This year marks our fourth annual Halloween Costume Contest here at our Las Vegas offices, and it’s another crazy one! We take this very seriously, and literally, more than half of the company dresses up!

Trick or treating is a long-standing tradition for many. However, some parents are becoming increasingly wary of sending their children out into the night to gather candy. One fun way to mix it up, as far as trick or treating is concerned, is to organize a neighborhood trunk or treat.

Trunk or treat
This is basically a neighborhood party where everyone can bring their cars, park and pass out candy. Whole families come. This can be arranged at the end of a cul-de-sac, at a neighborhood park or at a community building. (In some cases, a local firehouse or a church might provide a location for the trunk or treat.) Games, like bobbing for apples and other Halloween themed activities, can be played, and you can have neighbors bring decorated pumpkins.

At our neighborhood’s trunk or treat, there are often donuts and hot chocolate or cider as refreshments. It’s a fun and safe environment for children, and it can give adults a chance to mingle and get to know each other – and figure out whose kids your children have been playing with.

It is best to hold a trunk or treat early in the evening, before it gets too dark or cold. However, children should still dress appropriately for the weather. On the other hand, if the trunk or treat is held inside, a jacket will not obscure the costumes . This can only be done, of course, if you have access to some sort of community center.

A trunk or treat is a great way for you to get together with your neighbors and enjoy the Halloween spirit. In our neighborhood, even the adults dress up for our festive event, which feels like a party. However, there are some caveats: PG-rated costumes ( no sexy maids at our party), and masks cannot completely cover the face.

With a little advance planning and organization, you can make Halloween an entire-family event – and share it with your neighbors.

Here at Zappos.com, we take our holidays very seriously. And every day leading up to Halloween, the office begins to look more and more like a huge spider has been spinning a web and Gargoyles and Huge Bats frighten all those that enter any of the buildings.

Make no mistake, Zappos takes dressing up and decoration seriously. Halloween here will be celebrated next week, and the entire company will dress up. Trust me. You will be amazed. It’s not required, it doesn’t need to be. You’ll see : )

Last week on the Kids’ Content Team, we weren’t really feeling the Halloween spirit. So, we decided to do something about it and what better way to get that fall feeling then having a pumpkin decorating contest?!

So, we all went home with dancing pumpkins in our heads and spent hours upon hours hunched over our masterpieces. Monday morning we all proudly displayed our squash centerpieces. We needed a judge, so we outsourced Bob from the Outdoor Content Team. Bob pondered over each and every carefully crafted pumpkin until he finally came to a decision <drum roll, please>

EVERYONE WINS!! We all erupted in cheers and overall jubilation. Nowadays the Halloween spirit is high on the Kids’ Content Team and we are all eagerly anticipating a ghoulish good time next week!