This is the first year in over 17 years that I am playing hooky from Halloween. We have lived in the same house for 17 years. Our houses are super close together , so we get over 150 kids a year. I have always gone "all out" for the decorations and spend a ton on candy. Seems like things are changing though.......used to be a cute little girl dressed as a princess would come to the door and shyly say "trick or treat" then the mom would yell from the sidewalk, "say Thank You" and she would. It was adorable. Now, it seems they are bussing in kids to our neighborhood because they don't have to walk far to get a lot of candy, since the houses are so close. The kids don't say "thank you" , and they moan and complain about the type of candy you give them. I have a big bowl of mixed candy I give each kid three pieces, and now they moan, "oh I don't want this one", and they try to grab for something else. Many kids come back multiple times, don't say "trick or treat", don't say "thank you" or even "hi". They throw the wrappers all over the lawn. Most don't even wear costumes. And half of them have such a scowl on their face, you are afraid to open the door. I have had it. I'm done. I told my husband that this year, we are turning out the lights, and going to a movie. I refuse to put up even one decoration for this new generation of kids. Bah humbug!

I'm so sorry you feel that way,deeners1. We are pumpkin centric at our house. We put out both real and plastic pumpkins,signs and inflatables. We are lucky if we get ten trick or treaters but it never spoils our enthusiasm about the holiday.

We had almost no children when we first moved to this neighborhood, but lately we have been getting a good number, although it is obvious that they do not live in this neighborhood, since I can think of only about three children on my street, and I know them by sight. A lot of people here are either older, retired, or childless, and people who do have children move to a neighborhood with a better school district when their children become school age.

I never decorate, but this year I am planning to put a scary sound to replace the doorbell sound that my security light makes when someone comes to my door. I think I can create my own sound, like you would for a ringtone, but I haven't tried it yet. The sound goes off when someone comes to my door, and so I really do not even need a doorbell. In fact, even though my doorbell button has a light, no one has used it since I got the new security light about a month ago.

Along with the decor, there's also the food. Each year we host a 'Halloween Soup Party.' The menu is very simple...appetizers, 3 or 4 kinds of soup, various breads and desserts. I took this photo a few years ago of one of our desserts...Caramel Crumb Bars.

Last year I found these witch boots at HomeGoods. Couldn't decide if I liked them better by the sofa or fireplace. I think the sofa was more the idea. Can you tell I love Halloween? :-)

Love those boots! Our houses are close and I get easily 150- 200 kids. It costs me a fortune in candy but I keep giving it out. The kids are mostly cute and polite. I always put little pumpkins on my fence post as well as an electric pumpkin out front with a few other decorations. After seeing all you do, i am going to have to step up my game!

I plan on not removing all the spider webs nestled in bushes around the house. On Halloween, I turn off all lights and if the doorbell rang, long driveway/country, I would be shocked.

yes, chloe, that is how half our front looks. i love doin it. it is simple and very visual. we also have a wonderful grave yard, extra bones and foot prints that line up. i like scenarios. hubby is really into the make noise and move things. sometimes i think it will break my ear drums.

deen, i don't believe you look at it correctly. if someone is greedy, rude, ormean, i correct them. have not had a mother complain yet. i stick strictly to the rules, but it does take a village!

I've swapped out our regular family photos with Halloween themed ones for a bit of subtle fun. My next project is to make floating candles a la Hogwarts!

We enjoy decorating for Halloween and we put out the decorations the first or second week in October. We mostly just decorate inside the house, for ourselves, and we do cute vs scary. It's basically just a chance for us to have fun with the house. On Halloween, we put a few things outside and hand out candy. We probably get 20-30 kids who are trick-or-treating and they're mostly polite. My husband enjoys handing out candy (and eating some, himself :-)).

veggiegardnr, your comment about your husband made me think of my dad. He was a BIG practical joker and loved handing out the Halloween candy. He would answer the door with a big basket of onions and potatoes and ask the kids which they preferred. Then he would pull out the candy to bring back their smiles.

What a wonderful memory, Chloebud. :-)

My dad always used to carve our pumpkin, and he had a favorite design that he carved every year. He's been gone now for 13 years, but I carve a pumpkin for him, with that design, each Halloween.

That's so sweet, veggiegardnr. My dad's gone, too. Who knows...our two dads might be somewhere still doing their thing for Halloween. ;-)

Once upon a time and long ago. But now the neighborhood is so overrun with children coming in from other areas (they let them out on my corner from vans!), we can't keep up with the candy!! Then as it gets later the teens come out and my rule "no costume no candy" gets me in a lot of trouble with them. So we keep the lights off and a sign over the bell that says NO CANDY and hope for the best. I've become a Halloween Grinch!!

This was our feeble attempt a couple of years ago. DH went crazy with skeleton purchases. This is just a small sample...if it were up to me, it would be a nice un-carved pumpkin and some fall flowers. Done. Oh, and candy of course.

But I do appreciate everyone's creativity - Happy Halloween!

cholebud! That made me laugh, I wish I could have seen the looks on those kids' faces.

i found these on line and i think they are cute

My brother and his wife go all-out for Halloween and Christmas. I've seen pics of this year's Halloween. Skeletons all over the place, and spiders and such. There's a skeleton grilling, too. (Can't tell what he's grilling from the photo, if anything. Would be cool if he's grilling up a chicken skeleton...) The house even looks boarded up.

Me, this will be my first Halloween in the new home. I'll have a few things, mostly indoors for me. Maybe over time the decor will grow... but not anywhere like my brother's!! I don't think there will be many trick or treaters, but I have to ask. Because I certainly won't eat leftover candy.

We too live where the lots are 2-3 acres and back in the day DH made the kids walk it. I always felt I needed to go all out for the "treat". I had a blast. We just went through a span of no kids, but things are picking up. One or 50 after making the rounds these kids "earned" a BIG treat in my mind.

We dont really decorate for Halloween or Autumn here in the UK :(

Great pics arcy.

My front porch is being rebuilt so I don't have any decorations up yet, but I usually do for Halloween (big thing in my neighborhood; we have lots of families.) Now that I think about it... I'm replacing my front door so I could always paint it orange and black for a final hurrah!

I love the look of pumpkins and other gourds, but even with a finish on them, the squirrels make a mess of them. (I've tried varnish, Vaseline, and pepper spray.) And of course the squirrels always take a few bites out of each one, instead of eating one or two all the way and leaving the rest.

Emily H - is that your house? Lovely!

rubyclaire, the bicycling skeletons and their dog is hilarious! I love it! That made me laugh out loud...really!

rubyclaire, I love them, too!

For pumpkin carving, I saw this "lantern" idea in Sunset magazine several years ago. I've done it a few times to line our walkway, and it always looks nice. Pretty easy carving, too...just cutting out large pieces.

@ Chicagoans What a great idea to paint your out-going front door black and orange for Halloween! I say go for it!

chicago, 3 states, never had squirrels or anyone else eat pumpkins? a local delicacy perhaps?

So cute, havingfun! That squirrel could be staring at a pumpkin waiting for the right moment to pounce. :-)

So many fun pictures! We live in the country and far up a long driveway and have never had a single trick or treater. I'm not a theme decorator and don't do a blessed thing, but do enjoy it when others do it.

So many memories. We always decorated. And got dressed up. Even my mom and dad who were visiting from Ireland. We always had pizza before the trick or treating business. And face painting. Lots of face painting.

these days not so much. I just moved here a year ago and it happens to be a gated community. Nobody showed up last year. I will have some candy available just in case.

And I will look forward to decorating for Christmas. By mid November!

I just have to say, not getting trick-or-treaters doesn't mean people aren't enjoying your decorations! I live in an community at the edge of Chicago, and I love walking my dog and seeing what people have out for the fall and Halloween. Some people are so creative (and must have so much more time, and storage space than I do :-)! I remember one year a house had orange lights strung up around a little cafe table and chairs set up on their porch for tea - the guests were skeletons. It was kind of creepy-adorable. I have mums, some of the exotic pumpkins (because the squirrels don't seem to go for those as much), and a couple of ceramic jack-o-lanterns; my granddaughter helped hang some old Halloween windsocks and skeletons from the trees yesterday. I'd love to hang some of those pale orange lights but the squirrels chew through the wires :-(.

Potatoes and onions, THE BEST! Realllly made me laugh. I do decorate, inside and out. Trying something simple and new this year on the inside for the outside. If it works. Will send pix.

@june22984..."REALLY DEEP...$10"...love it!

this expiring mind really did wish to know? are there other pumpkin eating squirrels?

Orange and black! I'm not done yet! LOVE HALLOWEEN! I'm also posting my teal and black Halloween back patio!

(Above is mine also!) My teal and black Halloween back patio!

I love love a festive entrance but I tend to follow a more harvest/fall theme versus Halloween theme.

That's pretty funny, havingfun!

@rebecca, those are great pumpkins! Hmmm...I think you and I might just share some DNA...and I'm actually a Rebecca, too.

I prefer autumnal decor tastefully done, rather than Halloween stuff. Not knocking those who do--just don't care for it myself. I like the traditional pumpkins (although LOVE the white ones and green, warty types) and mums (planted in the ground and return each year--don't like wasting money on potted ones and then throwing them out). Indian corn is beautiful but the squirrels in our neighborhood strip the ears in no time. I feel that marketing for stores try to grab our attention (and money) with too much "fluff stuff". I like to see homes that gently reflect the season.

juliewilcox--I LOVE the googly eye mirror decor!!!!!

Well, I live on a street in a small town that gets 100's if not a thousand trick-or-treaters. It is great fun and even though I fill my giant bowl to the brim, twice, we always run out of candy. So I overly decorate because it's just plain fun and there is obviously an audience for it which makes it even more fun.

I line the front wall with jack o'lanterns. Their flickery flame inside makes the pumpkin smell and look amazing. I happen to love the smell of a burning pumpkin. I I have ghosts hanging in the trees and a skeleton on the front porch. We have a another ghost that travels overhead when it senses noise and also have a fog machine. I have more jack o'lanterns leading up to and onto the front porch and I play really loud Halloween music like the Monster Mash and scary organ music- Bach for all to hear. There's a scarecrow in one corner of the yard and we have some of those projection lights that light up the skeleton.

Inside I have my mantle done up with all sorts of vintage Halloween decorations and some crows that caw when you walk by.

Stacey Reid-Love your home, the color, the style-just gorgeous! I too decorate on the 1st of October and love, love, love, Halloween! Did I mention I <3 Halloween? LOL

Kate, we like to play "The Phantom of the Opera." Really a good background to scary.

auntthelma, we play music from Phantom, too. Just the best ever...for any time of year!

Thought this was funny and strange at the same time. I was driving into the nearby small city and a house had an inflatable of a very scary clown, I mean scary. And right across the alley from it is a day-care center's playground! No photo, sorry.

Wow, schoolhouse, that could definitely be really scary for the kiddos. Ugh...those inflatables are also so darn tacky. I see some that are deflated during the day just sprawled all over the lawn.