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Original poster

Am I right in thinking this was a bit creepy?

96 replies

FinnMcMissile · 31/10/2019 20:20

I took DS(5) trick or treating tonight at hus request. Lots of houses decorated, nice atmosphere. On the way back home we passed a house that was well decorated- must have had about 8 pumpkins lit up outside. An old man was standing in the window holding a pumpkin and staring out. It seemed creepy and don't ask me why we didn't just walk straight past. Anyway, man answers door and DS says "trick or treat". Man says in a creepy voice "what kind of tricks do you have?". DS didn't know what to say, the man asked a couple more times about tricks and then gave DS a treat. As we were leaving he said "do you like my pumpkins?"

I don't know why I didn't say to him that he was being weird and creepy. British awkwardness I guess.

OP posts:

notangelinajolie · 31/10/2019 22:28

I usually make an effort and throw up a few cobwebs and put a pumpkin or 2 on the porch but this year I decided to give it a miss. My kids are too old to go trick or treating and tbh I got fed up of the number of children who would knock at the door and literally just stand there with a blank expression, buckets held out expecting sweets. No 'trick or treat' and half the time not even a 'please or thank you' God forbid I spoke to any of them!

Poor man - he was trying to make conversation.

Grinchly · 31/10/2019 22:34

I had hordes of noisy children going past down the road this evening, although it does seem the pumpkin on display thing is now accepted code, so they don't actually knock here anymore, thankfully.

Really hate it as it used to completely terrify my dear old girl dog with the multiple visitors up the drive, the constant door knocking and the hysterical shrieking. It's so intrusive.

And tonight I took my young rescue dog out when I thought the coast was clear, only for her to be completely traumatised by a kid prancing about in some sort of reflective suit.

Later, driving through another part of town, my car was hit by an egg or stink bomb, hurled from a bus stop.

The whole thing is getting wildly out of hand. Plastic tat, commercialisation. It was never a thing when I was a child ( NW) . Penny for the guy on bonfire night and that was it.

Yappy12 · 31/10/2019 22:35

I think you should report him OP. They'll surround his house with armed cops and charge in and free all those kids that he has tied up in his basement. It'll be on the news in the morning.

Interested in this thread?

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Events & celebrations

LittleCandle · 31/10/2019 22:51

Yep, I insisted on the kids who came to the door tonight to do a turn. We only had 2 lots and both were neighbour's kids (I think - never actually met the first neighbour!) and the wee girl was somewhat surprised to be asked, but nonetheless came up with a joke to earn her treat. The other lot were arranged by the neighbour. Two jokes and a song (three kids) later and they went away very happy. I'm Scottish, too.

NewYoiker · 31/10/2019 23:18

You need to get a grip!

popcornpaws · 01/11/2019 00:45

In Scotland, when i was young we went out guising, the person who answered the door was asked, do you want any guisers?
We would then be invited in to the house where we had to sing, tell jokes etc
We used to pen our own songs and practise them for weeks before!
It was a hard gig back in the day!!
If we had chapped a door and expected treats for simply being dressed up i reckon we would have been told to bugger off!

popcornpaws · 01/11/2019 00:49

Oh i forgot the point, yabu!!
Get into the sprit of it or stay home!

managedmis · 01/11/2019 01:01

There was one on here earlier, some random woman said to a kid 'oh you're ten, a big lad' and his mother starts a thread about it

What is wrong with folks

Redglitter · 01/11/2019 01:24

Ffs the mans gone to the bother of decorating his house, carving a pumpkin arranging sweets and getting into the spirit of the night by acting creepy and you think its inappropriate??

I think you've kinda missed the point of Halloween. Do the man a favour and avoid him next year and let people who appreciate his effort get the benefit 🙄

OctoberLovers · 01/11/2019 01:32

When i use to trick or treat (28 years ago)
Alot of people use to say "Trick"

I would say, 'im gonna come back at midnight and haunt you"

They use to jokily shiver or look scared and run and get sweets.... All in the spirit....

OctoberLovers · 01/11/2019 01:35

That was London

Fabatfortysomething · 01/11/2019 01:43

Is this thread for real?? Please tell me it's a shit attempt at a piss take.

OP you have some VERY bizarre views on halloween/guising.

O think the poor bloke was.probably a bit spoiled by you and your attitude. You seem to be right off the mark of what it's all about.

Perhaps next year read up on on what the Halloween and guiding traditions are and familiarise yourself with what other locals do.

I don't actually think your serious. I think you're trying to get some.kind of reaction on this thread. It's just all a bit off and wierd.

Namaste6 · 01/11/2019 02:57

Well this thread has been a complete education. Another Scot who is used to the evening being about decorating the front of your house, and having the kids do a little song, joke or party piece to earn their treat. I too remember turnips, dooking for apples and guising. It used to be a penny for the guy. Then it Americanised and became pumpkins and trick or treat. Throwing eggs at doors or letting down car tires - eh?!

HolyChickpea · 01/11/2019 06:21

I wish we'd encountered this man last night, he sounds great! The scariest thing we got was a front door opening wide then a boy jumping out from behind it saying "boo". The rest of the time it was just us walking around houses with pumpkins outside collecting sweets. The children enjoyed it but that's not what Halloween is to me.

lottiegarbanzo · 01/11/2019 09:15

In England, it didn't 'become' trick or treat, having previously been guising. It was never guising. That's a separate Scottish tradition.

It was trick or treat in my part of northern England 35-40 years ago. That's not a (recent) American import. 'Turnip' (swede) lanterns certainly.

As far as I'm aware though, the export of guising to North America (let's not forget Canada, eh!) explains the diverse 'any dressing up costume' tradition there. Even if they haven't stuck with the performance element.

If someone, here in England, asked for a 'trick' meaning a turn, the dcs and portentially the person asking, would be quite surprised.

lottiegarbanzo · 01/11/2019 09:16

We had some creepier and scarier 'house hosts' than this one though!

SarahNade · 03/11/2019 09:28

It is trick or treat. Hence the saying. Why do you assume everyone just gives out treats? Some people do say trick, and you can show them some trick or say a joke (there are heaps of halloween-type ones) or you can throw toilet paper on their car or porch or something.

I think you've forgotten that it is TRICK or treating, so it's best that you actually prepare you DS because as it stands, he just assumes everyone will give him treats, and that is not realistic, that is not the who point of Halloween. He doesn't even understand the phrase "trick or treat" because you clearly have not explained it to him. He obviously doesn't understand because you have misled him. Properly explain what the phrase trick or treat means, to avoid awkwardness next year. He shouldn't be partaking in something that he doesn't understand.

As for the guy, um...... it is Halloween. The ENTIRE POINT is to be as creepy as possible!!

Adversecamber22 · 03/11/2019 10:45

Holychickpea hope you like this.

My Mother was on stage so my childhood had many dressing up eccentric elements in it and I have a history of costume making. One year at Halloween I was dressed as a faceless bride with a huge fake knife. Many people said it was the most scary costume they had ever seen. I made a headless corpse and sat him in the hall with a beer in his lifeless hand. I joked to Mums that I had murdered my DH as he had refused to do the washing up. DS has also shoved a dismembered fake arm through the letterbox before when people knock. We did manage to genuinely scare some people. We have a row of small conifers in our front garden and we spent ages covering them in fake spider webs. I have been in bed for a week really unwell so missed it all this year. DH was going to give out stuff but we decided it was unfair to pass out stuff from a genuine house of plague. We get about 50 kids usually.

GeePipe · 03/11/2019 11:17

Wow where i am from (small town south england) trick or treat is where the person in the house gets to decide to either give trick or treaters a trick or a treat. So you might put out your hand for sweets and get cold spaghetti or a toy frog on your hand instead or you may be made to do something like put your hand in a mystrry box filled with tricks and treats.

lottiegarbanzo · 03/11/2019 11:36

Whaaat? That's... different. It's the trick or treaters who pose the question 'trick or treat?' and the householder who chooses. They give a treat, or get a trick.

How did the 'are you going to give us a trick or a treat?' interpretation come about? Why would children ask that question? They're the ones dressed up as menacing spirits of the night, threatening tricks. Oh, this has become so complicated!

Nicolastuffedone · 03/11/2019 12:13

So how does trick or treating go now? Do you just turn up and are given a treat? When I was going out ‘guising’ you were expected to sing/ tell a joke etc before you were given a treat (monkey nuts usually

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