Boo! Spooky season is here, the scares are in the air and pumpkin spice is back on the menu.

As Halloween crawls toward us, a question arises: How do you celebrate it? Some may go trick or treating, while others refuse to celebrate it for religious reasons. But the question still remains: How do you celebrate it?

Some students may not celebrate the holiday for various reasons; for instance, if they were Jehovah’s Witnesses or simply because they do not enjoy it. However, for those who embrace this season, there are various fall activities you can engage in right before the colder winter months set in.

“Raking leaves isn’t as bad as it seems,” Darren Yang said (12). “It’s actually kind of fun when you’re doing it with people.”

Movie nights are also big this time of year. With titles such as “Halloween Kills” being released in theaters Oct. 15, or “There’s Someone Inside Your House” which was released on Netflix Sept. 23. With all of these new releases coming to the big screen, it appears that there are too many to possibly watch. For many students, that is a great problem to have.

“You can trick or treat or you can watch a movie with your family,” Yang said.

Another thing various students and staff enjoy about the earthy season are the football games that take place throughout, whether you go to games hosted by the school, or you relax on a recliner to enjoy the entertainment on your television at home.

“I enjoy watching football, for the family bonding time that it can bring,” Gino Lanasa said (12).

Bonding with family and friends is important for many students, and fall is the perfect time to do so.

Now, back to the question at hand. What do you do for Halloween? There are many things that people do. However, the most popular appears to be trick or treating. When asked, science teacher Benjamin Stallons said, “Go get that candy loot.” Now, whether you are handing out the candy or going with friends to acquire it, several people can agree that trick or treating is a great way for many to celebrate the holiday.

Additionally, several teachers at OHS enjoy celebrating Halloween with their kids. Some may enjoy it because they like to see their kids dress up and show off how adorable they can be. Others do it because they are reminded of when they were younger.

“As an adult, it’s kind of nostalgic to see kids having fun in their costumes and getting excited about their bags filling up…” Stallons said. “I think of when me and my brother used to wander around the neighborhood. It brings back good memories.”

Other parents sometimes even took a more hands-on approach to their children’s costumes.

“When my daughter was younger, I would do her makeup for Halloween and it was almost always something scary,” Dr. James Kreyling said. “She has now become much better at it than I ever was and often does full prosthetics in her make up designs.”

With the pandemic that spiraled many lives out of control, celebrations were also hindered. With many being afraid of becoming ill from the virus, and with others having to quarantine due to exposure, seasonal plans were quite often derailed entirely.

“Things have changed since COVID,” Kreyling said. “We used to go out, but now that the kids are older, we tend to stay home and enjoy the trick or treaters coming by.”

For others, it may have led to a large amount of questions in the air.

“It’s adding a lot of risk that wasn’t there before,” Stallons said. “We got them costumes and let them wear them around.”

Overall, Halloween and the fall season means different things to different people. The differences in the viewpoint of the person who celebrates the season reflects on how they celebrate it. For many parents, it reflects the love and care they hold for their children. It can also bring back memories of the better days, when they were asking for candy and experiencing the excitement the holiday can bring. For the children themselves, it’s a way to express yourselves in the costumes you create. It’s a way to release all of the stress that you had throughout the year. It’s a way to be spooky, a way to be scary and, most importantly, a way to be you.