Party or nothing

Welcome sign Halloween decoration

Photo: A "welcome" sign decoration.

A "welcome" sign decoration. Photo courtesy of Zach Carter.

If you ask a high schooler what they’re doing for Halloween, there seem to be only two answers: party or nothing. If you’re looking for something to do, a party isn’t always the most appealing choice. They can be inaccessible, unsafe, or worse: boring. So, the question is, what else is there to do?

For most little kids, Halloween is one of the most exciting nights of the year. Dressing up, getting as much candy as possible, trading the next day, and keeping your candy stash for the next month are all staples of this spooky holiday. Slowly, though, the magic fades away. Dressing up feels childish, and we grow out of trick-or-treating. Halloween loses its appeal. In high school, the only plans that you hear about are parties, but that’s not for everyone: there are loads of other options just waiting to be discovered, and we’ve picked out a few that are sure to be a blast.

If you’d like a good scare, there are lots of options for haunted houses in the area. Markoff’s Haunted Forest, Leech Woods, and Laurel’s House of Horror are just a few. Depending on how far you’re willing to drive, any one of these will make for an exciting night. 

If you’re looking for a good scare without leaving the house, though, a movie marathon is the perfect pick. “The Conjuring,” “It,” “Nightmare on Elm Street,” and “The Shining” are all classics of the horror genre. Halloween is the perfect holiday for these movies with friends. If you’d rather sleep at night, though, you could also watch something like The Craft, Beetlejuice, or Coraline.

Trick-or-treating will never be a bad choice. Junior Madelyn Evjan wants to savor it. “Take advantage of free candy and go out with your friends when you can,” Evjan says. “When you’re 30, you’re going to say, ‘man, I want to go out and have fun,’ but you can’t go to random people’s doors and say, ‘give me candy.’” Even if you’re not the one knocking at the door, you can still be part of the trick-or-treating spirit. Consider getting together with friends to give out candy. You can get creative too: become the best house on the block with face painting, cotton candy, or any other unique treat. 

You can also extend Halloween to the whole weekend. Montgomery County is home to some awesome pumpkin patches, like Butler’s Orchard, Homestead Farm, and Sharp’s at Waterford Farm. Once you get your pumpkins, you can carve them or even roast the seeds. Pumpkin carving might seem daunting at first, but there are only a few real steps. Cut a circle on the bottom or the top, scoop out the inside, trace your design, and carve it out. 

If you’re craving sweets but aren’t going trick-or-treating, there’s no end to the list of desserts you can make at home. Candy apples, pumpkin snickerdoodles, or candy bar blondies are all easy and quick to make, but if you’d like a challenge, you can try caramel apple crumble cake or snickers cheesecake.

Although we may celebrate it differently, Halloween is always a night to remember. The friends, the costumes, and the boatloads of sugar are a staple. Even if the celebration changes, the spirit remains the same.