Outdoor flashing Christmas lights are obnoxious & tacky

[Skyrainlight]

One of my neighbours has recently moved in and has just put up the most hideous Christmas lights, red and yellow then flashing to blue and white, with aggressive unpleasant flashing back and forth. Fortunately they are on the same side of the road as I am so I barely see them, I see the lovely lights on the other side of the road that don't look like a tacky flashing casino. Is it just me or does anyone else dislike these lights?

I love old fashioned coloured lights, plain white twinkly ones are lovely too. I don’t understand the attraction of cold blue lights, blue has never said ‘Christmas’. There is a mixture on our street, most look great. The one house with wildly flashing blue ones doesn’t do it for me.

https://www.tiktok.com/@richardfrankscomedy/video/7447572417314164001?lang=enChristmas lights video comedy

I remember a woman the East Midlands news did a feature on years ago — she had an extreme case of photo-sensitive epilepsy, and was more or less housebound for a month around Christmas. I was thinking of her yesterday when we were driving to PiLs, and there was a particularly violent set of flashing lights on a house and an even brighter set on the house immediately opposite. Clearly a Flash Off.

I haven't met them, they moved in recently and I haven't seen them in the street to say hello yet, they are one door down. I wouldn't want to offend them, my neighbour who has spoken to them said they are really nice and polite. I think they probably would change the setting for me, but I would never ask because it's their choice. The lights would be lovely on the static setting though. I am very pleased I have black out curtains because they left them on all night and I could still see a little flickering around the edges of the curtains.

I am generally against anything thing that would annoy a neighbour, loud music in the garden, barking dogs, kids playing loudly after 7pm, bad parking, loud cars, and tacky obnoxious Christmas lights that you could receive sunburn from.

I can only imagine what kind of a selfish arrogant person you would have to be, to put up tacky lights that you could see from space, grim. They might as well wear a T-shirt that says I am a massive twat on it.

That's sad! I did wonder about that because some TV shows have warnings about flashing lights so I thought Christmas lights may set epilepsy off too.

Couldn’t give a rats arse whether the neighbours like my lights or anything else about my house, neither do I care who thinks things are tacky. Tend to find someone who refers to something as tacky is thoroughly up their own arse

Their house their choice

personally it’s not for me but other people love it

I love warm white (not yellow) lights and the big lit reindeer, those illuminated bows and bells are pretty too. A white dripping icicle light, a snowfall projector, or even every bush, tree and hedge covered in multicoloured net lights. What I hate is blue lights and bright flashing ones. I'm photosensitive, it can literally make me ill. My child was run over recently and due to the 6 emergency vehicles and crime scene stuff I'm now triggered by flashing lights too. I wish they wouldn't sell blue ones.

@NotParticularly that sounds awful for her 🙁

I don't like blue and white lights (cold and really not tacky enough), but my multicoloured lights go on a 'flashing' mode 2 weeks before Christmas until New Year's Day (they are just 'on' the rest of the time from the end of November to Jan 6th). I love tacky.

I doubt it bothers any neighbours - it's not 'seen from space' stuff and most of my neighbours have similar.

Same

Do we live near each other

Or just both have miserable people

It's for a few weeks at the most

Not noisy like fireworks

Tacky is the word I'd choose. Also a symptom of overcelebrating and hyping up events, I'd guess the neighbours will spend a fortune on 'big birthdays' and have things like 'birthday week'.

We don’t have any Christmas lights but I absolutely LOVE seeing them on neighbour’s houses. So cheery at Christmas! YABU.

We have the tackiest house on our street 😝 with 6(!) blow up oversized santas/smowmen/dog/baubles 🎅 and lots of different lights 😅

We're like one of those over the top houses you see in American films.

I hate them too.
Unfortunately my dh loves them, as does our grandson... so my house does indeed resemble a knocking shop I try remind myself that they won't be up for long!

I have a line of blue lights, just on the front face of our home. I turned the flashing off, as they did remind us of the emergency services and because of how we are orientated on the road, distracting to drivers. We have no street lights and they go on as it gets dark and off about 10. I like the fact that the house puts on a festive face and miss the windows, over decoration of homes, handmade streamers, tacky foil ceiling decorations of my youth, when the space was more about family and fun and less about curation of decor and what the neighbours think.

It's not to my taste at all, but it's only a few weeks a year and it's lovely knowing that people are getting in the spirit of it. I like to think how excited children will be when they see all the Christmas decorations going up in their neighbourhood!

I'm so sorry about your child, I can imagine how triggering blue lights are now. x

I love them all, warm white, cool white, coloured, tasteful, tacky, garish, uber bright, whatever. We do an annual Christmas lights hunt where we drive around our town and the neighbouring villages looking for the best/biggest displays, it's one of my daughter's favourite Christmas traditions.

I do however hate anything that flashes, and blue lights can get in the bin. Flashing blue lights have no place anywhere other than on emergency response vehicles.

The paradox of calling out tackiness is that in doing so you become tacky.

And now I am tacky for calling out your tackiness.

Same as saying something isn't 'classy'. By doing so you show your utter lack of class to the world (and also now my lack of class).

I like lights and don’t really care what colours they are, but I hate it when they flash!

Gentle twinkling is fine, but the speedy flashing is a migraine trigger for me and I can’t stand looking at them for long!

Don’t mind lights. I don’t like the inflatables that are deflated much of the time blowing everywhere. 😂

I LOVE Christmas lights, the tackier the better. But I really don't like the very bright flashing ones because they make me feel a bit ill. The blue ones are the worst.
(DH has of course bought some blue lights but at least I can stop them flashing. They aren't up this year, I think he's forgotten where he put them😁)

I hate blue lights but other than that go for what you like!