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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think that trick or treating should be confined to your own street or friends/family

407 replies

Moonnstars · 31/10/2025 12:31

Showing my age here, but I remember when I was younger firstly trick or treating wasn't really a thing, but even when it started to become popular it was only your friends and family you called in on. I remember visiting my grandparents and their neighbours (who had been prepared so had sweets in) and then doing the same with my friends family.
Now it seems that people are asking where is the best street to visit, and I even saw today on social media someone saying they are on holiday in the area and where is best to go, happy to drive around to find the best places!

I have my own children who will be out, but we stick to our own street. I also have sweets in to give out, but am I being unreasonable in thinking I shouldn't have to have enough in to supply people coming over from different places and that it should just be people you know or at least living in the same street you hand stuff out to.

Also I do acknowledge some people go all out and advertise their address and want people to visit - however these are often for charity and as for a donation.

YABU - stop being so tight and buy more sweets

YANBU - it is getting out of hand, people should only go to people they know/stay local

OP posts:
Neemie · 31/10/2025 14:54

My mother always thoroughly disapproved of Halloween, so we never did anything. She thought it was unchristian and immoral which always puzzled me as she isn’t at all religious. I suspect she is a bit snobby about it but won’t admit it.

As a result of this it always looked tantalising and great fun so as an adult I have always really enjoyed Halloween.

purplecorkheart · 31/10/2025 14:50

Where I live there are carloads of children/teens dropped off to trick and treat. To be honest I have stopped answering the door. This was after a parent hammered on my door giving out that I did not give her teen money.

Happyjoe · 31/10/2025 14:48

Not so many down South when growing up, nobody I knew went trick or treating at all and my parents certainly couldn't be bothered. When I moved to Leeds for a couple years it was endless, I made the mistake of putting a pumpkin outside and it was a few hours worth of door knocking every few minutes, no way did all those kids live on my street. Am back down South now and I've not done it since, instead I sit with the front lights off and pretend am out..

rainbowunicorn · 31/10/2025 14:48

Zov · 31/10/2025 12:54

Why do some people always come out with this nonsense? 🙄

Trick or Treat does NOT originate from America. Its roots hark back to medieval Europe!

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I know. It is a bit pathetic that they have to show their distaste for anything American at every opportunity. Even when tbey are completely wrong.

Littletreefrog · 31/10/2025 14:45

MollyMollyMandy33 · 31/10/2025 14:44

Or perhaps just a different attitude.
Not everyone wants kids in horrible costumes knocking on their door.
I love children and am certainly not ‘utterly miserable’ but I think Halloween is vile. Just because it’s a ‘big thing in America’ is probably a good reason to limit it here.

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People who don't want kids knocking at the door don't decorate their houses. Never known any kids knock on undecorated houses.

Original poster
Moonnstars · 31/10/2025 14:45

usedtobeaylis · 31/10/2025 14:33

This thread is like a microcosm of a national issue right now. Incomers! Horrifying!

Haha I never thought of it like that!
Maybe it's similar in the idea that while it's fine to accept 'outsiders' there needs to be the infrastructure in place to support it.

OP posts:
AtWitsEnd21 · 31/10/2025 14:44

On a related note I actually saw the height of CF on a centre parks FB group during the week. A poster said something like Hi everyone myself and the kids will be going out trick or treating soon. Feel free to drop into our lodge number xx we have plenty of treats. Safe to say people were appalled in the comments, when asked why he was trick or treating on Wednesday when Halloween wasn’t until Friday he responded with well we will be gone home on Friday and wanted the kids to have the experience. The CFery knows no bounds!

Noiamnotalison · 31/10/2025 14:44

Follow the pumpkin rule and everything’s grand. I took my kids out and then in recent years we’ve dished out the treats. This year we have an elderly relative staying and she will not manage the confusion of the door keep knocking so we’re giving it a miss. No biggie.

MollyMollyMandy33 · 31/10/2025 14:44

Notmyreality · 31/10/2025 12:42

What a load of rubbish. You go as far as you want. What do you want - a law debated in Parliament?
And we were tricked or treating in the 80s so I don’t now what you are on about.
We spent years in America where obviously Halloween is a big thing and the whole thing was fantastic as bringing the community together, meeting neighbours you don’t normally speak to. Quite frankly the polar opposite of the utterly miserable attitude in the UK.

Or perhaps just a different attitude.
Not everyone wants kids in horrible costumes knocking on their door.
I love children and am certainly not ‘utterly miserable’ but I think Halloween is vile. Just because it’s a ‘big thing in America’ is probably a good reason to limit it here.

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 31/10/2025 14:43

No but I don’t think it should be able to start during working hours!

5 pm absolute earliest but ideally not to start until about 6.

Original poster
Moonnstars · 31/10/2025 14:42

ContentedAlpaca · 31/10/2025 14:27

I guess if they are lucky enough to have been taken on holiday then I feel that their parents should be giving them sweets or whatever.

I don't think it's about the sweets. Have you seen how cheap haribos are? I'm sure they get plenty of sweets! I can't imagine kids being too excited about yet another tube of love hearts or swizzles.
It's about the excitement of knocking and people making a fuss of them.
It's about being out and about when they normally wouldn't be and the festive atmosphere of passing other people in the street.

For the teenagers, they wonder each year if they might be too old and it's about doing something that's part of childhood one last time. I love making a fuss of the awkward teenagers, they're my favourites.

Edited

Is it though?
Photos on social media are all about look how much my kids collected.
Even my own kids want to go out so they get more sweets even though I have said we can just get some to have at home. I don't think many children would say they just want to go and view the decorations, and I expect if there wasn't the knocking on the house to get something then they wouldn't want to do it.

OP posts:
Vodkamartini3olives · 31/10/2025 14:41

@Cherryicecreamx- it's really a lot of fun before a long cold winter. The whole neighborhood will be out. The local police & fire trucks will show up. Some houses will have BBQ & hot drinks (something special for the grow ups!) It brings the community together and God knows we need it right now.

GRCP · 31/10/2025 14:41

How do you propose this rule would be enforced? Would you ask for a council tax bill as evidence of address?

LaddersAndLadders · 31/10/2025 14:41

usedtobeaylis · 31/10/2025 14:38

I'd rather teenagers sharing a mask came round for a sweet than the things I got up to at Halloween as a teenager thats for sure😂

🤣😬

AintNobodyHereButUsChickens · 31/10/2025 14:41

We walk to a nearby housing estate that’s always busy and a lot of people decorate. No-one on our street takes part so we go elsewhere. I don’t really see the issue!

Lakeyloo · 31/10/2025 14:39

Chesticles · 31/10/2025 12:45

I am conflicted by this every year. about 10 years ago my street was very into halloween. We all decorated, and there was lots of local kids coming round. However about 5 years ago it got too much, there were people coming from miles, literally minibuses of them. I was giving out hundreds of sweets, (funsize mars bars) and I counted afterwards one year I gave out 180. It was actually unpleasant as there was just a constant queue at the door, and about 50% of people didn't even say thanks, or have a joke or anything. I ended up feeling a bit mugged.

I've given up now. My kids are older, as are a lot of the other kids in the street. However I feel sad for the younger kids in the street as they don't get to experience the fun my kids had. I feel a bit of a grinch, do I really begrudge giving kids sweets? But when it stops being fun, and is just a chore for me, then yes I do. Its lights out at mine tonight.

@Chesticles we have exactly this situation in our village. It was so much fun and most of the houses got involved. The local paper would give a prize for the best house but people cottoned on from neighbouring towns and it all got a bit out of hand. We got through 300 small packets of sweets last year in under an hour 😳We had collection buckets for a local children's hospice and someone set up a just giving page but barely any donations. Happy to wander round looking at all the fabulous displays and take the sweets that the residents were happy to pay for out of their pockets though. Cars parked over peoples drives or in ridiculous places. If you were trying to get home from work at 5.30/6 it was chaos ! Lots of people have said they aren't bothering this year ....... I know there will be moans on social media tomorrow about how disappointing trick or treating was in Lakeyloos village this year.
Hopefully it will fizzle out and we can keep it low key in future. Shame as it's lovely seeing the children all dressed up. The little ones were so cute but the groups of older children without adult supervision were a bit grabby and rude.
I won't even start about the empty sweet wrappers and rubbish all over the place the next morning.

usedtobeaylis · 31/10/2025 14:38

I'd rather teenagers sharing a mask came round for a sweet than the things I got up to at Halloween as a teenager thats for sure😂

Negroany · 31/10/2025 14:38

I think a bit of both. I live in a village and like too see the village kids doing it, not that I know any of them. And I have decorated and had sweets most years.

But I know people drive in from other areas because we have a good community. And last year I actually got sick of it after about fifty knocks. So I'm not doing it this year.

LaddersAndLadders · 31/10/2025 14:36

Don't be greedy - stick to your own street if you can or if going with relatives or friends then their street. One adult stays behind to answer door while other brings kids around.

No decorations up then don't knock. No dress up no knocking especially teenagers - a mask between 5 of you ain't going to cut it - but of course they are always kind exceptions to all of this.

usedtobeaylis · 31/10/2025 14:35

popcornandpotatoes · 31/10/2025 13:36

The thing is, when you were a child you only have a memory or perception of what your family did or what was done locally. Trick or treating was a thing where I grew up, first in a block of flats we would go around to neighbours and then on our street. It died out as all the kids on the road got older. We couldn't go around to family we didn't live near them.

We're very lucky where we live. It's a new build estate lots of young families, rule is don't knock if no decorations out. DD loves it

It was actually more of a 'thing' when I was a kid than it is now. You always went door to door and got sweets and there were usually pumpkins or swedes at the doors - there are more decorations now but that's just an extension of the pumpkins I'd say. Anyway when I was younger you had to do your turn to get a sweet, you couldn't just turn up at a door and not do your joke. There were also always houses where adults were dressed up and you were invited in to dook for apples etc.

Merryoldgoat · 31/10/2025 14:35

I don’t get the misery of some people. They want rules and limits on anything remotely fun - like seeing kids have fun is something we should take care doesn’t happen too often.

I have sweets - I give them out until they’re finished to whoever knocks, whether it’s a parent with a baby in a pumpkin inside to a teen with a bin liner cloak.

Cherryicecreamx · 31/10/2025 14:34

RubySquid · 31/10/2025 14:26

Its really cool actually. I was lucky enough to see tge Halloween parade in NYC. ( feet schedule like hell afterwards) and fantastic decorations everywhere

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Oh wow! It's going on the list! Didn't even think of a parade, it looks so much fun. Puts us to shame over here 🙈

usedtobeaylis · 31/10/2025 14:33

This thread is like a microcosm of a national issue right now. Incomers! Horrifying!

Littletreefrog · 31/10/2025 14:31

I think it would be really said if it was relatives, friends and neighbours only. We have no trick or treating age kids in my friends group, relatives or neighbours but I have decorated the house and got sweets in ready for trick or treaters (I hope we get some this is our first year in this house). It's a fun friendly community thing to do.

Sez1990 · 31/10/2025 14:29

In my little town the kids only knock the doors of people who have decorations up/pumpkins outside or who have added their address to a little map. I think it’s a good way of doing things.

But I think Halloween is getting out of hand, there were pumpkins in the shops on 1st October, bet they’re all rotten now! Although a house up my road has already got a light up “Merry Christmas” sign in the window and a dressed Christmas tree in the living room, so I guess people just want to enjoy things for as long as possible