Do people not understand Halloween etiquette re trick or treating?

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I thought the rule was you only knock on doors where there are obvious decorations or lit pumpkins - basically an invitation to come?

We usually do it and have lots of sweets but I just didn’t feel up to it this year. Teen dd has gone out and it’s just me at home. No decorations at all. And some kids have just come knocking. Have now had to turn lights off at the font to make it look like no one is home!

@Divebar2021

www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/10/a-sinister-history-of-halloween-pranks/264127/

It seems that trick or treating is a way of keeping them sweet with bribes.

Honestly someone moaning about children telling bad jokes is utter misery. We’re going to fall off the edge of the world with how utterly miserable some people are.

Whitefire funny you should say we knocked on the neighbours on our road and they were so pleased spoke to the kids for quite a bit and said it's lovely to see the community out and it's shame it doesn't happen more often and they were elderly said they didn't have many trick and treaters. My dad also enjoys giving sweets out.

I'm more offended by the kids saying Can we have candy? whatever happened to Trick or Treat.

If you live in a nice area where everyones polite, unwritten rules are adhered to, lovely, fabulous... have at it.

No one comes down my street anyway here but my previous house, there were no adorable little cherubs with cute outfits saying 'trick or treat' sweetly, or telling a joke or anything.

What there was.. was strapping 6ft teenagers sharing one 'Scream' mask between them, hands out demanding CASH... with a box of fireworks or a bag of eggs or just a half brick... pay up or else.

Even the little kids wanted cash not sweets, some where even brought round by parents and when you offered sweets it was 'can't they have a quid each instead'....

Some folk have got damn good reason to be uncomfortable with trick or treaters!

What there was.. was strapping 6ft teenagers sharing one 'Scream' mask between them, hands out demanding CASH... with a box of fireworks or a bag of eggs or just a half brick... pay up or else.

If a strapping 6 foot tall teen knocks on your door demanding money and threatening you with bricks phone the police as you would on any other day of the year. I don’t think this is common even in ‘bad’ areas. I’ve lived in lots of bad areas and in all of them if someone holds a brick over your head and demands money that’s being mugged not trick or treating.

@Kanaloa

What there was.. was strapping 6ft teenagers sharing one 'Scream' mask between them, hands out demanding CASH... with a box of fireworks or a bag of eggs or just a half brick... pay up or else.

If a strapping 6 foot tall teen knocks on your door demanding money and threatening you with bricks phone the police as you would on any other day of the year. I don’t think this is common even in ‘bad’ areas. I’ve lived in lots of bad areas and in all of them if someone holds a brick over your head and demands money that’s being mugged not trick or treating.

A couple of years ago we had teenagers ring our bell - which we ignored. They threw a rock through one of the glass panels of the front door. The police weren't interested. Said there was nothing they could do as they were wearing masks.

Yup, police where I lived at the time weren't interested, if they showed up, it'd be 3 days later (as they did the day someone smashed my window with a baseball bat, having mistaken my house for someone elses) and they'll tell you nothing they can do, even if you give them names, there's no proof, they had a mask on/hoodies over faces.

The point is, you don't know until you open the door, if its a mugger or a cute kid in an outfit - for those of us who HAVE lived with such occurances, it does make us somewhat less enthusiastic about the whole thing!

Thats fair enough..dont be so miserable

@weebarra

Also, very few people are arriving with a joke, song or other turn. We're in Scotland and this is definitely a tradition. My 13 year old is on door answering duty and he's horrified by the lack of jokes!

Had this "argument" with my neighbour and her child last night. It's guising and you need a turn 🙄🙄😂

I love Halloween, but this year we're all fluey.

I am known for my love of Halloween.

I got some sweets and made up parcels for a few local kids. I put a note on my FB status and a note on my gate.

Honestly I was unaware of this when my kids were younger but if the lights were not on in the windows, I would not stop naturally.

My suggestion would be to put a sign on your door that you are not participating in Halloween.

Honestly someone moaning about children telling bad jokes is utter misery. We’re going to fall off the edge of the world with how utterly miserable some people are.

To me it's far more mean spirited to insist upon children doing a turn, especially when some may have special needs or be extremely shy. I'm happy to give sweets to any child. They don't have to behave like performing monkeys in order to "earn" it.

Scottish here and never make the kids tell a joke . Just hand the sweets over

I'm in Scotland- children are not "forced to perform", they can if they want to.
Most of the kids at the door last night were very enthusiastic and desperate to do their "turn"

Are you serious? Where are you from? Because in England we don’t all have lit pumpkins or decorate everywhere we just leave the lights on to let people know they can come knock on door and get some treats lol.. if we don’t want anyone we leave the lights off but past decade I think most ppl leave lights off as they don’t bother for Halloween but at the end of the day kids are still gonna knock at the door they’re kids that’s what kids do they don’t all understand that because your house isn’t covered in decorations or whatever that they can’t knock on your door. I bought loads of goodies and had 2 kids come the door all night most don’t bother anymore it’s a shame

Oh maybe leave a big note on your door next year? 😃

Same here. I had a sign on the door saying that we weren’t joining in and they were still knocking! Then the usual knock knockers ringing the doorbell and running off. I have an 18 month that old I was trying to put to bed hence the note 😡🤬

@ShabsLovesTiff

Are you serious? Where are you from? Because in England we don’t all have lit pumpkins or decorate everywhere we just leave the lights on to let people know they can come knock on door and get some treats lol.. if we don’t want anyone we leave the lights off but past decade I think most ppl leave lights off as they don’t bother for Halloween but at the end of the day kids are still gonna knock at the door they’re kids that’s what kids do they don’t all understand that because your house isn’t covered in decorations or whatever that they can’t knock on your door. I bought loads of goodies and had 2 kids come the door all night most don’t bother anymore it’s a shame

Im in SE England, and it's pretty common knowledge locally that you only knock if there's a pumpkin/decorations.

A few people reiterated this on our local FB group over the weekend.

I'm in Scotland- children are not "forced to perform", they can if they want to.

I'm in Scotland too. I know that some kids enjoy it and others don't. I'm talking about the posters on here who say that they refuse children a sweet unless they do a "turn".

We printed a poster off our council web site saying we were not participating this year, no one knocked, though to be fair there aren't that many children around here

Had anyone been on the receiving end of a trick so far this year?

Never heard of doing a turn for sweets...our mum never let us do Trick or Treat when we were kids but we do it with DS now he's a bit older (11).

TBH it was foul weather last night, and we just walked around our neighbouring streets for 30 minutes, took some friends a little bag of presents and called by at a house where there were candles and a poster saying Trick or Treaters Wecome. We had a nice chat to a family we hadn't met who lived up the street. People we met said they were sorry not to have had more kids calling round.

DS got a little bag of chocs they had made up and a handful of sweets at our friend's door. Everyone was happy!

@HoldingTheDoor oh I’m a good witch, I give sweets to all. Even the teens, who get moaned at for trying to grow up too fast, moaned at for dressing up. But I do enjoy the bad jokes the best

I usually get random kids ringing my close bell. This year, the note on the door said "crabby crone is saving her money. Find someone else to guise at and don't ever come back". Nobody rang my bell. Result!