Halloween is a beloved holiday in the U.S., and one that is just as fun to celebrate as a young adult as it is to celebrate as a little kid.
Some of my favorite childhood memories are from Halloween. I loved trick-or-treating as a kid! A day where I can dress up like anyone or anything I want, walk around my neighborhood with my friends and my little sisters, and I get to collect candy? As a child, I was sold. And, as an added bonus, I don’t like chocolate — which meant I got to trade all the chocolate I collected for the sour candy people were willing to give up in exchange. And I love sour candy. I’ll also never forget the freedom I felt in middle school (before I, naively, deemed myself “too cool” and “too old” for trick-or-treating in junior high) when I finally got to go around the neighborhood with my best friend and no adults. That taste of independence was just as enjoyable as the sugar high that ensued.
Of course, Halloween as a college student looks very different than it did when we were children. Gone are our days of trick-or-treating and taking inventory of our candy hauls, but the fun and spooky spirit of the holiday remains.
Whether you choose to party or stay in, to celebrate at the bars or watch horror movies while sipping apple cider, go all out with an intricate costume or DIY a Hole Punch Jim costume last minute, Halloween has the potential to be one of the best days of your fall semester (and, I daresay, your year).
I think it’s a day that brings people together. As a freshman, I was planning a group costume just weeks after meeting my friends (we totally crushed it as Disney villains; and I still love my Cruella de Vil costume). Dressing up together and celebrating the end-of-October holiday was the most fun I had experienced with my new Creighton friends up to that point. Every year since, picking out my costume and planning Halloweekend with my friends has been a highlight of my fall. This year we’re going as childhood storybook characters, and I am so excited to hit the town as Junie B. Jones after a wholesome night of movie watching and pumpkin carving.
But costumes and group celebrations are not all the holiday has to offer college students. Outside of just loving the day because of the vibes and spooky fall aesthetic, it’s one of my very favorite holidays because of nostalgia. I think nostalgia is something we could all benefit from as we search for reprieve from the stress of a busy semester. Jack-o-lanterns, orange and black decorations and autumn colors returning to the trees all remind me of one thing: Disney Channel’s Monstober.
Monstober was my favorite Disney Channel event growing up. For those who don’t remember or didn’t get to experience it, Monstober was when Disney would show a Halloween-themed Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) or television show episode every night of October. As a kid who loved both Halloween and escaping into my favorite shows, I loved Monstober.
According to the Disney Channel Wiki on fandom.com, Monstober started out as Hauntoberfest in 2005 and brought us the premiere of “Twitches” (which is such a good Halloween DCOM). In 2007 and 2008, it was rebranded to Wiz-Tober which, of course, included “Wizards of Waverly Place” Sundays. We were introduced to Monstober in 2012, and I remember that fondly. After we outgrew Disney, Monstober was retired, but I’m very excited for today’s youth because, according to Disney Television Animation News, it made a comeback last year and was continued for this Halloween season.
With a deep love for nostalgia, I sincerely enjoy recreating Monstober for myself, and I think that’s something more college students should start doing. My October isn’t complete without rewatching iconic DCOMs like the “Halloweentown” series, the “Twitches” duology, “Girl vs. Monster” and spooky-themed episodes of my beloved childhood shows like “Hannah Montana,” “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody On Deck,” “Jessie” and “Wizards of Waverly Place.” They’re juvenile, for sure, and definitely aren’t the cinematic masterpieces I thought they were as a child, but I love them because of how much I loved them as a kid. Rewatching these programs is like dusting off a favorite book or finding an old hoodie you used to wear a lot — familiar, comforting and a reminder of simpler times. And that is precisely why I think these old movies and shows are for us college students. We deserve to take breaks from our stress, sit back and remember that our childhoods weren’t that long ago, and we still don’t need to be full-blown adults just yet.
Halloween is fun! It’s a silly day where we can escape reality for a second, celebrate with our friends and remember our childhoods. I think I like it even more as a college student than I did growing up.
One way campus is embracing the spooky spirit is with the Rare Books Room Open Hours hosted by the Creighton University Archives and Special Collections. Students can stop by today from 1 to 3 p.m. to see the journal that inspired “The Exorcist,” eat sweet treats and learn about the university’s most haunted items from an archivist.