With Halloween just around the corner, Menlo students are getting excited for all of the festivities in store. Read on to see how different students celebrate this spooky holiday. Creative commons image from Hirvimaki.

By Eva Herr

As Halloween approaches, students are preparing to celebrate the holiday which they have loved for years. Once kids get to a certain age, though, their Halloween traditions begin to shift. This shift often occurs most dramatically in high school when students feel like they are too old to trick-or-treat.

“As I’m getting older, it’s not really the same to go out trick-or-treating with friends because it’s typically seen as something younger kids do,” junior Grace Enright said. Instead of trick-or-treating, many Menlo school students say they plan to spend the holiday hanging out with a big group friends the night of Halloween. “[On] the weekend before Halloween, I’m going to go to a [Halloween themed] birthday party,” junior Mallory North said.

“This year, now being licensed, I’ll drive out and meet up with some friends to hang out, even though it is on a weekday,” junior Silas Stewart said.

Halloween celebrations for high school students come in many forms; some like to hang with a small group of friends, some attend costume parties and others still enjoy trick or treating. “First, I trick-or-treat. Then, I go home and count the candy I got. If I don’t feel that I got a sufficient amount, I take candy from my house’s candy bowl and put it in my own pillowcase,” senior Mia Vandermeer said.

Many students still enjoy dressing up for the night as well. “Halloween is the best time of the year, and not dressing up means you’re not celebrating, so I refuse to not dress up,” junior Keeton Martin said. Not only do students see dressing up as a celebratory tradition, but also as a chance to indulge their creativity. “It is fun to dress up with your friends and organize costumes. […Halloween is] a day you can just have fun and be creative,” freshman Katie Aufricht said.

This excitement and commitment to Halloween is ever present in the Menlo community. “I think [Halloween] is just a fun and a community building experience. […It’s] something I have continued to do my whole life,” junior Parker Callendar said.

While Halloween is often a fun bonding experience for friends, it is also a holiday that can be spent with your family and siblings. “This year, I’m probably going to go out with my younger brother and his friends […] taking my younger brother out to get some candy […] is the perfect opportunity to keep the spirit alive,” Enright said.

There are also many Halloween traditions that students like to follow year after year. “I am going to carve pumpkins with my family. [I’ll also be ‘boo-ing,’ which is going] around my town, […] knock[ing] on people’s doors and leav[ing] bags of candy at their house,” senior Dea Dressel said.

Other students spend the holiday at family events that have been an ongoing tradition for years. “Every year, […] my parents have a Halloween party, and all of my friends come together. We all trick-or-treat; we have been doing that for ten years now,” freshman Kate Hammond said.

In general, Halloween is seen as a nice break from school, a chance to have fun with friends, and an opportunity to indulge your sweet tooth. “Halloween is a means for somebody to have a night off from the grind which is Menlo,” Stewart said.

There are still others that are on the fence as to whether they should trick-or-treat or not. “It is kind of an awkward age, as a freshmen, you don’t know if you should go trick-or-treating or if there is a Halloween party, so people are still figuring out what freshmen are supposed to do,” Hammond said.

“Normally, my dad goes all out for Halloween. [….] My family spends a lot of time on costumes,” sophomore Lilly Richart said.

Overall, Menlo students will be celebrating Halloween through in a variety of ways, whether it be through trick-or-treating, hanging out with friends, dressing up, or decorating the house.