questionsanybody else do something inventive when giving…


I had something planned almost identical to yours. I have a spot on Forrest Gump costume (official Bubba Gump Shrimp hat and everything.) I planned on making some sort of larger box of chocolates in which each compartment could house several pieces of candy. When the kids would show up I'd say the famous line that everyone knows, and have them choose their "chocolate" from the box. I got really busy, or really lazy, and never made the box. So long as the apocolypse doesn't happen, I'll do it next year.


When I was a teenager, I would make a haunted house out of my parents' garage. I'd hang sheets from the ceiling to make a maze, and have various scary "scenes" and my friends playing roles in my haunted house. Kids got their candy after exiting the haunted house. It got pretty elaborate, I borrowed the coffin from the high school theater department for my "vampire rising from the grave", made a great costume for my "werewolf", had the flickering lights and the body parts for the "mad scientist" with someone chained to the wall to be his next victim begging passersby for help, plus the usual dark space with balloons on the floor and cobwebs hanging from the ceiling at just face height. But the one that scared people the most was my grandmother. I put her in a rocking chair with a shawl over her lap with a tray of cookies. When kids came through she would offer them the cookies, and when they approached she'd produce a huge meat cleaver from under the shawl. Scared them good.


Also, when a group of kids I knew came through, we'd "capture" one of them and chain them up in the mad scientist's lab, so when the group of kids exited they were one short, and they'd be acting all scared because one of them was lost or captured or whatever. Then when the next group came through the missing kid would be chained to the wall begging for help.

I did it in two phases, better lit and toned down early in the evening when the little kids were out, and darker and scarier later on for the older kids. It was very popular.


That would not work in our community, we have lots of business and there is usually a line at times. The kids just want the candy and no hold up till the next house. If you give them too many choices they will get aggravated and you stand a chance of being remembered later in the evening, (in a bad way) don't want to be remembered!

This year I got tired of seeing high school and college kids T or T, and some adults (without kids) not from our neighborhood. Not a big fan of this. Now,f I know you, the adults might be offered a beer!


@moondrake: Having granny pull out the meat cleaver was evil genius. Today I think they would throw you in jail for that, but it was full of awesome back in the day.


The neighbor across the street, just for her own amusment, would say "Trick!" in response to "Trick or treat." Then she'd wait to see what the kids would do.

Apparently most of them just stood there looking freaked out until she gave them their candy.


all of my neighbors are crazy Republicans, so I put Obama campaign flyers in all of our goodie bags. this way when the parents were inspecting the goodies that the kids got they would have to see it.


I made up goodie bags for them, and gave them a Cafe or Restaurant Bingo games set, lol!~ At least the goodie bags had lollipops, so I didn't get egged for no candy!

A couple years ago, I gave out Beanie Babies as part of the goodie bags, I was a big hit that year!

Next will be some other crazy thing, who knows...and it usually depends on what I've bought in bulk along the way, hahaha!

This year the goodie bags had prizes from Oriental Trading, little squishable pencil toppers, bouncy balls, scary bugs, stuff like that.


No, nothing clever here. We just did the usual. There have been times past that I would hide in the shrubs and scare the dickens out of the older kids but no suitable shrubs here at our new location.


For an idea for you for next year (we've wanted to do this a couple of times now, but always seem to run out of time):

Plank out a flat bridge on the driveway with 2x4's (railing optional). At the end closest to the house, put the attractive bowl of candy. At the street section, hubby dressed as a knarly bridgekeeper asking everyone, "WHAT is your quest?". Then deciding to let kids pass. Grown up's that quote monty python get rewarded with a cold beer.