When do you stop giving treats on Halloween?

[PaulaSue]

6-8 here, it is in the township handbook

 

[Angelhalo]

Wow folks live in some strict towns. I've never lived in a town with a treat or treating cut off time. I've never evenheard of such a thing.

 

[tiggerlover]

Usually when we run out of treats or when the trick or treaters taper off. We usually are hanging outside giving out our treats with our neighbor and we usually both head in around the same time.

 

[WDWKOOK]

We have "Teacher Workdays" on the 1st and 2nd so the kids are off. Kids usually ToT from around 6:30 - 8:30, but I have the problem this year of having to take kids out ToT, but with DH deployed, there's no one to hand-out candy at my house.

I'm reluctant to do the put-the-candy-in-the-bowl-outside-with-the-"take one" sign. I assume the first kid who gets there dumps it all in their bag? I've never seen one of those abandoned bowls with any candy left, except maybe those really hard, awful black and orange wrapped "treats."

 

[FINFAN]

If it is a weekend night and the weather is nice, I leave the candle burning in the pumpkin on the porch and our porch lights on until 10 p.m. I also follow the "popcorn" rule...just like microwave popcorn when you hear the number of "pops" slowing right before it is done, the dwindling number of visits tells me it is getting close to finishing. Curfew is 10 on a weeknight anyway, 11 on weekends. Sunday is considered a weeknight so I am guessing 10 will be it for us this year.

 

[Robinrs]

I haven't had a trick or treater in years but recently moved into a neighborhood with small children so I expect to see some this year. My next door neighbors have 3 little children but I haven't seen anymore anywhere.

I think I'll wait for them then close up shop.

 

[Colleen27]

Usually around 9:00 or so-we don't have any set times in our town and that is about when kids are done. If we still have frequent visitors, like last year, we just keep going until the candy is gone or kids stop coming. I don't care how old you are, as long as you are in a costume. We have beer for a few neighbors too .

Ditto for us. The trick or treaters usually dwindle to a trickle by 8:30 or 9, and I usually turn off the light around 9ish to get the kids started settling down for bed. I don't think we have any official times here (or if we do, they're not very well publicized) but since our neighborhood is mostly younger kids with the oldest being early teens, most of the traffic comes through earlier.

 

[LilyWDW]

When I was a kid, it was sort of "unofficial" that the end time was 9. Lights would go off and people would stop answering their doors at that point. It was what it was... the big no-no would be to go to a house and ring the bell if there were no outside lights on or the front door was closed.

Around here... well, I think last year we had 1 kid. We live on a narrow, two lane country road with no sidewalks. Most of the kids around here either go downtown or to the mall for trick or treating.

My boyfriend's family actually stopped doing any candy hand outs because it was costing them so much due to the "drivers". They would have vans pull up at the end of the street and a herd of kids (I say kids, more like teens) hop out. When they finished, they would hop back into the van and drive off.

 

[ksjayhawks]

Usually at 8:30 p.m., earlier if I run out of candy.

 

[charming23]

Our town's trick or treat goes from 6-8 pm, so we will turn off lights at 8.

 

[dbogen]

I usually go until 8:30\9:00 or until the cars follow the kids down the street. I get that some people don't want to stay in their own neighborhood, but please park at the top of the street and walk with your kids.

The ones who get out of the cars can barely hold up their candy bags.

 

[Angelhalo]

Our neighborhood is kid central. I bet I must have had at least 250 trick or treaters last year. Not only is our neighborhood HUGE and full of kids (I think DH and I are are the only childless people in the whole neighborhood) but, it's also one of those neighborhoods where people who don't live in a neighborhood drive their kids here to go trick or treating. I usually run out of candy before I run out of kids. I just can't afford to buy $100 worth of candy!

 

[luvsJack]

don't get many out where I live, but most of the folks in town seem to keep going until they get no more visitors or run out of candy (and some then give out fruit or popcorn balls or coins).

FYI: the reason some people "drive" is not because they don't want to stay in their neighborhood. Its because they live farther out where the houses are few and far between or no one gets home early enough for early trick or treating.

I have never met anyone who seemed to mind if the trick or treaters were from their neighborhood or if it was teens (costumes or not). One particular neighborhood in town attracts kids from a lot of areas that would be hard to trick or treat in. They decorate a lot and dress up and make it a lot of fun.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

9pm for us. We don't get many kids since most people in our neighborhood think Halloween is pagan and don't celebrate it. Needless to say we aren't real popular. LOL

We bring in all the Halloween decor after that - our house goes from graveyard in front yard to bland between 9pm and 10pm.

The subdivision my friend lives in has trick or treating times. I think it starts at 6:30pm and ends at 9pm this year. They have police patrols through the neighborhood all evening and they tell the kids to go home starting at 9pm. The first time we went trick or treating with them, I was surprised.

 

[Sgt Mickey]

We have a town ordinance tht dictates Trick or Treting takes place between 6 and 8 pm. I usually leave the lights on until 8:30 assuming I still have candy.

Lisa

Same here we live on an air force base and have the same hours.

 

[kinntj]

8pm. The kids start slowing down after 7:30.

 

[Catira]

Usually be 9pm we will turn off the lights and call it a night. But, the occasional person will still ring the door bell. Our neighboorhood is very popular for halloween and usually they start coming at 5:00 p.m.
Of course, our house is the first one on the street, and we get many trick or treaters. I like to buy the small snack packages of oreo cookies or snack size doritos or cheetos.

Hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween

 

[LilyWDW]

FYI: the reason some people "drive" is not because they don't want to stay in their neighborhood. Its because they live farther out where the houses are few and far between or no one gets home early enough for early trick or treating.

I have never met anyone who seemed to mind if the trick or treaters were from their neighborhood or if it was teens (costumes or not). One particular neighborhood in town attracts kids from a lot of areas that would be hard to trick or treat in. They decorate a lot and dress up and make it a lot of fun.

While some "drivers" are simply coming down into a town because they don't have good neighborhoods where they are (happens in my area), there are some who are simply greedy. When the kids jump out of the van will FULL pillow cases, there is no reason they need more. It was costing my boyfriend's family WAY too much money. There is no reason that you need to keep driving around if you already have a full bag. Plus, they would get people until 10 or 11 and his parents had to get to bed at a decent hour due to their jobs. So now, they just keep the lights off.

I am helping out at Trick or Treat on Walnut Street this year. My mom is an assistant manager at a store on Walnut Street and most of the businesses set up on the Friday before Halloween and hand out candy to kids. This is usually also done at the same time the campus groups do their Trunk or Treat which is right across the street. They say to expect up to 3000 kids in the two hours...

 

[kimmar067]

...usually around 9 PM - however, since it's on a Sunday this year, I guess I'll have to play it by ear...

 

[luvsJack]

While some "drivers" are simply coming down into a town because they don't have good neighborhoods where they are (happens in my area), there are some who are simply greedy. When the kids jump out of the van will FULL pillow cases, there is no reason they need more. It was costing my boyfriend's family WAY too much money. There is no reason that you need to keep driving around if you already have a full bag. Plus, they would get people until 10 or 11 and his parents had to get to bed at a decent hour due to their jobs. So now, they just keep the lights off.

I am helping out at Trick or Treat on Walnut Street this year. My mom is an assistant manager at a store on Walnut Street and most of the businesses set up on the Friday before Halloween and hand out candy to kids. This is usually also done at the same time the campus groups do their Trunk or Treat which is right across the street. They say to expect up to 3000 kids in the two hours...

I can see if it was costing too much, that makes sense. DD always had a full bag/pillow case but we stayed within one large neighborhood. We parked at a local school and walked all around the area. Most everyone have always given handfulls of candy--so the bag filled up quick.

I like the Trunk or Treat idea. Several churches around here do that too. Our church has a fall festival on Halloween, usually considered as an alternative to trick or treating (NOT to Halloween, just to trick or treating). Actually this year, instead of trick or treating we will be going to the fair.