Places Not to Go Trick-Or-Treating

Brightvale:

Where in Brightvale? Just Brightvale. Most places in Brightvale will give you stuff; it’s just none of it will be candy. Brightvale Castle? King Hagan has said words of wisdom are a treat for the mind. The Brightvale Books shop must agree with this as they hand out small booklets on Halloween-y topics such as its origins, where certain traditions and symbols came from, trick-or-treating safety, and most cruel of all, how certain candies are made (but not the candy itself). Brightvale Colouring Pages gives you pages of "Halloween in Brightvale" to color in (drawings which barely look Halloween-y aside from a jack-o-lantern placed in the background). Wheel of Knowledge will let you spin the wheel again... for a piece of candy. Royal Potionary decided they can assure candy is safe to eat by pouring a potion they made on it, but the potion also cleanses the candy of their flavor and sweetness. Brightvale Glaziers makes you a Halloween-y stained glass ornament right then and there; neat but it’s not candy, takes up a lot of room in your bag, and is heavy. Brightvale Motery will instead put a random mote in your bag, some which have been known to accidentally destroy or ruin the candy inside. Brightvale Armoury gives Halloween-y good luck charms (jokingly said not to work as they didn’t give you any candy). And do I need to tell you what Brightvale Fruits gives instead of candy? But there is some good news; the Scrollery which is run by King Hagan’s niece, Roberta, will sneak in a few pieces of candy wrapped in a magic scroll which can morph candy into another kind of candy (but only lasts until the end of Halloween night)!

Jhudora's Bluff

Oh, don’t get her wrong, Jhudora loves Halloween. While it wasn’t until recent years most Faeries started celebrating Halloween (or at least the commercial side of it), Dark Faeries like Jhudora have enjoyed the elevated levels of dark magic during All Hallows’ Eve. However Jhudora not only participates in dark rituals (allegedly) at this time but also has celebrated on the commercial side of things, even before her non-Dark sisters did (though Jhudora’s practices were not something they borrowed when they did). If you go to Faerieland for Halloween, don’t go to Jhudora’s Bluff unless you REALLY want a night of fright. To those who are seeking just a treat she’ll of course give them candy, made with her best poisons... err, I mean potions, which are a bit toxic. For those who dare to complain, shockingly she doesn’t get mad; instead she offers to give them a special quest reminding them the best things in life aren’t free. What she offers for completing this quest isn’t known, those who take it are never heard of again (allegedly; some have purposely tried to be given this quest but Jhudora says she doesn’t know what they’re talking about). However if you do manage to get her angry Jhudora will show that even when she’s joyous she isn’t any more nice (or has bad aim). While I do encourage visiting the Healing Springs, for its Faerie caretaker Marina hands out flavored healing potions such as candy corn and pumpkin spice, you don’t need to have an excuse to do so.

The Brain Tree

Already the Haunted Woods is a questionable trick-or-treating spot, oddly enough. Even if you stick to the main woods area, not all the residents have the same idea about what Halloween fun is. You can ask around which places are safe to visit (or just trick-or-treat in Neovia); I’m here to tell you who NOT to visit. The Brain Tree would at first seem like a possible place to visit to be given something, at the very least he won’t eat your candy like the Esophagor would try to do. And at first that does seem to be the case, the Brain Tree will give you a branchful of candy without a second thought. But when you see what he gives you do you then realize the problem. Brain-flavored gummies, tree bark taffy, mud bubble gum, chocolate roots, and other candies that taste as you would think eating the Brain Tree would taste like. When questioned what good is the disgusting candy the Brain Tree says there’s one other being in the Haunted Woods that likes those candy: The Esophagor. That’s right, the Brain Tree gives you candy that only the Esophagor would like. If you decide to put the candy to good use and do a Brain Tree quest (after safely stowing away your good candy), upon completion the Brain Tree won’t give you anything as he’ll say he already gave you your reward: the candy he gave you. If you decide to spend your Halloween night in the Haunted Woods, do yourself a favor and take the extra hike to Neovia where they hold an annual spooky food eating contest (disclaimer: we cannot guarantee your safety from monster attacks during said spooky food eating contest, or from food fights).

Kelp

Interestingly enough, trick-or-treating in Maraqua isn’t as bad as it sounds (as long as you drop off any candy you collected prior). Much of their candy is salty and sweet, either made with salt water or sea salt, but otherwise no different from candy you get from the surface lands. And out of all the places you can go you’d probably think Maraqua’s premier restaurant, Kelp, would give out the best candy, right? Well, depends on your definition of "best". What they give certainly is made from the best ingredients, and would hold a high value; but that doesn’t mean it makes for good candy. Kelp tries re-inventing the wheel with their "candy", instead of giving out treats everyone else does they instead give out what best could be described as appetizers at a fancy Maraquan get together. Seaweed balls with clam jam filling, sea salted clam shells, brined coral sticks, chocolate coated fish scale chips, and other gourmet desserts better left on the gourmet menu. If you’re trick-or-treating in Maraquan instead go to the ruins of Old Maraqua and visit the Ye Olde Fishing Vortex; they give out bait-shaped (though thankfully not flavored) candy like gummy worms and gumdrops Ghoti.

Darigan Citadel

If you’re NOT a Darigan or Mutant Neopet I wouldn’t suggest trick-or-treating on the Darigan Citadel. If you are then it’s probably one of the best places to go along with the deeper woods of the Haunted Woods. The Darigan Citadel makes stuff that usually only Darigan’s like, the main reason its major export are toys is because that’s the only "safe" item that can be used by a non-Darigan (and even then you need to be careful). This especially goes for their food, which includes their candy. Their candy can be so hard you can’t bite into it, what you can bite into will feel like you’re chewing leather, may have sharp edges or spikes, and the flavors are ones only a Darigan can appreciate (as a non-Darigan or Mutant Neopet would probably spit it out). And that’s not to mention many Darigans take the term "trick-or-treat" as being an option; expect plenty of booby traps, even when just walking down a street (also be sure to carry plenty of bandages and healing potions, popular traps include a pitfall into thorny plants and being splashed by what can only be described as "Darigan water").

Neopian Healthy Foods

And not for the reason you think! Unlike the Brightvale Fruits, Quinton does give out "candy"; saying he realized it was a good way to teach healthy eating to young Neopets. "How?" you may ask. In addition to his vegetable flavor candy (he does make fruit flavored candy, but you got to buy those), Quinton had gotten clever by making a box of jelly beans based on food pyramid proportions. Given in a pyramid shaped container, it has a mix of jelly beans of various flavors. There’s six ounces of grain flavor, two and a half cups of fruit-flavors, two cups of vegetable flavors, 3 cups of milk flavor, and five and a half ounces of meat-flavors. Think you can pick out the flavors you like? They’re all colorless, Quinton saying artificial food coloring isn’t healthy. Thinking you may like one of the non-fruit flavors? Well let’s just say there’s a reason grains, vegetables, milk, and meat aren’t usually made into jelly beans. And due to its shape it takes up a lot of space and is a hindrance to haul around. Think you can just get one when you’re done Trick-or-treating? Quinton only gives them out during the middle of Halloween night, knowing full well by that time you’d be in the middle of your Trick-or-treating yet not have a full bag.

Alien Aisha's Vending Machine

When it’s just exchanging a Nerkmid for a chance to get a rare item or a gross food many Neopians would do it without a second thought. However when it comes to Halloween, trick-or-treaters may want to think twice before visiting. No one is quite sure what the Alien Aisha’s intentions are with their invention, but what is known that any "food" it gives out will be edible by the broadest sense of the word. There’s already some Gross Foods you could refer to be candy-like, like Mayonnaise Filled Chocolate and Tomato Dipped Chocolate Bar, but for Halloween the Alien Aisha takes this as a chance to try and reverse engineer popular candy with a twist. Already chewed chewing gum, jawbreakers made from hard rocks and metals, salt water flavored taffy, candy glazed corn kernels, jam-filled baked beans, bite-sized candy with teeth; think of a type of candy and the Alien Aisha either have made or can find a way to make its name unappealing. Not to mention you still need to pay a Nerkmid to get a handful of what the Alien Aisha think is a creative reinterpretation of popular candy (at least that’s my theory).

While there are many great trick-or-treating locations in Neopia, some places are better than others; just because they’ll give candy doesn’t mean it’ll be something you want. These are only the most common of these places, there are no doubt plenty of others (along with places you want to ignore as you may lose candy or get hurt). Just be aware, use your judgment, and go in a group (which are also good tips for trick-or-treating just in general). Safe trick-or-treating and have a happy Halloween!