Is Halloween Too Scary for a Preschooler?

It is almost Thanksgiving, it is getting colder, wetter, and my son is attending "Turkey Camp" for two days starting tomorrow.  

Yet, what he is still talking about is whether Halloween is too scary.  I regret our Halloween plans because he is STILL talking about how Halloween was too scary!  The best part of Halloween for him was passing out candy.  But the actual act of trick-or-treating was too scary.  

Why?  

Well, a few things came up while trick or treating:

- literally at the very first house we went to, our neighbor held out a bowl.  It had a moving electronic hand in it, triggered when you approach the bowl to take out a piece of candy.  It terrified our son.  At every other house on Halloween night, he asked, "Is there a hand in the bowl?"  

-at another house down the street, a woman opened the door with a fake meat cleaver sticking out of her head.  She told my son, "This is why you need to be careful with knives!"  Ever since, he has walked around telling us (and others), "You need to be really more careful with knives!"  When we walk past the house, my son asks, "Is this where the woman with the knife in her head lives?"  He runs past as quick as he can.

-other houses included displays with bats, ghouls, scary music, flying ghosts, shall I go on......?

Next year, I'm going to have my son pass out candy.  For now, I think trick-or-treating may just be too scary!

--TC Mama