By Rebecca Houg, staff writer

Halloween is all about being a kid. It&8217;s a day of excitement and anticipation. It&8217;s a night of magic and mystery. This Halloween was no different.

Laynee, 4, and her brother Josh, 2, of Albert Lea were out trick-or-treating with their parents.

Laynee was a fetching Princess Fiona, in ogre form, with her face painted green. Her dad, Jay, was her counterpart, playing the role of Shrek. An equally neat duo were her brother, Josh, dressed as Kermit the Frog and her mom, Tracy, as Miss Piggy.

&8220;It&8217;s just fun to see their faces. They enjoy this holiday a lot,&8221; Jay said. &8220;That&8217;s the greatest, just seeing their smile.&8221;

Carol Peterson, assistant manager at Schweser&8217;s, handed out candy to children Tuesday evening at the Northbridge Mall&8217;s Mall-O-Ween.

&8220;This is their night to have fun. I like kids and watching them. They&8217;re cute,&8221; Peterson said.

Hundreds of children, dressed as fairies, devils, pirates, grim reapers and most any characters imaginable, filed through the mall last night.

&8220;We can have anywhere between 800 to 1,000 kids. It just depends on the weather,&8221; said Gary Balfe, owner of Electric Beach. &8220;Sometimes I have to go buy more candy.&8221;

Seven-year-old Destiny Shuck of Emmons was dressed as a vampire with her parents and brother Dylan.

&8220;There&8217;s a lot of people here and you get to see the costumes. And you get the candy, my favorite,&8221; Destiny said.

Jayden Hammer, 5, of Albert Lea was looking adorable in her Tinkerbell costume that night.

&8220;I like the candy. I get a lot of it,&8221; Jayden said.

When asked what candy was her favorite, the petite, green fairy pulled out a Kit Kat.

There were plenty of the traditional costumes, but little Tyler Heimsness got creative when he put a twist on his Superman costume.

&8220;I&8217;m Superman Zombie,&8221; said Tyler.

Red painted hair framed his face, which sported some of the best makeup to be seen that night, with realistic looking scars and sunken looking eyes.

With the temperature dipping down to 25 degrees by 9:30 p.m. the mall for many was a comfortable alternative to hoofing it down the sidewalk from home to home.

&8220;They have fun. It&8217;s easier and it&8217;s kind of cold this year,&8221; said Mary Groess, who brought five of her grandchildren to Mall-O-Ween.

Some ghosts and goblins still braved the chilly night air and roamed the streets to collect their loot the old-fashioned way. Many homes in Albert Lea were left with extra candy.

Luke Olson, 10, Carter Rogness, 10 were trick-or-treating before they planned on going to a movie at their church.