# How many trick-or-treaters came by tonight? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 1, 2001, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trick-or-treaters-came-by-tonight/90871 "2001-11-01T05:26:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boxcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Boxcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boxcar)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trick-or-treaters-came-by-tonight/90871/1 "2001-11-01T05:26:32Z")
Despite all of the horror warnings about not trick-or-treating, it turned out to be one of our busier halloweens at the Boxcar residence. Kids in east Fort Worth were out looting the houses just like they do every Halloween, maybe even more-so this year then last. Wonderful! My estimate is about 75 kids came by collecting candy this year. How’d the rest of the Doper community do? And where? [sub]Guess I should mention today, Halloween, is mine and Mrs Boxcar’s tenth anniversary! Woohoo![/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Corixidae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@Corixidae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corixidae)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trick-or-treaters-came-by-tonight/90871/2 "2001-11-01T05:54:26Z")
My apartment complex is full of kids. No surprise, really, because I live in Salt Lake City, but anyway. And actually this isn’t the point of my post, so I’ll shut up about that. The short answer is: Two kids. Way below the norm of 75 to 100 kids each year in the last couple of years. The long answer: The apartment complex also has a fair number of singles and older folks. Recognizing that not all of the residents might want people banging on the doors tonight, the complex management distributed these little Hallowe’en signs that those residents who wished to receive trick-or-treaters could post on their doors. If the door didn’t have a sign, the t-o-ts were supposed to avoid that apartment, whether it was obvious the occupants were home or not. So I didn’t put up my sign. I’m single, I had to work late tonight, I don’t get into Hallowe’en all that much. Didn’t buy any candy either, except a small bag of M&Ms for myself. So when there was a knock on my door at about 9:15, I was annoyed, but I answered it instead of ignoring it. Two small kids, maybe 3 or 4 years old, both dressed as ninjas. Very cute. Screamed “trick or treat!” in chorus. Their mother stood behind them, grinning foolishly. I pointed at the door. “No sign, guys,” I said to the kids. I smiled so it wouldn’t scare them. “I’m not doing Hallowe’en this year.” “They can’t read,” the mother said, in a tone of voice that plainly indicated she thought I was the stupidest collection of protoplasm on the face of the planet. I stared at her. “Can _you_ read?” I asked. She flinched. “Besides, it’s a **PICTURE**. They don’t have to be able to read. Tell them to look for the picture.” So she grabbed the kids and dragged them off down the hallway to the next apartment, which also didn’t have a sign on its door. And she started banging on that door, and as I closed my door, I heard their little chorus, and the lady in that apt. saying, “I’m not doing Hallowe’en this year . . . .” Damn parents! [sub]Don’t flame me for damning the parents. I’m not a parent and if I ever become one, I probably will do dim things like this, but for now I will excoriate them when they deserve it.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trick-or-treaters-came-by-tonight/90871/3 "2001-11-01T05:58:20Z")
None ☹ ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trick-or-treaters-came-by-tonight/90871/4 "2001-11-01T06:27:15Z")
None. On the one hand, that makes me sad, because I love trick-or-treaters. On the other hand, I have four bags of candy. My best Halloween haul ever, and I didn’t even have to leave my house. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![D\_Nice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/59ef9b/32.png) [@D\_Nice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Nice)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trick-or-treaters-came-by-tonight/90871/5 "2001-11-01T06:29:36Z")
I just moved into a new city and had no idea what to expect. I bought about 5 bags of candy just in case. Not one trick or treater came to the door today. That really saddens me a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Ace\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Ace\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace_Face)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trick-or-treaters-came-by-tonight/90871/6 "2001-11-01T07:04:28Z")
Big, fat zero for me, too. And I was looking forward to having the little beasties around as this is my first Halloween back in the states in quite some time. But my apartment door is a bit off the street, so I’m not too surprised. ---
**Author:** ![bwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@bwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bwk)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trick-or-treaters-came-by-tonight/90871/7 "2001-11-01T07:34:47Z")
Not one. They missed out, too. I had pretty good candy, but I had groovy toys. I had it all sectioned off into little parts so I could get to it easily. It depressed me. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trick-or-treaters-came-by-tonight/90871/8 "2001-11-01T07:41:43Z")
Very few. Granted, I live in a fraternity house that the neighborhood generally hates, plus there’s the whole terrorism thing going on. Add to that a night that was assfully cold and raining equals very few of the munchkins. On the plus side, we get most of the candy to ourselves now!😃 ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trick-or-treaters-came-by-tonight/90871/9 "2001-11-01T09:08:42Z")
Twelve! Our first trick-or-treaters ever. They came in two small hordes. It’s so damn funny to see a bunch of eight and nine year olds attempting to be terrifying 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trick-or-treaters-came-by-tonight/90871/10 "2001-11-01T11:06:15Z")
We had about 30. Maybe 40. An average year, not so bad. (About half the kids took a wienie, so it wasn’t a total bust.) -Rue. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trick-or-treaters-came-by-tonight/90871/11 "2001-11-01T11:28:47Z")
I’m guessing we had between 30 and 40. What surprised me was that no one came after about 7:50. So I had a lot of free computer time what with hubby in Ocala helping his folks and my Perfect Child[sup]TM[/sup] out with some friends going thru another neighborhood. I gave my doggies a treat - some beef rib bones - and I partook of a few fun size candy bars. All in all a quiet evening. ---
**Author:** ![Amazing\_Tiki\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazing\_Tiki\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazing_Tiki_God)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trick-or-treaters-came-by-tonight/90871/12 "2001-11-01T11:43:45Z")
The frickin’ first time I’ve got a place to myself and trick or treaters can come by and absolutely nobody stopped at my place. I bought a crapload of candy that I’ll have to eat now. Oh yumm candy okay so I’m in a better mood now. ---
**Author:** ![Pammipoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/87869e/32.png) [@Pammipoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pammipoo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trick-or-treaters-came-by-tonight/90871/13 "2001-11-01T11:46:06Z")
I’m guessing about 30. However, at least half of them were teenagers, some of them not even in costume. I can understand wanting to dress up and get candy, but at least put some effort into it! The lazy ones were the greedy ones too-all the little kids would take like one snickers, while the older kids would grab handfuls of candy. We resorted to getting a second bowl of just twizzlers-it you were over 4 feet tall, that’s all you got. This is our first Halloween really, so we were kinda hoping for more. The last 5 years we lived in an apartment complex with tight security, where you had to ring a buzzer and talk over an intercom to get to the people that lived inside. It never attracted many kids. ---
**Author:** ![Kbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Kbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kbean)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trick-or-treaters-came-by-tonight/90871/14 "2001-11-01T12:00:47Z")
Six. Just all the kids on my street. Other people don’t usually come since it is very dark at the end our road (it has 2 dead ends and is connected to a little street that leads to the main road). My Mom bought seven bags of candy, so I am very very happy. More candy for me! ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trick-or-treaters-came-by-tonight/90871/15 "2001-11-01T12:55:42Z")
None. Not that we expected any, living in Australia and all. We did see some trick or treaters from our car, but they’re few and far between. For the most part, the attitude around here seems to be “Halloween? That’s an American thing.” I saw trick or treaters for the first time ever about 5 years ago, and there was only the one group of three children, and they’ve only ever come twice. Since we didn’t expect trick or treaters, we didn’t have anything for them anyway. I suspect the few that go out return home with very little treasure. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trick-or-treaters-came-by-tonight/90871/16 "2001-11-01T13:02:08Z")
Would you believe…1?! I wasn’t here, but my parents said that all the kids, probably 50 or 60, went next door around the cul-de-sac and past our house. That’s very strange, as it’s the first time ever it’s ever happened. Of course our neighbors spared no expensenses to show off (living next to them is an NBC sitcom anyway…shudder), but it’s awfully strange. My mom was depressed about it. ---
**Author:** ![Elenfair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cc9497/32.png) [@Elenfair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elenfair)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trick-or-treaters-came-by-tonight/90871/17 "2001-11-01T13:10:55Z")
I was _working_ (Yes, Odieman, working! It’s WORK!) last night, so I didn’t get to see trick-or-treaters and couldn’t torture them as I normally do. (Sing! Dance! Or ya won’t get a treat from _me_!) My parents, back at their place, claim to have seen about the same number of children, but in a densly populated (by young families) residential neighbourhood. They normally get over 100 kids every year. We’re not blaming Afghanistan. We’re not blaming Anthrax. We’re blaming the -10oC temperature, the wind, the hail, sleet, and snow. The kids were freezing their tooshies off, to the point where it seems that they will be holding a “rain date” trick-or-treating day today. Gotta love the suburbs and their neighbourhood organisations! Elly ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trick-or-treaters-came-by-tonight/90871/18 "2001-11-01T13:16:59Z")
I had about 475, judging from what is left of the 500 pieces of candy I bought. Slightly less than last year. Can anyone top that number? I also didn’t loose a single pumpkin, which has never happened before. ---
**Author:** ![tevya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@tevya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tevya)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trick-or-treaters-came-by-tonight/90871/19 "2001-11-01T13:19:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rue DeDay \* > \*\*We had about 30. Maybe 40. An average year, not so bad. (About half the kids took a wienie, so it wasn’t a total bust.) > -Rue. \*\* Please tell me you were passing out hot dogs. I got about 40-50 kids. It was great. They were so adorable. I even got hugs from a couple of kids! I gave extra candy to whoever guessed my costume (the Crocodile Hunter). Well, I actually ended up giving extra candy for just about anything as I am a complete push over. One little boy was dressed up as a prisoner. I’m guessing his crime was criminal cuteness. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trick-or-treaters-came-by-tonight/90871/20 "2001-11-01T13:33:09Z")
Zero A big fat goose egg Nada The hazards of rural life, I suppose. But I miss the knocks on the door. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-trick-or-treaters-came-by-tonight/90871.md?page=2)