With the arrival of October comes pumpkin spice lattes, comfy sweaters and the holiday that practically screams fall: Halloween. Every year thousands of kids dress up in their favorite costumes to collect candy on this celebrated night of superstition and fun.

Alex Kuron finds Halloween to be a great experience for young kids, but finds trick-or-treating as a high school student to be less rewarding.

“It’s a fun night where as a kid you can be with your friends and get tons of candy, but I think it’s a little weird for someone our age to celebrate it,” Kuron said. “I mean, there’s definitely other freshmen who still trick-or-treat, but as a kid I used to look forward to Halloween so much, but as I’m getting older I like it less and less.”

Senior Rubin Medina-Garza disagrees on the subject.

“I feel really excited for Halloween because it’s my favorite holiday and I love being dark, like my soul,” Medina-Garza said. “Dressing up and getting candy is my favorite part of the whole holiday and I think everyone should enjoy it. Halloween is like my Christmas.”

Although Medina-Garza is excited by Halloween, there are students like sophomore Madelyn Arsenault who can relate more to Kuron.

“I’m looking forward to other holidays because I can’t really participate in Halloween unless I’m a kid or have kids,” Arsenault said. “I don’t think we should really go trick or treating anymore, but you can still celebrate it in different ways like going to themed parties or just staying at home and watching classic Halloween movies.”

When asked about the Haunted theme for homecoming, many were not too happy about it.

“I think Halloween as a theme is a little weird for homecoming because it’s still the beginning of October, like, Halloween is kind of far away,” Arsenault said.

Medina-Garza sheds more light onto the subject.

“I would’ve liked the Halloween theme more for homecoming if they had put more emphasis on it at the dance with little things like the music and stuff. They didn’t though, so it was like a normal dance with some web decorations and candles,” Medina-Garza said. “The dance was fun, but I would’ve liked it a lot more if they actually made it more ‘Halloween-y.’”

Medina-Garza thinks Halloween has not age limit.

“I think you can still be 40 and go out asking for candy,” Medina-Garza said. “Just have fun.”

The holiday doesn’t just end with teens; parents also have a busy night ahead of them.

“It’s so much fun to see how excited my4-year-old gets,” French teacher Mrs. Elizabeth Arcangeli said. “It’s just as much fun as trick-or-treating was when I was little. He starts planning his costume in July and it changes at least three times before school starts.”

The Arcangeli family has a Halloween tradition.

“We always celebrate Halloween with my family, my best friend and her entire family,” Madame Arcangeli said. “I’ve celebrated Halloween like this since I was 15. We really look forward to it since we only get together a few times a year.”

When asked about the downside as a parent during Halloween, Arcangeli cited food allergies.

“There is a very stressful aspect to it for our family; our 4-year-old has severe food allergies, so trick-or-treating and socializing is done cautiously and consciously,” Madame Arcangeli said. “We do take him out and we do take him to parties, but we have been very careful in teaching him to be vocal about what he can and cannot eat.”

Arsenault explains that people should be careful when accepting food from strangers.

“There are lots of people with good intentions who hand out candy on Halloween, but there are also gonna be some crazy people,” Arsenault said. “Kids just have to be careful and make sure the candy they get is safe.”

Halloween can be both a stressful and exciting holiday for all ages.

“I love seeing people of all ages out trick-or-treating,” Arcangeli said. “Candy, costumes and pumpkin spice lattes–what’s not to look forward to?”