Out-Ghouled: Growing Up and Out of the Costume

Maggie Miao is an Arts & Entertainment Editor for The Spectator.

Hana Fathony is a Web Editor for The Spectator.

Halloween traditions and routines range from staying inside and watching movies to devising trick-or-treating routes throughout the city. However, these traditions change with age. As many students approach the end of high school, one question is prominent throughout the month of October: how old is too old to enjoy Halloween? Students at Stuyvesant have varying views on how the meaning of Halloween changes as they get older. 

A significant part of Halloween is dressing up—especially the process that goes into deciding costumes. For sophomore Indira Pollak, Halloween is a time to express her creativity. “I’ve always been someone to have comedic or weirdly specific costumes. For a solid four or five years, I would do ‘monster mashups’ such as being zombie-Marie-Antoinette, radioactive-Marie-Curie, werewolf-Little-Red-Riding-Hood, and more,” she detailed. This highlights how students see Halloween as an opportunity to showcase their imagination. Although framed as a disguise, a Halloween costume can act as a channel for self-expression. 

After spending countless hours planning costumes, getting ready to show off and scare is the next phase of Halloween. When it comes to trick-or-treating, students have particular opinions on how appropriate the activity is for different age groups: “As much as I hate to say it, there is definitely an age limit for trick-or-treating. I have a little brother, so I have an excuse to go trick-or-treating a bit longer, but once you reach a certain age, I believe it’s your duty to leave the candy for kids,” explained junior Maggie Miao. Trick-or-treating serves as a core memory for younger kids, even if teenagers tend to grow out of their previous Halloween pursuits. 

On the other hand, junior Hana Fathony brings up the idea that trick-or-treating is seen in different forms in different communities. “I don’t think there’s a set age that is deemed to be ‘too old’ to trick-or-treat, as everyone, no matter how old, has their own different views or traditions on Halloween. Having lived in a bunch of places, I can attest to this, as different families, communities, [and] cities celebrate the holiday all very differently,” she shared. “I’ve only really started getting into Halloween in high school, as it was an alien concept to me in elementary school, and in middle school, I didn’t even live in a country that celebrated Halloween. But now that I’ve been more and more engaged in it, to me, I feel that the holiday is a much-needed tribute to our gradually diminishing inner child, and so many people still celebrate it even as adults because of the sentimentality it brings,” she detailed. As someone who has not always been in the United States for the Halloween season, Fathony explained that fondness for the holiday can be developed, especially through a sense of nostalgia for those who view it as a reminder of past memories.

Indeed, many students have fond memories of Halloween from when they were younger. Freshman Gianna Guan, for instance, spent her first time trick-or-treating with family. “I’ve been trick-or-treating with my younger brother for a few years now, and we love baking after getting all the candy,” she recalled. Every family has their own way of enjoying Halloween. As such, the holiday extends beyond just stocking up on candy; it also provides time to bond with family and friends. 

As children grow up, their traditions start to change due to a difference in how they view the holiday. “I looked forward to Halloween when I was younger, but now I’m indifferent because I don’t [put] it [on] as high a pedestal as I used to,” junior Alicia Kosior described. There seems to be a large difference between how kids in elementary school and kids in high school view the night. While younger children await the holiday for weeks in advance with great expectations, older children generally have less heightened ideas of what to expect when it rolls around during a busy time of the school year. Still, Kosior has traditions she follows. “I dress up sometimes, but not in a really flashy costume, and I decorate my house with pumpkins and other Halloween-vibed decorations. I also love rewatching the Twilight saga,” she detailed. As students grow up, it is evident that although age impacts Halloween activity, traditions evolve to suit their schedules. 

From staying home to mingling outside, there are a plethora of ways students may choose to spend Halloween. Even though these ways may change as students get older, they appreciate Halloween in their own ways. Costumes still play a large part in trick-or-treating and allow for self-expression. Ultimately, what is most important is that students spend the holiday surrounded by people who provide them with fun memories and candy on the scariest night of the year.