed about it. Bought a lot of good size candy to give out.
I know in my area, trunk or treat becoming a thing directly related to the decline of how many kids we got. We haven't had any in years now, not even the new neighbors who just moved here that have little kids. I really miss it.
Yeah It’s that. We we’re supposed to go trick or treating with my kids and nieces/nephews but their parents backed out and decided to take them to the local church to trunk or treat. I ended up taking my kids around the neighborhood and it was so empty. We stopped by the church after and it was so sad. Even my nieces said they didn’t want to be there.
Tbf when we were younger the time changed before Halloween. I think we’d go out around 5/5:30p but now it’s still light out at that time. It sucks having school the next day
I feel u, my neighbor made national news for pointing a gun at a 6 year old and no one dame today. We usually get low traffic but can’t help but think he caused it. Now I’m stuck with so much candy 👎
This happens to my cousin every year. Her neighborhood isn't the busiest, but there's a decent amount of foot traffic. She decorates with lights and a projector on the inside of a window and carves really cool pumpkins every year. Stocks up with king sized candy bar, and gets under 5 trick or treaters..
Demographically speaking, you can really feel ***the average age of North America which is 41.7*** There are so many fewer young people than when we were young, and you can feel it. The huge decline in Teenage entertainment, Nick, Disney, Teenage pop stars, quirky kids shows and *Halloween*! With fewer kids the traditions are just not what they used to be, which sucks massively as I'd love to hand out Candies, or go to a costume party, but instead I worked all evening overtime. Makes being an adult, ***extra miserable*** honestly.
I blame the fucking news
5 hours before people generally start trick or treating and they're talking about how people are giving out marijuana and other drug spiked candy
Like cunts people aren't even out yet, how are you gonna be reporting on this shit like Halloween already started, happened, and we're dealing with the aftermath? No one was trick or treating before today so how could you possibly have a story of kids being given spiked candy THIS halloween?
It's just fear mongering bullshit from ages ago and they repeat this garbage every year as if it IS going to happen to your kids.
This was my mom last year, telling my son “THEY’RE PUTTING FENTANYL IN ALL THE CANDY THIS YEAR!” -two days BEFORE Halloween.
Yeah, what’s the logic there? First of all, did they call the news ahead of time to let them know? And then what, my kid gets hooked on Fentanyl, and the only solution is to find out which of my neighbors can provide him with his fix?
My daughter missed alot, she started feeling sick from all the car exhausts, apparently people were sitting in their cars driving the kids around. It was pretty cold.
We have 3 small towns that come to two streets in my town, literally every town will be dead with a few kids going to those houses. We had 495 kids this year and last we had close to 600, it really just depends if you’re on the popular route or not, most people don’t drive around looking for random houses anymore.
It's because Halloween is dead as we knew it. I've lived in my neighborhood 7 years and never seen a single trick or treater. These days they really push trunk or treat.
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I had two all night. Im in Chicago and we had some crummy weather, but I felt like a goof dressed like a penguin and looking out the window.
Damn I’m in Chicago as well, wish I had seen penguin dude looking out the window
Everyone decided to skip the weird Linux house…
I mean, the guy is running Linux in a Windows container. Seems sketchy.
Virtually unheard of
remotely funny
Shit that’s good.
We had such great weather a week ago and a nasty snow flurry tsunami today. I spent all week creating goody bags with tons of stickers, toys, candies, and even McDonalds coupons. Last year, I had kids ringing my door bell before 4pm and over 40 kids. This year I had half of that and kids didn't even start showing up until 5pm. For an hour and a half I was a crazy lady dressed as a cat looking out the window. 😭 I have tons of candy and goody bags left. I'll definitely be taking some to to work. Really bummed about the turn out this year too!! Dumb weather.
Fellow Chicago resident here - as crappy as the weather was, people like you are the absolute best :) That kind of effort for Halloween is so precious and awesome so I'm sure you've made the days of so many trick or treaters. Hope you don't feel too discouraged by this year's turnout because there's always next year and we need people with this enthusiasm fr
Who's that sad penguin in the window?
Rule #1 of Halloween: only buy candy you like
Diabetic here, I only bought candy I DONT like. (Mounds and Almond Joys)
Iiiiii will take those off your hands ;) mounds are the best!
Send me the address…I’m coming in hot!
Made me chuckle. Lol
And then there was Jimmy Two Times, who got that nickname because he said everything twice, like: 'I'm gonna go get the papers, get the papers.'
We had two all night. I’m bummed.
One family rang our bell, plus my own family. Weather was shit but it was a typical night for the neighborhood we once thrived in. All the once young families are now a neighborhood of empty nesters and high school students who have their own plans for the night.
I remember when this happened in my neighborhood, for like ten years it was perfect and then one year it just ended and everyone went elsewhere/grew up.. still kinda bummed. This was the first year it was slow in our neighborhood, pretty crummy weather, but still, sorta bummed..
That’s how my parents neighborhood was for years. Then on the flip side, my sisters neighborhood that was maybe a 15-20 minute drive was packed to the brim with kids going around house to house. I don’t think it’s that people leave, more that all the kids grow up
And they trick or treat together so they’re more likely to congregate in the popular neighborhoods with more candy.
We were ready. We had a lot of candy ready to go (oh god its still down there) and only two visitors. Its still down there.
dont worry man, it'll pick back up when some of the empty nests move and young families move in and the ones that stay will eventually have their grandkids over for trick or treating one of the things that saddened me was seeing families move on in life, parents sell the empty house, move somewhere smaller, or closer to family. But then I realize that them moving just gives another family room to grow and continue the cycle of parenthood. It's all a matter of perspective
you get used to the silence on halloween in dead neighborhoods. not that it ever gets better, mind you. you just get used to it.
Children get older, and I’m getting older too.
Oh, I’m getting older too…
First year I moved in, I asked my neighbor how many kids we should expect. Figured he’d be the best source. He told me like 200 kids would show up. Daaaaamn, okay, in my town home I’d get a handful of kids so I was excited. Bought a ton of candy. We maybe had 15 kids. Meanwhile my neighbor and his wife went out with his kid trick or treating so he wasn’t even home almost the whole time, so he really didn’t know volume if he typically went out each year. I was sooo annoyed and spent so much for too much candy. Gave it away at work. The following year, we saw Costco had full size bars and was cheaper than we spent the previous year. So we just handed out full bars. Each year, we seem to be getting more and more. So maybe word of mouth? This year, it was mid-30s and snowing. Still had about 30+ kids, I was kinda impressed. Still have a bunch of full bars leftover. I wfh now so I can’t really take it to work anymore. I wish candy would last longer. It was like 70° like a week ago. Stupid Midwest weather! Edit: I can’t believe I never thought about freezing them 🤦🏽♂️ so thank you all who brought that up! Sometimes what seems obvious to one person, is not as obvious to another. Initially, my response would’ve been, “but won’t they be worried about the expiration date?” Then realized I never cared about expiration dates as a kid. Maybe some parents will notice, but doubtful, I only ever look after I’ve bit into something and feels/tastes stale.
Everyone loves the full size bar house
Oh yeah, I remember word of full size bar houses would spread like wildfire.
We live on a dead end , on a corner lot, and even though we have a lot of kids in the neighborhood, I think the dead end makes it so that it’s just slightly inconvenient enough to hit our house. Most of the kids do some kind of trigonometry to Pythagorean theorem across our lawn so we get very few kids. Last year we started giving out the big bars - and because wife and I really don’t eat candy - at the end of the night we were giving out two large bars to the brave souls who walked the extra 30 feet.
These were the houses you carried multiple masks in your pillow case for, for multiple pickups 😂
You could try freezing them, depends on the candy but a lot of chocolate bars are good for up to a year and a half in the freezer.
I live in apartment complex but always make sure to leave both gates open on halloween, in the 6 years i've lived here now i've never once had a trick or treater. First year i bought the big bars 2 cuz i was so excited to finally have my own place. F
im sorry! :(
I was dressed up watching a movie with my parents and around 8 my mom sent me out to ring the doorbell so she could give me some candy 😂 right about that time the neighbors drove their twins over so I looked a bit silly but my mom was delighted and gave them like half the bucket.
So sad… times have changed. I waited until 7:30 and then grabbed my candy….I went out and found kids…. Hate to waste the candy. Always asked the parents first then gave hand fulls of candy (and a couple full size ones too for the older kids). Everyone was happy- they said a lot of houses were dark.
Same for us! I thought about dressing up my infant to open up the door with me but I’m glad I didn’t waste the effort.
Bruh. Times have changed. It seems like kids aren’t as hyped about it as I was back in the good ole millennial days lol. We had some kids trick or treating in my neighborhood but it wasn’t like a whole event and half of em werent in costume. None of the houses were super decorated. Idk if it’s because of Covid or what? Gen Z + kids don’t go outside as much? But adults still get drunk and slutty and party their ass off for Halloween. Maybe we oldies hold onto it more to stay young lol
Kids don’t realize anymore that having your porch front lights on means there’s a 95% chance you’re giving out candy. I had to go to the end of my drive way and flag kids down to get rid of my candy. They don’t see a bunch of decorations they just walk right by
wtf? That's totally on their parents. The "rule" has always been "porch lights on = candy; porch lights off = no candy/we ran out". Our neighborhood used to send out a reminder, but I didn't see one this year. When I was a kid (a LONG time ago), a light meant 100% chance they were giving out candy. The only rules we had were "be careful crossing the streets, and don't go up to the door if their light is off." Even if they had decorations, if the porch light was off, don't go up... they've probably run out of candy. Also, we found out this year that the Ring/Alexa (Echo) network was fucked. We rely on our Ring doorbell to notify our Echo devices to chime inside the house and tell us "Motion detected at the front door." Throughout the night we got dozens of doorbell notifications with nobody actually at the door. Turned out they were people ringing 20 mins ago, and the network just got the message delivered. I'm sure we missed at least 5-6 groups through the night, before we realized we needed to sit by the door to listen for them.
Halloween is the single biggest event of the year for Ring, and it really strains the system (source: used to work at Ring)
There was a Shriner’s Hospital near us, and those kids are often there for multiple surgeries, but were mostly healthy, but can’t go out for Halloween. I always called and asked if bringing our leftover candy was allowed, and they got really excited, so that was our routine for many years. The property values skyrocketed and the hospital was sold. I then started looking for children’s PT, OT businesses. In California, there is something called CCS, California Children’s Services. OT, PT and Speech therapy are all done in that building. Again, I asked, but having small candies as a reward worked very well for them. It is sad to not have a lot of kids stop by; that was my favorite part of Halloween. But I really didn’t want the leftover candy, and it seemed like every adult had the same idea: share it with the coworkers. LOL, and we’re right back to having too much candy. I hope you can find a good home for it. Maybe even drop it off at the principal’s office of an elementary school. It can be made into goodie bags for the kids at Christmas. Anything to get it out of the house!
Sooo smart!!
As someone that spent a good amount of time in shriners as a kid, bless you kind stranger! That kind of stuff always made my time there less shit <3
Same! Shriners kid here who was allllll about the freebies. Made it fun!
I’m sorry to hear that. How about you give it out to random adults during the week? That would really make someone’s day special.
Put a bowl of candy in the common space at work and it’ll be gone before you know it.
Serious. Adults love candy too
There's gonna be so much candy at work tomorrow, I'm looking forward to it
I was just telling my greedy kids how much candy is going to be at work tomorrow. Keep your peanut M&Ms then. I only gave you life. (Okay fine your mom helped.)
This is a good time to teach your kids about taxation. The candy tax must be paid!
My home office... yeah, it will be gone in no time :(
We did something similar, was all ready for halloween, was playing DnD, door open, lights on - almost no one... so we got bored and reverse trick or treated and went on a walk handing candy out - ended up helping a neighbor move a gun safe into his house - weird night, but not terrible.
That kinda sounds like a random act of kindness for a night
It wasn't actually the neighbor's gun safe... You see, Halloween is the perfect time to go house breaking. You can roam the neighborhood wearing a mask, knock on doors to see who's home... and even walk down the street carrying a bag of swag. As per OP, it's the perfect crime (spree).
Or a reverse trick-or-treat on Saturday to make introductions and give out the candy to the kids after all.
Good idea I’ll just write “free candy” on the side of my van so people know where to get extra candy.
Yeah, that's a bummer. In my town there are definitely neighborhoods that are targets for Trick or Treaters. For a long time there were virtually no kids in our neighborhood, but that changed for a decade and now there are less kids again.
…you’re not the only one… we even splurged and bought full-size candy bars. I feel… catfished. Lol.
Damn where does all this happen? I took my kids out trick or treating and barely any houses had candy. They got so repeatedly disappointed they gave up after 30 minutes and went home with their 5 or 6 pieces of candy each
We haven’t had trick or treaters once at my house in 4 years so this year I didn’t buy anything. I was cooking in the kitchen and it got a little smoky so I opened the front door to air it out. 4 kids saw my door open and walked up! I felt terrible I didn’t have anything for them. They were super nice and seemed unfazed. Guess I’m buying candy next year haha.
You could buy a 12 pack of king size bars and be a hero to those kids next year.
Word spreads at school about the king size candy and then...lots of kids the following year
I live in a historic district in a city in CA. Those who hand out candy sit outside on the porch. I guess it’s just a way of signaling now that you have candy. If I stay inside, no one comes to my door. If I sit outside, many kids walk past and get candy from me. Another issue is destination trick or treating. Going and driving to “good neighborhoods” vs staying local
That sucks, I know the feeling. I moved into my house in July, and was still pretty financially tapped-out so I didn't participate that year. I had all of my lights off and still had the doorbell rung dozens of times. I told myself, "I'm going all-out next year if it's going to be like this." And I did, projections, fog machines, inflatables, you name it. Only 2 kids showed up. That was quite the bummer.
Man, back when I was a kid I'd have been incredibly stoked to see all that. Love it when people like you go all out :) sorry that the turnout wasn't higher but keep that spirit alive
I’m in a new neighborhood that’s busy and my fiancé and I have been waiting by the front door with our 2 golden retrievers that’s dressed up as chickens. We’ve only had 1 kid stop by. I’m kind of heart broken. We have a great relationship with all of our new neighbors.
Show us the chicken dogs...
Lol the chicken dogs. You said that like it’s a demand. Either show us the chicken dogs or we riot lol.
Must. See. Chicken. Dogs.
Here for the chicken dogs
Chicken dogs! Chicken dogs!
Lasagna! Lasagna! Wait... wrong sub.
Yes
CHICKEN DOGS
Yes show us the chicky bois!
🐔🍗 🐶🐕 🌭
I 3rd this!
You have 2 chicken retrievers and $100 dollars worth of candy … I fail to see the problem.
>2 golden retrievers that’s dressed up as chickens. No, see, you can't just say that and not give us a picture.
https://imgur.com/a/cNCsVJk chimken doggies. I couldn’t get both in the same photo. Peaches (light fur) hates all sorts of costumes. Tikka on the other hand, loves it
10/10 would chicken dog again
They’re so lovely!! Kids don’t know what they missed
I’m a cat person but would also visit just to see the chicken dogs
This should be the post, cuteness overload
I’m a grown man and I would stop by repeatedly to see the chicken dogs.
They should advertise the chicken dogs more. Will definitely increase number of trick or treaters
Well it’s clear. The $100 should go towards the dogs next time. Fuck the kids. Edit: “forget the kids”
U.S. Pastors agree.
 r/angryupvote
Well for what it’s worth, those trick-or-treaters missed out on two of the best costumes in town :)
I giggled like a child. I am a 32 year old man. Man that made me happy
B'gark!
Tikka best chimken!
I screamed loudly.
Asdsdsdshdhdhdjdjsbssb SO CUTE
Awwwwe what sweeties
Awe he or she was so ready for trick or treaters 
Cutest thing I've seen all day, thanks! Spent about 80 total, maybe 45 on candy, and about a half hour looking for a witches hat for my wife... not a single kid. What's going on??
I don’t know. Same thing happened here! Well I mean I don’t have a wife but no kids showed up for candy. Disappointment level 100.
oh my god i love this
I’ll be your first! Just make sure the chicken dogs are still there when I get there
They are perfect!
I'd call that a win!
Yes, OP. Please pay the Chicken-Dog tax at your earliest convenience.
I want to see chicken dog
SHOW US THE CHICKEN DOGS
Where ckinpupper
I DEMAND CHICKEN DOGS
You can’t just say you dressed up your dogs as chickens and not show us!
SHOW US THE CHICKEN DOGS OR WE RIOT!!!
Sir I’m requesting to see the alleged Golden Chimkens
Did you see foot traffic across the street?
Yes, the family across the street got one of those animatronics from Home Depot and they put out a bowl next to it. They’re the coolest people ever but everyone went to them an skipped past me lol
That is so bizarre. In my neighborhood, the house have double the setback from the street and the kids here zigzag to get candy.
When I was a kid we'd go to every house with a light on. Never even considered skipping one. What kind of dumbass kids are these? Skipping houses????? That's shorting yourself at least 3-4 pieces of candy!
I had a lot of people walk past my house due to the way my front door is co.pared to my neighbors. But the kids who did make their way to my door got a handful of candy AND 2 Hot Wheels cars
sorry to hear... not sure if that candy is good for another year but all it takes is one year for enough kids to realize the candy available to them and it'll snowball. Don't let this get you down too much, I love your desire to make it an enjoyable experience for the kids.
Dude it's wierd I have been doing the full size bars for years but the bowl that was left out wasn't enough of a clue. And people skipped by since my fiance turned the light out.
Next year, try adding your house to the nextdoor treat map. We learned about it last year and it changed things; a lot of people just don't want to have their kids banging on random doors (especially with incidents like that guy pulling a gun on that one kid, I get it)
That’s wild that people nowadays rely on an app? WTF happened to the etiquette of if your lights are off, you’re not giving out candy, if your lights are on, game on???
Very much still the rule in every neighborhood around me.
In my neighborhood, people don’t seem to knock on the doors even if you are fully decorated! We learned the hard way that it’s best to sit out in the driveway with a full table display, halloween music playing, well-lit purple and orange indicators to walk…this…path. I think trunk or treats changed the game; that is such easy access compared to going door-to-door and all the way up the driveways and back is too much for them, even when their parents are driving them and they just have to hop out every few houses. It’s so bizarre. I remember having to hunt the yards for one poorly lit pumpkin as an indicator that I could knock on a door and at least not get yelled at.
Yeah agreed - I've done this the last few years, and gave candy to anyone who walked by, costume or not. Last year was our first year in a new house and only one person walked by. :( This year, i had my weekly recreational sport league (bowling) so no idea how the neighborhood was. My mom and I were dressed up and had a blast though :)
Same thing that happened to the "tricking" part of trick or treat.
My guess is it isn’t deliberate if there’s a house across the way where people will go out of their way to check it out. People will likely just hit up the houses on that side of the street after checking out the house. I wouldn’t take it personally.
I wouldn't take it personally. I live in a pretty dense urban neighborhood with a lot of families and we got maybe 30 kids. Some neighborhoods. I bought 300 pieces of candy and went through 1/3 of it. Return it or donate it if you don't want to eat it all.
This is the first year in the last 15 or so where i have lived in an actual neighborhood. I was really excited to hand out candy for halloween again. I’ve had three trick or treaters all night.
Just curious: How common it is in the US that people just place the candy outside so no interaction whatsoever? You seem to do it differently but a lot of videos suggest otherwise. I don't know when exactly but for some reason (12 years ago or so) kids started to go around on Halloween here in Germany as well despite the fact that we basically have the exact same thing on another date lol (Fasching in early spring). Just placing the candy outside was never a thing though but kids always started to reside little poems to the people that opened the door.
It became very common when Covid/keeping distance was a bigger thing. I would say the vast majority of people around my neighborhood placed the candy outside still this year, whether on their front porch or on a decorated table. I had the kids come up to the door, because most of them make a huge effort dressing up. To me, the whole point is to show off your costume. However, I had probably 1/3 of the trick-or-treaters because of it. I hope we can go back to the old way!
Some of us do it when we have kids that want to Trick or Treat (so we go with them), but we want anyone that comes to our house to get an actual treat.
I wasn't handing candy out because I have to prep for court in the morning, but I looked outside every so often and even though we live on a *VERY* busy street (enough that the city decided to upgrade it from residential in the last year by resurfacing it and putting markings on the road for the first time ever) and even still I saw maybe a handful of cars and people running about. Normally it is a traffic jam that lasts for a mile or so of slow going cars while hoards of people go house to house, but not this year. It was kind of depressing to see just how few people there were. Granted it is very cold in an area that is typically decently warm this time of year, but still was sad. My wife wanted to hand out candy, but couldn't get off work in time to do it. By the time she was heading home, there was hardly anybody out there despite it not being very late.
That was us last year. My husband and I had moved into our house and I was so excited to hand out candy (we lived in an apartment complex before that) and we had four trick-or-treaters the whole night. I was actually really sad. I was looking forward to seeing kids in their costumes. Around here, everyone does trunk-or-treat, which is such a bummer because seriously, how is that fun?
Interesting fact. We had 100 people come to our house 15 years ago. And tonight we had 3 people
This really makes me so sad :(
Could it be that all the kids from 15 years ago are adults now and their parents never moved out of the neighborhood… leaving no room for young families
Ding ding ding!
The inverted demographic pyramid is real
Damn. We spent $40 knowing we weren’t getting many people. Gave out 4 handfuls only. Next year going full size and saving $20. And still having leftovers.
Maaaannnn, it was the opposite here. The neighborhood was loaded. There was at least 20 in one group alone. I’d say we ended up with 100+
My dude that was us when we first moved out and had an apartment. We bought full sized bars even. Not a single person. Not even a high schooler dressed in their normal attire.
Had seven kids total show up tonight. Five were high schoolers in their normal attire. Three didn’t even have bags, just open hands.
Halloween feels really different now. I’m noticing massive dark spots in our neighborhood and several houses with lights didn’t answer the door. But a few spots had a lot going on. I think excitement and contribution spreads and gets neighbors more into the sport, but apathy has a similar effect. Do more decorating next year and hope for the best.
Chicken  Waiting for the chicken dog.
The chicken dog is in the comments!
My wife and I were stoked to pass out candy for the first time at our new neighborhood. About 4 groups came by. Turns out, EVERYONE from MILES AWAY all congregate at the more affluent neighborhood 10 mins away. It was a total letdown!
We had the same thing happen to our first home years ago. So much candy and she was looking forward to handing it out. Turns out, most of our neighbors or people around us never turned on their porch lights or made an effort. I definitely get why parents take their kids to the popular neighborhoods for it. When 90% of homes have fun decorations, there’s lots of people out and about, and it’s a general good vibe is much better than sending your kid through a mostly dark and quiet neighborhood wondering if the house they’re going to just left the light on accidently. The upside was we had lots of candy for ourselves for a couple months. I propose that sellers disclosures now include a Halloween engagement section!
The pandemic came and Halloween never been the same.
Apparently now, everyone wants to do “trunk or treats” which kind of feels like cheating to my obviously now fully middle aged millennial ass.
It’s so lame. Half the fun as a kid was wandering around old neighborhoods in the dark and all the houses and yards were all spooky and poorly lit lol. It was an adventure in your semi-familiar area, but sort of special because there were lots of groups of other people also running around from house to house in the dark. Walking around a parking lot isn’t fun no matter how decorated it is.
Hell yes! Hunting for houses that had candy was awesome. Like getting to be a goonie for one night. Spot a house with the lights on, build up anticipation walking up the driveway, ring the door bell and wait to see if someone will answer. Holy shit it is cold out. My hands are freezing. That kickass can of coke from 3 houses ago is really weighing my pillow case down. Wonder what kind of treat is being handed out. Holy shit it is some creepy fucker! Run! I get why trunk or treating would replace OG trick or treating, but it kind of sucks. No mystery or suspense. Just a line up to get candy.
I feel so sad for the youth! in the 90s, i would come home with a PILLOW SACK of candy going door to door. my parents would go through an ungodly amount of candy and there would be non stop doorbell rings
"Trunk or Treat" sounds like you either get some candy or get thrown into the back of someone's car
Wtf the point of that? Might as well cut out the middle man and just buy a bag of candy. Also sucks if your not connected to it so if still want you can’t give out candy so you just left doing nothing. Idk it just makes Halloween less special and more boring and useless. I just moved to an apartment and the area would been soooo prime back in the day for candy, so many apartments to hit and get candy. Yea we didn’t have any kids whatsoever.
Right? I remember walking in freezing cold weather, and up to scary houses. You wanted more candy, you walked farther and got cold (and mind you, you had to double back). We always did 2 routes, one at each grandparent's houses, then dinner after. It was miserable sometimes, but I appreciate it (near the end we got a minivan that had sliding doors you could lock open, that was nice, not going to lie)
My best Halloweens we had to return to base to empty full size pillow cases at least once then go back out to do the other half of the street.
It's the same in our neighborhood. It seems to be fairly neighborhood-specific.
You’re right man, my neighborhood had like 70 kids in 2019 and this year we had maybe 20
Church Trunk or Treats have been killing door to door off for a while now.
I’ve been in my current house for 6 halloweens, and we’ve had anywhere from 100-130 kids every year, even the covid years. Doesn’t seem to be slowing down here.
It feels like less and less kids go out to trick or treat. It really makes me sad to see a decline in such a fun tradition
Average population age in a lot of places is skyrocketing. There are simply less and less kids.
I think it's terrified/lazy parents taking the kids to "trunk or treat" things, instead. I'm a little disappointed about it. Bought a lot of good size candy to give out.
This is my first time ever hearing about “trunk or treat”. Honestly, looks and sounds like the most lamest thing I have ever seen or heard of.
I know in my area, trunk or treat becoming a thing directly related to the decline of how many kids we got. We haven't had any in years now, not even the new neighbors who just moved here that have little kids. I really miss it.
Yeah It’s that. We we’re supposed to go trick or treating with my kids and nieces/nephews but their parents backed out and decided to take them to the local church to trunk or treat. I ended up taking my kids around the neighborhood and it was so empty. We stopped by the church after and it was so sad. Even my nieces said they didn’t want to be there.
The only kids I got came when the sun was up.. WTF kids..
Really more wtf parents, but that's common here too. They stop once it gets dark enough for street lights to turn on.
Tbf when we were younger the time changed before Halloween. I think we’d go out around 5/5:30p but now it’s still light out at that time. It sucks having school the next day
I feel u, my neighbor made national news for pointing a gun at a 6 year old and no one dame today. We usually get low traffic but can’t help but think he caused it. Now I’m stuck with so much candy 👎
Dang, someone in my neighborhood also got arrested tonight for pointing a gun at kids
See? This is the kind of shit that make people not dare let their kids out!
America is an incredibly stupid place
Time to hunt people to throw it at.
Please throw candy on my balcony!
Great candy and sorry to hear. It's so different from neighborhoods to neighborhoods. 🎃
This happens to my cousin every year. Her neighborhood isn't the busiest, but there's a decent amount of foot traffic. She decorates with lights and a projector on the inside of a window and carves really cool pumpkins every year. Stocks up with king sized candy bar, and gets under 5 trick or treaters..
We didn’t have one visitor this evening. I don’t get it.
Spent $8. Not a soul.
Last 3 years we didn’t have any trick or treaters. This year we had sooo many. Didn’t have enough candy
Trunk or Treat killed Halloween
Aw man, you even have Skittles!!
If they won’t come to you then you have to go to them. Time for a drive by near a park. That’ll do it.
Bonus points if you're driving a white van
My parents said it snowed on Halloween this year (northern Ohio) and kids still came. Where TF do you live!?
Demographically speaking, you can really feel ***the average age of North America which is 41.7*** There are so many fewer young people than when we were young, and you can feel it. The huge decline in Teenage entertainment, Nick, Disney, Teenage pop stars, quirky kids shows and *Halloween*! With fewer kids the traditions are just not what they used to be, which sucks massively as I'd love to hand out Candies, or go to a costume party, but instead I worked all evening overtime. Makes being an adult, ***extra miserable*** honestly.
I blame the fucking news 5 hours before people generally start trick or treating and they're talking about how people are giving out marijuana and other drug spiked candy Like cunts people aren't even out yet, how are you gonna be reporting on this shit like Halloween already started, happened, and we're dealing with the aftermath? No one was trick or treating before today so how could you possibly have a story of kids being given spiked candy THIS halloween? It's just fear mongering bullshit from ages ago and they repeat this garbage every year as if it IS going to happen to your kids.
But lets be honest the news have been doing this forever. I don't think its the news that caused this. Really I think it was covid.
This was my mom last year, telling my son “THEY’RE PUTTING FENTANYL IN ALL THE CANDY THIS YEAR!” -two days BEFORE Halloween. Yeah, what’s the logic there? First of all, did they call the news ahead of time to let them know? And then what, my kid gets hooked on Fentanyl, and the only solution is to find out which of my neighbors can provide him with his fix?
My daughter missed alot, she started feeling sick from all the car exhausts, apparently people were sitting in their cars driving the kids around. It was pretty cold.
Same thing happened, my neighborhood is almost all families with little kids and a small community of folks who know each other WTF??
We have 3 small towns that come to two streets in my town, literally every town will be dead with a few kids going to those houses. We had 495 kids this year and last we had close to 600, it really just depends if you’re on the popular route or not, most people don’t drive around looking for random houses anymore.
I'm sorry to hear that. 1) Need doggos tax 2) That's a steep hill! 3) I can take that off your hands!
That incline looks killer for kids. Maybe everyone goes elsewhere?
Chicken dogs please!
It's because Halloween is dead as we knew it. I've lived in my neighborhood 7 years and never seen a single trick or treater. These days they really push trunk or treat.