inching up in my walker...I've been at it long enough to report this activity across three residences for over 7 years each.
Residence 1.
My parent's. My parents had always given out fairly decent treats for the neighborhood. Not the king size house down the street, and not the full bag of chips dude that worked at the chip factory, but otherwise decent, goodie bag with candy and a drink.
Anyhow, I started officially haunting the joint at 9. Some years were better than others, and a lot of it was visible for weeks prior.
Virtually NO impact on numbers Halloween night.
Details: Parent's house is in a REMOTE area. NO ONE is passing the house/neighborhood that don't live there. The ambulance had trouble finding it when someone fell off the roof during remodel.
Residence 2.
Our first home.
Low income neighborhood, right next to an elementary school. EVERY kid passes this street. Oh, I'm going to get TONS! Haunt up the place, buy full size bars, ready to go!
8 years. We increase our trick or treat number 800%! (from 1 to 8, all of them the neighbor's grandkids)
No impact from decorating.
Residence 3 (2004 - present)
Mix of expensive houses to one side, mid level to another, low income behind. We're on the bus route for middle school, and a lot of walkers pass us to the elementary school.
Year 1. We move in late August and have a vacation that year. I ask around about numbers. "Expect about 75". Oh, suweeeeet! I hadn't seen that many since moving out of my parent's place. But, I don't have time or money to decorate that year. It's literally me in a costume with "The biggest candy bowl I've ever seen!"
(pic is 2005, but the dummy is my 2004 costume and it shows the bowl best)
We got 150 that first year.
I figured that was a good number, and for the next 3 years, I didn't set up anything until the day of Halloween. Never the less, we become mildly famous for handing out full size bars more than for the decor, and numbers increased to 350 by 2007.
2008-2009 we held steady, I'd grown a little bigger, and was doing a full yard walkthrough at that point. My oldest son had started helping in the yard instead of trick or treating. Numbers stayed steady at the 350 mark.
2010: Lost most my props in a storm that toppled the storage unit. What can I do for $100 decorating budget? The pumpkin carving party was born as I just bought pumpkins and scavenged corn stalks.
Numbers held steady at the 350 mark, but we had ~ 100 folks out the night before as well.
2011: I create the first real original creation. It's seen by neighbors as I'm working on it through the summer, people are snapping photos with it, etc.
Pumpkin party, social media, photos, we become the third house you "have" to see in the area, behind the harry potter house (doctor up on the hill, major production) and 'the mafia house' ( supposedly epicly huge candy hand outs, I've only heard stories) Numbers spike to 450.
2012-2013: we hover around 500 as part of this three house tour people are doing.
2014: Mafia House shuts down, someone had been hit in front of their house in 2015 and cops refuse to close the street, they decide to shut it down. My numbers spike to over 600 as it becomes a 2 house tour.
2015: Harry Potter House decides to do their thing on the Saturday instead of Halloween night. We dip down under 600 again with a lot fewer people heading out in cars.
2016: I don't put as much effort into the yard, doing the remodel on the house instead, still full walkthrough. Numbers continue to dip down to around 550.
2017: Yard is a disaster area from remodel, only decorate the front yard. continue downward trend.
2018-2019: Full yard again, numbers still falling "Only" 350-400 this year. Most the teens that used to come during the peak years are "too old" now. Some of the kids that first saw us in 2011 are bringing their own kids now. Every year I get first timers.
2020: There's a new housing developement just opened and filling up designed for young families 2 blocks away...who knows what that will bring.