Trick or Treating 2026

I had an unusually large number of trick-or-treaters at our house last night.

I did not recognize most of the costumes.

Several Hogwarts student outfits were familiar, along with the “Maverick” character from Top Gun (mostly on young boys who seemed to have little idea about the character), and some police officers (again, mostly on very young boys). No firefighters (last year there were several). Fewer inflatable costumes this year than in recent years.

I understand from news reports that popular costumes this year were mostly from streaming service shows and video games, neither of which I subscribe to. At church this morning I talked with some friends who are the age of my children and who have small children themselves. They said they too did not recognize most of the characters that were out galavanting on Halloween night.

I handed out my entire supply of 130 treats between 5:45 and 7:15. When I closed up, there were still many children out on the streets. In recent years I have usually handed out a little over 100 treats, and did so until about 8:15 pm.

Friends in the historic central residential area of town routinely have 300 visitors on Halloween, but this year also reported more than the usual. My daughter, who lives in a small town in New Mexico, said they had an unusually large number of trick-or-treaters this year.

Granted, the weather here in north-central Texas last night was perfect for an outdoor activity - 70 F, no wind, rain or threat of rain. The neighborhood is a destination trick-or-treat neighborhood in a town on the border between suburbia and rural ranches. It’s a new subdivision of a little over 200 houses built between 2015 and 2020 on 50-foot-wide lots across five parallel streets, so children can hit a lot of houses in a short time.

Halloween really took off in our neighborhood in 2020. The neighbors used Halloween as an excuse to break out of Covid lockdown. How much respiratory illness risk could there be in being outside, spread out across the neighborhood? Halloween has stayed busy since. Residents sit on their front porch or driveway to hand out treats. Some years a few residents distribute adult beverage treats to parents accompanying their children. Many houses (not including mine) go heavily on the decor.

For a couple of hours each October 31, the neighborhood becomes a joyous block party with lots of child noises reverberating up and down the street. 
I offer individual serving packages of Halloween-themed pretzels (“Bats and Jacks”). Many of the children seemed to appreciate getting something other than candy. And the pretzel packaging is relatively large, so it makes a good presentation.

Did you recognize most of the costumes at your door last night? What'd you hand out?