It is getting closer… we are nearing Halloween! In my opinion, this is the best time of the year, when all the really great holidays are coming in. I mean, even though Halloween is not an actual holiday (hint, hint, Graded…let’s make it one…) it is still a really fun time to have a spooky celebration. Over the years I have conjured up a list of exciting things to do to celebrate the abundance of candy and horror movies, so take a look at the best ways to ensure you have the best Halloween ever!

1. Have a festive celebration!

Go to a party or ‘trick or treating’: Having a fun, celebratory moment to be with a good group of people. I know, us high schoolers are kind of old to be going ‘trick or treating’ but who would reject the opportunity to get free candy? A party could be a lot of fun as you can walk around as you get to see all of your friends in different, fun Halloween costumes.

Have a good costume: If you are going to a place to celebrate, make sure to come up with an extremely fun, original costume. In my opinion, homemade costumes are the best. If you’re not a fashionista and have trouble making it yourself, São Paulo has some great costume stores, like Abrakadabra Fantasias where you can buy or rent a variety of costumes or decorations. Feel free to wear a DIY-ed costume or store bought costume during the Talon’s Wacky Week or flaunt your originally made (not store bought) costume at the original costume catwalk contest on October 23rd during the Theatre Festival.

Get ready with your friends: If you get together with all of your friends, helping each other put on the scary makeup, zip up costumes, take pictures, and eat junk food is a great way to have a pre-celebration before you go out to have lots of Halloween-related fun!  

Go to a Haunted House: Search around on the internet for fun haunted houses you visit around São Paulo. Also, Student Council is planning on having one on November 1st, so make sure to stop there and get ready to be scared!

Prank your friends: When is there a better time than now to scare your friends? The best pranks are all on the internet. My favourites are the fake spider pranks–they always work. Check out this website to find ways to scare your friends and family: 11 Scary Halloween Pranks Guaranteed To Make People Scream. Happy pranking!

1. Decorate for the season!

Carve pumpkins: Of course, one of the most iconic Halloween images is a Jack-O-Lantern. My family always have such a fun time carving pumpkins with lots of different designs. My personal favorite ever was the Batman symbol my brother carved two years ago.

Pull out decorations box: I do not know about any of you, but in my family, we have a huge box filled with a variety of different decorations to put around the house. Nothing more fun than revisiting this box every year with your family, decorating, and laughing about different memories from the Halloweens in past years. If you don’t have that overflowing box of fake spiders and light-up jack-o-lanterns, fear not! São Paulo has many streets like Rua 25 de Março where there are many stores filled with these kinds of things.

1. Food

Sweets: Obviously, the best part of Halloween is the different candies to eat as it is a sweet-toothed person’s dream to live in a candy-filled Halloween, every day. My personal favorites are:

• Ghost-shaped marshmallows
• Haribo Ghostly Gummies
• Candy corn
• Twix bars
• Snicker bars
• M&Ms
• Hershey’s kisses

Halloween recipe: I personally love making sugar cookies (lots of different recipes online) and going crazy with the icing: making spider webs, ghosts, etc. This website provides hundreds of different recipes all revolving around Halloween. Make sure to check it out and DM the Talon’s Instagram (@talongram) with pictures of the delicious treats you made!

Candy Grams: We can thank GEE for this treat where you can send your friends (or even yourself) little bags filled with candies. This is a great way to tell people you love them and wish them a happy Halloween!

1. Watch Halloween-themed movies

Disney Halloween Movies

Halloweentown: Marnie and her children are surprised to find that their grandma is from Halloweentown and that they come from a family of witches. The town is the only place where supernatural creatures can live normally, however, trouble is on the rise. It is up to this family to save the world.

The Haunted Mansion: Based off the ride in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, a real estate agent named Jim Evers takes his family on holiday and along the way stops at a creepy mansion that Jim has been told to sell. The family discovers that the house is haunted by a number of ghosts who need help breaking an evil curse placed on them.

Non-scary Halloween Movies

Casper the Friendly Ghost: The Whipstaff Manor is inherited by a greedy lady who finds out that the house contains a secret treasure. However, it is guarded by three mean ghosts. She hires ghost therapist, Dr. James Harvey who moves into the mansion with his daughter Kat to get rid of the ghosts. Kat becomes friends with a ghost named Casper, the nephew of the 3 mean ghosts.

Ghostbusters: Three newly kicked out professors of parapsychology at a university (Spengler, Stantz, and Venkman) decide to become Ghostbusters and rid New York of all the ghosts in the area. Along with the fourth member, Zeddemore, the Ghostbusters begin to face problems with the undead that may be more than the team can take on.  

Some creepier movies…

The Conjuring: The Perron family move into a new house where inexplicable things start happening within it. Paranormal investigators, Ed, and Lorraine Warren begin to study the house. The secrets within this haunted house are revealed to be much more dangerous than anyone anticipated. The Warrens must now put all their skills to the test to defeat the evil spirits that are threatening the lives of the Perron family.

It (the remake): Seven losers living in a small town in Maine face their biggest fears when an evil monster preys on the children in the area. The seven kids band together to rid the evil clown (known as Pennywise) from their town and save the disappeared children.

1. Get hyped for Christmas

Sorry to all the Americans at Graded but Thanksgiving is not a holiday for me. I will be putting up my Christmas tree November 1st and no one is allowed to judge me. It is getting close to the most wonderful time of the year and I could never be more excited to start celebrating! *As I am writing this article it has not even been Halloween, but I just cannot wait for Christmas!*

Every Halloween is another opportunity to have fun, dress up, eat good food and spend time with family and friends. Many people do not see it as a real holiday, but I think we should use any chance we can to have a good time. I hope this list helps you out to make this Halloween the absolute best!