Trick or Treat - AIBU

We do decorate and had several. But by 7:30 we hadn’t had anyone in over an hour. So candle blown out in pumpkin and lights off. Just had someone banging on the door 2 mins ago 🙄 unfortunately it went ignored.

@Doseofreality it's a bit late now but most local councils or police forces provide official posters to stick on your front door saying "no trick or treating here".
Next year - get one.
(or even get one now if there's a likelihood of having weekend ones).

Had over 100, I know as I made up 100 bags of sweets, have now had to break out the tub of individual chocolates, all sweet bags gone.

Some of the "kids" looked old enough to drive to be honest, definitely should call it a day when you are taller than the parents answering the door (or too young to walk/speak). Just my opinion!

Not to mention the kids just dressed in jeans and a hoodie without even a cheap mask. In my day we had a whole skit rehearsed with singing, recorder playing, dancing, everything! And it was "guising" then, it was common to get money as well as sweets, and we had turnip lanterns. Don't think I ever saw a pumpkin lantern in my youth (Scotland).

It's not like that where I live. Every house is knocked at, decorated or not.

They are horrible Chancers then OP

YANBU at all

I partook this Year, as I usually do, but I would hope that when the time comes that I no longer partake, people would leave me Be.

Didn't do sweets this year as my youngest 2 are quite unwell.
After 15 knocks on the door I was bundling them in the car, and a group of kids tried to get in my house. Youngsters, but no pumpkins, no main lights on, nothing to say we would be doing Halloween.

I guess it's better than last year tho, my neighbour was getting to the door and some kids kicked her pumpkin to pieces whilst shouting we know you're in there! .... Nice.

YANBU! Love Halloween and trick or treating, but the knocking on houses that are clearly not doing anything is rude and annoying!

I feel the Trick is under used these days! Apart from the one guy on our estate who stood outside his house dressed as Michael Myers and chasing the kids as they picked their treats! What a great sport!

I could hear the cheeky little buggers outside my house shouting "WE WANT SWEETS!"

I didnt answer my door. They can do one. No pumpkins or decorations here either and still knocking

Was just saying this to DH. When I did it in the 80s it was every door as nobody decorated outside then. We also had a washing up liquid bottle full of water to squirt for the trick if no treats were given!! It was so much fun running from houses after squirting and not being able to breathe from laughing so much. These days we’d be given ASBOs!

I am no fan of trick or treating and, thankfully, it doesn't happen where I live.

However, as it obviously does happen in your area, I agree there should be no door knocking if you don't have any Halloween decs up. I would be inclined to have no lights on at the front so it looks as though you are out.

I agree and I love trick or treaters! But some people aren't in a position to answer or just not into it. I wouldn't go on decorations really as sometimes we wouldn't have those, but if the door isn't lit up and curtains closed it's just a house to skip and onto the next.

I think we must live with some very well behaved children - they all do their trick or treating between 5pm and 7pm and then it's silent outside and they only knock on decorated houses, leaving others (including mine which has the porch light lit automatically) alone.

With a barky, anxious dog, I am very grateful for their consideration!

Took my DDs this evening and only knocked on doors that were decorated or pumpkins.

Some went REALLY over the top this year. One had a smoke machine that went off just as she walked up to the door and my DD10 absolutely shit herself. It was hilarious!

To add she also found it funny once she got over the shock. I'm not a terrible mother I promise 🙈🤣

Never heard of that. When I was a child most people let us in. A few didn't. They either ignored the door or answered and turned us away. I remember it being said that a lantern outside the door meant they wanted us, but I never remember seeing one. Most people seemed to enjoy the experience and had stocked up on fruit, nuts, confectionery of all kinds and sometimes had made toffee apples or tablet. Of course the 'entertainment' we provided was probably terrible but they listened patiently. We went out as soon as it got dark, stopping at 9pm. We got round about 30 houses in that time. I remember once 2 American children didn't realise we had to sing a song or recite a poem, and they just said trick or treat but they were given their rewards the same as us. We called it guising and it was huge. If you don't want to let in guisers or trick or treaters as they're now called, just ignore the bangs. Only one night in the year.

Around here the unwritten rule is to only knock on the decorated/lit pumpkin houses.
However, it has been really quiet this evening. I suspect it's because a lot of families went to organised events last weekend (saw lots of kids in costumes). The last few years I've had more than a dozen knocks. Tonight it's been four - and my house is heavily decorated!
As a child (mostly early 90s) it was a free for all. Most people didn't door knock on but if you did you tried every house where it looked like someone was in.

Where I live it has always been the rule that you only knock on doors where there are pumpkins and/or decorations. I don't understand why it's so difficult for some to understand as surely you can't expect to get treats from every single person in a town/village.

Wow I was nine 30 years ago and noone decorated their houses so back then we did just knock on every house that looked like it had people home. We must have grown up in very different estates. Mine being benefit/working class council estate.

When we came up to do bath time I left the remaining sweets on the doorstep in a bowl. Not had a single knock at the door since. From the ring doorbell notifications I've had I can see the kids saying the bowl is empty and walking straight to next door, who have no decorations up, and can hear them knocking! So hoy an empty bowl outside, works a treat!

Decorated houses only.

I saw a video a shortwhile ago, was for comedy purposes only and it was a bloke who put an empty bowl on his doorstep, saying "only take one", once gone, they are gone! Perhaps try this OP! 😆

I do agree though that parents should teach their kids manners and not approach undecorated houses and no you should not have to sit in the dark and you really should not have to put out an empty bowl preceeding it's been emptied by previous trick or treaters!

Same here. Even with the decorated homes, if the pumpkin lights are off, you don't knock.

The kids around my area are very good. One group were a bit cheeky, rifling through the bucket (clearly displeased with the selection) and asking if there was any Dairy Milk, but they said thank you and Happy Halloween, so hardly anything terrible.

Let me guess who the ones are who don't follow this reasonable unwritten rule. Children of parents who park their SUVs on double yellow lines or dangerous corners. Or those who never accept their child misbehaves.

I wouldn't be marking my house up as having a person with a disability in it.

There was someone posting on a thread last night who decorated but didn’t do trick or treating. They didn’t get that decorating meant please knock.