Zev, it's a very big deal here in the U.S. But it's gotten a lot uglier over the last 30 years or so. Now the hospitals offer free x-raying of the candy kids get when trick-or-treating, because some sick bastards put needles in candy bars and razor blades in apples. I've always thought the best way to handle such a thing is to let the father take care of it--some jerk pulls that crap with my kids, he will be castrated in short order. But I digress... Trick-or-treating is now mostly a daylight affair, with parents driving their kids around and watching them so no pedophiles make off with them. And I'm talking about affluent suburbs, not the middle of big cities. When I was about 10 (late 60's), my folks used to drive us to the grandparents' house in Milwaukee, and my brother and I would trick-or-treat by ourselves, in the dark, over a many-block area. Times have changed for the worse. Many parents have moved away from trick-or-treating and gone to private parties, where you have control over everything. We hold one for about 50 kids, plus their parents, in the woods behind our house each year. A real drunk fest for the Dads! The kids walk "the scary path", and the drunken old men hide in the woods and scare the bejeebers out of them. Great fun. Last year, my son (then 3) had nightmares for months. Poor kid. But we also take our kids trick-or-treating. Anyway, I ramble. Adults probably have the most fun with Halloween. They dress up like a bunch of morons (tonight, I was a circus juggler; I practiced last week with some old bakery rolls, and hit a customer in her forehead--oops). We're giving anyone who comes to the pub in costume on Thur, Fri or Sat their first beer free. Some people take advantage of it, but most just come to laugh at the rest of us. Again, great fun. The best costume I ever saw was in Madison, where the Halloween party on State Street followed a Badger football game. The police estimated the crowd at 100,000+. The costume was a guy, with a female mannequin (like in a clothing store) mounted on his shoulders. The mannequin was facing backwards, with her legs around his head, and her hands on his head, and her head looking up--well, you get the picture. Absolutely hilarious. I guess smut is the international language.
Enough already.
Scronch