Tricked for not treating.

[ToadRage]

Just curious, this has never happened to me but just was curious if anyone had been tricked for not treating or not answering the door on Halloween? The only one i had heard about was before I was born one of my parents neighbours had all the plants in their garden pulled up, she was devastated. Once a toddler who didn't quite understand trick or treating sprayed silly string at my Mum so he didn't get a treat.

I think the asking for a joke/song guest is area dependent I don’t think it’s to do with adults being smug? In Scotland that’s how they used to do it. (No idea if they still do as I don’t live there now). So if you’re an older adult from Scotland asking for the song or joke would be perfectly normal not “smug”.

Is that still a thing in places? We used to be feral on mischief night in the 80s, but not even heard of it for years.

They didn’t need any tools. It just lifted off. In those days it was just children from our street so they knew we didn’t have pets or small children.

A friend’s house got egged on Halloween when I was a kid but not sure if that was in response to no treat or she’d had a falling out (or both). There has never been an expectation for a performance from the knockers around here, and no one knocks your door if you don’t have decorations or pumpkins outside, so no need for any tricks

OK, that's not so bad, then.

Oh wow! I’d have loved this. Well done to your Son. That’s fabulous.

used to be eggs and silly string in the 90s but I don’t think it happens any more

Never heard of this before. No grief from my refusal to participate in this excuse to get you to spend more money.

25 years ago, got our car egged for not answering the door, but that was in the days when it was teenagers rather than tinies. It has a different atmosphere now I think.

@Aethelred My Dad and his best mate (probably late 50's/ early 60's time) used to lift people's gates off their hinges and run off down the road with them. They would also put lit paper up people's (then metal) drainpipes which would make a roaring noise in their houses. I'm not sure if this was Halloween though or generally being little shits. He lived in a village where everyone knew everyone. If he was caught it would definitely get back to his parents and he would receive a slipper off my Grandma at home. Very different times.

I will add he grew up to be a school teacher and the kindest, most considerate person, who put others before himself.

Totally this. In the 1980s, we went guising every year through primary school (age 5 til 12). No-one's parents ever went with us.

We decided amongst ourselves what we would do - which songs/jokes/ "magic" tricks. When someone answered the door, we always started by asking "do you want any guisers?" most people said yes (otherwise they didn't answer) but if they said no (some did) we just went away. Some kids just started singing as soon as the door was opened (like carol singers) but we thought that was rude - we all knew we were supposed to ask first. Very few people (if any) decorated their houses, so ringing and asking was always fair game.

We made our own costumes, and discussed a lot beforehand to make sure we matched - one year I was a witch, and my bestie was a cat. Her mum nearly ruined it by making her put on her anorak over her leotard, but she stuck it in the hedge as soon as we got round the corner and picked it up on the way home.

The only downer was the possibility of "anti-guisers" - slightly older kids who weren't into guising any more, who would chase guisers, throw eggs and flour at us and potentially steal our takings if we weren't fast enough. I only encountered them once, the first year I went guising, and luckily I was with my big brother and his friend, and they didn't catch us.

we were tricked years ago. the kids hung black cotton across our pathway so it was like a big spider's web when we went out the next day. I'm guessing we didn't have any chocolates, I can't remember exactly what led up to it though but I thought it was a nice clever 'trick'

We’ve had our house egged a couple of times and also stones thrown at the windows - us and a neighbour - they hadn’t even knocked first either - as a consequence we don’t participate, keep the outside light off and put a poster on the door.

Years ago, houses had dog poo and lighted forwards put through their letter boxes, if they didn't open the door and "pay" enough. For several years I would board up the letterbox and go to my parents, just praying my home was still standing when I got back in the morning. This was in the 1990s. I was very glad to move away from there. Now, hardly anyone knocks on the door, which tbh suits me just fine. Not a fan of Halloween.

Years ago, houses had dog poo and lighted forwards put through their letter boxes, if they didn't open the door and "pay" enough. For several years I would board up the letterbox and go to my parents, just praying my home was still standing when I got back in the morning. This was in the 1990s. I was very glad to move away from there. Now, hardly anyone knocks on the door, which tbh suits me just fine. Not a fan of Halloween.

Kids still “guise” round here so expected to have a song/ joke/ dance. I’ve not heard of much in the way of vanadalism these days although teenagers used to egg houses back in the 90s or toilet paper trees/ hedges / cars.

Given COL I suspecg its less popular. Also it’s more of a little kids vibe these days.

I hope you’re American, because any Brit calling sweets ‘candy’ brings me out in a nasty rash.

I’m always surprised when people on MN insist that trick or treating wasn’t a thing in this country when our generation were children, that it’s a recent American import etc. I remember very clearly going trick or treating with a big gang of kids when I was little. My vicious older sister threw flour in an old man’s face because he didn’t have any sweets for us. It was horrible. I’m glad we have the more tame and stylised version now, it’s safer and more pleasant for everyone.

When I was a child I remember a known to someone in the group householder (maybe someone's grandad) choosing trick and then doing some (harmless, nothing unsavoury) clumsy attempts at magic himself - he wanted to make a watch disappear, but none of us admitted to having one, so he used his own, and he had a string of bunting tied to a handkerchief in his shirt pocket- must have been practicing! He'd also got hold of the wrong end of the stick obviously!

Really that's the way it should work surely - if you answer the door to see the costumes you provide 30 seconds of harmless magic tricks, or a mini bag of haribo...

In my area the unwritten rule is you do not knock at houses with no decorations. Those that participate are happy to give out sweets.

I always assume "candy" is disgusting inedible high fructose syrup sweets, not delicious ones and definitely not chocolate. Hershey "chocolate" is not chocolate, and can only politely be called candy.

Or there's candy floss/ "cotton candy" of course, which is just spun sugar.

It's definitely been a thing in some parts of the UK since the late 1970s.

When i was a child in the 90s, in my area there was a lot of egg throwing, throwing loo roll onto houses, harassing and intimidating old ladies and general vandalism. I think this is why my mum never T or T.

Nowadays it seems to have largely loved over to sticking by the rules of no pumpkin no sweet, and no general harassment. So one thing that has improved hugely. It used to be really unpleasant 30 years ago

There was a phase a few years ago of mischief night being "done" several years in a row in our area. It was always peculiar things, never vandalism. A lot of garden items moved between gardens (potted plants, statues, large feature rocks and watering cans ...). It was just weird and bemusing but kind of interesting... I didn't hear of anyone actually minding - people chatted a bit more asking one another whether they were missing a potted bay tree... Nobody elderly was left to struggle as people mostly offered to bring anything in their garden back or collect found items.

I sort of weirdly liked it, but obviously wouldn't have if there'd been vandalism or anything valuable taken.

A year or two ago all the village road signs were swapped with signs from another village too - the council weren't impressed and obviously it costs worker labour to put them back, but it was at least mildly interesting, and nothing stolen or damaged, just moved.

The kids round here are usually very polite and only knock on houses that are decorated. We have little kids right through to teens and all were lovely.
The worst I heard on Facebook from the nearest local town was some kids taking the full bowl of sweets that were left out while the home owners were out trick or treating themselves and another where the occupants of the house decided to ‘trick’ a 5 year old boy by throwing baby powder in his face when they opened the door. I thought that was horribly cruel