<p>We lived in apartment buildings when I was stationed in Germany. On Halloween night the families in the stairwells would gather together and have a communal candy bowl at the entrance to the stairwell. The parents would sit there and have a small party - wine, coffee, or hot chocolate - and pass out candy to the kids. Parents that lived out on the economy would bring their children in to family housing just to trick or treat. Even the German kids got in on the fun.</p>