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Original poster

Trick or treat with no decorations

133 replies

DanceMonkeyDanceMonkey · 31/10/2019 22:01

Hallowe'en wasn't such a thing when my dc were young, compared to now. I have never taken them trick or treating. My road has 9 houses, and no one puts out pumpkins or decorations.

AIBU to be annoyed by someone ringing the bell? DH was embarrassed and gave them money, but I feel that we should not have to partake if we choose not to.

OP posts:
Baker1985 · 01/11/2019 00:01

To late now but next year pop a note on your door saying don't knock I don't take part in Halloween. Easy as that.

Apileofballyhoo · 01/11/2019 00:02

Decorated houses only seems to be the thing where I am in SE Ireland - but only this year, last year it was any house with a light on - as in people are home. But it was pissing down and we were in a large estate so I think the kids just didn't want to waste time with trying houses that may not have answered. Most houses had some kind of decoration, not that that was a guarantee of the door being answered either.

A fair few houses had buckets or basins left outside with treats in them. I was thinking that if you didn't want to participate, and didn't want to spend any money, you could leave a couple of empty buckets out, maybe with a few apples or satsumas in one. Kids run up, see empty container/fruit and leave.

Random loose biscuits in the haul tonight, and in the treat buckets outside houses - why do people do this? I've never come across it before.

When we were kids we just went to houses of neighbours we knew (countryside and you knew everyone anyway but houses were spread out so maybe you'd go to 10 houses down 1 or 2 lanes) so the decorated thing didn't apply I don't think I saw a real pumpkin until I was in my 20s, but I think on big estates you go around to all the houses and there's not a chance you'd know everyone. And not everyone wants to be opening the door all night.

When I was a kid the neighbours used to love us coming. We would get money if they had no sweets, but also fruit and nuts, which most people would have in for Halloween. This year I didn't see any nuts except monkey nuts in the shops. We always had bags of hazelnuts and mixed nuts as kids and that's what'd be for sale in the run up to Halloween. Not a pumpkin in sight.

Pandainmyporridge · 01/11/2019 00:06

I've had a look at the signs you can print off, and most of them have a picture of a pumpkin on them - so you are sticking a picture of a Halloween decoration on your door and then saying you don't celebrate it!

mathanxiety · 01/11/2019 00:07

YY to sparklers, and also barmbrack with all the little symbols wrapped in wax paper inside. I'll be making colcannon at the weekend.

We have 2 inches of snow here and Hallowe'en has been a complete washout. I will have to eat the contents of the candy bucket myself. What a horrible prospect...

LemonPrism · 01/11/2019 00:09

If you don't have dec just don't answer. Money is silly

Bananabeak · 01/11/2019 00:12

I hardly had any guisers this year which was a shame. Next year I’ll decorate. Love it. It’s a community thing and I’ll bet some elderly like it too. It’s just some fun. You know Halloween is coming and what it entails surely. Make a sign if you’re that bothered.

CaraConcerned · 01/11/2019 00:15

I think it depends on your community. I used to live in the middle of the city and barely got any knocks - didn't decorate but had sweets handy in case. Thought it was an annoying capitalist tradition!

I'm in a village now and took eldest dc when nearly age 4, who had a ball with the other kids, just being out after dark was a novelty, it's now their favourite time of year so I can't begrudge it!

I think most people know to only knock at decorated houses/ those with pumpkins. Some people go all out and the little ones love it.

NarwhalsNarwhals · 01/11/2019 00:17

At school we remind the children every year that you should only knock at decorated houses, and explain for some people people knocking at the door might be scary, or it might be hard for them to get to the door to answer, or they might have religious or moral reasons not to, or they might just not want to.

I don't do Halloween because DD has SEN and people knocking upsets her, I just stick a note on the door saying "no trick or treaters please" and no one knocks, I think it helps though that you have to go past my neighbours highly decorated front door to get to mine and she points the sign out.

VanGoghsDog · 01/11/2019 00:19

My understanding was decorated houses only.

Oh, knock it off. You've been told about a million times that this is a convention in some areas but not all. It's one bloody night for god's sake.

Thescrewinthetuna · 01/11/2019 00:21

Round here we only knock at decorated houses or ones with a lit pumpkin outside/at the window. Seems to work well.

Trillis · 01/11/2019 00:30

I've had a look at the signs you can print off, and most of them have a picture of a pumpkin on them - so you are sticking a picture of a Halloween decoration on your door and then saying you don't celebrate it!

I noticed this too. MIL printed one out from the local police website the first year she lived in our village. I warned her that if she put that in her front window, she was actually much more likely to get callers, as it looked like she had just put a big picture of a pumpkin in her window and it was hard to read the writing at a glance. It's decorated houses only where we are, and the kids are pretty good at sticking to that. Like PPs have mentioned, my neighbours bought things in every year, but only really had my kids visit as they didn't decorate. Their own children are adults, so hadn't realised that things had changed from when they did it with their kids.

irisheyesaresmiling7 · 01/11/2019 00:37

We don't celebrate Halloween so therefore we don't decorate the front BUT I always buy loads of mini chocolate bars, mini sweet bags, etc and then put them into party bags, this year I also made chocolate apples and each child got a party bag and a chocolate apple.
We had lots of kids knocking even though we hadn't decorated but sure it's lovely to see their wee faces light up when they realise they're getting a bag of goodies.
My own kids are teens so they're not bothered but I buy sweets for them anyway.

SD1978 · 01/11/2019 00:42

Most of the houses in our street had not decorations, but were handing out treats- as we found out from another parent who had knocked the lot. I usually wouldn't if there is no decorations, but if I had nothing to give I wouldn't open the door and assume that's what others do. Or put up a sign specifically saying no thank you? When I was a kid- no one decorated- because that's an American thing but we would go guising round the neighbourhood and everyone handed out sweeties- so I'm a bit torn. The decorating is American, the handing out of sweets isn't.

WelshMammaofaSlovak · 01/11/2019 00:45

I Skyped my parents, aged 68 and 72, this evening and they had their sweeties all ready this evening but were a bit confused that they hadn't had anyone knock. They seemed a bit disappointed when I told them that the reason according to MN was because they hadn't decorated. They got to see their gorgeous dgd in Halloween pjs though so hopefully that made it up to them and I bet my diabetic dad enjoyed the sweeties Grin

BackforGood · 01/11/2019 01:03

When mine were little, I used to stick a note on saying 'No trick or Treaters' which did work with the very occasional exception.
Now I open the door and ask why they think it is a good idea to knock on a complete stranger's door, begging........ I don't tend to get them come back another year. I hope I make some of the parents think a bit about what they are encouraging their youngsters to do. there are just SO many reasons why it is a bad idea.

Avenilson · 01/11/2019 01:12

every door is knocked on, decorations or not where I am. @Blowandgo, I thought I had a record, last year 75 bags (and you have a 100!). I can see how bad a night this is for people not interested, some I know just leave a bucket of crap outside the door, saying take a treat and generally people don't knock if the bucket is empty. If you don't like Halloween, leave a bucket empty outside with a few wrappers in it and close your blinds. But in my days of trick or treating this may have gotten you the trick side of the treat (not me personally), but yes in back in the day it was a literal term.

YobaOljazUwaque · 01/11/2019 02:32

We didn't do decorations this year and our porch light is broken, and we got knocked by 4 or 5 groups. Previous years when DC younger we did pumpkin decorations and had more like 15-20 groups of trick or treaters, so no decoration is clearly a deterrent but isn't 100% effective.

mathanxiety · 01/11/2019 03:52

Now I open the door and ask why they think it is a good idea to knock on a complete stranger's door, begging

Because...

...Hallowe'en?

Topseyt · 01/11/2019 04:15

Why make such a big issue of it? Just don't answer the door. It really isn't difficult.

No need to sit in the dark. Don't be so daft. Simply ignore the doorbell. Giving them money was utterly ridiculous.

OkPedro · 01/11/2019 04:16

Christ, ringing to check it’s ok to knock on someone’s door.. my dc will only call at someone’s house if there is a light on and Halloween decorations.. What would happen if someone called at your door and you...didn’t answer 😲
dancemonkeydance You’re being ridiculous

OkPedro · 01/11/2019 04:21

backforgood I really don’t under your POV
Children aren’t begging Hmm
It’s a HAPPY occasion where children dress upland have FUN. They get sweets and have FUN
Fuck sake.. Thief of Joy springs to mind

minesagin37 · 01/11/2019 04:25

Op you're over reacting a bit. It's one night for a couple of hours. We didn't participate last night as just got back from holiday. No decorations, no lights in hallway. Still got one knock but we just left it and enjoyed our night. It did not occur to me that it would be someone not connected to trick or treating!

TheSecretJeven · 01/11/2019 04:45

I don't answer the door. When our neighbour's children were children (they're now young adults), we used to trick and treat at each other's houses but that was it.

Roundtoedshoes · 01/11/2019 05:57

You can’t not like Hallowe’en and be on MN OP!

Growing up, we never celebrated this or went trick or treating, same with DH who grew up a few miles away.

I’m no longer surprised as every year at the time on MN people say how it’s so traditional here and not American (I’d only ever seen it on TV and in an Americanised way). Apparently I’m the minority - maybe I grew up in the twilight zone!

My DF text me last night at 17.30 to say he’d gone to bed and turned all the lights off as they kept knocking. TBF, he is a bit grumpy and set in his ways, but he lives on a corner property and if he sits in his living room, they can see when they knock he’s in, so it’s awkward not to answer. He hates it. I personally think it’s a bit vulgar, and yes, I know it’s once a year but people should understand that not everyone celebrates.

Why not have little parties at home? Go to town, decorate and dress up, make memories (!) Little ones dressed up can be sweet, I’ve not got a heart of stone, but it’s begging at the end of the day.

SillyMoomin · 01/11/2019 06:03

You’re being a bit precious and a grump op

Leave the lights on. Have dinner. Just....

Don’t don’t answer the door!

On the 00000.1% chance it’s someone else visiting you, not a trick or treater, I’m sure they’d ring you and say “oi!, I can see your lights are on and you’re home, let me in could ya?!”

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