When we lived in a place where kids actually came by, it was our custom to watch NBC on Halloween night. I miss that. (Where we live now, we're lucky if we get two groups of trick-or-treaters all night).

So now you can watch it without all of the distractions having to answer the door!;)

Nah, I prefer getting the kids. Now (when we can), we go to a friend's house.

And we used to give away full sized candy bars!

May I come trick-or-treat at your house? ;)

I'm wondering it it's more common now for kids to trick-or-treat in malls or other organized enclosures. With all the stupid people doing things to candy and kids, it seems like it's not as safe anymore for kids to go to random strangers' houses.

You know, I saw a special on TV a year or two ago that said the stuff in candy was only an urban legand. They couldn't find one police station or hospital that had documented any of it. They also had a bunch of Halloween candy xrayed and found nothing. And the radiologist said they never have found anything in all the years they have been checking the candy. It's the rumor that started the fear that ruined Halloween!
Yah, I agree. We have been getting more at our house the past few years. But it's not like it was when I was a kid. I could run the streets until 1 am eating all the candy I wanted with no problem (if it was on a Fri. or sat. night). I still remember feeling like I was hung over the next day from being out all night, walking 50 miles, and crashing from a sugar high! And now that my kids are too old, it's not as fun either. Oh well.

Last Halloween was the first time as an adult I wasn't living in a security locked apartment building. Now we're in a large sprawling apartment complex with lots of kids so we had candy on hand.

Not a single kid came by. Apparently all the suburban moms take their kids to "official" trick-or-treating events at the local malls and downtown commercial districts.

I always hated Halloween (or, rather, I hated trick-or-treating and dressing up in costumes, the rest of it was fine) so from about age 6 I was left at my grandparents while my mom took my sisters out. So I gave out candy all evening. My grandparents kept a tally of how many kids came by and when I was doing this with them a couple hundred would over the course of an evening.

Same house, same neighborhood last year apparently they had 30 kids come by.

I'm afraid trick-ortreating is a lost art.....

We went to the screening last night at the El Capitan. Traffic on Highland was a nightmare so I ended up being a little late for the panel discussion, but it was still fun. However, I completely forgot to bring the camera, so I suck. The two box seats on either side of the stage were nicely decorated. The right side had Jack as the pumpkin king, and the left side had the monster snake thing that's the fountain in Halloweentown

Highlight was having Ken Page there and he sang Oogie's song live.

Movie itself was good. It's been ages since I've seen it, so it was nice to see it again, and while I like the movie, I've confirmed I'm not a "Nightmare" fanatic - I really just like how they incorporated it as HMH.

We went next door after the movie, and it was a madhouse. It's a little place as it is, and *lots* of people were in line to buy merchandise. Add to that the people waiting for a table at the Soda Fountain, and then add to *that*, the moderator of the panel discussion has a "Nightmare" book out, and he was doing a book signing in a little space sorta in the middle between the Studio Store and the Soda Fountain. Packed madhouse.

The Studio Store has a lot of "Nightmare" merchandise, but I don't know how much of it is new. The store was nicely decorated though, with "Nightmare" stuff in the window and an arch with Jack's head over the main merchandise. They also had some nice pins, including a 3-D one with the gang at the movies in their 3-D glasses and another one with Jack and Sally sharing a sundae with Oogie serving them.

We also went to the Soda Fountain. It took a lot longer last night to get a table than on previous visit. They didn't seem to have enough people working because there would be empty tables that weren't being cleared for a while, and even after they were cleared, they wouldn't seat people there for a while.

The Soda Fountain has added a lot more food items, which started last night. They have soup in a breadbowl, chili in a breadbowl, pastrami sandwich, french dip sandwich, tuna salad sandwich, BLT and Mickey Mouse Belgian Waffle. There's also a special dessert called Jack and Sally's Treat which has two scoops of pumpkin pie ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream, chocolate syrup and sprinkles. It also comes with a pin - the Jack ears pin. The pumpkin pie ice cream was pretty tasty, though it's very rich - even with both of us sharing one sundae, we didn't finish it.

There's also a new pin trader's delight sundae, which is pretty much two scoops of whatever ice cream you want, hot fudge, marshmallow good, whipped cream, Mickey sprinkles and a cherry, and that comes with a special pin as well.

We left at about 10:40, and there was already a line for the 12:15 showing - all three shows last night were indicated as being sold out. Since they won't be having the book signing on other nights, that will help the crowds, but if you're gonna shop at the store, going before the movie is probably a better bet if you can get there early enough. I like that they've added more food items to the Soda Fountain so you have more choices.

They're gonna make a boatload of money during this run of "Nightmare".

I'm going to see it in 3D this Sunday - I'm looking forward to it ! The cinebuzz club I'm a member of had tickets for $8.00 each ! :snap:

Kool! I hear it's going to be grand!

But I'll pay my $22 to get VIP seats at the El Cap, with reserved seating, popcorn, drink, and no waiting in line, thank you very much!:D

Not to mention the pre-show, the Soda Shop next door, and art display in the basement. Oh, and the fact that it is on Hollywood Blvd. so we can spend some extra time looking around. ;)