Trick or treating: A sweet or sour tradition?

Pat Fitzpatrick loves the community spirit of calling to each other’s houses, the kids’ excitement and their unashamed greed as they reach for the goodies on Halloween, while trick or treat tourism and over-the-top house decorations are just two of the many reasons Ed Power isn’t going to enjoy the night.

Pat Fitzpatrick: I see friends for my own kids, I see a community growing in front of me and I don’t even mind that their parents are trying to sneak a peek into our house.

There was a time when I hated trick or treaters. It usually meant getting up off the coach in the middle of a Sopranos binge, and trying to smile as some cocky eight-year-old mocked the cheap chocolate I was giving him. (It isn’t cheap, OK, it’s European.) And then we had kids of our own. The only two kids on our road, a quiet lane full of older people, that doesn’t get much action on Halloween.