We used to go out on our own without parents(about age 8-9). Can you believe it? I have two memories: one being chased by some boys which was not good. The other was a Hawaiian costume which my mother had to sew me into (no zippers or ties, etc.).

So now you buy your pumpkins as soon as they are out?

I have several funny memories all centering around an angel costume I made and wore one year. I worked as a hostess at a supper club and being Halloween fell on Saturday, all of the employees decided to dress in costume. When I made the costume, I was undecided whether to be a PG andgel with a sign saying Heaven is just a sin away, or a fallen angel with a bent halo and wings. I decided on the fallen angel. Our two grand daughters were staying with us for a while and when I was about to go out the door to go to work, Amber tried to go out with me, I told her that she had to stay here and grandpa will take he and her sister trick or treating later. She just looked up at me and said....she just wanted to watch me fly away.
As I was walking up to the clubs front door, two guys were coming out, obviously had been at the bar a while. After they passed me, one said to the other....Did you just see a fairy!
Then the first people I seated in the dining room were two Nuns, and all I could think of, I'm glad I wasn't a PG angel.
That was a fun Halloween and i got a lot of laughs out of an angel costume made out of a sheet.

I was about seven and sister was five. Mom had made us hula girl outfits. It turned unseasonably cold that Halloween here in south Texas. Mom insisted we wear our coats over our grass skirts and skimpy tops. We would ring the doorbells, yell "Trick or Treat" open our coats and flash whoever came to the door so they could see our costumes. Now that I think about it it probably wasn't appropriate but hey it was the 60's

The scaredest I've ever been on Halloween was when I went to a haunted house with DH and DBIL. There was a guy inside who chased me with a real saw (minus the chain I'm assuming), I ran into a wall and hurt one of my fingers. I haven't been to a haunted house since.

The best costume was the one I made for DH while he was off hunting last year. I spent days on it and he won first place in one costume contest and 2nd in another. He was a Ghostbuster complete with a proton pack and goggles. That is the most work I've ever put into a costume... this year DH went a Captain Stubing from The Love Boat. lol Super easy!

Favorite memories are all the candy (we didn't get candy when we were little, poor and too many children) we got.
Worst was my first haunted house experience...I still hate them and refuse to go in one!

Second to Christmas, Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. I grew up in a very small town where we trick or treated all night by ourselves . . . no parents tagging along! Of course there were tons of homemade goodies and pre-bagged sacks of candy . . . all of which will sadly never be experienced again.
Two houses stand out in my mind - one looked like the classic haunted house high on a hill with hundreds (probably 25 :) of skinny cement steps to climb. The house was always dark except for a yellowish light near the back of the house. I don't ever remember seeing the face of the owner, as I'm sure I had my eyes shut tight in fear, lol. After the treat, we'd all go screaming down those stairs. Every year.
The other house was that of a sweet old lady, who always made the kids come in out of the cold to have a cup of warm cider and sign our names/ages in a big book before she gave out her elaborate treats. She loved to admire our costumes and made each kid feel so special. Funny, but every halloween I think of her . . . and wonder how many years worth of scrawled names she had recorded in that book . . . and what ever became of it . . .

In the late 1940s my grandmother helped us make a lifesize dummy to lay beside our not too frequently traveled country road. We cousins were to hide in the bushes and watch what happened.

The first automobile stopped and someone swooped it up, and we never saw it again. I was very upset because it wore my favorite "play dressup" formal.

How can you pick only one?

Of course, every memory of my daughter's Halloweens when she was little are precious. One year SHE chose to be Harpo--my sister introduced her to the Marx Bros. It was an easy costume to make. None of her school friends 'got it', but when we were out trick or treating some high school kids drove by and yelled, "Hey, Harpo" at her--made her day! And what a delight--she had to be quiet all afternoon-LOL. One year she was the Queen of Hearts and kept telling all the homeowners we visited, "Off with their Heads", instead of 'thank you'!

One Mischief Night, DH and I were driving home, on a residential street. At the other end of the block, we could see a large bunch of older teens (probably aged 15-18). You could just tell they were up to no good, but we couldn't turn around at that point. Just when we drew up even with them? a tiny little ghost rose up over our car! They had it rigged over a tree branch with string. It was the CUTEST, most unexpected prank I've ever seen.

Of course, no one could top my dad and FIL for their Halloween pranks when they were kids--they'd tie 2 trash cans (metal in those days) together with rope, one on each side of the street, and hide in the bushes. When a car went by, they'd pull the rope up so it would catch on the front bumper and the cars would be trailing the cans behind them. They'd put neighbors' porch furniture on their porch roofs. And sooner or later they'd get caught and have to go to the police station, where there was a long line of chairs. You sat in the last one, and everytime someone else got brought in, you'd get to move one chair closer to the exit (a sort of 'muscial chairs' penalty)

have never really lived in a trick or treat neghborhood...so the most i ever did was dress up for the elementary school parade...i did go out once with a friend (can't even remember her name) and we went places i'd have a heart attack if my kids ever did...(apt houses) but in downtown hollywood there wern't too many housing tracts, lol...

x and i were visiting his mom and sdad..we'd taken his half brother out, but we soaped car windows!! seems so innocent compared to what goes on now...

now if we want to enjoy the little kids we have to go over to ds house..our street is way too busy for kids...

gETTING READY FOR TRICK OR TREAT NITE,gOING OUT, DOOR TO DOOR GETTING A HALF A GROCERY BAG OF CANDY,APPLES.

as a kid I lived way way out of town on a farm so really never went trick or treating...when I was in 4th grade the little town we lived by decided to throw a fall festival and everyone could dress up...I had gotten a dress and hat from my Grandma and got a wicked witch mask...I had a ball...

I loved going with my kids when they were little...we had a really nice neighborhood where everyone participated and it was soo much fun!

I don't really have a favorite but my earliest one was when I was really very young Mom had Halloween parties in the basement for adults I remember when they would come down the basement stairs someone (maybe my brother) would lower a gigntic crepe paper spider in front of them causing them to shriek!!
I remember all the decortions Mom would save from year to year.

Another memory I have is when oldest DS was about 12 he wore one of my wigs to go Trick or Treating in our neighborhood. I later found out the neighbors thought it wa me!!!

Ahhh, Halloween! We trick or treated in the early 50's and what fun we had! Like someone else said, we went alone with our friends who lived out of town, on a farm. Their was always those who invited you in so they could see your costumes and give out their treats. My favorite to get was popcorn balls. It wasn't unusual to see older kids with pillow cases and they'd be half full of candy and homemade treats. I remember the blind lady who lived across the street from our school. It was scary to go to her house because it was completely dark! She gave out apples.

When my youngest was in Jr High they got to wear costumes to school. So my friend and I took a sheet and stapled big maple leaves all over it and she went as a pile of leafs! She gave it to a teacher who wanted it to wear to a party. I'll always regret we didn't get a picture of it!

Probably the smell of burning leaves at dusk, just as we set out (no parents in tow in those days). In my Chicago suburb people could rake leaves into the street by the curb, and then burn them. They'd wait until Halloween, if the weather held, in order for the kids to have smoke accompany their trick or treat rounds. It gave a weird, hazy look to everything and made it spooky! Sheez, those were the days!!

Great stories, folks.

Anyone else?

My step-dad and his buddies used to fill a paper bag full of p**p, set it on someone's porch, light it on fire, ring the bell, and duck out of sight. Homeowner would rush out, stomp on the fire and...you can guess the rest.

J