To think that trick or treating should be confined to your own street or friends/family

[Moonnstars]

Showing my age here, but I remember when I was younger firstly trick or treating wasn't really a thing, but even when it started to become popular it was only your friends and family you called in on. I remember visiting my grandparents and their neighbours (who had been prepared so had sweets in) and then doing the same with my friends family.
Now it seems that people are asking where is the best street to visit, and I even saw today on social media someone saying they are on holiday in the area and where is best to go, happy to drive around to find the best places!

I have my own children who will be out, but we stick to our own street. I also have sweets in to give out, but am I being unreasonable in thinking I shouldn't have to have enough in to supply people coming over from different places and that it should just be people you know or at least living in the same street you hand stuff out to.

Also I do acknowledge some people go all out and advertise their address and want people to visit - however these are often for charity and as for a donation.

YABU - stop being so tight and buy more sweets

YANBU - it is getting out of hand, people should only go to people they know/stay local

On a related note I actually saw the height of CF on a centre parks FB group during the week. A poster said something like Hi everyone myself and the kids will be going out trick or treating soon. Feel free to drop into our lodge number xx we have plenty of treats. Safe to say people were appalled in the comments, when asked why he was trick or treating on Wednesday when Halloween wasn’t until Friday he responded with well we will be gone home on Friday and wanted the kids to have the experience. The CFery knows no bounds!

Haha I never thought of it like that!
Maybe it's similar in the idea that while it's fine to accept 'outsiders' there needs to be the infrastructure in place to support it.

People who don't want kids knocking at the door don't decorate their houses. Never known any kids knock on undecorated houses.

I know. It is a bit pathetic that they have to show their distaste for anything American at every opportunity. Even when tbey are completely wrong.

Not so many down South when growing up, nobody I knew went trick or treating at all and my parents certainly couldn't be bothered. When I moved to Leeds for a couple years it was endless, I made the mistake of putting a pumpkin outside and it was a few hours worth of door knocking every few minutes, no way did all those kids live on my street. Am back down South now and I've not done it since, instead I sit with the front lights off and pretend am out..

Where I live there are carloads of children/teens dropped off to trick and treat. To be honest I have stopped answering the door. This was after a parent hammered on my door giving out that I did not give her teen money.

My mother always thoroughly disapproved of Halloween, so we never did anything. She thought it was unchristian and immoral which always puzzled me as she isn’t at all religious. I suspect she is a bit snobby about it but won’t admit it.

As a result of this it always looked tantalising and great fun so as an adult I have always really enjoyed Halloween.

My daughter loves to get as many sweets as she can carry. She loves it, absolutely buzzes from it. She shares them with her friends and with us. She also loves to give out loads and helps us to make bags up every year as she prefers that than just standing with a tub of Heroes. She loves the buzz of it. She loves when people have decorations up. She loves when the doorbell rings and it's someone from school and she loves telling us that people like coming to our door. It's the one time of year she gets to go properly nuts on sweets and other people's generosity. But she's generous herself.

Bloody hell OP you sound fun. Who cares where they arrive from? Give out all your sweets then lights out and a sign saying all gone sorry.

I agree - I think one of the underlying reasons to be available to trick or treaters is to build community bonds, a sense of place and belonging etc. Local kids who walk past a house every day and remember getting treats, and feel good about it.

Not any old brat poppet.

My eldest is now thirty (youngest is 19) so our days of T or T are over. We never went out long and only ever knocked at decorated homes. Their grandparents weren't close by and there were no immediate neighbours back then who had pumpkins out.
We still live in the same house and gets lots of DC on Halloween now. I also have two dogs, one is a rescue who barks like mad when anyone knocks and gets anxious. I still decorate and leave a tub of sweets with a sign in the open porch. No hassle.

I have. More than that, I’ve seen an elderly couples front door and porch covered in eggs thrown by kids when they didn’t answer. And I’ve also seen the fear that some experience at Halloween. It’s vile.

That is very upsetting but that is an anti social behaviour problem not a trick or treaters problem. Some kids are vile and use Halloween as an excuse to be vile but that shouldn't stop the children who aren't vile from having fun.

Really? I'm 53 and went trick or treating and my mum and dad used to tell me stories of going guising in Scotland when they were young. It was definitely a well established thing when I was a child.

I went Trick or Treating as a child in the 80s, it's not an American import. It's annoying that people seem to think it is just because it's more publicised/commercialised now. I also had Halloween themed birthday parties (being born 2 days before) with apple bobbing etc. Love Halloween but I live in a flat now so don't get any trick or treaters (just the annoying cars and Halloween tourists), we used to decorate our old house, go the whole hog.

Penny for the guy is for Guy Fawkes night, the guy would be made and then put on the bonfire. Sadly we seem to have stopped the bonfire and guy bit and now just do loud fireworks displays.

Hate Halloween with a passion.No idea when it became a thing.Never heard of it when I was a child.

This year my street only has one house decorated.Hot much interest it seems.

The thread isn't about whether Trick or Treating is good or bad, it's about whether any etiquette applies regarding where you do it.

My road has always been very enthusiastic about these things and has become known as a good street. I always felt quite proud of being part of it, and made an effort with decorations and lots of sweets to give out.

This year, with prices rising, I've really noticed the more expensive sweets and, with an out of work husband and Xmas round the corner, I've possibly got fewer than usual.

A school parents WhatsApp group I'm on is organising for a group to meet at my road to trick or treat here this evening. All very lovely and excited. We're the only family actually living on this road, and I want to suggest on the group that they each bring a bag of sweets to contribute! I won't, but I thought it.

Unreasonable I’m afraid- unless there is a problem in your area with kids being anti social. By and large you only get knocked on if you have pumpkins or decorations out.
Lots of people get sweets in and actively want trick or treaters- doesn’t matter where from.
We have pumpkins out and enough sweets for dozens of trick or treaters - it’s the same with at least 1/2 of my residential estate.
i would ask why are you only going to your own street?
Don’t other streets have decorations? How old are your kids? If very young one street is plenty. But when in the juniors surely they want to go around the area a bit more?

That sounds horrible!

I always taught my kids not to knock on anyone’s house who didn’t have a light on/a pumpkin on display etc in case that person was elderly. I did it with them until they went on their own - about 11/12 ish. But; I was left being the only one in the household opening that bloody front door, every year, for years. so now I hide with the dogs in the back of the house with just the log burner lit - no guilt here-I’ve done my bit 😜

You never heard of Halloween? Really?

I'm 50. We didn't do much for Halloween but we went nuts for Bonfire Night - took 'Guys' (creepy stuffed effigies) around in wheelbarrows knocking on doors, singing 'Bonfire Night, stars are bright...' songs and scrounging 'pennies for the Guy', before going and burning him atop extremely hazardous bonfires in the back field, with loads of dangerous firework action to boot. Today's mostly supervised and sweetie-based trick or treating is super tame by comparison!

I get your point but I don't think it's about the sweets themselves. We've had the sweets for the trick or treaters out for weeks on the kitchen counter and my kids have only helped themselves to one here and there.
They would be more excited about their haul, which will be exactly the same types of sweets.

vile? 😂

bit much no?

Penny for the guy is guy fawkes night not Halloween. It wasn't imported from America. We took it there.