Whether you're an old grump with no Halloween spirit or you have a baby with an early bedtime, there are any number of reasons you could want to avoid greedy trick-or-treaters this Halloween. Here are a few ways to keep them at bay.
Method One: Leave the Candy on the Porch
The most obvious method is to just leave the kids some candy on the porch. Whether your lights are on or not, they probably won't bother you—they'll just take some candy and leave. Of course, this gives you the problem of mean kids that just take all the candy in the bowl, and if it's clear that you're still home, people will probably knock if there's an empty bowl. If you don't want to give up your God-given free right to keep your lights on in the evening, an automated candy dispenser could solve all your problems. Photo by Ginny.
Method Two: The Empty Bowl
If you're a Halloween hater and don't even want to give those little rugrats any candy, you'll have to be a bit more creative. You could always stick some caution tape or a "Beware of Dog" sign up on your fence, but the easiest method is probably to just stick an empty bowl on your front porch. Coupled with a sign that says "We are out for the night, take a few pieces of candy", it'll look just like you're gone and celebrating, but that some mean kid came and took all the candy. As long as your lights are off, no one should bother you. Photo by Jakub Hlavaty.
Method Three: The Automatic Light Switch
If you want to get a bit more creative, Instructables has a great guide to building an anti-Halloween light sensor. With just an Arduino and a few choice pieces of electronics, you can build a sensor on your front stoop that turns off the lights as soon as any festively clad children approach, as if to say "I'm going to bed, so please go away". It's a bit more time-consuming, but also hilariously evil if you want to really disappoint some of those poor kids.
There are likely a lot of other clever methods you could use to keep those kids away—if you've got a particularly tight-knit neighborhood, perhaps, just start giving away toothbrushes and wait for the kid network to start buzzing—but the above methods should get you by pretty easily. Got any of your own favorite Halloween avoidance techniques? Share them with us in the comments.
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