Fall is here. Leaves are falling down of the trees (maybe not in Los Angeles). People are consuming every type of product with pumpkin inside. Scary decorations are put in place around the city. You guessed it. Halloween is coming soon. And here at USC, even if it does not feel like fall is around, the “Halloween feeling” can be easily created. Here are ways to make your Halloween weekend the most memorable weekend of your life, and I promise you will forget you are living in Los Angeles. Get ready for Halloween at USC!
A collaborative piece by: Sarah Soutoul and Austin Lastra White
I am sure the first question coming to you mind is whether you should dress up or not. Well, it is Halloween right?! What would be Halloween without costumes? It would become a day like the others. Well hell no. Please, please, please, wear a costume!
Everybody goes all out during Halloween at USC. Keep the Halloween traditions and go out there with the best costume you will ever have. And, imagine the worst case scenario where you step up into a party and nobody is dressed up like you imagined. I can guarantee you will be the star of the party and be remembered by those people for a very long time (in a positive way guys).
First, please take out this idea that you have to wear a scary costume. That is just so outdated and I do think Halloween is a time to be the person or object (that can be weird by why not?) you always wanted to be. So, there is no hard rules regarding the types of costumes you should wear. Here are three rules you should consider when choosing a costume:
To expand on the third rule, don’t try to imagine a costume that will make you pay huge amounts of money. You can use clothes you already have to make your own costume, and then buy some accessories on the side. Here is a link of the famous PopSugar website showing you different cheap Halloween costumes to make at home.
USC offers so much parties for Halloween that you will not even know which ones to go to. And that’s the thing, you SHOULD go to every party organized for Halloween around USC. Halloween night is probably one of the nights in which you will have the most options to choose from when it comes to partying: frat parties, house parties, weirdly decorated bars, clubs and more. During Halloween at USC there is something going on everywhere.
Go from party to party like you were going from door to door on Halloween as a kid. You will be able to go into different environments with different people. Some of the parties will be at the fraternity row, but there also others organized by USC. One of the biggest Halloween college party will be on the 28th of October from 8p.m to 1a.m near USC and guess what?! They have a costume contest, so be sure to have all the people there dressed up and ready to compete. A Facebook event at this link will direct you to it.
Pro tip: If you do not plan ahead of time, you might find yourself indecisive and without an actual plan at 11PM on the 31st. So plan ahead, try to figure out what you’ll be doing at least for the first few hours out, and then you can improvise.
Maybe you are not into partying, or maybe you have midterms the following week. Do not feel pressured. Halloween (literally) happens every year, and it is not a matter of all or nothing. Some people prefer to watch a scary movie and eat treats during Halloween, so do not feel like you need to conform with the social norm, and do whatever you truly want to do. Some of us are just not party people and I completely understand. This is why I have made a list of several activities you can do around USC or in the Los Angeles area:
Halloween nights at the Warner Brothers Studios on Oct 28-29: The night includes a screening session, a tour and movie themed treats, all of this for $75. It will be a fun night full of scary movies and “Halloween” Here is the link for more info.
The Rise of The Jack O’Lanterns from the 13th to the 16th of October: You will be able to see 5,000 hand-carved illuminated jack o’ lanterns (like in Tangled, yeah!!). Link for more info here.
“Halloweentime” at Disneyland at the end of October: Come to Disneyland Park and have access to most of the rides and guess what?! Everybody is gonna be dressed up!
You can also organize a pumpkin carving context with your friends and see which ones is the best pumpkin carver of all times!
How many #pumpkin flavored treats can you name? Decorate your house with lots of pumpkins (whole foods pumpkins are the best!)
Drink a lot of pumpkin spice lattes from the Trojan Starbucks.
Make a lot of pumpkin tea to have this fall season.
Make pumpkin pancakes for your roommates, they will love you forever.
You will be amazed by the amount of homework, assignments and readings that will be due exactly on Halloween weekend. It almost seems as if professors did this purposely. We guess it is their way to wish you a happy (and busy) Halloween at USC. So what is the best way to avoid having to work on these assignments minutes before going out on Halloween? Plan to do everything ahead of time. Allow yourself a couple days to get everything done before Monday night. This will allow you to enjoy Halloween weekend without any added stress.
Halloween night is probably the night when it is the hardest to distinguish between a person who could be a threat to your life and a person who is completely harmless. Because, yes, it is very likely that that Jason you saw in that dark alley is just a kid waiting for his friend to break the seal, but it could also be an actual weirdo carrying a real machete. Though the latter is unlikely, you do not want to take any chances during Halloween. Make sure to ALWAYS be with at least a friend so you can look out for each other… and maybe even trip him over if it actually comes down to your friend’s life or yours.
Weird advice, right? You would be surprised of how many people get their places broken into, accidentally or deliberately, during Halloween at USC. People might get the wrong address and show up at your place. Some might be drunk looking for a party. People might need to pee and think it is chill to walk real quick into someone’s house and use their bathroom. The weirdest things happen during Halloween at USC, and you do not want them to happen to you. Lock your door, and keep those damn kids looking for candy out of your home.
Most important piece of advice. Be yourself, dress up (even if you’re staying home, you’ll want to open the door for kids asking for candy with a nice costume), have fun and be safe. There is nothing worse than making the most terrifying night of the year turn into an actual nightmare. Halloween is supposed to be a celebration, so make sure to follow our advice and you will make the most out of it!
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