Dress, Decor, and Amusements

• I personally think it should be mandatory for everyone -- adults too -- to dress up on Halloween. It's way more fun to trick-or-treat when the candy dispensers are in the spirit of things. And nothing will be more frightening to your children than seeing Mom or Dad rock out to the Monster Mash in costume!
• Be sure to light the scene appropriately with lots of flickering candlelight, and have some appropriately eerie music in the background.
• Fake spider webs and plastic spiders are always an entrancing addition to decor.
• You can rent a Halloween-themed DVD. The Mel Brooks's classic horror spoof Young Frankenstein can provide amusement in the lulls. Or revisit a misspent youth with a showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show!
• Buy one or two of those extra-large, super-fancy candy bars as prize giveaways for the truly spectacular costumes you'll see during the evening.
• And while you are at it, a visit to your local chocolatier or fancy candy store for some grown-up treats is a fiendishly clever idea.