Our cul-de-sac put on an amazing display… foggy graveyard, witch with fiery cauldron, lots of animatronics, you name it. We’re all very good friends and had started planning for this months ago… everybody in our community showed up, and we had a great time. The guest house across the road became an interactive scary haunted house. It was grand. The kids had a blast, and the adults… well, I think we had even more fun. Next door neighbor caused us great dismay when she decided to bail out of the big plan at the last minute, did no decorating, bought no candy, and went to a yoga class instead. I have a hunch her inner peace was shattered when she arrived home late and found the exterior of her house totally wrapped in TP. Can’t imagine who would have done such a thing… or how… 
LOL
We had a great night, a lot of fun with our old neighbors, and a ton of kids. Those last stragglers got the rest of everyone’s bowls dumped into their bags. We were done around 9:30. Looking forward to next year. 
We drove around the neighborhood after things died down. Not many good displays this year. I did notice that people have started sitting out on their driveways with chairs around fire pits, beer/drinks, and food (along with candy). It’s nice for the parents walking with the kids because they get to sample beer, chili, etc. and blab … but I like having the kids go up and ring doorbells.
@droppedit: I would love to hear the details of your Stranger Things display from last year!
@thumper1 , that teacher is my son and yep, it’s allowed. I would imagine if you are offering it to a teacher and it’s not allowed at their school they will say so - and will know their school policy. Not suggesting anyone dump their candy outside a school door without asking someone if they can use it.
We had a good night, even though there are a few older neighbors who don’t participate, making the street look less inviting than others. I put out lit tiki torches (figured enough time has passed since Charlottesville, lol) so our house could be seen from far away. It worked to attract more kids than previously. I like Halloween. I think it binds communities and hones a spirit of generosity and brings joy to kids. In this day and age, we need all three!
I had a about a 100 kids, which is up over the last couple of years. Many seemed to be in larger groups this year, and lots of slightly older kids, but all still in costume. I was really impressed at how polite they all were. Lots of “Happy Halloweens” to me and just about everyone gave a pretty sincere sounding thank you. Some parents and teachers in my community are doing lots right!
Next year I will do as @doschicos and buy big candy bars and that way won’t be tempted to eat my weight in leftover Halloween candy. We had exactly 4 kids. The dog was totally disappointed. :o3
We had about 15 kids … which is 15 better than last year. Very pleased to see the littles in their costumes. We had a big blinking pair of cat eyes in our front window kids said they saw from far away.
"Next year I will do as @doschicos and buy big candy bars and that way won’t be tempted to eat my weight in leftover Halloween candy. "
It just makes it harder because it’s a bigger package. But, I’ll be sharing with some college students and others that will be helping us canvass over the next 5 days so it won’t go to waste as we need to keep their energy high!
@cameo43 – it was just a recreation of the mother’s living room with the lights and letters:
https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2016/10/stranger-things.jpeg
We took a big white sheet (queen size, I think), painted the letters on it, then attached Christmas lights over the letters. We hung it on a PVC pipe towards the back of the garage and then strung up more lights crisscrossing the garage ceiling. I had on a hat and jacket like the cop while handing out candy … and, of course, I had a fog machine, strobes, black lights, and music going. Kids loved it.
Note: if you get a fog machine you need to make a “fog chiller” to keep the fog near the ground. Otherwise, it rises up and dissipates quickly. Route the fog into a container/ice chest with a short 2" PVC pipe and have a short 2" PVC exit pipe. Put dry ice in the container. Done! Lasts several hours.
We had so few kids that it was kind of sad…
The night before I was complaining that I didn’t feel like handing out candy because we are jet lagged and it’s a pain in the A$$ with our dogs…is trick or treating becoming a thing of the past ?
We had so many kids that I had to wait for my husband to get home so I could use the potty because there was never a break. Probably close to 400 kids in the span of three hours.
My kids’ school was a K-12 independent, and they have a great tradition of having the older kids line the halls while younger ones (in costume) do a parade through the school. Just saw FB photos of it, and it reminds me why we liked that school. Seniors sitting along the halls, high fiving all the kindergarteners in costume.