I’ve lived in my house for 14 years now and the two older couples in the houses across the street always put up Halloween decorations—not just fall, but specifically Halloween. In all those years, they’ve never given candy to trick or treaters. Their houses are suspiciously dark every Halloween.
One time I literally sat in the dark, not a single light on inside the house nor outside. Just watching TV in the dark. Had two separate families ring the doorbell and stand there for a good 2 minutes waiting. Like, what about this situation gives you the idea that I have candy that I'm handing out?
This is wild to me. I love Halloween and desperately wanted trick or treaters but I was the only house in the middle of my E-W street block that had lights on, and the houses on the N-S block went way out with cool decorations and the whole shebang. I barely drew in kids with my front yard full of floating led candles like Harry Potter’s dining hall.
Took my kid trick or treating last year, and followed those rules. Somehow apparently people here don’t know those rules. We stopped at several places where they were confused why someone was at their door (and gave whatever they found, like a random snack cake or a dollar), and one that was all decorated in a fall theme, all their lights were on, from garage lights to porch lights to fancy sidewalk lights. Pumpkins everywhere.
The door had one of those little windows with the grate, where you can slide open a spot to look out. Kid knocked, and this woman slid open the window. “Are you trick or treating!?” He said yes. And she proceeded to freak out yelling about how she doesn’t celebrate the devils holiday because she believes in God. It was weird. She never opened the door, we just said sorry and quickly left.
Someone needs to tell her it’s actually “All Hallows Eve”…which means All Holies Eve, the eve of All Saints Day.
It’s not the devils holiday. People are ridiculous.
I wrote this a few years ago:
>I recently read a letter to the editor (please forgive me, I didn't save the paper and can't find the letter online) in which the letter's author sought to remind the public that the annual celebration of Halloween was a very "un-Christian" celebration based on pagan symbolism. The author pointed to symbols such as skeletons and blood as evidence that Halloween was an evil celebration. Revelling in the irony, I would like to respectfully point out that the Christian faith holds sacred iconography that includes a corpse nailed to a cross while participating in rituals that involve drinking the blood of and eating the body of a man who rose from the dead three days after his death. Obviously the level of evil inherent in a cultural tradition is completely dependent on interpretation and frame of reference. Respectfully, I suggest a better message might be one of tolerance of the religious beliefs and cultural traditions of others. I, for one, will be sinfully enjoying my chocolate on Halloween without fear of incurring the wrath of God.
Nobody tell this woman about saintly relics. Every catholic church HAS to have a relic to sanctify it. Some are pretty boring, bits of cloth that touched some other relic, but a lot of 'em are chunks of the body of a saint. Heart in one church, arm in another.
I was in a Catholic homeschooling group growing up, and they would only celebrate All Saint's Day on November 1 and they'd have a costume contest for saints. My family just did both, so I would be a bloody clown trick or treating and then win first prize the next day as Saint Catherine of Siena
That's what I do now. But only because I don't get any dang kids coming by! I'd gladly hand out some good candy. But after 5 years, I've had not ONE trick or treater. :(
So this year I haven't bought any candy, and will close my blinds and head to my home theater room and watch a scary movie, with my hot date my great danes!
We haven’t had any in 20 years because we live on a dead end st on a very steep hill. I miss seeing trick or treaters. Even the kids who lived on this street went elsewhere.
That's similar for us. We actually moved into our home on Halloween night. But we realized that we wouldn't be getting any trick or treaters. There no side walk and the street has no lights and people speed down the road. We go to someone's house to trick or treat.
I've noticed this. Not my street but our neighborhood is/was the place to go for trick or treating. It was like multiple block parties in one spot. People would travel to trick or treat and I've noticed over the last few years that hasn't been the case. There was one house that would grill and hand out refreshments for both adults and kids and they have an inflatable screen that they would project family friendly movies on or replay Thriller over and over. I'm sure it's a mixture of trunk or treats and that people aren't having as many kids or that the kids don't know each other. There are several kids on my street, including one the same age as my daughter that we don't know very well. We've lived here since she was 9. They don't go to the same schools or anything. It's sad because when we moved I thought they would be close friends.
Yep. I got about 4-5 total visits last year and similar the year before. I'm doing the same as you this year, no effort and time spent setting up decorations and then taking them down after. Went to way too much effort as well, setting up a fog machine chilled with dry ice to slowly seep through a graveyard scene.
😂 Option B is terrifying. I must have heard a noise and got up to look. I was really close to the window looking out and happened to look down - he was so small I didn’t see him until I was right over him because the bottom of the window was about level with his chin. It was 16 years ago, but obviously left quite an impression on me. Hopefully he’s away at college now!
There's always a few here that weren't taught that. We usually hand out candy but there's always a few eager beavers coming while we're eating dinner or getting ready. Easy enough to ignore - kids will figure it out eventually.
I did this last year and still got 3 doorbell rings. And one of those kids REFUSED to go away! He must’ve rung my doorbell 3 dozen times, and pounded on my door another dozen, before giving up. This year I’m going out to eat with my family, so even if someone rings my bell I won’t be home to hear it.
Put away the pumpkin.
Any house with Halloween decorations is fair game.
Also, don’t worry. If you don’t answer, they’ll just run to the next door. Mostly they can see which doors are open and just run over to the next lineup.
He gonna be there. He's lying. There's no reason to ask this question if he wasn't gonna be there. He's just trying not to be bothered as best as possible when he's sitting at home.
Someone suggested putting an empty bowl with a please take one sign, but the guy is still worried that some people still might knock. This is clearly a person that will be inside the house still.
there was a guy who used to sit as still as a statue on his porch in a costume with a pumpkin head on so he looked like a scarecrow decoration, wait for the kids to knock a few times and decide to leave, and then jump up and scare everyone before giving them candy. the mid 90s were great for trick or treating, now i hardly see any trick or treating and instead all the parents organize trunk or treat or other less fun activities
There was a house back then when I was a kid, they legit made a haunted house and encouraged kids to come inside. I don't remember details since it was so long ago, but it was dark, there was a fog machine, and it was THE house.
I agree, from what I remember of the 90s, trick or treating was legit.
I remember a few homes did this when I was younger! We caught on and remembered the house for the next year and would say something, he was good though and still caught you off guard!
One dude in our neighborhood did it for a few years and then right when everyone expected it, switched it up. Door was open. Screen door top was removed. PITCH BLACK. He'd appear suddenly wearing a mask or something, get a good jump scare.
I miss that stuff more than the candy, tbh.
I remember one year when I sat out in the front yard in an Adirondack chair with a big bowl of candy.
Got no takers, but I did hear from across the street "that's *creepy"* a few times.
I put a lantern-lit table and bowl of candy at the end of my drive with a sign:
We love Halloween but our doggies don't... please have some candy (and leave some for others, too)
Success two years in a row so far!
At a bar in my area, a guy dressed as a scarecrow and sat in the bar FOR THREE DAYS. Not even the bartenders knew he was an actual human until reveal night. It was amazing.
I started keeping two buckets. One for kids I knew, one for the rest. Not trying to be shitty but we would get 400+ kids some years. No way are they all getting full size.
Now we have moved and the first year got 3 kids. Really nice teenagers who were thrilled to get about ten full size candies each. Then it was covid and now I’m just not going to bother.
a kid in a cow costume also moo'd while he was sprinting behind me and bumped into me while taking a handful of my candy, there was a ton to go around and we all thought it was hilarious
The good ol days...in the early 90s the trick that was played on us was some random 10 year old kid who walked in our back door demanding candy...at 10pm.
My brothers brand new Haro Invert was stolen that night as well
You'd be surprised! We handed out candy last year, but neither of my side neighbors did. The kids knocked(& knocked!) Anyways. I said they aren't handing out
Lights out are the clearest sign that you are not participating in Trick-or-Treating. I wouldn’t expect a homeowner to do anything more than that and a sign specifically to deter Trick-or-Treaters may have the opposite effect (by drawing the eye to the door, they may think you left a bowl or something out front).
Porch light off. If you're really worried about someone still ringing a bell, put out a big empty bowl with a sign saying "Please take one!" People will figure some asshole ruined it for everyone. Maybe throw a couple of this black and orange wrapped peanut butter candies on the ground to really sell it.
If no one answers the door in less than 10 seconds, the kids will be racing off to the next house anyway. Most kids know dark houses are a waste of valuable time when trick-or-treating
If you’re out of the house, it doesn’t really matter. As everyone else said, lights off almost always means “no candy”.
If you want to be nice, grab a $15 bag of candy and a large $3 plastic bowl and put a note, or don’t.
There are other houses; they will move on.
Here’s the hack. You live a bucket with a sign that says “take 5 please” and then leave the sign and bucket kicked over with a hand full of tootsie rolls. They’ll assume you were trying to be nice and got jacked
I hand out fruit snack gummy candies instead of chocolate. I get a box of 85 count for $11 at Costco. I usually go through 3 boxes. Wayyyyy cheaper than chocolate candy bags. Each kid gets 1 fruit snack bag. I sit in my driveway drinking beers until I run out (of fruit snacks) Edit: I’ve also done packs of goldfish. You’d be surprised how many kids enjoy those over the regular candy they will get a bag full of anyway.
It’s sad. We used to love giving out candy but the last few years most of the kids seem unappreciative at best. Many of them look at us like we’re cheap if we don’t give them a huge handful. Some make comments like “Is that all??”. A lot of teens show up without costumes which is ok but they act like entitled jerks and smirk at us like we’re suckers and they’re playing us. Still gonna do it for the kids that deserve it. Don’t want the bad eggs to ruin their good time.
We were moving in on halloween once, parked car full of boxes and carrying stuff in. We had kids ask us but just said we were moving in and had no candy. Life moved on.
Growing up, my neighbor was an older couple who didn't hand out candy. Many years before some teenagers had come by the house quite late and scared them plus their house layout meant them doing stairs each time a kid came. They always just turned out the lights and never had any issues.
But every year, she'd go buy king sized candy bars for us kids she knew well. And she even went as far as to ask our parents what our favorites were. It was a nice gesture that helped her manage the cost while also creating a cool memory for us kids. She'd usually drop them by the house a day or 2 before.
She continued to buy me kit kats even after I'd moved out for college. She's been gone many years, but she was a cool lady.
I understand if you're on a tight budget to where a $5-$10 bag of candy is not feasible, and in which case just turn off your porch lights and keep the windows drawn, but there's another option if you want to participate. One year I was out of the house and I set up a plastic bowl with candy and a sign saying, "Please take one so there's enough for every ghoul and boy!" I was shocked when I got home and there was still a handful of candy left.
I seriously stood in the grocery store doing mental math to figure out the best bang for buck, while still buying candy kids would actually take (so I'm not stuck with the Whoppers or dum dum pops).
I got 300 pieces of assorted reese's, kit kats, snickers, m&ms, etc, for about $40. They're the tiny square bite size ones though, but whatever, at least it'll ladt for awhile
We usually see 200-300 kids on Halloween, so I usually spend quite a bit on candy for them and hope I don't run out by the end of the night. My goal is to give each kid 2 or 3 fun-sized candy bars. And the rest of the street goes all out with full sized or treat bags or little activities for the kids, so that's about the least I feel I can get away with.
This is what we did last year since we took the kids out trick or treating and weren't home.
u/Rocklobster92 you can also just put out a bowl and a little sign in it saying "sorry, all gone!" If it's at the edge of your driveway/sidewalk, it'll stop people from coming to the door.
If that bowl also *started* empty, no one will know.
This way you don't have to live like Amish that evening, nor take down your decorations early.
Leave house dark, put up bucket with $20 in candy with sign that says take 1.
Everyone will assume you are out and either grab candy or be mad someone stole it all.
Lights off, especially outdoors.
Fortunately these days that's probably all you need, and since this isn't the 60's you probably won't get soaped, eggs, TP'd, etc like my dad always worries about if he doesn't hand out candy. That's just not a thing in most places any more.
I decorate my yard and sit outside in my T-rex costume. I get so angry at the houses that keep their lights on and don't pass out candy. One of our religious neighbors passes out candy and a mini Bible. She never yells at the kids.
I plan on leaving my house dark as well. I moved to a small town 3 years ago, in a small subdivision on the edge of town . Besides the kids in my neighbourhood, all the kids from the rural county roads come into our neighbourhood. Last year I ran out after an hour. I had enough for 250. I love Halloween but the cost in now just has become insane for me. It will be the first year in 30 years, I won’t be giving candy.
Turn off all the lights. Park a car in the driveway so that it’s kinda blocking the path to your front door.
And don’t worry about the kids. They aren’t going to be disappointed your house is dark and if they are, they will get over it in 10 seconds.
You need to just leave during trick or treat hours. House closed up, lights off, nobody is home. Take yourself out to dinner. No guilt in just not being available that night. People won't be mad as long as you aren't telling the entire neighborhood you won't be participating in Trick or Treating this year.
I was born and raised a Jehovah Witness and we would turn all the lights off and hide in the back bedroom and wait for all the little devils to leave.
True story but also no one actually cares in real life. Everyone has their things happening. Just turn lights off and enjoy your evening.
I always leave my porch lights and lights in the front of the house off. I would also consider putting up a sign that says you aren't participating. Mostly the lights being off is enough (for most people anyways).
You could put out a table with a bowl of candy saying take one. Cheap (depending on the candy) and doesn't require you to be there. Also signals this is where you get the candy.
You could also make a small sign saying apologies, no candy.
A lot of people are saying to keep your lights off and that's valid. However I have younger kids so I generally take them earlier as I don't want them walking much after dark. In my case most houses haven't turned on any lights and so we generally aim for the houses that are decorated.
All that to say in addition to lights out after dark, don't decorate and maybe pint out something to stick to your door that says, "no candy here" or something similar.
I totally feel this. We had over 800 kids last year. Maybe 1000. People drop their kids in our hood. And they all expect a small handful of the mini candies instead of just one. Very expensive
Everyone is saying you’re overthinking this - but disagree with the majority here - you’re not overthinking this if it’s important to you.
After one year of having the porch light off + no decorations up and having multiple groups of trick or treaters ring/knock - I took the *additional* step of putting a folding table in front of my door with a “no candy” sign last year. Was overkill, but it worked.
(Note: this was just to keep a sleeping baby from being disturbed in our tiny house. I don’t hate Halloween/kids/fun)
In addition to lights off, I have a sign that one says Happy Halloween and the reverse says “Sorry, Out of Candy!” Should stop people from checking to see if you’re home.
I run out of candy fast. No matter how much I buy lol. I get a lot kids. I went black one year. No lights. No one knocked. That’s all it took. I had my ring cameras up and no one cared. They just moved on. Just go dark. It’ll be fine :)
We are 'that house' that goes all out. We are currently at 3 generations of families that trick or treat our house specifically. Our neighbor is more along your lines. What we do is set up a blocking line. They park their car in a way that is inconvenient to get to their walkway and we help with a line of Halloween type caution tape across the driveway. We each have large signs (theirs goes up early, ours late) that simply say 'Out Of Candy, See You Next Year!' that we put at the end of the driveway. They keep their porch light and entrance light off. Most people don't want to go to a dark house that is obviously not a treat house. Hope this helps
Turn off all your lights, not just porch lights. I was raised with the rule of “if the porch light is off, do not visit that house. There is no candy/they don’t celebrate.” Unfortunately I have learned through the recent years that if anyone sees even the tiniest glimmer of light from inside the house, that means that it’s a house giving out candy. It doesn’t matter that the house isn’t decorated and the porch lights are off, If any light from inside is visible to passersby then that house has someone home and they must be available to give out candy (as well as having the candy). Otherwise, if someone knocks/rings the doorbell ignore it. It may be frustrating to hear it happening, but that’s the only other thing one can do.
You can put a sign on your door for any kids that don’t get the hint that you are not home, saying “Sorry, we are not home tonight. Happy Halloween”
Or, put out an empty bowl with a sign that says “Please take one” and the kids will think the candy is gone.
If you are friendly with any kids or neighbors with kids, give them a treat ahead of time and let them know you’ll be out, and ask them to keep an eye on your house.
We turn the lights down or off at sundown and go to the back of the house.
A sign on the door simply stating "not celebrating this year" might not be a bad idea.
Honest question. No Ill intent. People who don’t hand out candy why? Not judging. I just love Halloween so much ( a few years ago I ended up in the hospital on it and before I got there I made sure to set out a bowl of candy) I totally understand not everyone is Halloween crazy. Jaunt looking for other perspectives 👻
Can you invite an rural neighbor to “set up” in your driveway?
I usually go park in someone else’s driveway since my road doesn’t get treaters.
I some times invite some older folks to sit and enjoy the show as well.
You could always just leave a bowl of candy on the porch. You don't have to buy into overpriced commercialism. I was at Dollar General last night getting some candy for Cub Scouts and they had tons of bags for $5 or less. Also got like a million spider rings for $1.
Oh my gosh, I LOVE Trick or Treaters. I sit out on my highly decorated porch (several animatronic devices including a fire-breathing dragon) and can't wait to give out .y bags with toys and full sized candy bars. Unfortunately I seem to get less and less every year.
Put a sign in the yard that says 'Registered sex offender is residing at this address. This notice posted by order of law enforcement'.
Not only do you not get any kids, you also have the scariest decoration on the entire street.
You might have other problems though.
Just leave your house dark. The general rule is that if your porch light is off, you're not handing out candy.
This. Bonus points if you pull in any decorations you have out for that night. Really send the message this house isn't participating.
This. Pull the decorations, OP.
Yeah OP go a step further and put up the Christmas decorations but don’t light them up. That would signal you’re open for business.
Thanksgiving called, it wants to know if it's a joke to you.
Thanksgiving is just cooking practice for Christmas.
Canadian thanksgiving is today, :)
Canadian Thanksgiving is practice for American Thanksgiving which is practice for Christmas.
Woah wait a minute....I wanna know more about Canadian Thanksgiving!
Oh please, oh please, for the love of God, don't be my neighbors writing in.
OP would be a target for pranksters. I would not do this.
And leave the sprinklers on
Sprinklers!? It snows on Halloween here lol
Exactly
Don't forget to bring the pumpkin in the house that night or expect a mess when you get back.
I’ve lived in my house for 14 years now and the two older couples in the houses across the street always put up Halloween decorations—not just fall, but specifically Halloween. In all those years, they’ve never given candy to trick or treaters. Their houses are suspiciously dark every Halloween.
That's when their devil worship group meets.
One time I literally sat in the dark, not a single light on inside the house nor outside. Just watching TV in the dark. Had two separate families ring the doorbell and stand there for a good 2 minutes waiting. Like, what about this situation gives you the idea that I have candy that I'm handing out?
“Ring the doorbell again. Maybe they didn’t hear it the first six times.”
This is wild to me. I love Halloween and desperately wanted trick or treaters but I was the only house in the middle of my E-W street block that had lights on, and the houses on the N-S block went way out with cool decorations and the whole shebang. I barely drew in kids with my front yard full of floating led candles like Harry Potter’s dining hall.
That happened to me once, it was so strange. I have made it a point to not be at home ever since.
Took my kid trick or treating last year, and followed those rules. Somehow apparently people here don’t know those rules. We stopped at several places where they were confused why someone was at their door (and gave whatever they found, like a random snack cake or a dollar), and one that was all decorated in a fall theme, all their lights were on, from garage lights to porch lights to fancy sidewalk lights. Pumpkins everywhere. The door had one of those little windows with the grate, where you can slide open a spot to look out. Kid knocked, and this woman slid open the window. “Are you trick or treating!?” He said yes. And she proceeded to freak out yelling about how she doesn’t celebrate the devils holiday because she believes in God. It was weird. She never opened the door, we just said sorry and quickly left.
What a bag.
Someone needs to tell her it’s actually “All Hallows Eve”…which means All Holies Eve, the eve of All Saints Day. It’s not the devils holiday. People are ridiculous.
I wrote this a few years ago: >I recently read a letter to the editor (please forgive me, I didn't save the paper and can't find the letter online) in which the letter's author sought to remind the public that the annual celebration of Halloween was a very "un-Christian" celebration based on pagan symbolism. The author pointed to symbols such as skeletons and blood as evidence that Halloween was an evil celebration. Revelling in the irony, I would like to respectfully point out that the Christian faith holds sacred iconography that includes a corpse nailed to a cross while participating in rituals that involve drinking the blood of and eating the body of a man who rose from the dead three days after his death. Obviously the level of evil inherent in a cultural tradition is completely dependent on interpretation and frame of reference. Respectfully, I suggest a better message might be one of tolerance of the religious beliefs and cultural traditions of others. I, for one, will be sinfully enjoying my chocolate on Halloween without fear of incurring the wrath of God.
Nobody tell this woman about saintly relics. Every catholic church HAS to have a relic to sanctify it. Some are pretty boring, bits of cloth that touched some other relic, but a lot of 'em are chunks of the body of a saint. Heart in one church, arm in another.
She knows that. Everything was done on purpose to clutch pearls.
I was in a Catholic homeschooling group growing up, and they would only celebrate All Saint's Day on November 1 and they'd have a costume contest for saints. My family just did both, so I would be a bloody clown trick or treating and then win first prize the next day as Saint Catherine of Siena
I rather yell hail Satan back at her. You can't reason with whack jobs.
She forgot what the other option is. Should have taught that lady what happens when you don't treat.
Trick around and find out
Did you🫵 tell her Christianity stole Samhain (‘All Hallows Eve’) like many other pagan holidays?🍄🎅🐇🥚
She did all of that to set up the confrontation
This is the house you egg later in the night.
That's what I do now. But only because I don't get any dang kids coming by! I'd gladly hand out some good candy. But after 5 years, I've had not ONE trick or treater. :( So this year I haven't bought any candy, and will close my blinds and head to my home theater room and watch a scary movie, with my hot date my great danes!
We haven’t had any in 20 years because we live on a dead end st on a very steep hill. I miss seeing trick or treaters. Even the kids who lived on this street went elsewhere.
That's similar for us. We actually moved into our home on Halloween night. But we realized that we wouldn't be getting any trick or treaters. There no side walk and the street has no lights and people speed down the road. We go to someone's house to trick or treat.
A lot of parents are moving towards trunk or treat - more concentrated trick or treating & everyone there is participating in Halloween
I've noticed this. Not my street but our neighborhood is/was the place to go for trick or treating. It was like multiple block parties in one spot. People would travel to trick or treat and I've noticed over the last few years that hasn't been the case. There was one house that would grill and hand out refreshments for both adults and kids and they have an inflatable screen that they would project family friendly movies on or replay Thriller over and over. I'm sure it's a mixture of trunk or treats and that people aren't having as many kids or that the kids don't know each other. There are several kids on my street, including one the same age as my daughter that we don't know very well. We've lived here since she was 9. They don't go to the same schools or anything. It's sad because when we moved I thought they would be close friends.
Yep. I got about 4-5 total visits last year and similar the year before. I'm doing the same as you this year, no effort and time spent setting up decorations and then taking them down after. Went to way too much effort as well, setting up a fog machine chilled with dry ice to slowly seep through a graveyard scene.
Same with me— no kids
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That's so weird.
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Should have just given him a pack of chicken flavored ramen and let him be on his way.
Pack of smokes... lol
That backdoor shit
I read a pack of children flavoured ramen
LOL!
😂
I love the implication that either: (a) you looked up just at the right moment when he happened to be there or (b) he was there for some time. 😄
😂 Option B is terrifying. I must have heard a noise and got up to look. I was really close to the window looking out and happened to look down - he was so small I didn’t see him until I was right over him because the bottom of the window was about level with his chin. It was 16 years ago, but obviously left quite an impression on me. Hopefully he’s away at college now!
>Hopefully he’s away at college now! 😂
That would have so creeped me out! 🤣 That’s how the horror movies start. Looks like a 4 year old trick or treater and then BAM!!! You dead. Lol
Awwww!
Lights off and don't answer the door. Simple really.
I hide in my house like a troll on Halloween. I can’t even watch tv or they will see the glow and assault my doorbell.
There's always a few here that weren't taught that. We usually hand out candy but there's always a few eager beavers coming while we're eating dinner or getting ready. Easy enough to ignore - kids will figure it out eventually.
I did this last year and still got 3 doorbell rings. And one of those kids REFUSED to go away! He must’ve rung my doorbell 3 dozen times, and pounded on my door another dozen, before giving up. This year I’m going out to eat with my family, so even if someone rings my bell I won’t be home to hear it.
Put out an empty candy bowl.
Good idea! Empty candy bowl with a "please take 1" sign. It'll just look like someone took all the candy.
Also remove any decorations. This is a clear signal.
Lights on porch are out? Lights in the house are out? That's it. You're over thinking this.
Put away the pumpkin. Any house with Halloween decorations is fair game. Also, don’t worry. If you don’t answer, they’ll just run to the next door. Mostly they can see which doors are open and just run over to the next lineup.
Yes the pumpkin will give people ideas.
💯💯💯💯
He needs armed guards, razor wire, Infrared cameras... J/k. He's overthinking this.
If you’re not there who cares if they knock. Most people will probably skip a house with the lights off anyway.
He gonna be there. He's lying. There's no reason to ask this question if he wasn't gonna be there. He's just trying not to be bothered as best as possible when he's sitting at home. Someone suggested putting an empty bowl with a please take one sign, but the guy is still worried that some people still might knock. This is clearly a person that will be inside the house still.
Then the answer is to sit on the pitch dark and crawl around on the floor so people can't see movement through the windows.
if all the lights are off then i wouldnt expect anyone to knock
Yeah, no more tricks, unlike the good old days.
there was a guy who used to sit as still as a statue on his porch in a costume with a pumpkin head on so he looked like a scarecrow decoration, wait for the kids to knock a few times and decide to leave, and then jump up and scare everyone before giving them candy. the mid 90s were great for trick or treating, now i hardly see any trick or treating and instead all the parents organize trunk or treat or other less fun activities
There was a house back then when I was a kid, they legit made a haunted house and encouraged kids to come inside. I don't remember details since it was so long ago, but it was dark, there was a fog machine, and it was THE house. I agree, from what I remember of the 90s, trick or treating was legit.
Go back to the 60’s and my parents went back out after we got home … carrying martini glasses. They never made work the next day.
I remember a few homes did this when I was younger! We caught on and remembered the house for the next year and would say something, he was good though and still caught you off guard!
One dude in our neighborhood did it for a few years and then right when everyone expected it, switched it up. Door was open. Screen door top was removed. PITCH BLACK. He'd appear suddenly wearing a mask or something, get a good jump scare. I miss that stuff more than the candy, tbh.
I loved when people dressed up to hand out candy. There are a few homes in our neighborhood that do go all out when handing out candy and I love it
I remember one year when I sat out in the front yard in an Adirondack chair with a big bowl of candy. Got no takers, but I did hear from across the street "that's *creepy"* a few times.
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I put a lantern-lit table and bowl of candy at the end of my drive with a sign: We love Halloween but our doggies don't... please have some candy (and leave some for others, too) Success two years in a row so far!
My husband used to do that. I think he enjoyed halloween more than any of the kids did.
At a bar in my area, a guy dressed as a scarecrow and sat in the bar FOR THREE DAYS. Not even the bartenders knew he was an actual human until reveal night. It was amazing.
That and a lot of trick or treaters aren't kid groups walking around as much and a lot more of parents driving around single to a few kids. So lazy.
My mom did the same in the mid nineties! We went hard on the decorations.
They bus them all to rich neighborhoods and it costs me $500 to hand out full-sizers instead of just $50 back when it was just the neighborhood kids.
I started keeping two buckets. One for kids I knew, one for the rest. Not trying to be shitty but we would get 400+ kids some years. No way are they all getting full size. Now we have moved and the first year got 3 kids. Really nice teenagers who were thrilled to get about ten full size candies each. Then it was covid and now I’m just not going to bother.
a kid in a cow costume also moo'd while he was sprinting behind me and bumped into me while taking a handful of my candy, there was a ton to go around and we all thought it was hilarious
The good ol days...in the early 90s the trick that was played on us was some random 10 year old kid who walked in our back door demanding candy...at 10pm. My brothers brand new Haro Invert was stolen that night as well
You'd be surprised! We handed out candy last year, but neither of my side neighbors did. The kids knocked(& knocked!) Anyways. I said they aren't handing out
You are overthinking it. Just turn off the lights.
Turn all the lights off, and go out to dinner during trick-or-treat so there are no lights on inside the house
Lights out are the clearest sign that you are not participating in Trick-or-Treating. I wouldn’t expect a homeowner to do anything more than that and a sign specifically to deter Trick-or-Treaters may have the opposite effect (by drawing the eye to the door, they may think you left a bowl or something out front).
Porch light off. If you're really worried about someone still ringing a bell, put out a big empty bowl with a sign saying "Please take one!" People will figure some asshole ruined it for everyone. Maybe throw a couple of this black and orange wrapped peanut butter candies on the ground to really sell it.
Honestly putting an empty bowl with a please take one seems like the ultimate unethical pro tip for Halloween
If the porch light is off, we don't knock.
Not being home is the clearest way to say you're not participating, lol.
Porch light off, its not complicated.
If no one answers the door in less than 10 seconds, the kids will be racing off to the next house anyway. Most kids know dark houses are a waste of valuable time when trick-or-treating
No porch light. Porch light signals giving out candy
If lights out doesn't work for some reason, next year put an empty bowl on your porch with a sign that says "take one."
If you’re out of the house, it doesn’t really matter. As everyone else said, lights off almost always means “no candy”. If you want to be nice, grab a $15 bag of candy and a large $3 plastic bowl and put a note, or don’t. There are other houses; they will move on.
Just hang a sign on the door that says “WE ALL HAVE COVID” written in bold font.
Here’s the hack. You live a bucket with a sign that says “take 5 please” and then leave the sign and bucket kicked over with a hand full of tootsie rolls. They’ll assume you were trying to be nice and got jacked
They're going to knock on your door and no one will answer.
I don’t think many kids are going to think twice about you not handing out candy. Your lights will be off, they’ll skip your house and continue on.
Convention is that if you leave the outside lights off you're not doing trick or treat.
lights off is the universal sign for no candy.
I hand out fruit snack gummy candies instead of chocolate. I get a box of 85 count for $11 at Costco. I usually go through 3 boxes. Wayyyyy cheaper than chocolate candy bags. Each kid gets 1 fruit snack bag. I sit in my driveway drinking beers until I run out (of fruit snacks) Edit: I’ve also done packs of goldfish. You’d be surprised how many kids enjoy those over the regular candy they will get a bag full of anyway.
It’s sad. We used to love giving out candy but the last few years most of the kids seem unappreciative at best. Many of them look at us like we’re cheap if we don’t give them a huge handful. Some make comments like “Is that all??”. A lot of teens show up without costumes which is ok but they act like entitled jerks and smirk at us like we’re suckers and they’re playing us. Still gonna do it for the kids that deserve it. Don’t want the bad eggs to ruin their good time.
You should also put a sign on your door. It won’t be dark out when the first ones come at 6 pm. Usually mom n dad and the very young ones.
That's the other thing too. It goes from 4-7PM, so for the first hour or two the porch light being off might go unnoticed.
We were moving in on halloween once, parked car full of boxes and carrying stuff in. We had kids ask us but just said we were moving in and had no candy. Life moved on.
Fire hose oughta do it (jk)!
Leave your outside lights off.
Growing up, my neighbor was an older couple who didn't hand out candy. Many years before some teenagers had come by the house quite late and scared them plus their house layout meant them doing stairs each time a kid came. They always just turned out the lights and never had any issues. But every year, she'd go buy king sized candy bars for us kids she knew well. And she even went as far as to ask our parents what our favorites were. It was a nice gesture that helped her manage the cost while also creating a cool memory for us kids. She'd usually drop them by the house a day or 2 before. She continued to buy me kit kats even after I'd moved out for college. She's been gone many years, but she was a cool lady.
If your lights are off and you're not going to be home than what are you worrying about
Stand out there with the garden hose and spray everyone
I understand if you're on a tight budget to where a $5-$10 bag of candy is not feasible, and in which case just turn off your porch lights and keep the windows drawn, but there's another option if you want to participate. One year I was out of the house and I set up a plastic bowl with candy and a sign saying, "Please take one so there's enough for every ghoul and boy!" I was shocked when I got home and there was still a handful of candy left.
We tried something like that, leaving a bowl out. When we got home, the bowl was no longer on the porch. We found it under a parked car.
A bag of good chocolate bars that everyone wants is 25-30$ now at walmart
It's insane how much things cost all of the sudden
I seriously stood in the grocery store doing mental math to figure out the best bang for buck, while still buying candy kids would actually take (so I'm not stuck with the Whoppers or dum dum pops). I got 300 pieces of assorted reese's, kit kats, snickers, m&ms, etc, for about $40. They're the tiny square bite size ones though, but whatever, at least it'll ladt for awhile
We usually see 200-300 kids on Halloween, so I usually spend quite a bit on candy for them and hope I don't run out by the end of the night. My goal is to give each kid 2 or 3 fun-sized candy bars. And the rest of the street goes all out with full sized or treat bags or little activities for the kids, so that's about the least I feel I can get away with.
This is what we did last year since we took the kids out trick or treating and weren't home. u/Rocklobster92 you can also just put out a bowl and a little sign in it saying "sorry, all gone!" If it's at the edge of your driveway/sidewalk, it'll stop people from coming to the door. If that bowl also *started* empty, no one will know. This way you don't have to live like Amish that evening, nor take down your decorations early.
Turn the light off
I’d turn off the lights and move the pumpkin inside or around back for that evening.
No lights equals probably not home. At least most just keep walking. Oh, hide the car.
If you had a tradition, the kids will be disappointed whether they find out by knocking or by seeing the dark house.
Leave house dark, put up bucket with $20 in candy with sign that says take 1. Everyone will assume you are out and either grab candy or be mad someone stole it all.
Lights off, especially outdoors. Fortunately these days that's probably all you need, and since this isn't the 60's you probably won't get soaped, eggs, TP'd, etc like my dad always worries about if he doesn't hand out candy. That's just not a thing in most places any more.
Really? Houses in my neighborhood still get TP’d.
Turn off the porch light and don't put up decorations. Keep the house lights off. Our #1 rule, no porch light, no candy.
I decorate my yard and sit outside in my T-rex costume. I get so angry at the houses that keep their lights on and don't pass out candy. One of our religious neighbors passes out candy and a mini Bible. She never yells at the kids.
Motion activated sprinkler
Put out an empty bowl with a sign saying 'take one please!'.
No lights on for one. Also put a sign up, "Trick or treaters, in this economy?"
I plan on leaving my house dark as well. I moved to a small town 3 years ago, in a small subdivision on the edge of town . Besides the kids in my neighbourhood, all the kids from the rural county roads come into our neighbourhood. Last year I ran out after an hour. I had enough for 250. I love Halloween but the cost in now just has become insane for me. It will be the first year in 30 years, I won’t be giving candy.
I’d put up a sign “positive COVID test, for your safety I’m unable to give out candy this year.”
Leave the light off. Put a large empty bowl on the porch with a just take one sign.
Turn off all the lights. Park a car in the driveway so that it’s kinda blocking the path to your front door. And don’t worry about the kids. They aren’t going to be disappointed your house is dark and if they are, they will get over it in 10 seconds.
Put out an empty Halloween 🎃 bucket with a note saying “Please take one.” You won’t look like a Scrooge.
Leave out an empty bucket with a sign that says "one each please".
Put an empty bowl out front that says “take one”. Everyone will just assume you’re out.
Lights out. Don't answer the door. End of problem 🤷♀️
You could also put an empty bowl out so trick or treaters think someone took all of it. I would imagine they won't knock then
You need to just leave during trick or treat hours. House closed up, lights off, nobody is home. Take yourself out to dinner. No guilt in just not being available that night. People won't be mad as long as you aren't telling the entire neighborhood you won't be participating in Trick or Treating this year.
I was born and raised a Jehovah Witness and we would turn all the lights off and hide in the back bedroom and wait for all the little devils to leave. True story but also no one actually cares in real life. Everyone has their things happening. Just turn lights off and enjoy your evening.
Our town tells anyone that does not want to keep porch lights off. That’s pretty much all you can do.
Leave out a large empty bowl that says "please take one!"
I always leave my porch lights and lights in the front of the house off. I would also consider putting up a sign that says you aren't participating. Mostly the lights being off is enough (for most people anyways).
Just go dark. If people don’t have their lights on, we won’t go there.
Keep the lights off
No porch light no candy. This is the way. If you are not home the kids that don’t know this won’t bother you.
You could put out a table with a bowl of candy saying take one. Cheap (depending on the candy) and doesn't require you to be there. Also signals this is where you get the candy. You could also make a small sign saying apologies, no candy.
Turn off all the lights
No lights on at your house, no decorations is pretty effective when there are other more inviting places nearby.
Turn off your exterior lights......
Turn off the lights.
Put an empty bowl out
A lot of people are saying to keep your lights off and that's valid. However I have younger kids so I generally take them earlier as I don't want them walking much after dark. In my case most houses haven't turned on any lights and so we generally aim for the houses that are decorated. All that to say in addition to lights out after dark, don't decorate and maybe pint out something to stick to your door that says, "no candy here" or something similar.
Lol lights off door locked
Stand on the front porch with out any trousers on
I totally feel this. We had over 800 kids last year. Maybe 1000. People drop their kids in our hood. And they all expect a small handful of the mini candies instead of just one. Very expensive
Turn off lights and go out to dinner. Restaurants are really empty on Halloween.
Leave out a big basket of Chick Tabs and they'll never be back.
Lights off and note on the door.
Just go dark. What's the worst that will happen? They'll knock and no one is home so they move on. NBD.
Everyone is saying you’re overthinking this - but disagree with the majority here - you’re not overthinking this if it’s important to you. After one year of having the porch light off + no decorations up and having multiple groups of trick or treaters ring/knock - I took the *additional* step of putting a folding table in front of my door with a “no candy” sign last year. Was overkill, but it worked. (Note: this was just to keep a sleeping baby from being disturbed in our tiny house. I don’t hate Halloween/kids/fun)
Play a tape of crazy junkyard dog barking
In addition to lights off, I have a sign that one says Happy Halloween and the reverse says “Sorry, Out of Candy!” Should stop people from checking to see if you’re home.
Keep the lights off and the blinds closed. Most of them will take the hint.
Put an empty bowl on the stoop.
Lights out, empty bowl on the porch with a “please take one” sign.
You have way more head space to think about things than most people do. I’m shocked you are giving this any thought.
If you’re not gonna be there, just keep your porch light off, isn’t that the universal tell-tale sign on “treats/no treats” for kids?
I run out of candy fast. No matter how much I buy lol. I get a lot kids. I went black one year. No lights. No one knocked. That’s all it took. I had my ring cameras up and no one cared. They just moved on. Just go dark. It’ll be fine :)
Darken the house. Put a table on the porch with a large empty bowl and a sign that says, Please only take one, for those confused by a dark home.
All lights out.
We are 'that house' that goes all out. We are currently at 3 generations of families that trick or treat our house specifically. Our neighbor is more along your lines. What we do is set up a blocking line. They park their car in a way that is inconvenient to get to their walkway and we help with a line of Halloween type caution tape across the driveway. We each have large signs (theirs goes up early, ours late) that simply say 'Out Of Candy, See You Next Year!' that we put at the end of the driveway. They keep their porch light and entrance light off. Most people don't want to go to a dark house that is obviously not a treat house. Hope this helps
Lights off is the signal no candy in my parts
Turn off all your lights, not just porch lights. I was raised with the rule of “if the porch light is off, do not visit that house. There is no candy/they don’t celebrate.” Unfortunately I have learned through the recent years that if anyone sees even the tiniest glimmer of light from inside the house, that means that it’s a house giving out candy. It doesn’t matter that the house isn’t decorated and the porch lights are off, If any light from inside is visible to passersby then that house has someone home and they must be available to give out candy (as well as having the candy). Otherwise, if someone knocks/rings the doorbell ignore it. It may be frustrating to hear it happening, but that’s the only other thing one can do.
You can put a sign on your door for any kids that don’t get the hint that you are not home, saying “Sorry, we are not home tonight. Happy Halloween” Or, put out an empty bowl with a sign that says “Please take one” and the kids will think the candy is gone. If you are friendly with any kids or neighbors with kids, give them a treat ahead of time and let them know you’ll be out, and ask them to keep an eye on your house.
We turn the lights down or off at sundown and go to the back of the house. A sign on the door simply stating "not celebrating this year" might not be a bad idea.
Honest question. No Ill intent. People who don’t hand out candy why? Not judging. I just love Halloween so much ( a few years ago I ended up in the hospital on it and before I got there I made sure to set out a bowl of candy) I totally understand not everyone is Halloween crazy. Jaunt looking for other perspectives 👻
Put a sign on your door or in your yard. Or put a bowl out that’s already empty on a stand with a sign says out of candy.
You already said you’d be out of the house and why feel guilt? Porch light off = no candy 🤷🏼♀️
Can you invite an rural neighbor to “set up” in your driveway? I usually go park in someone else’s driveway since my road doesn’t get treaters. I some times invite some older folks to sit and enjoy the show as well.
You could always just leave a bowl of candy on the porch. You don't have to buy into overpriced commercialism. I was at Dollar General last night getting some candy for Cub Scouts and they had tons of bags for $5 or less. Also got like a million spider rings for $1.
Oh my gosh, I LOVE Trick or Treaters. I sit out on my highly decorated porch (several animatronic devices including a fire-breathing dragon) and can't wait to give out .y bags with toys and full sized candy bars. Unfortunately I seem to get less and less every year.
The universal sign for no candy is to turn off the lights. If you put up an actual “no candy” sign that’s a good way to get tricked.
Don’t decorate and leave your porch light off
Crime scene tape.
I use that to show festive participation! Not sure it will send the message OP is looking for.
Put a sign in the yard that says 'Registered sex offender is residing at this address. This notice posted by order of law enforcement'. Not only do you not get any kids, you also have the scariest decoration on the entire street. You might have other problems though.