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Remember, if you’re a guest in these neighborhoods, remind the kids to treat homes and decorations with an extra level of respect. Since big trick-or-treating crowds can cost big bucks for homeowners, pitch in if you find a donation bin or crowd-sourcing fund. Or, surprise a couple of generous homeowners by paying it forward with a small token of appreciation or a few bags of candy for them to give out to others.

Bergen County's Best Trick-or-Treating in 2024

Alpine

This affluent community (home to many celebrities) puts up incredible decorations every year and is known to be very generous with goodies, which are reported to include full-size candy bars and small gift cards!

Fort Lee

Need a little trick-or-treating appetizer? The Fort Lee Business District Alliance holds a FREE Falloween event on the Saturday before Halloween, where kids dress up and trick-or-treat for a celebration. This year, the festivities will be in Fort Lee Commons Park and there will be a DJ, face painting, temporary tattoos, a magician, balloon twisters, candy, and more. 

RELATED: Halloween Train Rides in New Jersey for a Family-Friendly Fall Trip

Clinton Place is known as Hackensack's "Halloween Highway." Photo by John Kay via Flickr

Hackensack

Clinton Place is known for having creative and over-the-top Halloween decorations on nearly every home on the street. Each house is more elaborate than the next, with themes that range from scary and macabre to pumpkin-patch sweet. Day or night, you won’t be sorry to spend some time on Hackensack’s “Halloween Highway.” Some years, this community event also doubles as a fundraiser for local charities.

Oakland

Halloween in the college streets section of Oakland is lovely. Homes put out beautiful decorations and play music, making for a laid-back block party vibe.

Ridgewood

Don't miss the Halloween maze on 124 Sheridan Terrace, where a local family turns its backyard into a huge haunted maze that can take up to 30 minutes to travel through. Got young kids? Go in the daytime before the maze creatures come out.

Saddle Brook

The town's annual Halloween house-decorating contest typically has a lot of participants (such as at homes on Oxford Avenue and Nedellec Drive), making trick-or-treating extra fun.

Passaic County's Best Trick-or-Treating This Halloween

Clifton

Every year Dr. Wayne Gangi fills his lawn at 562 Grove Street with an extreme Halloween display. It's pretty scary at night, so take care when visiting this spooky Halloween house with younger kids.

Hawthorne

Not for the faint of heart, the Zombie House at 193 Lafayette is packed with tons of visitors from the afterlife. It's a traffic stopper for sure! Other cool displays nearby include the Summit Ave Cemetery at 51 Summit Avenue, the Wolf Man Boneyard at 351 North Fourth Avenue, and the Hawthorne Skeleton House at 80 Eighth Avenue. 

Hoboken

Entire families get in on the Halloween action, decking out their strollers like parade floats for the annual Ragamuffin Parade, which kicks off at 3pm on Washington and 13th Streets. Retailers along Washington Street dole out treats for the crowds, and savvy trick-or-treaters detour to upper Bloomfield Street for a big candy haul.

Jersey City

For family-friendly Halloween fun, check out Newark Avenue Pedestrian Mall for tons of trick-or-treating. Some years, there are kid-friendly events like face painting, a bouncy house, and music. Some fees apply. Businesses along Central Avenue in the Heights attract hordes of trick-or-treaters in the afternoon, too.

Where To Trick or Treat in Essex County

Maplewood Village

Maplewood Avenue (between Baker and Durand) usually closes to cars from 2-5:30pm for trick-or-treating, music, a parade, and a costume contest on Halloween. Trick-or-treaters' favorite territories include the neighborhoods along Maplewood Avenue, just west of it, and also Golf Island, a sliver of the town lodged between the middle school and the golf course. Those looking for truly tricked-out houses, though, should head to Prospect Street, a long and busy thoroughfare lined with grand homes, many bedecked in ghosts and goblins. There are also some spectacularly decorated homes on Clinton, Salter, and Summit.

Montclair

Locals know Montclair and Midland Avenues are great for trick-or-treating, with lots of beautifully decorated homes. And visit the businesses on Bloomfield and Church streets for extra goodies.

South Orange

Spooky spirits take over downtown for the annual Halloween Festival, which takes place in Spiotta Park from 11am-1pm on the Sunday before Halloween. The festivities include a costume contest, a visit from Wanda the Giant Witch, and trick-or-treating at local businesses.

Morris County's Best Places to Trick or Treat in 2024

Chester

Home to popular pick-your-own haven Alstede Farms, Chester has become a fall destination for families throughout the tri-state area—and Halloween night is no exception. Many downtown businesses love visits from trick-or-treating ghosts and ghouls.

Denville

A source close to the action recommends heading to downtown Denville for some excellent trick-or-treating at local businesses, where merchants hand out top-notch treats.

Madison

The large old houses in Madison make it a fun place to trick-or-treat, and the Dead and Breakfast Inn at 100 Ridgedale Avenue takes decorating to another level. Every window, porch, and tree is decked out with spooky visitors.

Roxbury Township

The Halloween House on Alcott Way in the Succasunna section of Roxbury has been treating visitors to amazing Halloween scenes for years. It takes a month to build this incredible display, which includes tons of skeletons, a graveyard, and an enormous pirate ship complete with a “shooting” cannon. Note that some decorations are a little bit on the scary side, so use discretion with very small children.

Trick-or-Treating in Union County: Halloween 2024

Rahway

An extreme Halloween display haunts Rahway every year on Maple Avenue, courtesy of the D'Emilio family. From zombies and ghouls to jump-out props, this house is sure to raise the hair on the back of your neck. Also in Rahway, there's a Halloween Spooktacular parade on Saturday, October 26, 2024, at 1:00pm down Irving Street. The parade ends at the Train Station Plaza, where the Spooktacular festivities will be held until 4:00 PM.

Roselle Park

Bender Avenue is known as Halloween Central to the locals. What was once just a small house-decorating contest has morphed into a not-to-be-missed Halloween event that attracts thousands of people every year.

RELATED: Halloween Drive-thrus Near Tri-state Area

Halloween means it's time for candy galore! Photo by Laurie Rein

Scotch Plains

Coles Avenue throws killer block parties, and Halloween is no exception. The street is closed to cars, and homeowners treat kids to sweets and a true neighborhood party.

Westfield

Many families head to Dudley Avenue, where large homes with spectacular decorations make for great Halloween fun. On weekends in October, the Downtown Westfield Corporation sponsors Addams Fest, a Halloween celebration of all creepy and kooky creations of local artist Charles Addams, featuring trunk-or-treating and lots more.

Where To Go Trick-or-Treating in Hunterdon County

Lambertville

Some neighborhoods love Halloween—and then there’s Lambertville, which goes above and beyond to get into the Halloween spirit. Among the streets worth visiting is North Union Street (from York to Buttonwood Streets), which boasts elaborate house decorations and neighbors who are eager to treat kids to sweets. The combination makes the area a go-to destination for thousands of trick-or-treaters every year. While you’re on North Union, stop by the Halloween House of Lambertville, where a retired art teacher displays her 60+ homemade, glowing, black-light plaster figures. It’s a sight you won’t want to miss.

Where To Go Trick-or-Treating in Somerset County

Bound Brook

Don't miss The Skeleton House at 281 Chestnut Street, where the homeowners create an amazing skeleton-inspired Halloween display.

Bridgewater

Continue the skeleton tour and drive by 13 Skeletons at 948 US Highway 202/206, between Heather Hill and Bluestone. Creative scenes involving 13 skeletons magically appear on the property and are changed regularly in the weeks leading up to Halloween. The street is too busy to trick or treat on, but it's fun to visit for some pre-Halloween fun.

Somerville

You won't want to miss the Spooktacular on October 25, 2024. Activities have been planned at three locations from 4-6pm: Main Street, Division St, and the Somerset County Courthouse Lawn. Activities will include trick-or-treating at participating businesses, music, and entertainment. This year, the event will be followed by a free showing of "Beetlejuice" at 6pm on Division St.

Middlesex County's Best Trick-or-Treating in 2024

Sayreville

Homeowners here go all-out with fabulous decorations, especially some homes on Main Street.

Halloween 2024 Trick-or-Treating in Ocean County

Toms River

Toms River is home to one of the largest and most amazing Halloween parades in the world! Sponsored by Toms River Fire Company No. 1, this 80+-year-old parade is adored by the community. A change from years past: The parade will march on October 31, 2024, at 7pm. The parade starts at the Toms River Shopping Centre on the corner of Route 37 and Route 166 (Main Street), marches down Main Street, turns left onto Washington Street, and finishes at the corner of Hooper Avenue.

Also in Toms River—which just might be the Halloween-iest town in New Jersey—is Terror on South Main Street, a family home that transforms into one of the state's coolest Halloween attractions every year. The property hosts a trick-or-treat bash, featuring music, live actors, and plenty of candy.

Where To Go Trick-or-Treating in Camden County

Haddon Heights

Local homes are decked out for Halloween and official trick-or-treating hours in Haddon Heights run from 3-8pm on Tuesday, October 31, 2024. 

Haddonfield

Head to Haddonfield for an incredible display of Victorian houses all decked out in Halloween decorations. One house is covered in crows, another has skeletons scaling it, and a third is being attacked by a monstrous spider. Our favorite spots are a house that turns its wrap-around porch into a "haunted house" you can tour and another that is covered in scary displays from every Stephen King movie. Goodies are usually top-notch here, with one home even serving its trick-or-treaters cotton candy in the past. 

Gloucester County's Best Trick-or-Treating in 2024

Monroe Township

A reader tipped us off to the Williamstown area, where the Chestnut Green development really does it up for Halloween. One of the highlights is Ironwood Drive, which features an interactive/walk-through haunted house and whose owners have been known to give out full-size candy bars.

Pitman

Our son is obsessed with trick-or-treating in Pitman. These adorable Victorian homes go all out with their decorations. The way the town is organized, in a spoke wheel pattern around the church in the center, makes it easy to visit a lot of houses in a little bit of time. 

Where To Go Trick-or-Treating in Cape May County

North Wildwood

For this Jersey Shore community, North Wildwood's Trunk-or-Treat and Block Party is the place to be on Saturday, October 26, 2024. Here, it's the cars' costumes that are showcased, with prizes for the best of the best. Kids can trick-or-treat at this block party along Olde NJ Avenue between Second and Walnut Avenues from 5:30-7pm. Pre-registration is required for vehicles.

Cape May

This southern Jersey Shore town gets spooky at Halloween, and businesses along the Washington Street pedestrian mall are prime trick-or-treat stops. Cape May's annual Halloween parade is held on Sunday, October 20, 2024, beginning at Perry Street and ending at 1048 Washington Street, where prizes are awarded.

This post was originally published in 2016 and has since been updated. Lisa Warden contributed additional reporting. Unless otherwise noted, photos courtesy of the houses/events