Halloween - what to do

70 years ago, we Scots went out 'guising' at Halloween. When we were quite small, our auntie escorted us in top hat and tails as 'Old Nick' while we were 'wee ghosties'. We said 'please for our Halloween' when we went round to neighbours' houses and were obliged to sing a song or recite a poem for their entertainment. We were not allowed to go to strangers' houses.

Halloween is, and always has been, a huge thing in Scotland. Several houses in my street including mine have been decorated already, I’ve made up my goody bags of individually wrapped sweets ready to hand out from a safe distance. Many of the old traditions are gone or dwindling but I’ve never been aware of any ‘tricking’ although younger children do call it Trick or Treating. It’s all very good humoured and I hope it continues where I live.

Thank you very much Maremia!

Happy Birthday when it comes JOPLIN

Halloween is one day I can't ignore, unfortunately. This year it will be my 80th birthday ?

In normal times, I'd put decorations in the porch and go to the door with a big bowl of wrapped sweets - several dozen times.

This year, no decorations and porch light switched off. It's just too dangerous.

My daughter says the kids will still get dressed up and go out for a walk, but they won't be knocking on doors or accepting any (maybe contaminated) gifts.

We have an American lady living down the road and through our street What's App she has organised that families will dress up and parade up one side of the street and down the other at 5 minute intervals, those without children who wish to watch are encouraged to dress up and take a glass of something out onto their driveways to watch and cheer the participants. I asked about putting a bowl of wrapped sweets on the driveway but she thought the children would rummage around and may spread infection that way, she did mention that in the US this year people were planning on stapling small bags of sweets onto a piece of cardboard so children could pull off one bag each, but I am not sure if I can be bothered with that! May just eat the sweets myself!

The sooner Halloween and fireworks parties are banned the better. Both dangerous activities with dubious origins.

Oh dear! There are some extreme reactions to what is mostly a harmless evening of fun.
I am sure there have been occasions when a small minority of people have taken advantage of the event..but that is not the events fault!
Halloween has been part of my life since childhood in the UK and is certainly not a USA import for me!
We made lanterns from swedes/ turnips to scare away unhappy spirits visiting our house. We played games, e.g. bobbing for apples & Nelson's Eye and told / read ghost stories by candlelight.
The event has grown & become commercialised with too much pladtic tat..but so has Christmas & Easter...

I love seeing the little ones dressed up (with parents in tow) and will have the requisite number of chocolate bars ready to dish out from my homemade pumpkin should they knock on the door. I think though this will be unlikely this year so DH and I helped by our two DGD’s will just have to hoover them up!

I agree with those who said trick or treating can be threatening for old people who live alone, if children are unsupervised
. I like to see pumpkins and autumnal displays outside houses, as they do in the USA though.

We don’t ‘do’ Halloween, although our grandchildren usually have a pumpkin to leave at the door. We don’t answer the door at all on Halloween.

My daughter is going to sit in an upstairs bedroom with a long piece of drainpipe and as children come she is going to drop the candy down ( wish I was going to be there to see that) We are going to put a bowl on the doorstep for children to help themselves we get very few people in this district.What not taken we will just have to eat !

Sorry, guilty of me and me, I agree with the poster who suggested dropping the requisite number of treats from an upper window, if you live in a bungalow you'll have to ask the children to stand back while you gently throw the treats in to the garden.
I would be surprised if many parents allowed their little ones to door knock this year but not so easy to stop the older teens.

We live out in the sticks so never have halloween callers. We did buy big bags of sweets the first year in case children made it this far but had to eat them all ourselves.
We called it duck apple night when I was young, we would have a few friends round and bob for apples in a tin bath, or bite the ones hanging from a beam in the dining room. We'd eat roasted chestnuts and toffee apples. Never allowed to go trick or treating.
Our boys were never interested other than the obligatory dressing up for primary school so we just carried on with my family tradition but without the friends, obviously not cool.

We live in a very built up area. As soon as dusk falls the doorbell starts ringing and I could expect to hand out over 150 sweets (one per child) before 7 when my grandson goes up to bed. Then I take in the pumpkin, close the door curtain and that’s an end to it.
This year we will keep the pumpkin in the kitchen along with a few treats for the little one and close the door curtain at dusk.
If parents are bringing their children trick-or-treating in the middle of a pandemic I am certainly not going to encourage them.
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Just don’t bother. It won’t be normal this year.

Personally, I wouldn’t let my grandson go trick or treating in this climate . Too risky.
I certainly wouldn’t be encouraging children to knock on my door either.

I loathe Halloween. American import that detracts from our (far superior!) Guy Fawkes Night celebrations. No sweets for anyone from me.

Oh the joy of tying door knockers and handles to each other! And knock a door run was my all time favourite! I once knocked on a door and then ran and hid behind the low garden wall. It was only about 2 feet high! I remember the feeling of dismay as the man of the house stood looking down at me crouched on the pavement!

Think we are putting up decorations in windows for the children to spot as they walk around. Nobody is knocking on doors this year.
Some of the traditions go back centuries. In Barra, in the 80's, adult, masked Islanders would come in and sit silently at your table. They wouldn't go out until you said their name. My friend had just moved there, and didn't know anyone, but she had the great idea of just listing all the 'island' popular names she knew.

Whiff, I seem to remember Mischief Night being linked to the unsettled spirits who were conjured up during Halloween and were of course, then walking the streets causing mischief.

lemongrove - yes, I agree, we were generally well behaved groups of friends. I wouldn't have been allowed to, even if I wanted, to mix with 'rough' kids. Also, we lived in a very pleasant village during my early teens so finding naughty groups was beyond us. I can't remember every tying dustbin lids to front door handles that sounds great fun.
One of our favourites was tying door handles together on the rows of terraced houses. We'd hide behind the wall across the road to watch.
Happy days. Imagine, being allowed out to play after tea these day. Children are lucky to be allowed out at all, especially without an adult to make sure they're safe.

Ah, Mischief Night.What a buzz that was as a child, normally docile well behaved children running riot after tea ( my own favourite was tying dustbin lids to front door handles and then running off) enjoying the clatter as enraged residents opened their doors.?

Usually, we scrumped apples and took gates of their hinges. We also played knock the door run.

at your errant youth Iam64!

Whiff, Mischief Night in the north west is usually on 4 November. In the late 50's, early 60's the regular thing was for those of us old enough to be allowed out after tea to congregate and work out what mischief to get up to. Usually, we scrumped apples and took gates of their hinges. We also played knock the door run.

Halloween was also a big thing. We didn't dress up and knock at doors for treats, I think that came later (ET has a lot to answer for). We met in friends houses and played traditional games, bobbing for apples, telling ghost stories and looking out the window, listening carefully for ghosts, ghoolies and witches