Halloween is a spooky holiday associated with children dressing up as monsters or princesses, all knocking on doors for a handful of candy. Although that description fits Halloween in modern America, Halloween originally came from an ancient Celtic festival that marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the cold harsh winter. On the fatal turning point between seasons, the Celts believed that the dead could come back onto the land, and in order to avoid ghosts, the Celts would dress up in unrecognizable, horrifying costumes. The Catholic Church also had influence on the modern day American Halloween because All Saints Day was on November 1st, and All Hallows Eve was the evening before on October 31st, which is now just called Halloween.
As time progressed, Halloween slowly lost its past meaning and became an exciting holiday where kids were able to “Trick or Treat,” a popular American phrase, for delicious candy. From chocolates to gummies to the occasional house giving out fruit, Halloween became a holiday revolving around dressing up in costumes to impress neighbors for candy. So, the big question leading up to the holiday for every child, teenager, and even adults, is what to dress up as for Halloween.
Most babies should go as pumpkins, bats, ghosts, or a cartoon character. Most toddlers should go as their favorite Disney character, maybe a scary villain or a princess with a tiara. Now, teenagers are in between the costume stage in Halloween; should they go all out with gory makeup or intricate clothing, or should they just throw a headband on with cat ears? Most teenagers find dressing up in real costumes humiliating and think of dressing up as a childish idea, but really teens should take advantage of dressing up in high school while they can still celebrate Halloween with their friends.
For teens who want to express themselves on Halloween, there are hundreds of different types of costumes to which the youth have access. There are the basics, like a witch, vampire, zombie, pirate, or a massive blow up that makes it hard to walk in. Maybe some want to take a more unique approach; in that case movie characters are always a great idea, like Barbie or Beetlejuice. Book characters are always a classic, such as Harry Potter, Enola Holmes, or Alice from Alice in Wonderland.
Overall, teenagers should keep dressing up in high effort costumes that they enjoy wearing, Fiona Perchard who is a Sophomore at Hingham High School explains why she relishes Halloween and the costume culture surrounding it, “I like Halloween because it’s the one day of the year you can wear whatever you want not be judged for it.” Fiona likes how on Halloween teenagers are able to express themselves through their costumes, she sees it as the one day of the year where teens can wear weird costumes comfortably.
Halloween is a time where people fill their front yards with terrifying decorations and little kids can run in the roads chasing after their next handful of candy. For older kids Annabelle Dutra explains how she likes Halloween because, “…Everyone wears original costumes and it’s fun to get together with friends while eating a lot of candy.” Annabelle sees Halloween for the wonderful holiday that it is through the ability to dress up and get together with friends.
