Halloween

[Mimi]

Where do you stand with Halloween and all it entails?

In in the past I have brought sweets to give to any children that have knocked on the door with 'Trick or Treat '
But over the years bigger, older 'children ' have taken to the streets and they are particularly menacing so I will no longer be providing sweets. The door will be staying firmly closed.
OH picked up a poster to display on our front door which asks very politely no trick or treat.
Will it do any good I wonder. Has anyone else used something like that , did it work and how soon before Halloween would be best to put it up on the door?

[Daisy]

Mimi - I don't know about the poster, or indeed if it will work as a deterrent. We are very lucky that our trick or treaters are quite young, with their mums or dads hovering protectively on the pavement.

I think the Halloween scene is revving up though - a neighbour's 8 year old told me this afternoon that she's made cupcakes with blood in the middle of them! (Blackcurrant jam according to her Mum's FB feed)

[Oma]

We love Halloween I open my door to them all and decorate the hall for when I open the door , we go to DD for a Halloween party after most have been but this year GS 1 being 12 wants to go out with his friends so most likely she won't bother this year .
We are lucky we only get a few older ones and they have always been nice , parents go around with the younger ones and they all make the effort to dress up , we do have several neighbours who turn their lights off and won't answer and we have a few elderly neighbours so I always ask the parents or the older ones not to knock on these doors .

[Shemadee]

We hardly get any callers and the ones we do get tend to have been pre-arranged by the parents. We are taking the GSs to a Halloween night on Saturday as we happen to be babysitting.

I'm I'm really looking forward to it though don't think my OH approves as he thinks it is another US money making scheme! He's probably right!

[ZIZI]

We are quite hidden away and I cannot remember in all the years we have been here having any trick or treaters. In our old house the local young children would come around accompanied by parents and we would play along with them. We are also at the end of the village and we do not have any young children nearby in fact Father Christmas and his sleigh no longer pop down this end of the village at Christmas these days.

[Nanto2girls]

We don't celebrate Halloween.Don't get many knocking on the door, if we do, we don't answer.
Shem, hubby has the same opinion as your OH.He thinks it's another US thing.

[Grauntie Mag]

I don't mind the children coming but I do remember one year when some not very pleasant youngsters came and I didn't give them anything as they threatened me with something nasty if I didn't give! They 'egged' our cars and windows. 🙄

[Daisy]

GM - That would put me off, too. We don't get many older children, but the ones who do knock are lovely and polite and have taken a lot of trouble to dress up, so i don't mind.

[Plantaholic]

We love Halloween I open my door to them all and decorate the hall for when I open the door , we go to DD for a Halloween party after most have been but this year GS 1 being 12 wants to go out with his friends so most likely she won't bother this year .
We are lucky we only get a few older ones and they have always been nice , parents go around with the younger ones and they all make the effort to dress up , we do have several neighbours who turn their lights off and won't answer and we have a few elderly neighbours so I always ask the parents or the older ones not to knock on these doors .

No warts this year then Oma

[Oma]

Doesn't look like it Plant 😩

[Shemadee]

When we lived in London two of our neighbours had their cars egged and then flour was poured over it. The culprits lived locally and were made to clean the cars! Not sure who decided on this but doubt it was their mother somehow.

[Gemini]

Grrrr, I wrote a long post and lost it!! My fault not the forum. I will be back.

[Bizzy Lizzy]

I have the same poster Mimi we have had ours for many years and always put it up a couple of days before just in case. We don't answer the door on that night anyway but since we live up a very steep hill few would bother with us unless they live close by. Years ago my Father's house got "egged" and he was very upset and scared. Who could justify doing this to an elderly man? I don't like Halloween at all.

[Plantaholic]

We don't get callers at Halloween, we live in a dark road and then up a track.

[Gemini]

A Halloween fan here.

Although I was born in 1954, I had Halloween parties as a child. These were just simple innocent fun. I carved a swede lantern, and drew and cut out witches and ghosts to decorate the garage walls (the party was held in the asbestos garage!) I painted these with luminous paint. We bobbed for apples in a bowl of water and I hung apples from strings from the garage rafters. We drank cocoa and ate biscuits. We usually dressed as witches and ran about the cul de sac for a while, making ghostly noises! We didn't Trick or Treat.

Because it was part of my life, I gave my DDs Halloween parties. They were very popular as no one else had them. I never took my DDs trick or treating, although DD3 did go round locally with two friends when she was 10 or 11. They came back with lots to share out!

GD and GS1 go to Halloween parties, dress up, and have their houses decorated, but neither go Trick or Treating.

Around here no one tends to knock unless you have a pumpkin lantern or some sign that you are celebrating Halloween. We will put out a pumpkin and a terracotta witches hat which DD1 bought me a few years ago. I'll light them when it's dark and bring them in around 7ish, so we won't be answering the door all night. GS1 will be here this year as it is my day to have him. He can help me put some decorations up in the house. I have lots

I agree that it is horrible when it turns nasty and people are afraid. It is just meant to be a bit of fun.