By Valeria Benitez
Not feeling in the fall spirit yet or feeling too old to celebrate Halloween? The bipolar, cold weather in the morning and then the 80-degree weather it switches to in the afternoon doesn’t help.
Halloween is not all about trick or treating. With the amount of school work we get, whether it’s quizzes, tests, or projects, you sometimes have to squeeze in time to carve pumpkins, go to haunted houses, watch Halloween movies, or have a Halloween party to get in the spooky mood.
Before I convince you to start your own Halloween party or go into a haunted house, I’ll tell you where Halloween came from. Believe it or not, Halloween dates back 2000 years to the ancient Celtic Festival of Samhain, during which people wore costumes and lit bonfires to scare off ghosts. Presumably, they didn’t dress like Barbie and Ken.
Anyway, enough of the old traditions and focus on the new traditions.
- Go to a haunted house
When the term Halloween comes up, you think of something scary. Well, haunted houses are the perfect opportunity to get some scares. While you might feel like you’re actually going to die in a haunted mansion, the workers working the houses aren’t allowed to touch you. So just think about a haunted house like a movie you’re starring in (since things in movies aren’t real, but they seem real). Don’t think that you have to go by yourself and face the spooky mansions on your own. Invite some of your friends to go out with you.
My friends and I actually went last weekend to Six Flags Fright Fest and experienced some scary rides and some scary haunted houses to get in the Halloween spirit. If you don’t want to do a haunted house because you get easily scared, and still want to experience some Halloween spooks, then you can go to Six Flags, and just not go in the houses. Six Flags Fright Fest allows you to go on certain streets where you might get a jumpscare from one of the workers dressed up. You can also go during the day to enjoy some of their Halloween activities, such as pumpkin patches and corn mazes.
- Carve a Pumpkin
Pumking carving is a must- for the fall experience. Head to your local supermarket or farm to pick out the perfect pumpkin and grab a knife to start the carve. Challenge yourself to see if you can carve out the first design that comes on Pinterest or google. Even if you just carve the traditional pumpkin face, you can say you carved a pumpkin to get in the spirit. I usually stick to a traditional pumpkin face design as I don’t have the artistic talent, but if you think you’ve got the skills you can also enter contests to win prizes.
Some tips to have the best pumpkin carving is first pick a fresh pumpkin that has a fresh stem and a flat bottom, in order for it not to move when you carve. Next, believe it or not, it is easier to cut a pumpkin out from the bottom to prevent the sides from falling later. Then after you scoop out all the pulp, you can sketch your design on a piece of paper and then tape it onto your pumpkin to use a knife to cut out the design. Putting your pumpkin on your lap facing you also makes it easier to carve it out. Bonus points if you sprinkle so much cinnamon on your lid to make it smell like pumpkin pie!
- Boo your neighbors and friends.
Getting a basket full of candy and treats at your front door is always the best feeling (especially if you are trying to find out who gave it to you). You can prepare customized boo baskets for your friends by going to Target. Start by buying a pack of Halloween bags and a pack of mini Halloween cards (so you can write them your own little message). Then head to the dollar section to find things such as Halloween-themed mini erasers, mini notebooks, and pencils. After picking out mini Halloween-themed surprises, you can go to the candy section to find their favorite candies and put it in the bags. To make the bag a little more flattering you can buy tissue paper to decorate it!
After preparing your bags, make a list of friends you are going to boo and find the quickest routes to get to their houses. Make sure when delivering the Halloween bags to have a mask or hoodie, so they won’t recognize you if they have a camera!
- Hand out candy to trick or treaters.
If you are not in the mood to walk around to ask for candy why not sit at your front door and give out candy while eating some at the same time? This is probably even better than actually trick or treating, as you will still be able to see all the cool costumes while enjoying some candy. You will also make children very happy and any leftovers you will be able to keep. “Handing out candy and seeing a smile on the kid’s face is better than actual trick or treating,” my mom told me. She always makes sure to buy the full-size bars and “good candy” (according to her) as this is the only opportunity for children to be children and eat all they want.
- Watch Scary movies with baked Halloween cookies.
Some days you just don’t want to go out. Well, if Halloween happens to be that day, you can learn a new Halloween recipe online to bake yourself some treats. You can bake everything from ghost cupcakes to brownies to pumpkin pies. The possibilities are endless with the help of Google. If you are like me and just don’t have the skills to bake, you can always buy the mix or dough at your nearest supermarket. I love using the Pillsbury cake mix to make a cake for any occasion. Then, if you still don’t like doing the work of putting the ingredients all together you can always buy the Pillsbury pre-made holiday-themed cookies that only need to be popped in the oven.
Now that you have these amazing Halloween suggestions, go out and celebrate this tradition because time doesn’t slow down.
