Yesterday my 5 and a half year old daughter told me she’d had the best Halloween, ever.

So far in her not-quite-6 years, the kid has been a Disney Princess, a Barbie Princess, a random fairy princess, and a witch.

This year, dad hoped the trek to the Halloween Superstore would elevate her in the Halloween echelon, potentially moving her to ghoul or evil sorcerer.

Not so.

Kid saw “Starlet” costume, and the music for “Dream Weaver” started; love lit her eyes, and she was to be The Starlet.

Never mind, warm clothes, thermal underwear, coat: no, starlets shiver, wearing goose bumps with pride as they demand their chauffeurs (moms) to take them to the next neighborhood.

And so my 2007 Halloween was dictated.

Which was just as well, really, because I was daunted by the massive crowds at the Proctor Treats crowd as we drove past.  It looked like a crazy good time, with adults getting into it as much as the kids, but we had other plans, and they included much use of the words “trick or treat!”

The early portion of our evening found us stymied by a lack of houses participating in the fun and games, though it was early.  I assumed most people were still working, or shellacking their own starlets’ hair with massive quantities of extra super hold hairspray.

Finally, we hit on the mother lode home off of North 21st and Bennett; there, we found a super spooky horror scene and favorite friends Chaundra and Adam along with Gretchen.

The kid swore she wasn’t scared, but I saw the look in her eyes.

Winding our way back home, stopping to trick or treat in patches of homes that looked holiday festive, I hit upon a realizations: the old-school version of trick or treat seems to be dying out in favor of the hordes lining up at places they know the goods are easy â€" places like shopping districts and huge new housing developments seemed to have the biggest hordes, while many of the houses we visited had full bowl of candy even after 7 p.m. 

The households where the Halloween Spirit oozed out of the doors and windows were also filled with people who were really glad to see us, and it made me kind of sad.

Probably, the Wednesday thing mucked with the mojo of the trick or treaters, I’m thinking optimistically.  I’m hoping next year to see more families out and about on the streetsâ€"and less of the un-costumed pre-teens looking for free handouts. â€" Jessica Corey-Butler