Before there were slutty costumes and binge drinking, there was the Halloween of our childhood. A magical time of year, where you could be anything you wanted and copious amounts of candy were encouraged. Nowadays as young adults, walking around the neighborhood dressed as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and asking strangers for candy, it’s hard to return to what once was. So before you head out this Halloween night in pursuit of adult versions of “tricks and treats,” let’s take a look at Halloween’s past.

Halloween would simply not be complete without the iconic jack-o-lantern. For freshman acting major, Danielle Carrozza, she remembers painting individual pumpkins, carving out the family pumpkin and taking out the “goo” insides. Jacob Pembelton, a freshman string-based performance major, too fondly recalls carving pumpkins with his grandmother. “We would spend like four hours carving a pumpkin. She was very artistic, scratching off the surface to make these intricate designs,” Pembelton said.

Going to the party store and picking out a costume was the highlight of Halloween for Emma Norville, a freshman acting major. “That month before, debating about what to go as,” Kaitlynne Dennis, an accounting junior, said, “and trying to plan how. We were on a budget, so you had to get creative.”

For most kids, it’s all about the candy. “Traversing the woods with friends to get to the rich neighborhood for the good candy,” Jon Rust, a freshman acting major says. Steven Jones, a mass communications senior, replies “Taking more than one candy bar from the ‘take one’ bowl.” Both Domonique Gholson, exercise science freshman, and Austin Davis, interdisciplinary studies junior, cites trick-or-treating as their favorite part of Halloween night as a kid.

Thomas Golding, Acting major freshman, says decorating their house for Halloween was the best way they celebrated. “We had black lights and fog machines. We would make it so scary children would be afraid to come to our house,” Golding jokingly said. Trick or treating with a friend at their super-decorated house was Sabrina Chang’s, a Costume Design freshman, best memory of Halloween. “Bobbing for apples,” Tai’j Lewis, an exercise science sophomore, answers.

“Watching Halloween cartoon specials on TV. Maybe Mom would buy some candy,” Keith McNair, Business Administration Senior, states as how he celebrated in his house. While Hannah Fogarty, a nursing junior, remarks watching the Halloweentown movies as her favoritechildhood tradition. “I actually have them in my Amazon cart right now. I’m making sure my kids watch them!”

Of course not everyone trick-or-treated as a kid — although one student told a story of going to their own house to ring the doorbell and run away — and others may not have celebrated Halloween at all. It’s safe to say that Halloween is for both the young and young at heart.