From Pumpkin Patches to Haunted Houses: How to Spend Your Perfect Halloween

Courtesy+of+momtastic.com

Lindsay Blake

Courtesy of momtastic.com

Lexie Freund ‘17, Staff Writer

With October upon us, it is time for Halloween and all the spooky and crafty activities that come with it. A few ways to get in the spooky spirit this month are visiting a pumpkin patch, “boo-ing” your friends, or watching all four “Halloweentown” movies. For those who are not familiar with “boo-ing”, it is when you ding-dong-ditch your friends, leave them little Halloween treats, and hang a sign on their door saying, “you just got boo-ed.” You can leave them a bag of goodies or some candy–anything to make them smile. The best part about “boo-ing” is that it’s anonymous, and your friends try to guess who boo-ed who. A unique way to make “boo-ing” more fun is to fill your friend’s goody bag with gifts that hint at your identity so they can guess.

If you are more on the crafty side, you can carve pumpkins, paint Halloween-themed nails, or create your own costume. A unique idea for pumpkin carving is to use three pumpkins and stack them to create a Halloween snowman. One can also use multiple pumpkins with a different word carved on each, to spell out a spooky phrase. You can paint your nails purple, orange, black or white to get in the spirit. If you paint a nail white, you can then put sticker eyes on it to make a ghost. There are also Hello Kitty themed Halloween stamps you can buy on Amazon to put witches, ghosts and pumpkins on your nails. For creating your own costume, first look through your parents’ closet as well as your own to see if you have any pieces that could contribute. Then, head to AAARDVARK Costumes in Manhattan Beach for every costume from a 70’s hippie to a historical Betsy Ross. Not only does AAARDVARK have full costumes, but they also have individual accessories such as vintage jewelry, costume makeup, shoes and wigs for every costume you can imagine.

One can find pumpkin patches all around Los Angeles, but one of the most acclaimed is Mr. Bones Pumpkin Patch in Culver City. Not only can you find pumpkins there, but also exciting activities such as pumpkin carving, mazes, and a petting zoo. Finally, when Halloween rolls around, head down to the Manhattan Beach walk-streets for a real scare. On Fifth Street, a family builds and acts in their own haunted house; they scare you as you go through and use strobe lights, fog machines and audio equipment to give you a real scare. Every year, they have a theme and hundreds of people flock to these walk-streets for the ultimate trick-or-treating experience as well as an exciting thrill.

With all these different options for things to do for Halloween, you will surely find something to your liking this year.