Who could have predicted that one of the most neighborly nights of the year in downtown Boston would be October 31? Thousands of people from babies to grandparents roam the streets. Some are in clever costumes. Some accompany those in clever costumes. Householders along the trick-or-treating streets put on good shows—cobwebs, spiders, eerie lights, recorded cackles, dangling skeletons. Some even host dinner parties of their own inside their houses while manning the front door.

A curiosity is that the kids shun the scary monsters. Instead they typically dress in fantasy costumes— knights, pharaohs, fairies, bunnies or Star Wars and Harry Potter characters. It is the adults who favor scary witches and bed-sheet ghosts as they pass out candy to the kids and glasses of wine to the adults.

Because this is grumpy Boston, some residents complain about all the kids from outside the neighborhoods who are attracted by the festive atmosphere, the proximity of the houses and—let’s face it—the safety. But Suzanne Besser, executive director of the Beacon Hill Civic Association, says she is proud that our downtown neighborhoods attract so many trick or treaters from elsewhere. It’s a way we can host and entertain others.

Both Beacon Hill and the Back Bay have figured out how to do so with zest. On Beacon Hill, Pinckney and Mount Vernon streets from Joy to Charles close to traffic from 4:30 to 9 pm. This effectively also closes Louisburg Square, Chestnut and Walnut and portions of West Cedar streets, since cars can’t get to them.

In the Back Bay, the festivities begin at the Clarendon Street Playground at 4 pm with a magic show, hayride and treats. (Bring a dollar for pizza, a drink and a glow necklace. This party ends at 6 pm.) At 5 pm, trick or treaters start plying Marlborough Street, since it is closed to traffic from Berkeley to Fairfield streets, as are Dartmouth and Clarendon streets between Commonwealth and Beacon. The Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay distributes a list of houses that welcome children and their parents. It’s called the Safe House list and you can put your residence on the list by calling the NABB office at 617-247-3961.

On Beacon Hill, every house that has a lighted jack-o-lantern on a step or in a window is deemed safe, and it’s fair game to ring the bell and ask for treats. Don’t ring a doorbell if the pumpkin isn’t lit.

In both neighborhoods you can leave your parked car on the closed streets. You just can’t drive it until 9 pm on Beacon Hill and 9:30 pm in the Back Bay.

Most of the trick or treaters are little kids, but teenagers are welcome to participate. Only a few times have college-age or older kids tried to horn in on the event. It’s considered bad form if you are almost an adult to ask for candy.

It’s remarkable that so many of the kids have such good manners. Most of them say thank you, even if they say it in a low voice. And most of them take only one piece.

That’s important because on the busiest streets, householders can easily shell out more than 1,000 small candy bars or packages of M&Ms. Sue Prindle in the Back Bay said she fills up her witch’s cauldron, and its contents are gone by the end of the evening. If you run out, it’s okay. Just blow out the candle in your pumpkin, and shut off the lights in the front of your house. No one will notice that you’re no longer out there.

Another remarkable characteristic of this night is how clean the streets are in dirty Boston afterward. I guess it is because the kids wait to eat the candy and don’t usually discard the wrappers as they walk. And the householders appear to be pretty responsible too—cleaning up their sidewalks and front steps as the evening ends.

One householder on Louisburg Square had a complaint, though, that occurs mainly when Halloween lands on a weekend.

“With all the lights off in our house, the doorbell often rings until midnight,” she said.

You wonder sometimes how people who are so oblivious to courtesy get through life.