As we approach the end of October, Solon has been busy preparing for Halloween. Neighbors have put up decorations outside of their houses and people are flocking to stores to buy costumes and candy to prepare for trick-or-treating. But what have students in Solon High School done for Halloween?

Senior Andrew Hanna usually works at Honey Hut all week, but said he should be able to proceed with his plans to hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters this year. Hanna usually dresses up on Halloween with his favorite costume being an inflatable Godzilla outfit he wore when he was eight. Hanna says that he has fond memories of Halloween as a child.

“We went trick-or-treating a lot,” Hanna said. “I tried trunk-or-treating one year, but it was kinda boring, so we stopped that. [My favorite candy was] anything gummy or anything fruit-flavored.”

As a child, Senior Jaliyah Sims trick-or-treated around Aurora Farms. Her favorite candy is Snickers. Having worn several different costumes throughout the years, Sims said that her favorite is a vampire costume that she wore during her sophomore year. This year, she plans to go to a haunted house and get candy with her friends and potentially go to a Halloween party.

“[Halloween parties are] really fun,” said Sims, describing previous experiences with Halloween parties. “You talk with friends and eat a lot of food. [In previous parties I’ve been to], the decorations were from Party City so they were very low budget, but the food was decorated and it was edible, so that was pretty cool.”

Like Sims, Social Studies teacher Karen Davidoff enjoys going to Halloween parties.

“[You] experience fun, energy, spooky music, good costumes,” said Davidoff. “I had a friend who loved Halloween and she converted every room in our house to be Halloween themed, so she had murder rooms…spiders, witches, ghosts, [and] blood.”

Like Hanna and Sims, Davidoff trick-or-treated as a child. Her favorite costume was a jellyfish made up of umbrellas with bubble wrap on it. Once she got home with her siblings, they would dump the candy onto the family room floor and swap based on which candy each child wanted. In her case, she enjoys Chocolate Beasts, Reese’s and Skittles. This year, she plans to hang out with her friends.

“On the day itself, I make a couple different types of chili,” said Davidoff. “I invite my friends over, and we have chili and we sit in the front yard with a bonfire and we greet the trick-or-treaters.”

Every year on Halloween Day, Solon High School holds a costume contest in which students and staff can enter. Every participant gets candy, but anyone who gets voted as the best in a category such as Best Solo, Group and Department gets an extra prize.

While Sims predicts that the English Department will win for Best Department, Davidoff and Hanna have another candidate in mind.

“Definitely the Foreign Language department,” Hanna said. “They always have something pretty cool.”