Halloween and trick or treating

A mention in another topic triggered a thought about Halloween. Specifically do kids trick or treat in Forest Hill?

If they do what are the expectations of kids in terms of treats? I presume home-made stuff is out of the question? Would it be individually wrapped sweets? Whole chocolate bars? Or is there something better to give the wee witches and ghouls? Furthermore, what times do kids tend to trick or treat?

I moved here from Camberwell. And there it was very hit and miss. There were Halloweens I’d buy candy only to have no-one turn up and we’d have to eat it ourselves. Or perhaps I was home to late. Other year’s we’d forget and have to hide in the back of the house and pretend we weren’t home.

I’m conscious that FH has more families, and perhaps more suburban style streets conducive to this tragic North American import. Regardless, I don’t want to get on the bad side of my neighbours byhaving the wrong type of treats. Or having to hide in the garden shed all evening.

The general rule on our street is that if you have a lit pumpkin lantern or other Halloween decorations at the front door, you are open to Trick or Treaters. If not, not!

For kids that don’t follow such etiquette, some suggestions for householders (tenants: don’t forget to ask your landlord’s permission)

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Yup - same here just off the South Circ. Was lovely and good-natured last year. We tend to have a mix of Celebrations / Miniature Heroes in a bowl. Keeping a relatively small amount in there and topping up is advised - otherwise your early visitors might grab massive handfuls.

It does depend where you live, but my street is filled with a well organised zombie army (and their children in fancy dress) . Celebrations is the best idea or pop in to @Pauline for a selection of treats for the little hooligans.

A pumpkin outside your house or building a medieval castle is a good way to let children and parents know that you are tooled up for the occasion.

So if no pumpkin I can sit safely watching Great British menu on catch up? Pumpkin and I can expect to contribute to this nation’s obesity. Gotcha.

Any specific thoughts to Sunderland Road?

I shall put my usual signs back up
“DANGER, EVIL SAVAGE DOGS WITHIN”

Westwood Park go full on Halloween mode every year. Worth having a look there, make it early as a few dads get together to house sit when mummy’s and kids are out and have a beer or eight…

You can’t be sure you will be safe, so a fun pack of chocolates is always a good to have in stock. If you don’t need to use them it’s a bonus!

Oh the irony.

No, definitely not safe. No home-made goodies, that’s for sure. Sad, but the reality of modern life.

Yep we have the same rules - if there’s a pumpkin out (or some other Halloween decoration) you knock, otherwise you don’t. I have to admit we go a bit overboard and decorate the whole house (including scary door bell!) so I always gets loads of kids round! I am on Kilmorie Road and usually get about 20 knocks, often they are children I recognise from the local schools so it’s always very friendly and fun.

I usually get in things like bumper packs of mini milky ways, mini mars bars. You don’t need to do full-size bars.
Actually last year some people did do home-made sweets and my kids thought it was lovely.
As others have said, don’t put too much in the bowl, or hand out one sweet each, otherwise they will take a handful!

I think it can be a nice community-spirited evening, I’ve never had any trouble (except one year when some drunken middle-aged guys on their way home from the pub pinched one of our carved pumpkins from the front window ledge! Cue me in my PJs shouting at them and waving my fist from the bedroom window…the cheek!)

This year Halloween is on a school day for most of the Lewisham schools as far as I know - previously it’s been in half term - so it probably won’t go on too late.

Same here Londondrz - except the dads go out trick or treating with the kids and the mums stay home drinking wine!

Pumpkin rule here in HOP too. Generally I’ve found that it’s only kids from our street that come around so I like to do something, although last year I gatecrashed another street’s very well organised Trick or Treating.But my first year here, no pumpkin and no knocks, so if you don’t want to partake, I’d shut the curtains and not bother. Also, it’s generally only younger kids so you can expect it all to be done pretty early. I take my pumpkin in when we’ve run out of sweets. Or when I’ve eaten them all

We are a non-Hallowe’en household - we dislike and disapprove of this nasty American commercial import and wouldn’t dream of putting out pumpkins or other decorations. That doesn’t stop a long succession of little bullies, apparently encouraged by their parents knocking on our door every year and demanding ‘treats’. I’m ashamed to say we are sufficiently terrified to pay Danegeld; my wife usually bakes some buns specially. That has hitherto usually been enough to send the horrible little marauders on their way without them throwing eggs at our front window or committing other unpleasantnesses.

I have to disagree - Halloween and trick or treating isn’t an American import; it has its roots in Celtic traditions mixed with Christianity and in fact was exported to America from other countries. Trick or treating developed from ‘guising’, which has long been popular in Ireland and Scotland.

I am surprised you get so many callers without a pumpkin out. Maybe the buns are very popular? Word does go round about the best houses to go to …

This is one of those rare times when everyone is right - while Hallowe’en traditions in Scotland and Ireland have guising (going door-to-door for sweets / money), the actual “Trick or Treat” is a North American invention which gradually made its way to Europe.

Good info on Wikipedia here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trick-or-treating

I quite like the increasing American influence - carving a Jack O’Lantern out of a turnip when I was a child in Ireland in the 1980’s was massively difficult and dangerous and pumpkins are much easier to deal with.

Yes, it’s one of those festivities that has so many different influences it’s difficult to say exactly where it came from.
I think I feel a bit of a personal fondness for Halloween because of my surname - Toussaint - which is of course French for ‘All Saints’, also known as All Hallows Day - 1 November, the day after Halloween.
Plus, I quite like dressing as a witch and scaring the kids
Will we get some pumpkin photos posted on 31 October then?

Agree with some above!

Put a pumpkin outside and you will get trick or treaters

My door is always knocked on, I wonder why

I tend to spend my evening putting sweets in bags & Halloween is my birthday 31/10

ETA it’s Tara’s birthday too from @V22_Louise_House both girls working on our library!

Think that means we’ll have to do an event

I will follow the pumpkin rule

I enjoy being an old grump on Halloween and delight in ignoring the whole event. You will probably find me enjoying a pint in the Chandos (football or no) but the no pumpkin rule seems to work when I have been indoors in past years.

Agreed. Halloween isn’t distinctly American. But it has without a doubt been Americanized in the last 10-15 years. When I first moved (from Canada) in 1988 Halloween was largely a date to dress up in bad costumes. It wasn’t until the mid-90s I began to see the kids start to participate with trick and treating. Its not quite America today but not far off.

I’ve always been surprised at this. In North America, Halloween comes at a time of the year as the season transitions from Autumn into Winter. Its a last hurrah to let the kids outside before the light disappears and have a bit of fun. But In the UK you have Guy Fawkes Night and those wonderful bonfire and firework celebrations. Sometimes they happen almost on top of each other.

Didn’t understand the need for two child/family festivals within a few days of each other.

But the retail trade understand it very well.

So far as the ‘pumpkin rule’ is concerned, we live in a particularly rough part of Forest Hill where I doubt whether anyone’s hear of it.

As above but maybe with a pizza as well !

And all the other events on the calender, especially the religious ones that people adhere to regardless of belief.

Except I don’t think the retail trade have fully realised the opportunity for them yet. Certainly not in an American sense.

Pop into Sainsbury’s, both FH and Bell Green a few weeks before and you will see they have realised the opportunity very well.

Agreed. When you see it in the US it is a whole different ball game, and I for one am glad we haven’t caught up just yet. But as @Londondrz says. we are getting there.

Go into Sainsburys now and its Xmas already!

Amateur hour compared to any grocery or drug store in the USA.

I have memories of going trick or treating as a child, and that would have been late 70s / early 80s so it was definitely happening over here earlier than the 90s.

However I also have childhood memories of wonderful Guy Fawkes Nights events, with a huge bonfire in the local park, and a Guy on top made of old clothes stuffed with newspaper. Fireworks were small, a few bangers, some sparklers. Unfortunately due to health & safety, bonfire night is not the same as it was. Many small events have disappeared, and its now mainly big events like Blackheath and Crystal Palace. I’ve stopped going to these big events because the transport is a nightmare, and with small tired children you don’t want to be walking for miles.

We have tried doing a few fireworks in the back garden, but the fireworks are hideously expensive. Just a basic set will set you back £50, it’s hard to justify that cost for something that is literally going up in smoke! Whereas you can down go to Poundland in Catford and they have a whole aisle full of Halloween decorations costing, yes you guessed it, £1.

So these are the reasons I think that Halloween is perhaps overtaking Guy Fawkes night in popularity. But I do agree, it’s a shame.

Indeed. But I think it’s a bit sad when festivals of any kind lose touch with their original roots in the beliefs and values of the community and seem to have been largely taken over by commercial interests. What’s the point of celebrating if you’ve forgotten what it is you’re celebrating?

A lot of schools and nurseries celebrate a variety of festivals, and I know at my children’s school they definitely explain to the children the purpose of the festivals, and any religious meaning behind them, so I don’t think all is lost!

I’m going to do trick or treating IN THE CHANDOS

Last year there were some kids doing Penny for the Guy in HOP and they made a KILLING thanks to all of us nostalgic for our youth!

Hmmm. Maybe I will be in.

I live in Bovill Road and there’s always a lot of trick or treating, usually fairly early in the evening, immediately that it’s gone dark. It’s mostly groups of small children with parents, often in fancy dress tagging along, and it’s great! It’s increase a fair bit over the years as the population has got younger, and I’m all for it

Yes it was a lovely atmosphere with all the trick or treaters in our area too (Kilmorie), we had loads of little visitors, and the streets were really busy! Everyone was really friendly. Might have been the busiest year yet!

We only had two gangs round last night - a lot less than last year, I’m pleased to report.

We are normally a soft touch but forgot to get the treats in! We never have a pumpkin out but that has been no deterrent in the past. Home alone and not wanting to disappoint the little devils, I turned out the lights and sat reading in a back room until the coast was clear.