Happy Halloween!

October is here which means Halloween is just around the corner. Costumes, candy, decorations, and a lot of preparation go into this one day event. Now I know I've only lived for 21 years and can't say a lot about 'back in my day' but in this case I do think it applies. Back in my day, there were (as Daniel Wiebe says) 1 million kids that went trick or treating on October 31st. Now I know that's probably a slight exaggeration but there were for sure far more kids out than there are in the past year or two. Why?

Well the whole 'poisoned' candy which used to be maybe only a little deal now is a huge deal to parents. They want to make sure their kids aren't eating stuff that could be potentially harmful or even have allergy risks to kids. Children typically don't take the time to look at stuff before they eat it, especially something like candy. Parents: warn your kids! They are going to strangers houses and receiving food from someone they don't know...some strange creepy people are out there so be careful!

Perhaps it's gotten a little cooler over the past few years. I know that when I used to trick or treat I maybe once or twice had to wear a winter parka but for the most part it used to be fairly mild. You could wear your actual costume without having to cover it up and have people guess what you actually were. The advantage for a kid: you can wear a fuzzy warm costume and people will still think you're adorable.

Now for the older 'kids' aka university students who go to the bar and can essentially wear whatever they want and call it a costume. First of all, if you are going to go out please don't be 'yourself' or a 'nudist on strike.' That's not even a costume and that's not even funny. Second, my biggest pet peeve is girls wearing lingerie or something of the sort and just making up a costume that is non existent. I guess if you are trying to get attention from testosterone driven guys then you win. But girl please, I don't want to see things I shouldn't see so put some pants on.

Yes costumes are expensive but if you have the time and creativity, you can recreate half of the costumes that Party Stuff charges $80.00 for. How hard could it be to make a princess, a pirate, or even a celebrity. Take a trip to Wal-Mart or Value Village and I'm sure you could recreate something that won't cost you an arm and a leg (unless you are going for the zombie look.)

Now I wanna know what you guys think. Where were the best areas in the city to trick or treat when you were a kid? I know growing up I mostly went around my area (Charleswood) just because it was close and there were quite a few houses to go to. But where did you guys go? Who gave out the best (or most) candy? Comment away!