‘Pull Up The Drawbridge’: HOA’s Attempt To Gatekeep Halloween From Neighboring Kids Backfires Spectacularly

A homeowners association sent out a letter about Halloween that made a lot of people angry online. Reddit user u/Pschobbert posted the letter on the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit, and it showed the HOA wanted to stop kids from other areas from trick-or-treating in their neighborhood.

According to Daily Dot, the letter started by talking about a problem that had been happening for a few years during Halloween. The HOA board wanted to keep their Halloween celebration just for people who lived in the neighborhood and no one else.

The Reddit post had a label that said “Pull up the drawbridge! There are peasants at the gate!” which really showed how people felt about the whole thing. Many users thought it was wrong for the HOA to try and control who gets to enjoy Halloween in the area.

This Is What Happens When HOAs Take Things Way Too Far

The letter said that too many people from other neighborhoods were coming over and making the streets crowded. It also claimed this was ruining Halloween for the kids who actually lived there. The HOA said they were worried about running out of candy and some damage to property.

Their plan was to have people watch for cars that did not belong between 6 pm and 8 pm on October 31. The letter even told residents to make other plans if they wanted to have guests from outside the neighborhood come over. A lot of people got upset about this part because it meant families could not even invite their own relatives for the holiday.

One person on Reddit, u/not_falling_down, was really mad about it and said, “Oh, hell no. The HOA has no business telling anyone that they are not allowed to have guests at their own home.” 

Another user named u/OscarTheGrouchsCan brought up a good point by asking, “That’s the part that REALLY got me. Grandma and Grandpa can’t even have thier grandkids come? Or aunt and uncle can’t have thier niece or nephew join thier cousins? These people, really, really want to make sure the poors absolutely aren’t allowed, even if they have family there.”

A Reddit user called u/VioletSummer714 told a story about going to see family for Halloween. They wrote, “Literally I live like 10 minutes away from my family, and I go to their house to trick or treat with my niece. She was so excited when I showed up in my dinosaur costume last year. Imagining that joy being taken away from her by some idiots on the HOA with too much power and time on their hands is infuriating to me.”

Someone else, u/iwearatophat, said the whole plan would not even work. They explained, “That is what got me. Unless this is a full on private gated community no way they can tell cars they can’t enter. If those roads are public you can drive on them and they can’t stop you. You can park on the street as well if it is allowed.” This person also talked about their own positive Halloween experience where kids from different places come together to go trick-or-treating at their house every year.