5 Tips To Protect Yourself & Your Home This Halloween

A lot of people love this time of year. The kids love it because they’ll get to binge on chocolates for weeks to come. Adults that love halloween come in several flavors. You have those adults that love to see the creativity of the kids with their costumes but others may love the fact they can walk around with their identity hidden because they are up to no good.

Most trick-or-treaters are harmless but you need to be wary of vandals, pranksters, and criminals.

Following these tips, you’ll be a less likely target come this halloween.

1. Give Candy or Hide

OK, I may have embellished that a little but what I mean is to decide what you are going to do on Halloween. Are you giving candy out? Be sure to stock plenty. You don’t want to run out and have to turn children away.

Are you not participating? Hide. I say this kind of half-jokingly. I’ve joked in the past about turning out all of the lights and hiding in a central room like they do on the Purge. The truth is though, you don’t want to be that guy that answers the door with no candy. This can surely make you a target of a prank later on from bitter teenagers that want to “teach you a lesson.”

2. Have Your Candy Near The Door

So you’ve decided to hand out candy. Keep that bowl of candy near the door. You don’t want to leave your open front door unattended while you get get the candy. This obviously makes you an easy target to theft or home invasion.

If there is really no place to put the candy, perhaps set up a temporary table in the foyer to place your candy bowl upon.

If it isn’t too cold, and you don’t mind, sit outside with the candy.

3. Secure Your Pets Indoors

I know many people like to get their pets involved as much as possible and I must admit, I’ve seen some very cute dogs in Halloween costumes, but if your pet has been known to bite or jump, keep them inside.

Trust me, it will be a very awkward situation when your dog jumps up on a child and scares them. Or worst yet, lunges at someone and bites.

Even if your dog has never bit anyone, they don’t know it’s halloween and these are just normal people dressed up. They are likely to get scared and bite a convincing Freddy Krueger just because he’s so darn scary looking.

You don’t want an innocent person getting bitten or to get sued from that bite.

4. Don't Leave Things Lying Around Your Yard

This goes for anything that isn’t fastened down. Anything that is left in your yard becomes a potential obstacle that can harm your visitors, object of theft, used as a weapon against you to break into your home.

5. Keep Your Property Well Lit

Not only will this allow trick-or-treaters to navigate your yard without twisting their ankle in a low lying spot and sue you but well lit properties deter criminal behavior as well.

BONUS: Be Vigilant

As I mentioned earlier, Halloween costumes make for great disguises. It allows anyone to hide their true identity. You never really know who is under the mask.

It’s OK to ask questions at the door before opening it. If you feel unsafe, you’re free to not open the door and discontinue your participation in the event.

Halloween should be a fun time but there will always be people that hijack this time of year for evil purposes. Follow the tips above so Halloween doesn’t turn into a nightmare for you this year!