It’s Halloween, so here’s a trick-or-treat bag of random holiday-related goodies.  Some are peanut butter cups . . . others are candy corn . . . but NONE of them are circus peanuts!

1.  According to the National Retail Federation, 73% of Americans plan on celebrating Halloween in some way . . . with the average person spending $108.

Overall, Americans are expected to spend $12.2 BILLION . . . mostly on costumes, decorations, and candy.

2.  The National Confectioners Association claims 98% of Americans who welcome trick-or-treaters will hand out candies and chocolates.  It’s unclear what the other 2% will hand out . . . maybe salty snacks, loose change, or fruit.

The same survey says that 51% of people eat candy corn by popping whole pieces into their mouth.  31% bite off the narrow white end first, while 18% start with the wider yellow end.  Apparently, no one breaks the corn apart, just to eat the orange middle part first.  (???)

3.  In a survey, 85% of parents say their kids start digging into their candy BEFORE they get home from trick-or-treating.  (Yeah, but how many PARENTS sneak a treat before making it home?)

4.  Most people think Halloween is a harmless, fun holiday, but 14% of people believe Halloween is “harmful.”  They didn’t elaborate.

5.  30% of people think that Halloween is MORE widely celebrated now, than when they were growing up.  31% think it’s LESS widely celebrated now . . . and 30% say it’s about the same.

6.  18% of people say they decorate for Halloween EVERY year.  14% say they decorate most years, and another 14% say “some years.”  34% of people “never” decorate for Halloween.  Older folks are less likely to decorate.

7.  34% of parents think 13 or 14 is old enough to trick-or-treat alone. 

But several cities in America have laws BANNING teenagers from trick-or-treating, including Chesapeake, Virginia . . . Jacksonville, Illinois . . . and Rayne, Louisiana.  In Chesapeake, kids over the age of 14 who trick-or-treat could be found guilty of a misdemeanor.

8.  You’re not crazy if you check out your child’s candy haul before they eat it.  83% of parents say they look through it. 

(There’s nothing wrong with making sure everything seems fresh and properly sealed.  It’s probably a LITTLE dramatic to X-ray them for razor blades . . . or to send them off to the lab to have them tested for drugs.)

9.  Remember to encourage your kids to let their Halloween candy LAST.

Kids collect anywhere between 3,500 and 7,000 calories on Halloween.  To burn off 7,000 calories, a child would have to walk for 180 MILES while trick-or-treating.  (Some clever kid somewhere will respond by humming the Proclaimers chorus, “And I would walk 500 miles . . .”)

10.  And Fox News is warning people that Halloween candy can really wreak havoc . . . on your SKIN.  They say the average American consumes 3.4 pounds of candy on Halloween . . . and the excess intake of sugar can result in inflammation of the skin, which can cause acne or eczema to flare up.

(Fox also has some “fun facts” about Halloween.)