Trick or treat.

Freak.

I don't know about anywhere else, but in New York City, every day is Halloween.

When I was a kid, Halloween was that one day a year when people -- children, actually -- toddlers with parents, adolescents, juveniles, the yet-to-mature -- dressed as freaks, ghouls, and other scary things, went up to complete strangers and asked (with assured expectancy) for stuff. Granted, one group does the dressing and another the asking, but, still, this happens every single day here.

Freak, Jr.

Back in the day, skeletons and skulls adorned houses and costumes one day a year. But here, every manner of stylized skeletons and skulls adorn just about everything all the time. In the fashion capital of the world, I see the most imaginative renderings of skulls woven into clothing, on backpacks, tattoos, and graffiti (of course). I even saw one on a baby's pacifier recently. Is it safe to say I've seen everything?

We don't need to know when Halloween falls this year. What we need to know is, when's it going to end?