How to Avoid Having Anything to Do with Halloween

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: November 3, 2022

Halloween is not for everyone. You might not want to celebrate the holiday for religious or personal reasons. Although it might seem stressful trying to avoid people ringing your doorbell and dealing with Halloween scares, you can easily avoid it. If you make it clear you don’t want trick-or-treaters, avoid Halloween activities, and do other activities on Halloween, you can have a great, worry-free night.

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Avoiding Halloween

1
Don’t buy candy. If you are not celebrating Halloween, there is no point in purchasing candy around that time. Don’t buy any candy right before Halloween. The day after Halloween, you might want to go to the store and buy some candy when it is on sale for yourself or for your family.
2
Don’t decorate your house with Halloween decorations. If you don’t want anything to do with Halloween, don’t decorate your house with anything that screams you celebrate it. Don’t put out pumpkins, fake cobwebs, or any other Halloween décor. Instead, leave your house plain so trick-or-treaters will know you aren't celebrating Halloween.

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3
Turn off your porch lights. It is a well-known sign that you aren't giving out any candy if the porch lights on your house are turned off. Make sure to turn off all the lights on the outside of your house. Close all your window blinds/curtains and only keep a few necessary lights on inside so trick-or-treaters get the message not to ring your door bell.^{[1]
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4
Put everything inside. Halloween often leads to childish pranks. Just to be safe, park your vehicles in your garage so they don’t get vandalized. Make sure all your valuables are safe and that your house is locked as well.^{[2]
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- If you have any pets, bring them inside so they don’t try to run after trick-or-treaters.
5
Put up a sign. Some people might not know or understand that you are not passing out candy just from your lights being off. Hang a sign on your front door that politely explains that you are not passing out candy.
- For example, have the sign say, “Sorry, we have no candy! Have a good night and be safe!”
- Don’t put your beliefs or reasons why you are not celebrating Halloween on the sign because that might make your home a target for trouble.^{[3]
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6
Don’t participate in Halloween activities. Halloween activities include dressing up in costumes, watching scary movies, going to scary corn mazes or haunted houses, and trick-or-treating.
- Pumpkin patches are related to Halloween but also are about autumn in general. You can avoid pumpkin patches too if you feel they are too related to Halloween.
7
Explain your situation to your friends, family, and neighbors. Explain to your kids and any other family members why you don’t celebrate Halloween. Tell your friends your situation so they know to respect your choices and to not pester you to participate in Halloween activities. You might want to tell your neighbors that you don’t celebrate Halloween, so they know not to try to trick-or-treat at your house.

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Doing Other Activities

1
Host a harvest party. Instead of Halloween, you can have a party that just celebrates autumn. You can decorate your house with leaves, acorns, pumpkins, and other autumn-themed items. Cook your favorite autumn foods and invite friends or family over.^{[4]
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2
Go outside. During the day, go outside and enjoy nature. You can still have fun on Halloween but as a celebration of the season, not of the holiday. Play in the leaves or go on a hike. This is a great way to have fun on Halloween and it can get you energized and active.^{[5]
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Do autumn themed crafts. You can do non-Halloween crafts for autumn such as making paper leaves and hand turkeys. Go to your local craft store and buy autumn-themed craft supplies and look online for inspiration.^{[6]
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Decorate cookies. Make your favorite cookies for autumn. Make sugar- or pumpkin-flavored cookies shaped like leaves or other items associated with fall. You can spend Halloween making and decorating the cookies and then in the evening, you can eat the cookies as a fun treat.^{[7]
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5
Play board games. Have a fun family game night on Halloween instead of participating in Halloween activities. Get all your favorite board games and play them together as a family or invite friends over too.
6
Watch a movie or TV show. Instead of giving out candy to trick-or-treaters, you can spend the evening watching TV. Choose movies or shows that are unrelated to Halloween.
- You can also make it a tradition to watch the same movie every year or you can watch whatever movie you are in the mood for.

Community Q&A

Question

What are some good autumn movies?

Community Answer

I would recommend watching When Harry Met Sally, Autumn in New York, Dead Poets Society, Remember the Titans, or Good Will Hunting in the fall.
Question

What do I do if I believe Halloween is satanic and socialist and want it banned from my neighborhood?

Community Answer

It's very unlikely you will convince your whole neighborhood to skip Halloween. If you don't want to participate, turn your porch light off. But just because you believe something is wrong doesn't mean everybody should have to go out of their way to accommodate you.
Question

What if a ton of people come to your house on Halloween?

KuroetheUnicorn

Top Answerer

Put up a note politely asking people to not come to your house. If they still do, turn off all lights at the front of the house, or just go to bed. If the doorbell disturbs you, consider using earphones/earplugs.