Most Americans say Halloween is one of the country's least important holidays, but they also think it's not just a holiday for kids.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only six percent (6%) of adults think Halloween is one of the year's most important holidays, while 53% rate it as one of the least important. Thirty-nine percent (39%) place it somewhere in between.

But 52% also say the holiday best known for trick-or-treating is for both children and adults. Forty percent (40%) say Halloween is for children only.

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The continuing sorry economy appears to be taking its toll on Halloween this year as it has on other holidays.

This Halloween, 31% of adults say they’ll be spending their time passing out candy, but that's down nine points from last year. Eighteen percent (18%) will be taking children trick-or-treating to get some of that candy, compared to 26% last October. Ten percent (10%) plan to attend a Halloween party, while only two percent (2%) are going to watch horror movies that night.

Thirty-one percent (21%) don't plan anything special for the holiday, and eight percent (8%) aren’t sure what they're going to do.

Adults without children at home (37%) are much more likely to pass out candy to ghouls and boys than those living with children (24%). Thirty-five percent (35%) of those living with children plan to take the kids trick-or-treating.

However, just 17% of all adults say they plan to dress up for Halloween. That's an eight-point drop from last year.

Thirty-two percent (32%) say they will decorate their house for Halloween, down 12 points from a year ago.
Nine-out-of-10 plan to spend $100 or less on candy, costumes and decorations this year, with the majority (67%) spending $25 or less. Last October, only 58% planned to spend $25 or less on all their Halloween purchases.

Twenty-eight percent (28%) of adults admit to having been a victim of a Halloween prank, up five points from last year. Men are nearly twice as likely as women to have been tricked this way.

Not everyone thinks seeing ghosts is some kind of trick, though. Twenty-three percent (23%) of adults, after all, believe in ghosts.

Overall, 19% feel the Halloween season comes too early, but 61% disagree and another 19% aren’t sure.

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