Boo!

Black cats cross your path at night as a murder of crows flies above, leaving behind an unforgettable screech. You begin hearing footsteps behind you while walking all alone. Thunder crashes and lightning flashes. All these things are expected on one night of the year: Halloween. 

Why is it so important for people to scare the living daylights out of one another? What is the purpose of kindly asking random people for sugar treats? How come, on the one day of the year, it becomes socially acceptable for forty-year old women to dress up like cats?

Starting in October, traces of Halloween are scattered throughout supermarkets, on television advertisements, and front yard decorations. You may be asking, “What now? Another corporate holiday?”

No, absolutely not. Halloween is a much-underrated holiday that deserves to be thoroughly celebrated. This ‘spook-tacular’ holiday is one you do not want to miss out on, and should live on celebrating for years to come.  

Halloween has been around since the 1900s, so it may be obvious as to why its background got lost somewhere along the way, almost like a long game of “Telephone”. 

The holiday originated with the Samhain Celtic festival, where people would light bonfires to wear off evil spirits and mark the beginning of the darker half of the year, the winter season (history of Samhein).  Nowadays, Everyone can dress up in whatever they want and go door to door asking strangers for candy much more cheerfully than in the past, where people started fires and wore ghoulish masks to scare off ghosts. 

Growing up, you and your friends got to have so much fun spending the night walking around throughout your neighborhood. There is something almost unsettling yet intriguing about taking a stroll at night time that remains enjoyable for even some high school students. Besides, all the walking makes each piece of candy that much more rewarding.

Seniors Lyla Hollis and Dani Parks are getting their pillowcases and plastic jack o’lanterns ready to go Trick-or-Treating this year with a group. 

“We are deciding between going as hippies or characters from ‘The Office’. This weekend we are also going to have a scary movie marathon to get in the spirit,” said Parks.

However, there may come a time when you decide you are too mature for all that “little kid stuff” and opt out for parties, staying home, and taking care of business. Although it may seem like Halloween stays current only for small children, teenagers will also find a way to add creativity and break routine during Halloween, by dressing up in costumes at school, and practicing special effects makeup. Even if they are not Trick-or-Treating, they will definitely find a way to get candy.

No matter how young or how old, everyone is able to participate in this obscure holiday. Even if you are not sure what you want to do, there is something for everyone. 

For those who would rather have a night in, it can be exciting for them as well! There is plenty of time throughout the evening to watch an entire marathon of scary movies and curl up with some friends and piles of blankets. It is also very entertaining to answer the door and hand out candy to Trick-or-Treaters while you get to see what everyone dressed up as that year. 

“My friend is having a Halloween party, and we will eat a lot of food and watch a bunch of scary movies…I am also hoping to go to a haunted house before Halloween comes so I am able to be with friends get scared,” said senior Emily Gregerson.

With everything from bobbing for apples and hanging up spooky decorations, to hanging out with your friends and all the haunted mazes, you would never want anyone to miss out on the opportunity to get spooked during this special day of the year.