# To give out candy or not to give out candy



## Cole&Jacksdad (Jan 20, 2011)

So I am trying to decide if I give out candy or not this year. I put a lot of time and money into my garage haunt maze(this year going half way down my driveway). I expect about 300 to 400 people. Since I am already giving one hell of a trick, I am thinking no candy this year. What do you guys think.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Most ToTs will expect a treat if the haunt is open on Halloween. If you have it open for walk throughs on other days, then having no candy available on those days should be fine.


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## Warrant2000 (Oct 8, 2008)

Concur, have the candy ready. Since you have an awesome walk-through, have some unique way to hand out the candy. Last few years I used the Candy Table of Doom, this year it's the Candy Wall of Death.

What better way to finish a memorable haunt than with a memorable (and dangerous!) way to earn that Jolly Ranger?! I use the cheap stuff, 10 pound bag, usually hand out 2-3 pieces. We went through ~$100 in candy.


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## corey872 (Jan 10, 2010)

My .02 - As a ToT, it's all about the candy...scale back the maze if you have to, buy cheap candy if you must...but you gotta have candy!


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## Copchick (Apr 10, 2012)

I agree, do the candy!


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## scarrycher (May 30, 2012)

yes to candy unless you want a tot uprising


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## Palmdale Haunter (Mar 3, 2012)

I agree the TOTs will expect a treat... Scale back the haunt to create a budget if need be... 

I know it can be painful, we try to start buying early (hard candy etc) to reduce the burden. 
We went through 14 bags of candy last year... (not the little one mind you)


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## Rania (Sep 24, 2012)

We do not give out candy at our haunt, but we do have campfires at the end in our kid friendly area and give out marshmallows for roasting. 

People are so overwhelmed with the haunt, that they really don't even think about candy.


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## niblique71 (Dec 2, 2009)

Wow, I can't even imagine no candy (Or treat of some kind) on Halloween Night. All I can say is put yourself in a kids shoes, at any age. The younger ones will just be dissapointed and have a memory of this strange house that "did it up big" but cheaped out on the candy (Treats). The older kids could just be Pissed realizing you just bucked one of the most solid traditions of our modern age. Either way I detect a possible sour taste that will counteract all of your good will by putting up a huge display.

We call it Trick Or Treating for a reason... All of the other stuff with Huge displays is on us because we like to do it... Give Treats...... or expect a few tricks (perhaps even a few days afterwards). It is totally acceptable to Turn the lights out as the universal signal that you aren't participating in the halloween ritual.

Now with that said??? if you are truely hurting for money. I agree that scaling back on the haunt would be better, and find the best prices and deals on candy or give out a healthy snack.


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

Better to give out some candy or the TOTs may play a trick on you.


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## wandererrob (Aug 8, 2007)

In my mind and haunt, the candy is an integral part of Halloween.


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## Troll Wizard (May 3, 2012)

Rania said:


> We do not give out candy at our haunt, but we do have campfires at the end in our kid friendly area and give out marshmallows for roasting.
> 
> People are so overwhelmed with the haunt, that they really don't even think about candy.


Even though you don't give out candy, you still give out marshmallows which in turn substitutes for candy. It's sweet and they still get something after your haunt. So that pretty much takes the place of candy so they still get a treat! I like the idea of the roasting at the end, reminds me of camping and telling ghost stories!

But I will have to agree with everyone else, if someone has a haunt and they don't give out candy on Halloween, then they're just asking for nightmares for the rest of the year. The Halloween Gods will be looking for them! Don't really know what they would do, cause I've always given out candy.

But I know they're out there!!!!! :jol:


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## jdubbya (Nov 6, 2005)

wandererrob said:


> In my mind and haunt, the candy is an integral part of Halloween.


^^ This ^^
Candy is part of the deal on Halloween. We give ours out before they walk through the haunt, simply because some of the kids (and adults) won't even go through, so at least they get their treat if they opt out. We've run out of candy before and kids still wanted to go through knowing there was no treat, but yeah, get some candy.


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## The Halloween Lady (Aug 18, 2010)

Adding my two cents worth, I vote for giving candy too. I think it is such an integral part of the TOTs Halloween experience and future memories. 
But I also see why it could be problematic/expensive... dang that's a lot of kids!!!


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## jdubbya (Nov 6, 2005)

We budget for candy, just like we do for fog juice, pumpkins, pizza and wings for our helpers, etc.. Figuring a bag of about 20 fun size bars runs $2.50, and we buy for 600 kids (average for us) it costs us about $75.00 for candy (give or take) We look at it as part of the whole Halloween experience and figure it's once a year. Lesser candy would be cheaper and buying in bulk would also save some. I'll actually start buying it this weekend and pick up a few bags each week so it's not such a hit on the wallet the week before.


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## scareme (Aug 29, 2006)

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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

I'm giving out frozen Otter Pops this year..can't afford candy. 

I had bought parachute men to give out and took them back when gas hit $4 a gallon.

One of the cheapest candies you can give out is Frooties- they are like a soft Tootsie Roll, but fruit flavored. I used to get mine online from Candy Warehouse. I hear ya on the "I already spent a lot of money on my haunt" thing.


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## DreadKnightswife (Oct 16, 2011)

Last year we didn't do candy because we were hurting for money due to my loosing a job and the tots were really sad, This year I have made a real effort to make sure the tots will have candy and Sams in our area has a 270 piece bag for less than 10 bucks. You may want to look into a cheap option. The little ones the holiday is really for do not understand the ammount of work and expense that go into our haunts.


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## jaege (Aug 23, 2009)

I cannot imagine having enough money for an elaborate haunt and then not enough for the candy. The props and decor (and electricity) is the far more expensive part of the whole holiday. Besides the haunt is for us, the candy is for the TOTs. As others have suggested, spend less on the haunt and have some left for candy.


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## Cole&Jacksdad (Jan 20, 2011)

Well I guess the consensus is to give out candy. So candy it is!


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