Opinion
Halloween fan shares holiday plans
October 28, 2011
Haunted houses, pumpkin carving, costumes and tons of candy; all of these are signs that Halloween is right around the corner. For college students who are now classified as “too old” to trick-or-treat, Halloween is mainly about scary activities and having a good time.
There are many ways for students to get that heart stopping fright they enjoy during the few weeks leading up to Halloween. For example, the Trail of Terror that is in Hudson, Wis. is a trail you follow through woods by just holding a rope.
Last weekend, I had the opportunity to go to ValleySCARE, which is in Shakopee, Minn. Basically, ValleySCARE is the popular amusement park Valleyfair decorated for Halloween. For someone who isn’t too keen on being scared for enjoyment, I thought this was a good medium. The park contains six haunted houses ranging from all different themes such as the home of vampires to an asylum. If you need a break from being scared like I did, you can always go ride a few of the rides such as Steel Venom, my personal favorite, or the Power Tower. I will admit, the Wild Thing rollercoaster isn’t exactly my cup of tea, but riding it in the dark gave me a whole new perspective.
If you are unable to make it to off-campus events, there are many things you can do on campus as well. On Oct. 28, you can attend Grimm Hall Haunted Hall. It costs $2 to get in or two canned goods. The nice thing about this event is there are two different times you can go. In the early evening you can go for a low level of scare and later in the evening, you can go for a higher level scare. The Zombie Apocalypse event is also taking place on campus on the 28 as well.
Another event you could participate in is the Trick-or-Treating in the Halls. This fun event will take place from 5 p.m. to 7p.m.on Oct.28. It is a unique and fun way for families with children in the River Falls community to go trick or treating and communicate with the college residents. Be sure to check with your floor in the dorms to see if you are participating. All you need is a bag of candy and you could even dress up.
Besides participating in the activities around campus and outside of River Falls, there will probably be quite a few Halloween parties. Growing up, I opted out of having a Halloween party, as my birthday is only two days after the spooky holiday. I thought it would be silly to have two different parties so close together. It is always fun to have costume contests between friends and seeing how creative you can be. You could even create your own haunted house and have a good time.
There isn’t really anything people can do to stop those who are of legal age from drinking but there are also many ways to have a good time without incorporating alcohol. Along with having fun dressing up in costumes, going to haunted houses and going on hay rides, you can also get in touch with your childish side and carve pumpkins.
Halloween is easily one of my favorite holidays and there are many ways to have a good time. Halloween is meant to be sort of spooky so get a group of friends together and hit up some of these events going on around Minnesota and Wisconsin. You don’t need to travel several hours to have a good time either, so there are plenty of activities going on around campus as well. Have a safe, and of course, fun Halloween!
Samantha Mayberry is a junior and is majoring in journalism. She is from Rochester, Minn., and loves to read, listen to music and take pictures.