Halloween: What are you giving Trick or Treaters?

Metranil_Vavin

Blimey there are some miserable people about!

Maybe it's different where I live but people DO acknowledge the 'no decorations/pumpkins out, no knocking' rule. Probably because we live in an area populated by a lot of young families who all know each other through being neighbours/kids going to the same school.

I've never had gangs of feral teenagers rampaging about/egging my house/letting down my tyres etc...and we live in a fairly urban part of South London!

I love Halloween..I think it's great fun

z1a

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Nothing. We will be spending the evening in the cellar with all the lights turned off above ground.

I'm not having pesky kids spoiling my evening.

Sound's to me like they have, if you're spending it in the cellar.

Will be answering door until 2 tins of Heroes & Celebrations have gone.

Gloomendoom

z1a wrote: »

Sound's to me like they have, if you're spending it in the cellar.

Spending time in my cellar is no hardship. It's where I keep all my beer, wine, and savoury snacks.

As well as all the tins of sweets I don't give out at Halloween.

MysteryMe

Very hit and miss where I am so never know how much to buy. Sometimes no one knocks on the door, other times I'll get a few groups of small kids with an adult in tow. I don't put out a pumpkin and I don't sit in darkness either. If they knock I'll answer the door. I've got a small pack of fizzy sweets and some wine gums. I am going to buy some fruit tomorrow so might get a few more than usual to offer a healthy option.

rach_k

I enjoy Halloween too. We decorate the house and have a cauldron of mini bags of choc buttons, some mini choc bars and loads of Starburst. Oh and some satsumas decorated with Sharpie to look like pumpkins (the younger kids sometimes choose them over sweets!).

It's hardly a new thing - we used to go out trick or treating every year when I was little, albeit with a turnip or a swede instead of a pumpkin, and I think my parents did the same; the turnip lantern was something they passed down.

Where I grew up, you knocked at every door and people just didn't answer if they didn't want to, or put up a sign saying no thanks. Where I live now, the general rule is that you can knock at doors of houses with a decoration. It's an accepted (and useful) norm rather than an arbitrary rule made up by a few.

While I understand that many people have no desire to join in, I do find it a shame that some also feel the need to grumble and whinge about it. Rather oddly, they're often the same people who wang on about the lack of community spirit nowadays. Perhaps if they joined in a little, they'd get to know more local people and enjoy the community more.

Tigsteroonie

We put a green pacman-ghost light in the front window, to signify we welcome trick-or-treaters. It gets switched off around 8pm, anybody knocking after that time is ignored.

However, to respond to this thread being posted today - I'm not giving them anything. They can come back tomorrow, when it's actually Hallowe'en, and then they can have sweets.

onomatopoeia99

SuperPikachu wrote: »

So you think taking your kids round to complete strangers houses to harass them for free sweets is a "fun" thing to do?

I'm happy to give sweets to children trick-or-treating and will usually have a pumpkin out. What I really object to is when people bring kids round to sing in an attempt to extort money at Christmas in the name of some newcomer "God" that has tried to usurp all the traditional festivals that predate their cult. You probably know it as "carol singing" though.

Towser

We will be giving out sweets and will be taking our son out too. But then there is a sense of community spirit here so id expect to see a lot of people out as per normal each year.

Here too. Our village seems magical and it seems like the best festival.

My kids like the giving and receiving so we have two tubs of Aldi sweets to give away £8.

Sea_Shell

~Beanie~ wrote: »

I'm another one who will be sitting at the back of the house with the lights out at the front, ignoring the door.

Same here!

Spendless

Ooooo this is a brave thread. Did you pull the short straw MSE Andrea for who had to wander in here and post about it? Make sure you tell another member of the team it's their turn next year, you've done your bit.;) I just knew it would be full of replies from people complaining about it. :rotfl:

Mine loved going Trick or Treating when younger. I always insisted we only called at houses that were decorated. I used to point out that the houses that were, were expecting callers!

DS didn't want to go once he went to Secondary school, though he'd accompany younger sister. She continued to go until she hit her teens. For the 2nd year she'll be at a Halloween party instead.

As I've got no decs up or a pumpkin outside this year, it's probably pointless buying some sweets.

BTW - I live in an area that has mischievous night. Now that IS something to complain about.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mischief_Night