AIBU to think it's fine to switch the lights off on Halloween?

[bigred26]

Saw a survey this week saying 53% of us use some sort of tactic to avoid trick-or-treaters. 27% pretend not to be home, 26% turn the lights off and sit in the dark, and 29% just leave sweets outside. Nearly half said they get "doorstep dread", and in London 48% feel under pressure to hand out sweets. Yet 73% say they love the spooky season.

One side says nobody has to open the door to strangers, especially with repeated knocking or nervous pets. The other says it's one night a year and the kids love it.

Answer the door, hide, or bowl on the step?

I think it's a bit joyless but whatever. If there's no decorations out, we don't knock.

It’s known where I live that you don’t knock if the house isn’t decorated. Some areas are known for everyone participating and other areas don’t do it at all. There are no consequences for not doing it.

It seems to have changed over the years where I am, in the past it would have been older children out for most of the evening, but now it’s really only 5 year olds who do it (with their parents obviously). They tend to be out very early, say 5-6pm, and I’m not even home from work then! I drive past them on my way home.

And for those who don’t believe the poster who said she got 300 visitors … there is an area not too far from me where it was estimated that there were 1000 kids coming through the other year. I saw photos, and people were just packed shoulder to shoulder in the street, you couldn’t even have walked through. Lots of people who had driven from a different area.

Nobody knocks unless the house is decorated around here. The area you are referring to must have gone all out for halloween to have drop offs. Was this the uk?

Re the 300 - perfectly believable. I loved Halloween with my kids when we lived on a quiet street of 1970s houses. We would just get a few of the kids who lived on our street. We have since moved to a new build estate and it's hideous. Cars full of families, people queuing at drives (including their parents who I don't know wtf they are thinking), older kids with bags for life full of sweets, kids taking the whole bowl of sweets if left out. Less and less people in my street participate and no wonder. My kids are only allowed to do our street but they cant even get to neighbours houses they know due to the crowds. It isn't even our estate either, people go all around the newer houses with their kids. I loved Halloween, loathe it now.

Ws are in Scotland, town with a mix of older and newer houses. Decorations do make a difference but it feels a shame for the choices to be either participate and get crowds of families all evening or don't participate at all. I loved when it was just the immediately local kids we knew.

I live in the middle of nowhere so I’ve never had a single trick or treater in 16 years.

I’m taking my friends daughter round a few of her local houses this year and I’m tempted to dress up myself being 4 foot 10!
There are advantages to being short 😂.

This.

Don’t do it anymore. I used to but in my last house it was mostly groups of horrible pre-teen and teenage kids in groups. If I left sweets out in a bowl, the sweets and the bowl were gone within minutes. When I opened my door and handed out sweets, as soon as I closed my door to them and turned around after giving them sweets, they opened my front door and ran off, letting my dog out on the street. I mean I should have locked the door behind me but still.

This was on a pretty rough estate and I’ve since moved. But I don’t bother at all anymore- I lock the door and letterbox and don’t answer. No decorations either. It’s a shame for the younger kids with parents who I don’t mind nor do I mind well-behaved older ones but the feral ones in groups spoil it.

Forgot to add- I don’t sit in the dark but I have an internal door between my living room and hallway leading to the front door so I have the hall light off and just close the internal door. My living room window backs onto the garden so not a problem. In my old house with the living room window on the street, I just closed the curtains.

If your house isn’t decorated lights on or not nobody should be knocking.

I don’t put out decorations, but now and then someone will knock. I didn’t have any sweets, only fruit, so gave them some satsumas. A slightly puzzled acceptance from the children but they did say thank you which was nice.

I've left sweets in a bowl outside before now and a few children have grabbed all of them (despite putting a note on them, please take only one packet). Often older children/teens not making any effort to dress up, just taking sweets.

In the past few years, however, having moved house, no one has called, This is despite decorating the house.

When I was a child no one left pumpkins (or turnips as it was then) out; we just knocked at every house! Now I think it's widely known only to knock at those houses who have a pumpkin on the step or decorated.

I love Halloween and seeing the kids dressed up but my dog hates the doorbell ringing and barks each time it rings. So last year I put sweets out in a pumpkin bowl and put scary crime scene tape across my doorbell, post box and the stairs leading up to my doorbell ringing. It worked perfectly.

I hate it. No way am I answering the door to anyone

Don’t most now just knock on doors of decorated houses?

Well I love it and dress the house outside and in and get sweets. However we never went to houses that were not lit up.
When I've had enough I turn lights off and brimg stuff in.

I downloaded a poster from the police to pop on the front door asking people not to knock the door - I absolutely hate masks so really don’t like Halloween - I don’t put the outside light on either in the hope that people follow the ‘no light, no knock’ guide.

As long as you don't have decorations out, the children won't knock.

Screen anyone at the door with doorbell camera.

This year we are doing party in the house, with music, spooky food, indoor trick or treating with dcs (so no missing out on sweets)!
Not enough participate where we live, plus I have one that won't go and the dc that will would maybe have 2 answer door neighbours and some bowls outside. It just isn't fun!
Different to how it was when I was a kid, it used to be great, all the binbags and witches hats, cut out swedea as pumpkins weren't available, and lets not forget the carrier bag (showing my age now)!

I used to just put a bowl of sweets out. Last year a woman got caught on my doorbell telling her kids to 'take the lot' and laughing.

They can fuck off this year.

because they’re too bloody lazy to do anything for their own kids…..why bother when they can bung the kids in the car and go to another area where, apparently….its all laid on for free 🙄

This ^ (East Devon.) Works.

Don't celebrate it, don't like it, definitely do not decorate the house or open the door - I'm almost 70 and my husband is disabled - last year we had eggs thrown at the house - and no, we don't live in a horrible area but we do live close to a park.This year there has been a MUGA installed with floodlights and better security cameras, so I'm hoping for a quieter night this year, fingers crossed! It's not younger children, I have no problem with them but it's been hijacked by older teenagers around here.
I honestly find the whole thing pretty stressful.

No decorations and no light at the door, or in the hall should mean no trick or treaters. It should, but apparently it doesn’t where we live 🙄

You don't have to sit in the dark or answer the door. We lock our gates so they don't even come to the door, it saves them getting slammed every 5 minutes by passing guisers. We are a quiet street with a only few children living here, but they arrive in mini buses from elsewhere and screech up and down past the house for hours.

The rule is no pumpkin no knock. Most follow this.