I grew up on the west side of Detroit and most of my memories from this time of year had to do with the week prior to Halloween [[devils week, if you will).
Although we were not arsonists, people learned to expect some kind of shenanigans from the neighborhood kids not only on Devils night but several nights before.
If you parked your car on the street you could wake up with your windows being totally soaped. Ringing doorbells and taking off was a common occurance. My brother and I used to get on top of our roof with the hose and squirt anyone brave enough to ring our doorbell or soap our windows. It was cool to go out trick or treating the next night and see all of the trees filled with streams of toilet paper.
There was the usual bunch of egg throwers and crazies but it was all in fun. There would literally be groups of kids walking around that night and if you were smart you kept all of your lights on.
We did not have the burning houses in our neighborhood and I would never condone such a stupid act. I believe that happened more on the east side where you were most likely to find an abandoned house.
It's crazy to think of all of the hijinks we were responsible for and then to come around the next day and expect those same victims to give us candy. I guess the tricks always came first.
Nowadays, I am careful about telling my two sons my exploits when I was young for fear that they may repeat it but I still look at those memories and smile.