Have some fun;  be ‘Scrooge-free’

Scarlette Mendoza

Prowl social media editor

To all the Halloween Scrooges out there, don’t ruin it for the rest of us!

The closer we are to Halloween, the more I can feel the spookiness creeping up and quite frankly I’m all for it. The candy, the costumes and the chilling sounds of the haunted houses is the most satisfying thing in the entire world.

Not only is Halloween the only holiday that doesn’t require being around our family members, it also is a holiday where no gifts have to be bought.

Kids of all ages dress up and go around town asking for free candy, yes free. What more could we ask for? For the sake of the kids (and some young adults), happiness please give decent candy, it may sound ungrateful but I guarantee that not everybody wants raisins or healthy snacks.

Also candy is on sale after Halloween, which honestly is amazing especially the variety bags of candy. If you consider this just a day where kids demand candy, you are sadly missing out on the great events of Halloween.

If you are the type of person to turn off your lights and act as if no one is home to avoid getting trick-or-treaters, then that is petty and it’s really not that hard to set a bowl of candy outside your door, it’s a perfect way to avoid having to keep opening the door repeatedly.

Kids want to dress up as anything their heart desires and who are we to tell them they can’t dress as Superman or even the Chainsaw Massacre.Not only is dressing up in costumes awesome but the costumes parties and costume contest are fun to go to.

Movies and shows during the fall season are great. When kids’ shows do Halloween crossovers, when one show appears crosses into the story-line of another show, the movies are amazing as well. Especially movies like Hocus Pocus, Halloweentown, Halloweentown 2, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Hocus Pocus, Twitches and many more.

If you want to be a Halloween Scrooge, then so be it, but don’t make others hate it by raining on their parade. Try to enjoy the only day of the year where dressing as a creepy clown is acceptable.

No, Halloween ain’t for me!

Mr. Vin Cappiello

Prowl adviser

I hate Halloween.

Loathe it

Why? Simple. It traumatizes young people. As if the bloody rubber masks running through one’s face isn’t bad enough, consider the fact some of us who are older than the “holiday” itself identify quite differently with this day of decadence.

When I was 6 years old, I begged my parents to allow me to dress as a devil. Since I pretty much was one anyway, all I needed was a that cheap nylon costume. They agreed, worried I might actually be the spawn of Satan, I’m sure, and I proudly donned that bright red suit, complete with horns, a tail, and a pitchfork. Minutes into the trick-or-treating foray (my brother reluctantly dragged me along), I not only slipped on the wet leaves in the neighbor’s lawn, I fell in dog poo. Yicky, slimy poo. And when I fell, I split the crotch of my beloved devil costume from knee to knee. My new costume was ruined. And so was Halloween … forEVER!!

That night, after I promptly deposited my devil suit, my mother took me out to the garage to throw together a hobo costume for the evening trick or treat event. She covered my face with charcoal, helped me find an old coat and boots and I was on my way. I was able to bag some candy, but my brother decided to split open his shin on a steel property marker in the neighborhood and ended up in the emergency room. My parents insisted I give him some of my candy since he couldn’t go door to door. And not the lousy tiny lollipops and generic taffy — it had to be the good stuff. There went the only good part of Halloween: Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups. There really is no substitute. You can eat these succulent puppies year-round. No need to turn them into ghost shapes.

So this year, once again, I’ll be THAT GUY and turn off my lights and not answer the door. I’ll be THAT GUY who refuses to acknowledge Halloween as nothing other than a regular old day. And I’ll gladly be THAT GUY who buys the candy at discount prices the couple of days after.

I really couldn’t care less about Halloween.