Little spider men and a black cat stood among children gathered at Northern View apartments Sunday night, hoping to get a taste of a Halloween tradition.

The children first gathered in the community center, 1 Northern View Circle, where NIU student organizations set up tables to give away candy.

“We think it’s a good idea to support the families of Northern View,” said Debbie Rempfer, account technician for the NIU financial aid office, who staffed one of the tables.

After the kids went around to all the tables, they began going in groups to the apartments themselves to trick-or-treat.

Groups left every half hour, accompanied by a Northern View staff member, said Andrea Myrick, community development assistant for Northern View.

The trip from the community center to the apartments was exciting for some of the children.

“Come in the building,” said Jack Mosley, a young participant, as his group approached the apartments. “We’re going trick or treating. Come on!”

The children knocked on a few participating apartments on each floor.

The apartments which were giving out candy were marked with a paper pumpkin on their door, said Tobi Alao, staff assistant at Northern View.

The children went door to door, collecting their candy.

“We’re knocking on doors,” said Josh Mosley, father of one of the participants. “It’s good that they’re handing it out to kids from the neighborhood.”

Among the participants were the Blakeley family, who all had different ideas on what makes a good Halloween.

“Halloween is all about getting a lot of candy,” said Jessi Blakeley.

For others, like Sarah Blakeley, trick-or-treating itself was more fun than just getting candy.

“A good Halloween is when you trick-or-treat and carve a lot of pumpkins.” said Josiah Blakeley.

For some of the children, this was their first trick-or-treating experience.

“This was a good experience for her first Halloween,” said Tiffani Scott, mother of one of the trick-or-treaters. “She even got to pick up her own candy.”