The great holiday of Halloween is upon us once again; a holiday to which I look forward every year. Well, that used to be the case. I'm a fan of going all out at Halloween. For several years I had been adding more and more props to my yard haunt. It's still small, but it has managed to attract people to it every year. I have even had people telling other people they had to stop by my house. I loved inspiring the next generation of haunters.
Two years' ago, I moved into a new neighborhood (the "poorest" in the midst of many well-to-do neighborhoods). The first Halloween was a wet, snowy mess. I only got a dozen or so kids and I ended up sick. I wrote it off to bad weather. Last year, it was clear and cold; perfect weather for kids piling on costumes and running around like creatures of the night. What did I get? Even fewer kids than the year before (9 to be exact).
I've decided this year not to bother with the props. It takes me several hours to setup and breakdown everything (I don't like to leave my props out), and I just can't justify it for a handful of Trick-or-Treaters (ToTs). Don't get me wrong. I still love Halloween. If I had children, I would be out with them every year in the thick of it; living vicariously through them. I fully intend to get back into the game when I move sometime in the next few years.
Halloween has had its ups and downs. While the costumes and decorations are still popular, the actual going out to harvest the souls of Kit Kats, Snickers, and Three Musketeers has fallen the wayside to Trick-or-Treating at the mall (a feeble attempt to increase commerce) or Trunk-or-Treating in a church parking lot. I'm not really sure why the act of Trick-or-Treating has declined so much. I understand the general feeling of mistrust people have (I don't even know my own neighbors). But to be honest, even if it got to the point that I didn't trust the candy I would simply buy candy for my child to have and still go out with him/her on Halloween. Statistically it's riskier putting them in a car to go to the grocery store.
I hope the reports I've heard from friends living in other neighborhoods are true. They speak of scores of ToTs arriving at their door. That's the kinds of neighborhood I need.
Update 11/1/2006: To prove my point, only 1 ToT came to my house last night.
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