By Brianna Brinker, Arts & Culture Editor
As college kids, when Halloween comes around each year, do you find yourself reminiscing about your childhood?
It’s Oct. 31, 2012, and you are waiting all day to wear your costume and ready to gather as much candy as possible. The streets are filled with lights and spooky decorations. When your bag is too heavy to carry, you get home, pour out all your candy from your trick-or-treat bag and eat as many as you can while watching Disney Channel’s Monstober’s Halloween episodes.
Those days are so nostalgic. The month of October in the 2010s felt like magic.
Now, we’re too old to go out and trick or treat, but we’re also too young to let go of all of the Halloween magic we felt as kids. Gen Z experienced Halloween at one of its prime times. How can we get that nostalgic feeling back in college?
When you enter college as a freshman, it is a hard transition to change your traditions from what you are used to doing at home all your life to being in a new place and creating new ones. But college is all about starting new traditions, especially for the holidays.
“Being in college, holidays feel a little different since you’re away from home and your usual traditions,” said Siena Wille, a freshman majoring in criminal justice.
“At home, I love spending Halloween with my family, getting dressed up, carving pumpkins, and watching Halloween movies. I’m hoping to start some new Halloween traditions with my friends in college this year,” Wilie said.
On Halloween, here are a few ideas you and your friends can do to hold onto the magic from your childhood:
Have a Disney Channel “Monstober” watch party with your friends: “Monstober” was when Disney Channel created special edition Halloween episodes. It would be so nostalgic and fun to have a watch party with your friends. Decorate your dorm for Halloween, have candy and snacks out, and rewatch all the Halloween Disney episodes we loved as kids.
Hand out candy on your floor: This can start a cute new tradition in college. Fill a bucket up with classic Halloween candies and leave it outside your dorm or knock on dorm rooms and hand it out. Everyone loves candy and it definitely is a great way to make students smile and recreate the trick-or-treating days.
Decorate your dorm for Fall or Halloween: We are used to our parents decorating the house with flashing lights and creepy monsters, but we can also do it in our dorm rooms! Go to the Dollar Tree with your roommates and pick out fun decorations for the season.
Dress up with your friends: You are never too old to dress up on Halloween. Come up with easy group Halloween costumes with your friends and make it creative and fun! Take photos and make TikToks even if you aren’t going anywhere!
From 2010 to 2026, Halloween has changed. It seems that each year, less and less kids show up on the streets looking for lights on at houses in their neighborhood.
It is not so crowded anymore with kids in cute costumes and houses handing out handfuls of candy. Some people don’t hand out candy because no kids come on their street. Some kids feel too old to go out and trick-or-treat. It is not how it used to be for our generation.
“I think Halloween is still really fun for kids today, but I do think it feels a little different than when we were kids,” said Wille.
There was something so special about Halloween for Gen Z. The new generation does more scheduled events for Halloween rather than trick-or-treating in their neighborhoods.
“I feel like there are more organized events and different ways for kids to celebrate now. Even though some things have changed, I think there is still something really special about seeing kids get excited about their costumes and candy,” said Wille.
We all have memories that we will remember forever. Holidays felt like magic when we were kids, and the traditions we created will not be forgotten.
Wille had traditions consisting of carving pumpkins, and she helped create haunted houses.
“Those are some of the things that really make Halloween feel magical when I was younger,” said Wille.
If you are feeling nostalgic this fall season and want to recreate the Halloween magic we felt as kids, choose some of the ideas listed and make traditions that are fun and exciting, so, instead of sitting in your dorm room on Halloween, you can look forward to Halloween night just like we did as kids.
