Halloween on my street was really wild this year. It was a warm day and a really pleasant evening, so we had more trick-or-treaters than usual. We do an informal count of attendance by how much candy we give out. A neighbor who made two additional trips to the store told me she guesses we had 1200-1400 people. It's basically a four-block-long block party.
Our local fire department took part by driving a fire truck down the street with the firefighters in costume.
Former Virginia governor and until-recently-presidential-hopeful Mark Warner decorated his patio with low-flying cobwebs (you couldn't help but get caught in them), then he was dressed all in black, plus a mask ("I don't really know who I am," he told me, but he looked scary). The older kids "if you're really brave" (plus me) were invited to reach down into a cooler, past some really SLIMY stuff (pasta?) and pull out an "eyeball" (grape). He also had a monster with HUGE hands in attendance. It was quite fun. I had no idea he was going to do this.
Our canine costumes were a bit difficult to decipher this year. I saw two dogs as hula dancers and one as a convict (he got 2-5 years for jumping up on the table and eating the humans' dinner, I was told). Some of the others were anybody's guess.
One adult, who must be new to us, said, "It's like Bourbon Street--for kids." Lots and lots of smiles and everyone very gracious--not the usual state of affairs here in Washington.
I attended two parties on my block, but believe there were some others as well. Great fun!