Time to get spooky

With Halloween on Wednesday, spooky season is almost over. And that means Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner.

I won’t jump ahead to these other holidays, because I have a deep appreciation for Halloween. First of all, I love candy. Seriously, I have a serious candy problem and I’m not ashamed of it, especially at this time of year.Just like every little kid, when I was in elementary school, trick-or-treating was the best part of the fall. I would load up on candy, trade with my sisters, and sort it over and over again.

Obviously, I would eat it all too. But back then, my mother was a lot stricter about my sugar intake. As a responsible, health conscious college student, she can trust me to eat everything in moderation, right? Wrong. Unfortunately, candy is something I can’t control my love for.

Last year, in good old Beede 334, my roommate Lexi and I kept a bowl of Halloween candy in our room for all of October and most of November. My excuse is that we needed it for the “Halloween in the Halls” event the resident assistants put on. Initially, this candy was supposed to be for adorable little kids in their costumes that came trick-or-treating in the dorms. What a cute idea, especially when a five year old catches you digging into your fourth Reeses cup as they pass by.

Of course candy is a main reason to love spooky season, but also creating costumes and dressing up is a close second. This year, I watched Hocus Pocus and Halloween Town for the first time (I know, I’m about 20 years late to the party). So two of my friends and I decided to dress up as the Sanderson witches from Hocus Pocus. It was a little bit of a hot mess, but I think we ended up looking pretty close to the parts.

In my 19 years here on this earth, I’ve definitely had some solid Halloween costumes. Obviously, some are better than others, so I’m just going to highlight some of the winners:

2003

2004

2005

2016

2017

• 2003: I dressed up as a fairy princess. Just like every other little girl, I was obsessed with all things involving glitter, pink, and princesses. I remember being particularly angry at my mom, who made me wear a long-sleeved shirt underneath my costume. There’s usually snow on the ground in Cody by the time Halloween rolls around, so my mom was just being smart. But I was very upset about ruining the fairy princess illusion, even though I’m sure it came across just fine.

• 2004: This year, I decided to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. I think the only reason I really chose this costume was to wear the ruby slippers. That, and it was a hand-me-down from my older sister so definitely a win. However, the precious ruby slippers kept sliding off my feet, so my mom had to use masking tape to keep them secured to my feet. Again, I don’t know how I would’ve survived any Halloween without my mom’s creative and thrifty mind.

• 2005: I went classic this year with a witch costume. Why I chose to wear the Easter themed jewelry, I don’t know. But there was my mom again, letting me style myself for Halloween however I wanted, as long as I wore a long-sleeved shirt underneath to keep warm.

• 2016: My parents are going to roll their eyes, but they can’t help but admit my senior year I chose a pretty hilarious costume. This was the year I discovered the ridiculous TV show, Bob’s Burgers. It’s one of those cartoons that makes you lose brain cells by the second but is so funny I don’t even mind. So that year, I dressed up as Tina Belcher and my friend dressed up as Louise. We thought we nailed it. And to this day, I still think we did.

• 2017: After realizing the lack of money I had freshman year, I didn’t want to spend money on an extravagant costume. I decided to be a pun, a deviled egg. I bought a pair of devil horns and painted a yellow circle on a white t-shirt. Cute, funny, and costs about three dollars.

I’ve really hit all the bases with my Halloween costumes over the years. Bless my parents for letting me dress up as whatever I wanted, no matter how ridiculous I looked. It couldn’t have been easy to take me out trick-or-treating in some of those costumes.

Spooky season is one of my favorites not only because of the candy and costumes, but because it starts of the whole holiday season. Before I know it, I’ll be sharing some of the best Thanksgiving and Christmas stories I have. Until then, Happy Halloween and stay spooky.