OK, so I'll pick up the question
@Kiwi asked in the "How many times..." thread if Halloween is celebrated in other countries.
I can still remember when I learnt about Halloween for the very first time. I was about 10 or 11, and I was reading the German translation of an American children's novel: "Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and me, Elizabeth" by E. L. Konigsburg. I was amazed to read about the custom of children dressing like witches etc, going to their neighbour's houses asking for candy, because it's so similar to a German custom being practiced in the regions that are mainly Catholic (like mine) on the evening of St. Martin's Day which is on November 111th: After the procession carrying lanterns and singing St.-Martin-songs, children go to the houses in their neighbourhood singing songs and showing off their colourful lanterns (mostly self-made) and get some candy in return. (I loved that as a kid, although I was a bit shy about the singing!) We didn't play any tricks, though - that's not part of the custom.
When people don't open the door or don't give anything, nothing happens. Most people are generous, though.
Anyway, as a kid I thought it was interesting to read about an American custom that was so similar to something I grew up with, and yet so different.
Apart from that book, I never heard anything about Halloween.
Many years passed, and little by little, Halloween started becoming popular in Germany - mostly for commercial reasons, I think; I'm sure most people here don't have a clue about the meaning. Some time ago (in the 1990s, I think), a friend of my parents, an Irishman living in our town, threw a big Halloween party for his friends and coworkers. I wasn't there myself, but I remember my mom told me it was fun listening to that Irish friend's explanation what Halloween was actually about, the whole story behind it, with Stingy Jack etc. I think that was a whole new world to all the people there.
Fast forward several more years - it must have been around 2004 or 2005 when I had a cute and fun Halloween experience: At that time, I was living in a rather big apartment building where I hardly knew any of the neighbours. One night the doorbell rang, I opened, and there was a little girl (maybe 7 or 8 years old) dressed like a witch. At that moment I realized it was Halloween, LOL! The little witch said, "Give me some candy! Or I'll... uhhhmm... uhhm... I'll send SPIDERS to your house!"
She was so adorable!!
I loved the way she was actually playing the role of a real witch, having magical powers, so I went along with it and gasped in shock, " Eewwww, noooo, please, no spiders! I'll better give you some candy then!" And I did, of course.
Again, some years later, the Halloween industry had established itself here, and I heard some people complain about ill-mannered kids demanding treats and creating a mess if they didn't get anything. (BTW, the German version of "A trick or a treat" is "Süßes oder Saures", which means "Something sweet or something sour".)
I live in a different apartment building now, where no kids come around asking for something sweet, or singing songs on St. Martin's Day. But I still like the memory of my encounter with the little witch who spared me the spiders' curse!