By Amanda Wigley |Staff Writer|
The time of zombies, ghosts, pumpkins and candy is upon us.
Halloween is almost here and every store we walk into we see decorations of scary goblins and aisle filled with bite sized candy.
From trick or treating to haunted houses, this holiday is a favorite for both children and adults.
One of the more popular Halloween attractions is the transformation of local theme parks into bone chilling haunted houses. Theme parks such as Six Flags Magic Mountain, Knott’s Berry Farm and Disneyland all join in on the Halloween festivities of transforming and scaring the whits out of their guests.
Student Corey Espisito has attended all three stating that his favorite was Knott’s because he got free admission for Scion Night.
The theme park Knott’s Berry Farm, in Buena Park is one of the more popular parks that celebrate Halloween. As noted on their website, this will be their 40th year they transform the park into “Knott’s Scary Farm.”
Disneyland is one of the few parks that begins their Halloween celebration six weeks prior to Halloween. They have popular movie villains roaming the park and on specific nights they have Mickey’s Halloween Party where people can come dressed up, children can trick or treat throughout the park and much more.
Another popular, less expensive, Halloween tradition is carving pumpkins. My friends and I have a ritual where we get together every year to play games and carve pumpkins.
Carving pumpkins seems to be a tradition with others as well. Several students noted they have spent time with friends carving pumpkins for Halloween.
CSUSB is even getting into the Halloween spirit; there will be some festivities here on campus this week. On Tuesday, Oct. 30 there is a free movie screening of Halloween and on Wednesday, Oct. 31 a one man play, “Shadow of the Raven” will be performed by Broadway veteran Duffy Hudson.
A bigger question for most on Halloween isn’t what they are going to do, but what they are going to wear. I asked some students and while several students either aren’t dressing up or don’t know yet, a few students already have their costumes ready to rock.
I will be the first to admit that I often wait till the week of Halloween and then scramble around from store to store to throw together a costume. However, this year I am prepared for a busy night of work where I will be dressed up as Dora the Explorer.
As noted on PR Web, it is expected this year that costume sales will rise to $8 million from $7.1 million last year. They also noted that Marvel Comics and Big Bird costumes have been selling out faster.
Halloween is a holiday that is celebrated by people of all ages. Whether you chose to celebrate by going to a theme park or carving pumpkins, there appears to be an option for everyone.