Anyone else not putting up Halloween decorations this year or participating in trick or treating?

[thegrinxh]

I was talking to a neighbour down the road and he seemed surprised when I mentioned that I won't be decorating the front of my house for Halloween this year/ participating in trick or treating.

None of the other neighbours on the estate say hello or are friendly and I have had issues with kids throwing footballs at my car and fence etc.

I don't really want to be spending money for other peoples kids on sweets and decorations.

My own kids are way too young to participate anyway.

My neighbour said "Oh well I think your house will be the only one not celebrating and people may get even more funny with you".

AIBU to lot went to participate or is this the norm if you have kids/ live in area with a lot of kids?

I live in the UK.aibu

Very much an American commercial event. Was never a thing here. In the UK guyfawkes and bonfire night. Halloween no.

Do we have to copy the US? No. Let them do it.

It's not. We used to go out with carved turnips in Wales in the early 80's.

In terms of history and commercial ventures the 80’s is pretty recent.
It came here to the UK then. I remember when it never was here at all.

The origins of trick or treating is Celtic.

www.britannica.com/topic/History-of-Trick

So it originated here.

Whatever you are talking about it is not trick or treating nor Halloween.
It came from the USA. In the 80’s. The commercially driven Halloween is from there.

Nah. Just do it when they are old enough, and make sure you reciprocate when your kids go round themselves.

AIBU to not have remotely thought about Hallowe'en? It's August!!

I haven't participated for several years now. We used to make an effort, decorating outside and carving several pumpkins. Then one year we found a couple of the pumpkins trashed and upended on my husband's work van as we hadn't got to the door quickly enough. That and kids either snatching way too many sweets, or groups of teens turning up who had no trace of Halloween make up or costume (they often wanted cash instead of sweets too). Too many feral kids nowadays to continue doing it, so there's no decor and the lights stay off.

For the record, I never took my two trick or treating in the neighbourhood (just to my mums locally and back) as I've always seen it as glorified begging, and my DC had enough sweets anyway.

Last October local kids very politey asked us to go back to our own country and threw firecrackers at me and my kids. So I have also refused to treat them as apparently they are not children from my country.

We don't do it ...never have even when the children were small. I'm late 60s and remember my dad carving a swede but never went knocking.

The rule here is to only knock on decorated houses. I didn't bother decorating pre kids. When my kids went trick or treating I also decorated the house and handed out sweets, sweets in bowl on doorstep when we where trick or treating. Now they are older I've stopped decorating the house and no one comes.

Nope

Then don’t decorate

ignore door or go to friends /family and listen to their doorbell 😜

I hate that Halloween stuff is already out in the shops. YANBU.

Definitely not creepy! Tranquil, i dont close my living room blinds in the winter neither. I can see head torches on mountains while im snuggled up

I love the kids coming to my door all dressed up. It’s super cute. Enjoy their fun with them 🎃

To be honest I will probably just spend £5 and donate some shop Halloween cupcakes/ sweets and donate to a food bank as a PP suggested.

Lol one neighbour has already hung some decorations up.

Is it me or has this year gone way too fast?

Lots of people dont join in for all sorts of reasons. Ignore any stupid comments from neighbours.

Weird thing to be discussing with neighbours in August.
Do what you want at Halloween.

You couldn't be more wrong. Halloween is 100% from the ancient Gaelic festival of Samhain. It was exported from Ireland to the US by Irish emigrants. Also Scottish.

Of course we don’t have to. But we can, if we want to. And it seems many people do want to, which is why they do it.
Anyone who doesn’t want to, doesn’t have to. That’s the beauty of it!

Halloween is over 2 months away. It one day for a couple of hours and alot of people won't be in their houses at that time to hand out sweets anyway. Don't over think it

I think the most outrageous thing about this is that people start putting decorations up in September. September? The month of back to school, when it’s still (reasonably) sunny? Hallow’een only really works when it’s starting to become obvious that it’s getting dark earlier and it’s getting colder.

What do they do at the start of November? Put Christmas trees up?

We do very low effort. Didn't even carve a pumpkin last year for some reason - so we just rigged up a sheet and Scream mask to look like a ghost and had a big bowl of sweets waiting. I love the crowds of tiny witches and pumpkins that come in the early evening with their parents, toddling up and saying 'fank oo' for a freddie the frog, and the slightly older ones who come alone and boss each other to only take one sweet. By the time the teens come, there are just Maom chews left and I give the lot to the first crowd that knocks, then take down the ghost and close the door.

They do! Trees go up earlier and earlier each year. I've seen plenty in November near us.

Do you live in a new build estate? That’s the only place I’ve really seen the majority of people (like one house after another) putting decorations up.

I live in a conservation area so it’s not really the done thing but I absolutely love Halloween so always put little pumpkins on my fireplace and bigger ones outside the front door. But no, if you don’t want to don’t do it, who cares what your neighbours think! People are weird!