Pumpkin carving, binge-watching spooky movies, going to a pumpkin patch, and baking those intensely sweet Pillsbury Halloween cookies—these are all things that scream Halloween to me.

I caught up with some of Rosary’s own teachers and students to get to know what traditions embody Halloween for them. 

Rosary science teacher Mrs. Hunt revealed a tradition she has been doing since childhood: “Let’s see…we always make chili and drink hot apple cider on Halloween and take the kids trick-or-treating.”

She went on to share the tradition’s significance: “I usually do this with my family, and I love celebrating the Halloween season alongside them. Um…I think just the flavor and smell of the apple cider reminds me that it’s the Halloween season. I love Halloween and everything about it, but I can’t handle scary movies…I won’t be able to sleep for weeks out of fear that some creature from the deep is lurking!.”

Alongside Mrs. Hunt, senior Katherine Thomas discussed her own childhood Halloween traditions: “As a kid, I would always invite friends over to my house for Halloween, and we would go trick-or-treating while my godparents handed out candy. When I was around 12-years-old, some people moved into a house a few blocks down and went all-out for Halloween. I mean their house looks like it’s straight out of Disneyland. They have skeleton pirate animatronics, singing ghost/pumpkins, fog, spooky animations in their windows, and cobwebs galore. I still make sure to stop by every year to check out the decorations.”

Although Katie has only been to the spooky Disneyland-inspired house for the past few years, she disclosed why the recent tradition is so special to her: “I used to always go with my family, and now I go with my friends. The house is a Halloween staple for my friends, family, and I. It’s not Halloween if I don’t visit the house with them and see all of their crazy technology.”

Katie’s fellow senior Mary Marshall also took the opportunity to divulge her seven-year strong Halloween tradition: “About seven years ago, I started a candy estimation jar for my dad’s work. So every year around this time, I fill up a Mason Jar full of candy for my dad’s work. I started this tradition to help my dad’s office look forward to something each year around Halloween time. My dad and I thought that you can never be too old to guess how many candy pieces are in a jar!.”

She went on to state why this tradition holds such high importance during the Halloween season: “I would say this tradition is significant to me because I love spending quality time with my dad, and this is just something he and I do together. Also, the office always tells my dad every year that they are ready and excited for the candy jar to come back.”

Despite not many people being in her father’s office due to COVID-19, Mary described how the tradition will go on: “My dad and I make sure every candy is now individually wrapped as a precaution in the jar and that the person can safely get their winning jar.”

In addition to Mary, Rosary religion teacher Mr. Bravo described his family-derived Halloween traditions: “I have one sister, and we were introduced to all the great classic Halloween movies by my parents. The traditions consist of watching the first, third, and fourth “Halloween Town” movies. Although, I’m not a huge fan of the second. I also enjoy watching “Hocus Pocus.” These are usually the only two movies that I enjoy watching every single year during the month of October.”

He went on to reveal the true significance behind the tradition of watching these spooky movies: “This tradition is very significant to me because it holds sentimental value. It reminds me of the time when I was little and would watch these movies while drinking Abuelita hot chocolate (the best Mexican hot chocolate) with the family. I still watch these movies with the same hot chocolate. I think this tradition adds value to life, even as small as it is, it means a lot to my family.”    

Finally, Angelina Sances ’23 discussed the Halloween tradition she has shared with her family and friends since the age of two: “Every year my family and I invite our friends, and we go trick-or-treating. We go to every house on our block and keep going until people start running out of candy. We make sure we hit the houses with the jumbo candy twice, and we head back home. When we hit the jumbo house the second time, we take props from each other’s costumes, so we are not noticed. When we are home, every year we sort out and trade our candies while my mom tells us scary Halloween stories that make us scared to go to bed.”

She went on to reflect on the genuine importance of these traditions: “These traditions are significant to me because every year I make brand new memories with my family and friends that I will never forget!.”

Now that some of Rosary’s own teachers’ and students’ Halloween traditions are known, feel free to comment your spooky season tradition(s)!