Trick or Treat - AIBU

[Doseofreality]

AIBU in believing that it’s an unwritten rule that you do not Trick or Treat houses that have no Halloween decorations up.

We’ve had numerous bangs (and yes they are bangs) on the door over the past hour, and quite frankly, it’s pissing me off!

Was just saying this to DH. When I did it in the 80s it was every door as nobody decorated outside then. We also had a washing up liquid bottle full of water to squirt for the trick if no treats were given!! It was so much fun running from houses after squirting and not being able to breathe from laughing so much. These days we’d be given ASBOs!

I could hear the cheeky little buggers outside my house shouting "WE WANT SWEETS!"

I didnt answer my door. They can do one. No pumpkins or decorations here either and still knocking

I feel the Trick is under used these days! Apart from the one guy on our estate who stood outside his house dressed as Michael Myers and chasing the kids as they picked their treats! What a great sport!

YANBU! Love Halloween and trick or treating, but the knocking on houses that are clearly not doing anything is rude and annoying!

Didn't do sweets this year as my youngest 2 are quite unwell.
After 15 knocks on the door I was bundling them in the car, and a group of kids tried to get in my house. Youngsters, but no pumpkins, no main lights on, nothing to say we would be doing Halloween.

I guess it's better than last year tho, my neighbour was getting to the door and some kids kicked her pumpkin to pieces whilst shouting we know you're in there! .... Nice.

They are horrible Chancers then OP

YANBU at all

I partook this Year, as I usually do, but I would hope that when the time comes that I no longer partake, people would leave me Be.

It's not like that where I live. Every house is knocked at, decorated or not.

Had over 100, I know as I made up 100 bags of sweets, have now had to break out the tub of individual chocolates, all sweet bags gone.

Some of the "kids" looked old enough to drive to be honest, definitely should call it a day when you are taller than the parents answering the door (or too young to walk/speak). Just my opinion!

Not to mention the kids just dressed in jeans and a hoodie without even a cheap mask. In my day we had a whole skit rehearsed with singing, recorder playing, dancing, everything! And it was "guising" then, it was common to get money as well as sweets, and we had turnip lanterns. Don't think I ever saw a pumpkin lantern in my youth (Scotland).

@Doseofreality it's a bit late now but most local councils or police forces provide official posters to stick on your front door saying "no trick or treating here".
Next year - get one.
(or even get one now if there's a likelihood of having weekend ones).

We do decorate and had several. But by 7:30 we hadn’t had anyone in over an hour. So candle blown out in pumpkin and lights off. Just had someone banging on the door 2 mins ago 🙄 unfortunately it went ignored.

Yea, that is the unwritten rule. However, not everyone knows it! I know it now because I have kids and we've done quite a few halloweens! But long ago, I didn't know that was the rule! So much so, that I didn't buy decorations or pumpkins etc.. and always wondered why no-one came to the door and I was left with bags of sweets!!

I know it sounds stupid, and it should be obvious! but when rules are unwritten, not everyone knows them! You don't know what you don't know!

That just makes you a target for "knock and run" in my experience. Or eggs to the house one year (COL crises seems to have stopped this particular way of showing the little darlings reactions)

Posters/notes on doors are a waste of time.

Where we live it's decorations or a pumpkin in the window

Yep - it’s a real British thing, learned that quickly , it does make sense though!

I used to give stuff out, but am just so tired of pisstakers and am all out of community spirit.

So I turned off the front room lights and porch light and put nothing out. Didn’t get bothered this year.

I trick or treated 40 years ago and there were no decorations either. It's because we were pre-Amazon and pre-China so we couldn't easily get all the cheap decs!

I’m sat in the back room of my house. No decorations or pumpkins outside and yet people keep knocking . It’s driving me absolutely bananas. Have some respect and follow the damn rules.

my kids only went to the houses with decorations, that’s definitely the norm around here! I left a bowl on the steps and it was empty by the time we returned. Felt guilty for not leaving more but we were out longer than anticipated! Came back about 7.20 and not a single knock.

@Doseofreality people are dicks, entitlement to begging. saying that I think I've missed them all as I didn't get back from work until 8

I'm Irish & in my 50s & Halloween is a HUGE thing here & always has been. We've loads of traditions around it. Growing up we got dressed up & knocked on ALL the doors & everyone participated.

On our estate the grownups organised a huge marquee some years & a massive bonfire & bags of treats for all the kids in the estate. They had a whole committee set up to organise it. We spent weeks planning & making our costumes. Some of my best memories are of childhood Halloweens. All my cousins wanted to ve to our house as it was so wonderful. The freedom of running around in the dark with a gaggle of kids.& plastic bags full of loot.

People used to hand out monkey nuts in their shells & apples as well as sweets. The odd one would give a 50p too which we were delighted with!! We were called 'pookies' and we had to do a party piece at the door & we knocked on every door & I don't recall ever being turned away.

Our dc are grown up now but we always made a big effort for Halloween & our house was a sort of hub where all their school pals & parents called to. Kids would run around eating sweets - adults would have hot cider or a glass of wine. We loved those years.

We played all the traditional games from my childhood, bobbing for apples, hands tied behind your back trying to bite an apple hanging on a string etc telling ghost stories by torchlight

We had no decorations when i was growing up & I don't remember it being a thing. I do remember the shops having tons of masks & witches hats though.

When dc we were small we bought some cheap decorations for inside & we used them each year. Like Christmas decorations it was nostalgic taking them out each year.

This year we had no Callers at all & dc are not home. It's bittersweet as we loved those happy days when the house was full & the excitement when there would be a knock on the door & a little bunch od dressed up kids on the doorstep.

Life is short & these traditions are really important to us. I'm so glad I experienced it & that we were able to do the same for our kids

My parents buy sweets in but rarely put a pumpkin out. They keep the lights on in the hallway and living room as a sign that they're in. We put out pumpkins but we are normally pit ourselves so the sweets go out on the step with a sign. We only knocked on decorated houses this year but that was because there were loads of them so we didn't need to bother with any other doors. I know that other streets have a lot of older people who buy sweets but don't put out decorations so the rule was alway, where we live, if the light is on then you can knock but if the light is off then don't disturb them.

Works a charm round here. We only take our kids to decorated houses & we left a big bowl of sweets out when we went trick or treating and when we came back it was still half full 🥰 parents be parenting! Very impressed this year.

My non-mumsnetter DH, unaware of the unwritten rule, had to be stopped from putting lit pumpkins out on the garden wall this evening- we haven't any sweets FGS!

We live on a quiet rural road with elderly neighbours but it would be horrifying to attract trick or treaters with false-advertising decorations and then have no sweets to give out 😱 A true fright.