The Halloween season is quickly approaching, whether you’re going out to parties, braving a haunted house, or staying in watching Netflix with a bunch of candy. It’s a great time to celebrate fall and all that it has to offer. 

Students have already begun celebrating with activities on and off-campus such as pumpkin painting with Sigma Pi Delta, Her campus’s OctobHERfest fundraiser for breast cancer awareness (complete with carnival games, raffles, and resources from Planned Parenthood), and Oktoberfest, which also included food and fun for students on campus. 

The celebration continues this week with student hangouts, carving pumpkins with campus ministries, and a Day of the Dead celebration to show that campus life is buzzing this time of year. 

Aside from Augustana events, there is plenty to do beyond campus. From going apple picking or visiting a pumpkin patch to thrill-seeking at any of the horror attractions in the QC, there is plenty to fill your appetite for things to do in the last weekend of October.  

Seasonal attractions like Factory of Fear, Shady Knoll Farms, Skellington Manor, QC Haunted Hayride, and many others offer some haunting fun for students off-campus. Whether or not you brave these places alone or in a group of friends ─it’s bound to be a scream!

Of course, you don’t need to head off campus to get into the Halloween spirit. 

“Just recently my housemate got some fun decorations for our dorm,” junior Sarah Luepkes said. Pumpkins and other decorations can liven up a living space on campus, making living in a dorm more fun and personalized. It doesn’t take much to make the season a little more spooky or fall festive, from cobwebs and signs from the dollar store to a pumpkin you decorated.

Looking for seasonal drinks at the Brew is simple, as there are lots of options. Aside from the traditional pumpkin spiced latte, there is also hot apple cider and Brew specialties, like Luepkes’s favorite ─ the Salty Slough, a salted caramel mocha available for the autumn season.

As a college student, this time of year is exciting in a new way. New opportunities post-childhood add possibilities to seasonal celebrations.

“When we were younger, I felt there was a bit more magic to Halloween,” Luepkes said, recalling time spent with family and collecting candy during trick or treating. However, she said she likes that college has allowed her and her friends to go out and spend time together doing things together and going to various parties.  

“I’m a very nostalgic person, so I tend to look back on my childhood memories fondly; though in the next ten years I’m sure the same will be said about my times here at college. Even so, I still love it here and have lots of fun,” Luepkes said.