President Barack Obama greets a young child dressed as the Pope and riding in a "Popemobile" as he hands out treats to children trick-or-treating for Halloween on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC. SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Women operate a gum-wrapping machine, circa 1923. It was a pivotal decade in the rise of America's retail candy business. Underwood & Underwood/Corbis hide caption
A mosquito lurks, eager to score some Halloween candy. Ben de la Cruz/NPR hide caption
The ScareHouse in Pittsburgh is curated in part by sociologist Margee Kerr. Rachellyn Schoen/ScareHouse hide caption
A house in Odenton, Md., uses thousands of lights to sing and dance along to popular songs — like Silento's "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)." YouTube hide caption
The scariest part of the holiday comes in the days that follow, as parents fight and negotiate to limit how much candy their kids eat. NPR's Gisele Grayson decided to pay her kids off to give up their loot. iStockphoto hide caption
Glowing tapioca pearls accompanied by spiders (made of chocolate drizzle), just in time for Halloween, by Luma Bites Martina Zupanic/Luma Bites hide caption
Candice Nelson fits her daughter Arya Kubesh with a Halloween hat at a store at Galleria Mall in Edina, Minn. Retailers are hoping Halloween will give them a good bounce into the peak spending time of the year. Elizabeth Flores/MCT/Landov hide caption
Grace Feigh and Melissa Sack of Dapper Cadaver, a Hollywood-based company that specializes in horror props for movies, television and Halloween enthusiasts. Beth Accomando/KPBS hide caption
Howard Chandler Christy's painting Halloween, as reproduced in Scribner's in January 1916. Wikimedia Commons hide caption
From NPR Transylvania, Happy Halloween Madeline Valley/NPR hide caption
