Shedding a little daylight on trick-or-treating

This year with Daylight Savings Time ending after Halloween instead of before, trick-or-treaters will benefit from having more light as they travel from house to house that evening. Motorists and homeowners will also be able to better see the ghosts, goblins and superheroes prowling about.

Even so, you should keep safety in mind as you plan your family's costumes. The leading danger on Halloween isn't tainted candy; it's the risk of pint-sized pedestrians tripping over their costumes -- or getting hit by cars that fail to see them in their dark cloaks and gowns. Costume flammability remains an issue as evidenced by a cape recalled last season for not meeting flammability standards. And fire from unattended candles can result in a Halloween horror. We've covered these tips before but they bear repeating each season.

And while we don't want to give you a fright about all your holiday preparations, we'd like to remind parents about ways to safely carve a pumpkin, which can be tricky if you use the wrong tools. At Consumer Reports, we tested several kits and found they can reduce the risk of accidentally getting cut.