All Hallows' Eve

Should you want to reduce the number of trick-or-treaters who besiege your house on Halloween, do what we do: Instead of passing out gobs of candy to the grubby little beggars, offer handfuls of raisins and salted-in-the-shell peanuts. The first few years of Halloween in our current house, we would have dozens of assorted ghouls and goblins, princesses and cowboys, skipping merrily in anticipation down our walk. But when we would hold out a large bowl full of raisins and peanuts and encourage them to take as much as they liked, their expressions would turn confused, grim, unsure of what “trick” this was we were pulling on them. A few would politely say “Thank you” and take a peanut or two, many would just say “Thank you” and walk away to what they hoped would be a more rewarding cache next door. It didn’t take long before the numbers of bantam beggars began to dwindle. Experience and word-of-mouth taught them to avoid our house, and now we entertain maybe a handful of the scroungers each year, most new to the neighborhood or toddlers new to the revelry. But they learn fast when confronted with a bowl of raisins and peanuts instead of Skittles and Candy Corn, and they won’t be back next year, thank you.