Funny you bring something like this up. When I was a youngster in my trick-or-treating days, I remember a house we all went up to that had a scarecrow sitting in a chair near the door. After all us kids got our candy and proceeded to walk back passed the scarecrow, it jumped up and scared the hell out of us. The guy in the costume was super awesome at being very still until the right time. It was well-played.
Halloween just doesn't feel the same anymore. When I was young there were kids everywhere, houses in decoration, and it just had an all around good aurora to it. Now it just doesn't feel as pure. I get it, the world has changed, but I'm glad I got to experience Halloween when I did.