^ It is similar over here. Halloween was barely known some ten years ago, and it seems a little like some producers of plastic pumpkins found a good way to make profit. So over here Halloween has a somewhat unpleasant commercial basis. I don't have anything against scary dressed kids ringing at our door asking "Trick or treat?" (or as they would say in Germany "S¸?es oder saures, oder einen Streich") and I'm really willing to give out sweets if we have any. I do regrett a bit that I'm too old to pick up my wooden ax from earlier days and go out myself.
However, in some places there were serious problems about little zombies rioting in the streets if they weren't given any candy.