This might sour your Halloween.
In some US towns, there are age restrictions for trick-or-treaters, meaning kids of a certain age may be ineligible for candy canvassing tonight.
According to Fox News, one town in New Jersey has a law that ban anyone 14 years or older from trick-or-treating.
In 2017, a local paper reminded readers that tricks really are for kids — not adults — in Pennsauken Township.
“Trick-or-treating is for kids, not adults. It’s unlawful for anyone over the age of 14 to go out trick-or-treating unless you’re acting as a chaperone,” All Around Pennsauken posted at the time, adding that adults “can’t ask for candy or treats.”
“They have to wait until they get home to help their kids ‘sort’ the candy.”
A spokesperson from Pennsauken Township confirmed the law to Fox News, although it is rarely enforced. The rule, which actually has “never needed to be used” thus far, “is only on the books to be used in an instance if teenagers are causing more tricks than treats.”
“It is the Township’s stance that trick-or-treating should be inclusive and that any child who wants to go out trick-or-treating for the right reasons, regardless of their age, should be able to safely enjoy the holiday,” the representative explained.
Similarly, in New Jersey’s Upper Deerfield Township, kids age out of the door-to-door festivities at age 12.
Other cities around the country have also enacted laws to regulate trick-or-treaters — some enforceable by fines.
Several towns in Virginia bar children older than 12 from collecting candy on Halloween. In some of those places, anyone found to be engaging in trick-or-treating activities who is older than the age limit is guilty of a class 4 misdemeanor, according to Fox News. In Portsmouth, Virginia, trick-or-treating over the age of 12 is a class 3 misdemeanor.
Citing the state code, the outlet reported that class 4 misdemeanors are punishable by up to a $250 fine in the state, and someone found guilty of a class 3 misdemeanor can be fined up to $500.
In Delmar, Delaware, not only is there an age limit of 12 years old, but the town has also enforced a trick-or-treat curfew. According to Fox News, the municipality only allows one night of trick-or-treating on Oct. 31 between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
It has also banned Mischief Nights — a long-held teenage tradition on the eve of Halloween that entails a night of tricks and debauchery around town — despite typically involving harmless pranks.
In Charleston, South Carolina, no one older than 16 can wear masks in public — even on Halloween — Fox News reports. Even if attending a costume party, the city insists those celebrating the holiday must wait until their destination to don masks. The city also enforces a hard stop on trick-or-treating at 10 p.m. on the spooktacular holiday.
