"TrickOrTreating" news and stories

When I was in the fourth grade, my mother handed out travel-sized tubes of sparkly, bubble gum flavored toothpaste on Halloween instead of candy. That night, several kids turned her down flat and one particularly outspoken ghost picked up a tube, took a look at it and tossed it back in the bowl, shouting, "Hey! That's not candy!" After that, she returned to mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and snack-sized candy bars (in the days before "fun" size). We spent years using up that awful toothpaste.

During my adult years, I've never lived in a place where trick or treaters come to the door, so I've never had the fun of picking out candy and opening the door to decked out princesses and eye-patched pirates (sadly though, I've consumed more than my share of Halloween candy in those same years). This year, I'm hoping to live vicariously through the Halloween experiences of Slashfood readers.

What kind of candy are you handing out this year? Has the tightening economy impacted the contents of your Halloween bowl? Do you typically buy the same candy year after year, or do you like to mix it up?

I'm not quite sure why this list is up at ESPN, though it's part of their Page 2 and pretty much anything goes there.

They want to know what your favorite Halloween candies are. Are you a chocolate person, or do you like things like Twizzlers and Air Heads? For the record, I checked off Almond Joy, Dots, Goobers, Heath Bar, Hershey Bar, Hershey Kisses, M&Ms, Milk Duds, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and Riesens.

Of course, this does have a sports twist to it: check out the Candy Bracket, various candies and candy bars going up against each other like it's March Madness. Call it Fall Madness. The candies are separated into four categories: Classic, Convenience, Movie Theater, and Trick or Treat.