to really hate the idea of trick or treating and wonder why the fuck it's become a 'thing'?

[Excitedtoday]

I find trick or treating really quite anti-social. Why is it acceptable to be rocking up at someone's house on a dark evening basically begging for food? You don't know who lives there or what the effect of you knocking might be. For example, an elderly or disabled person who can't get to the door easily or someone who, for whatever reason, feels vulnerable in their own home.

Perhaps it's just because an anti-social cowbag and I hate people knocking on my door that I'm not expecting, especially at night.

And I also wonder how recently this has become a 'thing' that loads and loads of people do? When I was younger, I'm 25, no-one went trick or treating but over the last few years I've noticed my friends who are parents and family doing it as a matter of routine and I just wonder when that happened?

Is this just me being an anti-social bastard?

BTW, no children and never answer my door after dark whether its Halloween or not.

We did it as kids in the 80's. It's annoys me now tbh, the dc's don't really like sweets (we're a cake + biscuit family) so the sweets sit there uneaten until I take them to the food bank or give them to the neighbours kids.

Hate it too. We get some younger kids all dressed up with their parents but mostly pre-teens/teenagers who aren't dressed up and "would prefer cash". Fuck that.

I'm taking 5 year old DD out to the cinema or something instead on Saturday.

Yanbu. If everyone respected the fact some people don't want to join in then it wouldn't bother me. Sadly that's not the case in many places. Those of you who say no harm done should think about the consequences some people face.

I live in a nice area. We have never had any neighbour issues, break ins, anti social behaviour issues etc in the years we've been here EXCEPT Halloween/mischief night time. Last year around this time we had houses egged, property graffitied and cars tipped over... It seems that because we have nice houses we are expected to all give out things freely and if we don't or can't we have to pay the price.

I must say I don't like carol singers, but that's due to bitter childhood and teen experience of being forced/ threatened/ blackmailed into participating in several long, long evenings every year carol singing along with tone deaf parent and her equally tone deaf friends and being a vocal and committed atheist :o ... I would smile at carol singers and give them a coin though, not turn the lights off and refuse to answer the door...

The Holy 3 Kings knock on our door every 6th Jan and write Roman numerals in chalk on the door and they get a few € for it even though its a Catholic tradition and we're a non religious house... They are nice community customs...

morecoffee You sound ace

It really annoys me when they knock on my undecorated house when parents are with them. If it were a bunch of kids roaming around on their own perhaps I could forgive it but when they're with their half-wit parents it boils my piss.

Cockbollocks I had eggs once and some friends had dog shit last year. Cunts.

fuckinggrinch Really? They actually tipped over a car? Surely that would take ages and you would have rung police by that point?

I have acquired lots of new Muslim neighbours in recent years.

Less Christmas decorations No trick or treaters

I live in a nice area. We have never had any neighbour issues, break ins, anti social behaviour issues etc in the years we've been here EXCEPT Halloween/mischief night time. Last year around this time we had houses egged, property graffitied and cars tipped over

Are you sure you live in a nice area?

It was called guising when I was a child. You would go to certain houses and sing a song or tell a joke and get a sweetie for it!

We did it as kids only it was Halloween Rhyming which I prefer to Trick or Treating. We often got money rather than sweets although the odd choc biscuit or handful of monkey nuts got thrown in :o

If it's a thing in your area just stick a sign up saying no TorTs or leave an 'honesty bowl' of chocolate with a sign saying 'One each and when it's gone it's gone!'

I actually wonder when getting home, putting your PJs on and not answering the door became a "thing" (assuming you get home before 10pm)... but perhaps some people have always done it :o First I ever heard of people doing that was when I started using internet forums, before that I'd never heard of people shutting themselves away and not answering the phone or door as soon as they got home in the late afternoon or early evening. Seems so insular and isolated, no wonder community is an old fashioned concept...

My elderly nan had her wheely bin upended and put outside her front door a few years back. She was terrified and could have really hurt herself if she'd tripped on it. She also had her windows egged as well
Why on earth would you condone this? Any other time of year they would be little shits but on Halloween it's OK, they are just kids following a tradition. Bollocks to that!!

OP I'm with you.

I grew up in a religious household so never did Halloween as a child. Now I just don't get it .

We just ignore the door.

I should qualify all this by saying that when I was a kid in Dublin the 'trick' element of halloween didn't really exist. There wasn't a culture of egg throwing etc. certainly round where I was. It was unheard of - especially since we weren't around with parents.

Sometimes if we said 'trick or treat' at a door the person would ask for a 'trick' and we'd have to sing or say a poem or something to earn our treat.

Really awful behaviour by some people by the sounds of it, but I can't see that means that Halloween is shit, more that their behaviour is shit?

Iliked This is how I was brought up, not a new thing. Once you were in for the night, door was locked, PJs on, hunkered down. My parents would answer the phone because it'd only be someone we knew but never answered the door after dark. This might have much to do with the area we were living in, which was very rough.

Really? I've heard of cow tipping but car tipping is a new one on me.

Pootles But Halloween provides the framework within which the behaviour can occur. If it wasn't Halloween of course I wouldn't think there was a risk of cunts throwing eggs at my house. But because it is Halloween, the risk exists.

I'm the same age as you, OP, and we definitely went trick or treating as kids.

And we knocked on undecorated houses and people were always lovely and complimented us on our lovingly-made black bin bag costumes

Nowadays it's the done thing to only knock at decorated houses/those with lit pumpkins, so yanbu to expect people to leave you alone if it's clear you aren't participating... However, knocking on your door doesn't make a group of children 'cunts'.

Well, people are twats in the city near us at Christmas, around the time of the races, then in some areas at bonfire night - shall we cancel all of those?

I wasn't very keen on trick or treating when my dcs were small. Then our retired neighbours came knocking on the door asking where we were

Now we go out each year but like pps have said, we follow the rules - only knock at decorated houses or ones with a pumpkin. All the dcs we know are incredibly polite too and householders always seem to be enjoying it.

I would just not answer your door tbh OP. Or you could always try entering into the spirit of it and joining in? Might surprise yourself and have fun.

Oh god OstentatiousBreastfeeder I'd forgotten about the black bin liner outfits! So many of those!

I agree Mrs DV it has just become another marketing thing to make parents buy stuff. You can even buy special little 'trick or treat' buckets!