Halloween or Lack there of (Cary: 2014, house, middle school)

[lacydrummond]

I agree! This year is worse because of the rain. Hardly anyone.

[Sherifftruman]

We definitely had fewer kids. I imagine due to the weather that fewer came out at all and the ones that did went to fewer houses or streets than past years.

[VickiR]

We had wayyyyy less than in past years. And yes, it does seem like year after year, we get less and less. I'm sure the weather had lots to do with it, tonight. A friend of mine took her kids to the mall but it was around 8 PM and she said it was packed and some of the stores had already run out of candy. Maybe the mall is the way to go. It would be fun to sit at the mall and see all the little kids in their costumes. Maybe next year, I'll do that and while I'm sitting on the bench, I'll give out candy!

Vicki

[Tootie the Brave]

Our turnout was about the same as last year's, but the bad weather did clear out by 6:15.

Re. the OP, though, neighborhoods do age. Our section of the neighborhood has mostly 13+ kids, but as you go deeper into the neighborhood, there are plenty of toddlers and elementary school children. We got those kids who strayed to the "fringe", lol. It's sad, though, because often those who have kids who have moved away are those who are looking forward to the trick-or-treaters most. If you have kids and know such folks in your neighborhood, please make a special trip out for them (and go early, if you can!). Our daughter made her first trick-or-treating trip out alone with friends this year, but in the past, we made sure to call on all those folks, and also try to hit every house with special decorations that we've espied driving around or on other pre-Halloween walk/run. It makes me sad to think of people loving Halloween and making such a decorating effort, but not having many trick-or-treaters. As a bonus, they usually do the candy right.

[sowk09]

We just moved to a an apartment complex with lots of kids and didn't have a single trick or treater! Maybe it's because they were hitting up North Raleigh neighborhoods? :P

Will definitely be taking the candy to work tomorrow for my coworkers... if it's still here by the morning.

[Francois]

It was definitely weather-related tonight! 48 degrees and raining during prime T-or-T hours put a huge damper on it, though where I was (we help a friend who does an "all out" yard of decorations) they were later getting started but there was a little stream of them at about 6:30. Somehow carrying umbrellas and wearing raincoats just takes from the fun of it, and many were riding in cars from house to house instead of walking which of course isn't really what the Halloween ritual is "supposed to" be out as far as enjoying it with big groups of friends.

Don't use two data points to judge something--Halloween was on a Sunday last year and some people either don't participate on that day or think people aren't going to participate, so they go to church carnivals instead or parties on Saturday. Next year, hopefully it will not be such nasty weather and the regular crowds will be back--though Halloween in general seems much more subdued than it was when I was a kid, and lots of people do their trick-or-treating at malls or carnivals instead of neighborhoods.

I suspect if you went to a mall next year like VickiR suggests, you'd see that Halloween is alive and well! Kids and free candy are a combination that is not likely to go away.

[Huckleberry3911948]

we got it really big here bigger than christmas. its creepy i dont like it.

[lamishra]

We definitely had less than usual, but we live the near the mall and from what I've heard, a lot of people went there because of the weather.

[RuthL]

Odd. We always have at least one, but less than six. This year we had about twenty kids, but did notice some were being brought by cars to keep them out of the weather as much as possible.

We got a note on our mailbox yesterday that the Enloe High Band would be coming by to do a can food drive for Halloween. What a neat idea! Those HS kids kids came in a group of about 8 and were fun and were very glad when neighbors offered them candy too.

I just happened to have a reason to visit our neighbors tonight and they all had something ready for the food drive.

We live in an almost all orginal owner neighborhood built 40+ years ago and we all love having the kids that do wonder down to our little part of the street.

It was kind of funny when I was at one neighbor's house inside her foyer when she got a knock on the side door that did have a light on. She went and gave candy. A minute later there was a knock on the front door (also light on) and I had candy in my pocket, so I opened the front door as she was coming back to the foyer and dropped the candy from my pocket into their bags.

I closed the door just as my neigbor said those were the same kids that had just been at her side door

[benthephysicist]

First USA halloween, 0 kids. I'm eating the peanut butter cups myself. Thank you rain!