Halloween is coming!

[Twizel]

And its probably going to be quite different this year, given the pandemic. Which has gotten me into a fit of nostalgia, and poking around on the internet, I realized that a lot of people stopped trick-or-treating before I did. My friends' last year of begging for candy was senior year of high school, so age 17-18. Then we transitioned to parties and later, walking our own children to houses.

My plan for this year is to bring our activities inside: decorations, scary movies, a candy scavenger hunt (in lieu of going door to door), baking and carving pumpkins, spooky snacks! I'm still trying to decide what to do about costumes, though - if the kids dress up, they'll want to show it off, and I really want to keep things indoors as much as possible.

When did you guys feel too old for trick-or-treating? How are your plans going to be different this year?

[brightberry]

A lot of costumes come with masks.  Maybe you can just walk around the neighborhood while looking at decorations.  I already put my decorations out.

Love Halloween and Autumn.  My house is decorated with pumpkins.

[BlackCurtains]

I'm still unpacking from my move and all my seasonal stuff is in a box somewhere. I don't think I'll get around to decorating this year. I think the last time I went Trick or Treating was 7th grade. I dressed up as a demon and went with a group of friends from school. I don't have a big sweet tooth and only like chocolate occasionally, and dark chocolate at that. So it wasn't something I totally loved. I did like dressing up though.

I live in an apartment complex with an office that does events and stuff. They're having a best decorated patio/balcony contest and they'll have bags of candy for the kids.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

It was either my last year of highschool or a community college year. My sisters had a group so it just made sense to trail along and get candy. I've not done much on the actual day as of late because I'm either working or have class. I requested off this year just to take a breather since this semester is a mess. My work used to hold a trick or treat event for kids that I would volunteer for, it was held the week before Halloween. That's not happening this year.
I'll probably just enjoy a day off, maybe bake something, maybe just lay in bed. 

[SpacePinto]

This year I'm planning to have a Treehouse of Horror marathon. I never trick-or-treated, though.

[Pokeyonekenobie]

I used my nieces and nephews as an excuse to go trick-or-treating into my 30s.

This year I'll dress up and help my parents.  The area we live in is kind of rural (there have been a lot of houses built around us this year but each plot is required to have 2 acres) and since it is a smaller community we're planning to hand out hot dogs and home-made root beer instead of candy--we can do that on the lower part of our property.  We figure we can do the serving and set up a few picnic tables for the families to sit at while they eat before going on their way to get candy for their munchkins without having any physical distancing issues.

[Ponybookworm]

In the UK we called it Guising, & we'd have to sing a song or tell some jokes or a spooky story to get the sweets. I remember going out to do it as a child with a marrow lantern (I think my parents hated pumpkin so they'd get a marrow & carve that instead), but more recently it just means dressing up & going out to a party, which nowadays, as well as being stuck with booze & blues again, is a pretty big nope due to the virus.

However, the idea of jazzing up the masks & making a costume round that is awesome, meanwhile I'm working on the Spooky Cottage & its residents so I have something Halloweeny there. I found this silver spider-web ribbon & am just sticking bits of it in a few corners, & so far it's looking good. I still have to make Little Pumpkin's costume & dye Vampyre Queen's crown but I'll get there...

[Aeryala]

I will forever and always stand by the opinion that there is no such thing as being too old for trick or treating!  I stopped for a long time after high school, but then in my late twenties I realized that living life by other people's arbitrary rules isn't much fun - I love dressing up for Halloween, but I don't like bars and there's not much else on Halloween for adults. 

As long as you make it fun for the people whose door you're knocking on, trick or treating should be for everyone!  I love doing things that get people in on a joke or a story.  My favorite year was when a trio of us dressed as Red Riding Hood, the wolf, and the huntsman and went to the houses individually with Red Riding hood knocking on the door and asking if they knew where Grandma's house is, the wolf knocking and asking if they'd seen a girl in a red hood, then I was the huntsman asking where the wolf went, "'cause I think he ate my elderly neighbor and that is just not right."  Somebody having a party gave me a Coors Light - the "silver bullet" - instead of candy, hehe.

I like to alternate years of giving and asking for candy, just to keep a sort of karmic balance.  This year I was planning on doing a two-person party with my husband on our balcony and tossing (sanitized) candy down to trick or treaters from above, but it doesn't seem like there's going to be many people out this year so we might just buy our own candy and watch scary movies or something. :/

[LadyAmalthea]

The last year I went was when I was 13. I even felt old doing it then, but my neighborhood friend wanted to go, so I grudgingly went with her. I guess in those days (early 90's) it wasn't a thing to go as a teenager as much as it is now. I suppose the fact that I had a job at 14 and could buy my own candy if I wanted it had a lot to do with it, too.

I don't think there's anything wrong with older kids going though. I think kids should hold on to being kids as long as possible...I sure wish I did.

I probably won't take my kids trick or treating this year; our subdivision is kind of rural and it's a lot of walking between houses for little legs. We didn't do it last year because it snowed, and we didn't have a single trick-or-treater at our door either. If we do, we'll probably go do it in our old neighborhood in town.

[Taffeta]

I was never allowed to trick or treat or have/go to hallowe'en parties as a kid.

My mother did not approve of Hallowe'en thanks to some stories about nasty 'tricks; that apparently happened somewhere during the 1980s or 1990s. In any case, it was not allowed. We did not open the door when the kids knocked.

Now I'm too old to experience it, Mum has softened her stance. She's actually said it's a shame that this year there won't be normal trick or treating, and has talked about buying candy. So I jokingly asked her if I could trick or treat her inside the house. Apparently not. Apparently I'm too old...

So yeah. I have no real opinion of Hallowe'en because I wasn't allowed to really engage with it as a kid. I quite like the creepy spooky fun stuff but have no meaningful Hallowe'en memories to call on.

My sister neither. But her boyfriend likes this time of the year best and they normally do do stuff. She wasn't allowed to trick or treat either, and I don't think they do it because they live in a flat complex so it would be awkward. But she carves a mean pumpkin lantern. Some of them are so awesome.

@PonyBookworm - fairly sure those things you mention are regional. Certainly not aware of any of them in the English midlands anyway.

[Mewtwofan1]

I’m not sure what our exact plan is, but our provincial government has sent out a webpage with some tips to stay safe this Halloween, such as handing out candy with a mask on. It looks like the annual costume parade at the school I work for is going to happen, fond memories of that. Thing is, I don’t think I can do my job with my current costume. Don’t get me wrong, I could probably manage but I worry about bringing a homemade aperture science handheld portal device replica to an elementary school, and if it gets damaged. Perhaps I will simply borrow one of my mothers many costumes she has obtained over the years.
    As for when I stopped trick or treating...I think I was about 14. I didn’t want to stop, but I just felt tired that Halloween (high school will test you whenever it wants, regardless of the holiday. Stupid unit tests in 3/4 of my classes on Halloween...) and have stayed home ever since.

[banditpony]

I was probably around the age of 15 when I stopped trick or treating. I remember the last year of going to my grandpas house, I casually dressed up as a Sailor Moon character and handed out candy while my younger cousins went out.

I haven't decided what the best thing for my kid is. I'm getting polarizing comments from family members. I'm a firm believer in a balance, and that each family faces their own risks, but to also be mindful of community spread.

My hope is we can walk to a few houses (<10)... /if/ people leave candy out, and we do not have to be face to face with anyone. Some neighborhoods ask that people hand out candy to kids so they don't touch a bowl. I don't want to be close to people, I think that's insane. Give me a bowl, or lay it out on a table, do a candy shoot, and we'll sanitize our hands. Thanks.

I've been watching the numbers and each zipcode as well as what's going on in each school district... :/ Things have been disappointing lately.. (sigh).

I'm also considering some sort of drive though thing. I also got little pumpkin "egg" like things that we could do a hunt (like Easter) if worse comes to worse. And I think we are going to my mom's place too for traditional halloween food (sloppy joes, powder doughnuts, apple cider).

Oh I'm cool with any age trick or treating, as long as they are in the spirit of it.. ya know? I don't like seeing teenagers in hoodies expecting candy. If they are going all-out, then that's awesome. It's a night to have fun.

[Mewtwofan1]

Oh I'm cool with any age trick or treating, as long as they are in the spirit of it.. ya know? I don't like seeing teenagers in hoodies expecting candy. If they are going all-out, then that's awesome. It's a night to have fun.

Agreed! Come to my house and expect candy, but you’d better be dressed up! And no hoodie with just cat ears! That is not acceptable as a costume. You either take this holiday seriously, or don’t get candy. Halloween is sacred in this house!

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I didn't celebrate as a child, and it's never as much fun as an adult supervising your kid. I also HATE being scared so I hate scary movies and haunted houses.

 this year i am not feeling it, we aren't even going out, we'll just buy candy on our online shopping order LOL

[Koudoawaia]

My mom made me stop trick or treating after age 13 and I was so upset. I was not ready to stop then. My plans will not be any different this year since I don't pass out candy anyway. My husband and I did last year since we had dragon masks I'd found at WalMart to show off  but that wasn't our norm anyway.