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.

Because most of us don't take our kids to strangers' houses onecurrantbun1

"Just a personal view but why would you teach kids not to take sweets from strangers for 364 days of the year, but it's ok on one night and hey, we are actually going to approach them in the dark to ask for sweets..."

I have never overtly made a point of teaching my kids specifically not to take sweets from strangers - where we live shop keepers/assistants/ waitresses and pharmacists all give kids sweets randomly, they catch sweets thrown from the Carnival floats and are given them by the performers, and there are probably other random times I am forgetting when it is traditional to give out sweets to kids.

At Halloween you go to neighbours doors, and you know your neighbours, because you don't lock yourself away whenever you are home, but kids play out, and people talk to each other... Its not a "naice" area but its a nice community... Neighbours aren't strangers.

If you live somewhere where the neighbours are scary or reclusive or unpleasant then of course it is not a good idea to go knocking...

YANBU

I despise trick or treating. As an autistic adult the constant knocking by strangers terrifies me. I'm scared of opening my door to god knows who on the other side. I'm scared of not answering and someone doing something horrible as a 'trick'. So I sit in my house in the dark, even tv off so nobody can tell I'm in terrified because I know that they know what I'm doing.

Just had chance to read a bit more of the thread primal and oldusername and I see in some communities it is virtually a prearranged thing, with etiquette for who wants knocks etc. That would sit a lot more comfortably with me I think but certainly isn't the case around here. We also have a lot of elderly people nearby with families few and far between in our immediate area (say, 3-4 streets) which would always make me wary about doing it with my own children

Supermans Exactly my thoughts, perfectly summed up. It's all well and good advising not to answer the door but it's not okay to knock my door in the first place.

Hedgehogs Sorry you have such a shit time on Halloween

And also parents going with the children obviously is completely different but again, of the maybe 6 or 7 door knocks I've answered in the last few years it's been kids of 10 ish, with perhaps a couple of younger siblings, and no adult in sight. Very interesting reading and probably a nice family-friendly atmosphere when it's done as more of a community thing

Even our corner shop has a Halloween sweetie search going on.

Showing my age, there was not a whisper of trick or treating when I was growing up in Sarf London in the Sixties and Seventies. BUT - Guy Fawkes, on 5th November, was a huge thing and lots of people made their own guys and went round asking for "a penny for the guy" so that they could buy fireworks with them. People used to have bonfire parties in their back gardens, with lovely baked potatoes and sausages, and let off a few rockets and Catharine Wheels. You don't hear of that nowadays, thanks to Elfin Safety, I presume.
I first came across celebration of Hallowe'en and trick or treating when I lived in Geneva and knew Canadians and Americans, as they were the ones who made a big deal of it. I'm wondering if all of the posters who mention "guising" are Scottish?

I'm 44 and never went trick or treating. DS1 is coming up 21, he's never been, 18yo DS2 has been once with MIL.

I hate it. I'm disabled and will not be getting up and down answering the door for anyone, I don't want my bell rang every 10 minutes. I don't put a pumpkin in my front window, or have any lights on at the front it doesn't stop them.

I have had fucking cunts, they weren't all children btw, egg my house and they did next door's car because they were too thick to work out which car belonged to who. The following year I was in bed, after spinal surgery, and the cunts threw lit fireworks at my front door and open bedroom window. But it's all harmless fun, hey?

My mother was a miserable cow so I never went trick or treating, I never did penned for the guy, no singing of Christmas songs, no cinema (in case I caught fleas) and no fairgrounds (in case I was stolen by fairground folk). She tutted a lot at the neighbours’ children.

While I’m fairly miserable myself, it delights me that my neighbours are kind enough to share their kids for the evening. I’m keen to take part in the single night of the year when I can admire what kids are wearing and give them a few sweets without ending up on some list somewhere.

IKnowIAm Wow, okay. So because I'm a miserable old sod who doesn't join in with a particular tradition, I deserve to have eggs thrown at my house and shit through the letter box?

Yay the annual thread moaning about trick or treating. Quite late this year.

We live in a neighbourhood where if the house is decorated they can knock but they are the only ones. My DC are too old to do it this year but they will be in to hand out the treats to the little ones. It's only fair because the neighbours did it for ours for long enough.

When we are done I blow the light in the pumpkin out.

I would rather have 5 Halloween nights in a row than Christmas.

You sound such a miserable git it's no wonder you get egged & dogshitted - PM me your address & I'll pop over with a few turds myself!!

How charming...not.

So because I'm a miserable old sod who doesn't join in with a particular tradition...

I've got a mate who doesn't want to join in. She leaves an empty box outside her house with a sign saying 'Please don't knock but help yourself to treats'. Maybe you could try that?

Silently So there are no treats in the box?

OP, I find it interesting that you haven't responded to one of the above poster's suggestion of putting up the notice provided by the police which says 'No trick or treating - enjoy your evening and let us enjoy ours'.

I think putting up that notice will ensure you get very few knocks on your door.

It sounds like you came on here for a moan rather than to hear whether you are being unreasonable or not.

So there are no treats in the box?

None whatsoever, she's a miserable cow.

I have bought four huge bags of sweets and some black and orange Halloween cups. I'm going to fill each cup with sweets to hand out to kids on Halloween. My dds are going to a Halloween party tonight, can't wait to get stuck into the face paint. And really looking forward to a the kids in our street doing the rounds. Dp will take dd out, we know which houses to avoid with elderly residents and those who have signs up or no pumpkins lit.

Having said that, if someone egged my house, I would run after them and give them a tongue lashing.

Silently I like her!

Leelu Sorry, I really thought I did reply to one of these! I'll make a sign and stick it in my front window this year and see how we go.

I have just got the box of Halloween decorations down from the loft. Pumpkin tinsel.

fuckinggrinch do you live near Huyton or Widnes? My friend was telling me about a car being tipped there on mischief night, seems a big coincidence.

I went guising (lived in Scotland) in the 80s. We had to learn a quick poem, song or trick to earn our treat (mum also had to agree who we'd visit in advance as many lived off long country tracks). I've lived in a few places since then and in some have been a bit annoyed all callers seem to be older teens who are not dressed up. But now live in a village where most kids make a real effort and I'll be hanging up a homemade skeleton and string of 'pumpkins' (painted walnuts) on Friday to welcome those that make it.

Op yabu

Trick or treat has been around for a lot longer than your age, so I can't take your post seriously.

And

Referring to children as cunts when you are on a parenting website is disgusting.