Nearly 2,000 years ago, Halloween introduced elements of creativity, pumpkins, trick-or-treating and horror as part of an annual tradition. Though Halloween is celebrated at the end of October, festivities often begin weeks earlier, with students and staff participating in a wide range of activities leading up to the holiday.
Sophomore Jessilyn Klinger explained that Halloween is much more than one day of festivities or a night of trick-or-treating. For her, it is the combination of horror movies and the fall season that makes Halloween thrilling.
“I think spooky stories and horror movies play a big part in Halloween because horror movies and spooky stories set you up for the whole season, like fall. It gets you in that mood,” Klinger said.
Community activities, such as decorations and parties, have traditionally been a part of Halloween, but special education teacher Michael Evans has noticed a decline in the festive spirit from his childhood years to now.
“I feel like in the last 15-20 years – especially with trick-or-treating – I feel like it’s not as big of a thing as it used to be. When I was growing up, you could just drive around on Halloween night and there were packs of people,” Evans said. “Nowadays, there are just little communities where everybody goes to. It’s kind of a bummer.”
Evans recounted his experience trick-or-treating with his nephews, remembering it as an opportunity to relive childhood memories and strengthen family bonds.
“Obviously, I’m too old to trick-or-treat myself, but when I get to take my nephews, it’s really fun because I get to be a kid again,” Evans said.
Klinger expanded on how costumes, creativity and the overall spooky environment that comes with Halloween contribute to the feeling of being free from an everyday routine.
“I think the element of creativity is really important because you can do so much with your decorations or costumes, and that’s also another really fun aspect of Halloween because you can just go above and beyond,” Klinger said. “You can make it really special, and it’s really refreshing to do something new, or something that maybe other people don’t.”
Evans explained that Halloween’s popularity and enjoyment come from its ability to be a getaway from everyday life. When the community participates by dressing up and getting innovative in their costumes, it creates an environment different from normal life.
“It’s an escape from their day-to-day lives. It’s kind of like a party. Instead of walking around and seeing people in regular clothes, people are dressed up,” Evans said. “There’s kind of a spooky element, like people with pumpkins and bats.”
Junior Donovan Ferreira noted that participating in the costume aspect of Halloween is important as it can motivate others by uplifting the community and increasing creativity year after year.
“I think it (dressing up) is a big deal because if you have an awesome costume, it inspires the other kids walking around during trick-or-treating,” Ferreira said. “It kind of keeps the tradition of dressing up each year.”