Mum, what are the tricks in Trick or Treat?

September 12, 2026

Halloween is BIG in our house, they love to go trick or treating. But one thing stayed with me from last year. My son asked me something I couldn't answer: what's the actual trick in trick-or-treat? We ring the doorbell, say the words, BOOM we get the treats. So what does the Trick bit mean? Then I heard parents joking “Only treats here”, “It's just a treat overload”. Whether you love or hate Halloween, one thing everyone seems to agree on… the tricks have disappeared!

So what happened to the trick?

So this got me looking into the history of it and I remembered from my time studying in Edinburgh that the Scottish version, “guising”, did involve more of a trick-treat exchange. Apparently two thousand years ago, Celtic Samhain had people disguising themselves as ghosts and ghouls to move safely among wandering spirits. By the 1500s, Scottish and Irish children were “guising”: earn your treat with a song, a joke, a trick, on the spot.

From what I've read, the “Trick or Treat” phrase itself only turned up in 1920s Canada and America, and it was more of a ransom — pay up, or expect soaped windows and a dismantled wagon by morning. Towns got so fed up with the chaos they organised trick-or-treating in the 1930s just to calm it down. Candy companies finished the job. By the 1950s, the treat had eaten the trick alive.

Treat or Treat

Historically trick-or-treating was a genuine exchange: do something small, however silly, then get something back. What's left now in most parts of the world is more like treat or treat. I couldn’t help wondering if all the sugar had swallowed some of the fun? Of course kids LOVE all the treats, but wouldn’t adding an element of trick to earn the treats make for a full-circle fresh take on Halloween?

The challenge, the small risk, the fun, the sense that the treat had to be earned rather than just collected. Perhaps that could make Halloween 2026 just a bit more memorable, especially as my kids get older.

Putting the trick back in

This led to the creation of The Great Halloween Trick or Treat Hunt: a gift hunt where you solve tricks — clues and puzzles — to find the treats. It is wrapped up in a story that Halloween has been cursed, the treats have disappeared and only tricks remain. Solve all the tricks before the moon rises to find all the missing treats.

In fact, my two kids wrote the story of it with me over the summer. They loved the idea of a curse falling on Halloween and them having to solve it.

Real clues and puzzles lead them, room by room, to where the treats are hidden: coded notes, a symbol to crack, riddles, number puzzles and more. It's a good match for older kids after some proper gameplay, and it's the kind of Halloween that actually sticks.

Explore the Halloween hunt for ages 7–10

If you fancy surprising your kids with something a little different this year, this is where I'd start: let's put the tricks back in.

So tell me: do you miss the tricks, or are you firmly team all-treats-no-tricks?

Written by Estelle, who's been writing hunts for her own kids for years — trick-or-treating now included.

Back to blog