Where I grew up, neighborhood Halloween fun meant toilet papering your favorite teacher's trees on Cabbage Night (October 30th). I am sure the high school teachers dreaded that night!
Fortunately, where I live now, there is little if any Halloween mischief, but we do have some fun neighborhood Halloween traditions. First, we hold a neighborhood Halloween party a few days before Halloween itself. Mostly it involves an evite, a moonbounce, pizza, and beer (for adults of course!). Everyone has a great time and it is always great to catch up with our neighbors. Fortunately the weather in Northern Virginia is generally not lower than 60 during the day in October so we can enjoy the outdoors.
A few years ago "ghosting", or "Boo'ing", hit our neighborhood in a big way. No one really knows who started it but I have my suspicions. The basic premise is that a neighbor leaves a bag of goodies on your doorstep at night, rings the bell, and runs away. My dog hates the bell ringing part but the rest is a blast. You never know who did it, unless their child lets it slip the next day. You then post the enclosed ghost picture on your door letting others know that you have been ghosted, then you ghost 2 other neighbors. This generally starts 2-3 weeks before Halloween so an entire neighborhood will be ghosted by the big day. I was walking a few streets over the other day and noticed some ghosting in that neighborhood as well - but different ghosts so clearly a different string. It's really fun!
Above picture, more information, and printables
here.
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