After her Dad reassured her that my blood was fake (he was smart enough to go to the back and take a seat before I could contradict him), this little girl on the Grand St. bus showed off her heavy backpack full of loot. She was having the best trick-or-treat year ever, she said. Not only that, take note, eight-year-olds, if you go into bars, they give you MONEY! She showed me dollar bills she'd collected. You think if I went in the bar, they'd give me a buck, too? I asked. She looked at me like I was an idiot. But she graciously offered me a pack of Mentos (Sure I took them. Grown-ups have to be shameless if they want Halloween candy). All this great stuff she acquired in a few hours and with NO costume. But it was easy to see that this kid doesn't need to dress up. She can score the swag just because she's so cute and personable.

The subway car was full of grown-ups in costumes. This passenger on the F train was willing to explain this mysterious costume with a demonstration. He or she (couldn't tell which) stood up and showed that he (or she) was the walk sign in the stoplight.

This lady was a black widow spider. She said she scared herself.

At the parade on Sixth Avenue, thousands and thousands of marchers showed off costumes like this scary bride getup to throngs four deep at the police barriers with more people along the curbs.

Someone made a mockery of Barbie and religion. It got worse for religion as the evening wore on, and a few dolls suffered, too. Some big blow-up dolls were tied to poles looking grotesque, and people accompanying them held a sign: "It's not torture. It's interrogation."

When have you seen a cuter Superman?

Marie Antoinette was everywhere. I saw at least 50 of them in less than an hour. There were even more Borats. Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean was popular, too. Maybe he and Marie Antoinette could throw a dinner party. And Chuckie could come (he was a popular guy at the parade, looking nice and gruesome every time). Hearkening back, there were lots of Dorothys from the Wizard of Oz. I liked the one with red glitter sneakers. Rocky Horror Picture Show characters appeared. The cast of Reno 911. French maids (he or she, couldn't tell which). Just one Ugly Betty (and well done, red poncho and all). Most charming and original was a young woman dressed as the corner of Mott and Grand. She had a street sign coming out of her head, and wore a sandwich board. The front showed the shops and goods, and the back had a rubber chicken and a rat hanging from it.

Here's a guy fresh from battle in Iraq and now at the Delancey station.