trick or treating this evening. Apparently I really should have taken the kids with me.

dog, Minutes of amusing fun, as he goes ballistic when the knock comes on the door. Mind you, it doesn't mean that something unpleasant won't be left on your doorstep. Personally I blame Stephen Spielberg for all this trick-or-treat nonsense, If he hadn't made ET, no-one in this country would have been any the wiser of this annual door-to-door protection racket. Bring back Guy Fawkes, I say, nothing like surrogate burning at the stake, for fun and frolics. Wake up and smell the jacket potatoes!

on another blog - I really resent the way that the imported 'Trick or Treating' thing has displaced our own homegrown version of demanding with menaces: 'Penny for the Guy'

smile sweetly and remark how great they look in their mask from Poundland. Remember todays trick or treaters are tomorrows hoodies and muggers, get them on your side early I say.

It turns out I don't actually mind Halloween. The day itself, that is. I spent about five minutes in total tonight giving sweets to children on my doorstep who looked a bit cold and in need of some sugar and a smile. However, what I can't bloody well stand - aside from the incredibly dodgy tradition of trick or treating, which is just wrong in so many ways - is the commercial build up. The tat that you have to buy, the bloody awful CDs in Tesco. The day itself is a breeze.

...the fact that my eldest daughter has hand, foot and mouth means that her pale, rash covered complexion and sunken eyes make her a very convincing witch for a four year old.

We kept her at a reasonable distance from the door. Mostly.

I've had absolutely none. Not one. I now have a whole box of Heroes and some fun-size Crunchies.

I will now eat these. And feel guilty. And sick.

the wife away for a delicious Thai meal to avoid them. Seemed to work - haven't been bothered by Satan's Younglings. Might make it an annual event.

...motion-sensitive gun emplacements seem to have done the trick.

...she left a basket of jelly "body parts" (like fruit gums, but in the shape of eyeballs, mouths, feet, hands, ears, etc) in our porch with a note inviting trick or treaters to help themselves. The only thing is that the first lot of the fuckers took the lot, so we still ended up pretending to be out when the second lot turned up!

Luckily there are no obvious signs of mischief around the place and the tyres on my car are still inflated!

"Helped" my 2 year old to carve a pumpkin, then stuck it in the front window as a beacon for the local kids. It's important to spread a little joy. I'm Irish so Nov 5th means nowt to me.

I don't mind it when little kids show up. I find it quite cute and I'm happy to provide sweets and exchange pleasantries with the parents.

What annoys me is when you get a squad of fifteen year olds in tracksuits with one cheap mask between them. One year I handed a group such as this a load of sweets, only to be met with the curt response: "Have yer not got nee money?"

and Mother of Light. They brought her back with them from their half-term sojourn in the West Country. I resisted all temptation to crack unseemly jokes about how appropriate her presence is for Halloween. The neighbourhood was awash with gaggles of mini-ghouls and hordes of wee devils. Not sure I approve of the Americanisation of our culture with all this Trick or Treat malarkey but The Lids love it and it was funny to see all the moppets wandering about in their ooh scary costumes. I kept a large bowl of chews and lollies by the door for visiting trick/treaters to send them off into the night with happy grins and - no doubt - caries.

The door bell rung twice and I ignored it, I made the mistake of turning on my bedroom light and the bell rung again as I crouched under the window. Persistent trick or treaters this year.

None of the other local kids. So the one lad went away laden with half a bag of sugary delights and instructions on how to clean his teeth properly.

Not as good as the other year. Lots of groups of kids, accompanied by mums who had all taken it upon themselves to dress up as Sexy Witches. Lots of short skirts, high-heeled boots and stockings in evidence. Word went round very quickly and, curiously, lots of blokes played the "Don't worry, dear, I'll get that" card and answered the rings at the doorbell quite happy to hand over loot to the kids and cop a quick eyeful.

and vow every year I should dress up as something scary when I answer the door. However new puppy was fair going bonkers every couple of minutes so I took her down the Wetherspoons for some peace and quiet.

I like Hallow'een and my daughters love it, so we embrace it as a bit of fun. We had so many callers this year, all cute kids 4 to 8 years old with their mums and dads hanging back, that we ran out of sweets. So I brought the pumpkin and battery powered scary spider back in and we turned the lights off and hid in the kitchen like the rest of you.

Trick or Treat appears here for the forseeable so Mrs Beezer and I have bitten the bullet and dole out small bags of Maltesers with something approaching bonhomie.

Mainly because the kids round our way are mostly small primary schoolers out with a slightly embarrassed Mum or Dad mouthing thank you's behind them all. Or genuinely polite young teens doing it for the last time before it becomes uncool.

There's always a surplus left over which we neck quite happily so it's win-win here.

whilst the GLW took the kids and mates to knock on other doors.
I got quite into character this year, and adopted a monster voice.
Will seek professional help soon.

Watching my 4 year old daughter with a couple of friends wandering through nicely decorated paths to wonderfully lit front doors was cuteness itself. Almost everybody makes an effort, if a house doesn't have a pumpkin or something similar outside then they are not bothered.

Not a hint of menace in the air, just incredibly polite children and their parents having their best night of the year.

I don't have a huge problem with it but then again we don't tend to get bothered by it (no rings on the bell at all last night - round our way I think kids only knock on the doors of people they know). What irritates me is that people are now claiming that it's a tradition. Well it's not. The displays of junk in Sainsburys this year must be twice the size of last year which was twice the size as the year before. Ten years ago there would have been one shelf.

In the supermarket yesterday I could have bought Halloween stuff, fireworks, mince pies and hot cross buns. I'd like to see someone combine all these into one.

Good.

kids - indeed people in general - don't seem to have grasped that Hallowe'en is one night. October 31st. That's all.
No, we have a whole Hallowe'en season that starts about October 22nd and continues to about November 10th.
You need to ahve about three hundredweight of sweets at home.
It's a stinker.

in our neck of the woods. Similarly to Dai above, there appears to be an unwritten rule that if you go to the bother of placing, candles, pumpkins or similar themed tat outside the front door you'll get a stream of eager visitors tapping you for goodies. If you don't, your evening remains uninterrupted.

Now I have no problem giving kids money and sweets once a year. Like to at least show willing so they don't get turned down again and again. But what does get me, is small people appearing at your door with masks covering their whole face, so you can't see their eyes. No eye contact, no money guys. This is far too near Canary Wharf for that to be a joke!

This year I've been working at the aforementioned land of Pound. We were strongly advised to dress up for halloween. I refused. To be a Christian worship leader and wear devil horns or a witches outfit seemed a little bit hypocritical. Luckily I got away with it.

One step aside...

And then when confronted with small children asking for trick or treat, I always say "trick" to them, to be met with little gawping faces of befuddlement, before they turn around and shout to the appropriate parent.

They really should plan in advance. Dressing up does not free sweets justify.

Open Door.
Three scallywags wearing Santa hats moaning "Silent night".
"It's not Christmas,it's Halloween",I carefully explain.
"Same thing innit mate",They retort.
"Come back in December",I suggest.
"If we're not getting a treat can we 'ave a penny for some guy then",the lead Santa suggests.
"Sigh".
Shut Door.

kidz out enjoying themselevs. utter disgrace

should be up chimneys or TWOCing

I got together with a few, well meaning, neighbours and we rounded up three old women, from our street. We tortured them brutally, until they confessed to being witches and then we built a huge bonfire and burnt them alive. How we laughed and the kids, all dressed up, enjoyed the real sense of community spirit.

I love Halloween now. It's a perfect example of the US taking a European tradition, making it entertaining and fun, and giving it back to us. Thank you, America.

And yes, I remmeber the whole 'guising' business from when I was a kid. It was crap. A dour, presbytarian version of enjoying yourself compared to the 'trick or treat' business. Exhibit A: the turnip lantern. What lunatic thought it was a sensible idea to hollow out a turnip? Someone with too much time and too many fingers, I assume. The American pumpkin thing is easier and more creative.

These days groups of happy young children in amazing costumes come to the door and go away with sweets. My own kids have enough to keep the dentist gainfully employed for years to come. We're entertained, children are out safely, neighbours meet, everyone's a winner.

and guising sometimes meant hanging around outside pubs waiting for drunk men to give you unreasonable amounts of money ...

now it's all soft-flesh gourds and fekkin sweeties ...

/shakes fist

i remember when everything around here was unselfconsciously bigoted and built up your arm muscles (altho' to be fair, Guy and the boys did try to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill the king & government)

...instead of pretending to go out?

As well as the usual music/stimulant of your choice related jollities, there's also lots of seasonal fun to be had guessing whether the local scallies are in fancy dress or not.