Order of H'Pak

I have super-fond memories of Halloween from when I was a kid:

• I remember how cool it was when they came out with miniature candy bars (Milky Way, 3 Musketeers, Snickers). That was so neat.
  
• I remember the smell of an entire bag of candy - all mixed together from the spoils of the night - and how having that much candy in one place was just unheard of the rest of the year.
  
• I remember the excitement of knowing it was Halloween that night (and the fun of stuff we did at school that day) - and how long it took for the Sun to set after we got home from school.
  
• I remember Smarties and Pixie Stix.
  
• I remember whole neighborhoods with kids and their parents walking around - it was all safe and fun. I remember going out with only my friends when we were still fairly young because it was so safe.
  
• I remember how mysterious and adventurous it was to be walking up to the front doors in neighborhoods that were "unknown" the rest of the year - how the houses and pumpkins and decorations seemed strange even just a few blocks in different directions. A whole new world made even more mysterious and exciting by this amazing ritual.
  
• I remember Sugar Daddy's (and a neighbor who got a GIANT one for Christmas once but never ate it) - how you would get that curl of caramel when you pulled it like taffy and how you would end up with the slight taste of the stick towards the end if you didn't pull it off just so. And how they felt like they were almost pulling out all your teeth if you tried to chew on them when they weren't soft enough!
  
• I remember the one house in my best friend's neighborhood that was always SUPER COOL and decked out to the max. It had a mini Haunted House built into the front yard each year that was always different! They must have had so much fun putting that together each year. It was spooky!
  
• And I'll never forget picking out pumpkins and carving them with my Dad and brother - each of us had our own unique style and liked to carve two each. I will never forget the anticipation of darkness - how anxious I was to see them "come to life" with that little stubby candle stuck inside and the slight burning smell of pumpkin filling the night.

There was a certain feeling to it that I hope children today and in the future get to experience at least once.

It was ABSOLUTELY MAGICAL!


What about you?

Many of us have kids of our own now too - what's it like to go out with them? Bring back some memories of your own?

Share your experiences here - good, bad, happy, sad, funny, mad - whatever!

Have always disliked/ignored Halloween. Think I only dressed up once...and it was a very simple costume.

Baak - responding a little after the fact, but from my experience the 10 and under crowd still gets into Halloween. There is a street in our neighborhood that basically shuts down car traffic for the throng of kids. Just about everyhouse goes all out, ghosts flying on wires from second stories to trees, fog machines, illusions with lights and mirrors, front yard cemetaries that creep me out - much more elaborate then I remember as a kid. You would totally dig it Baak! But beyond the improved special effects, the spirit, at least in my little corner of the world is alive and well. The best part of course, is imposing the "candy tax" on my child, exstorting a percentage of the loot. I'm trying to prepare her for real life

Two Saks Wrote:Baak - responding a little after the fact, but from my experience the 10 and under crowd still gets into Halloween. There is a street in our neighborhood that basically shuts down car traffic for the throng of kids. Just about everyhouse goes all out, ghosts flying on wires from second stories to trees, fog machines, illusions with lights and mirrors, front yard cemetaries that creep me out - much more elaborate then I remember as a kid. You would totally dig it Baak! But beyond the improved special effects, the spirit, at least in my little corner of the world is alive and well. The best part of course, is imposing the "candy tax" on my child, exstorting a percentage of the loot. I'm trying to prepare her for real life

lol!

Well, very glad to hear it's alive and well - sounds like quite the scene!

We had our first group of Trick-or-Treaters here for five years - and that was a group of young'uns (very cute) at about 4:00 in the afternoon. We didn't have any candy, but they were very happy to chat with us and show us their costumes. They were extremely well behaved, polite, and it was really very cute.

Were their names Hansel and Gretel by any chance?

Dantski Wrote:Were their names Hansel and Gretel by any chance?

They were before we baked them.

hahahha

Last year was my first Halloween without trick or treating! We gave up late, cuz in such a local village everyone just laughs when big kids do it. It was like rediscovering real childhood for a night. Man I miss that. I'll post up the photos sometime

Bad experiences: The guy who sprayed us with a hose each year, the old women who gave us apples instead of sweets, the old people who knew nothing of Halloween and gave stuff to other people and had nothing by the time we got there (cuz they knew nothing about it they gave like 3 packets of biscuits to the first crew and the VCR to the second so they had nothing by the time we arrived in their house), the woman who thought we were meant to give HER sweets for some reason (wtf?), being told we weren't allowed to walk far from home

Good experiences: Running away from the guy, laughing at the pile of discarded apples next to the old women's houses and wondering if they'd get it right next year, rushing to the old people's houses so we got all their stuff before anyone else (they gave it all to us), the woman who gave us money cuz we said we'd share it with all the other trick-or-treat groups (she stole my friend's football, it was to get back at her ok?), walking through the entire town

The Elfoid_TFS Wrote:Last year was my first Halloween without trick or treating! We gave up late, cuz in such a local village everyone just laughs when big kids do it. It was like rediscovering real childhood for a night. Man I miss that. I'll post up the photos sometime

Bad experiences: The guy who sprayed us with a hose each year, the old women who gave us apples instead of sweets, the old people who knew nothing of Halloween and gave stuff to other people and had nothing by the time we got there (cuz they knew nothing about it they gave like 3 packets of biscuits to the first crew and the VCR to the second so they had nothing by the time we arrived in their house), the woman who thought we were meant to give HER sweets for some reason (wtf?), being told we weren't allowed to walk far from home

Good experiences: Running away from the guy, laughing at the pile of discarded apples next to the old women's houses and wondering if they'd get it right next year, rushing to the old people's houses so we got all their stuff before anyone else (they gave it all to us), the woman who gave us money cuz we said we'd share it with all the other trick-or-treat groups (she stole my friend's football, it was to get back at her ok?), walking through the entire town

Ha! Some great stuff there!

Love the "laughing at the pile of discarded apples next to the old women's houses and wondering if they'd get it right next year" - lol!

Should atleast throw it in the garbage rather than make them clean it up in the morning ):