It’s October. The air’s getting colder, the days are shorter, and what’s left of my summer tan has all but faded away. It’s safe to say I look like a zombie, dragging myself up Forum Hill for an 8:30 lecture. With sunken eyes, alabaster skin, and just a bit of glitter from the night before, I have far more in common with Edward Cullen than I’d usually be happy to admit. But today, my natural, sleep-deprived state will be the look everyone’s trying to achieve. Ah, the beauty of Halloween.
Nevertheless, there will be no expense spared for Halloween in my flat. There’s pumpkin innards strewn all over the table, bits of tea-stained cloth pinned haphazardly to an old dress, and sweet wrappers from our pre-trick-or-treating taste test. But no student Halloween is complete without authentic cobwebs and the spider that’s become a permanent fixture in our kitchen window.
Nothing cements a new friendship like using each other as human shields for protection from murderous clowns
Then there’s the horror movies, we can’t forget the horror movies. Nothing cements a new friendship like using each other as human shields for protection from murderous clowns, possessed children (why is it always the children?) or having the image of someone hacking off their own limbs burned into your minds forever. But seriously, it’s an intense bonding experience and after my flat’s Stranger Things marathon, it’s something I’d recommend to everyone.
And let’s not forget that pumpkin carving and costume making is an excellent (and deceptively productive) form of procrastination – and with post-reading-week deadlines fast approaching, who doesn’t need a distraction? So grab your cauldrons, colour your cornstarch, and invest in some hardcore candy, because Halloween is here.