Halloween is a special time of year where students can dress up and express themselves in different ways. Some people are drawn towards gore and violence with their costumes, while others lean more towards fun and innocence.

Students reminisced about their favorite costumes.

“The most elaborate thing that I dressed up as was a doctor zombie, and it was complicated because of all the guts that hung out and the blood that dripped from my eyes,” senior Delante Lucas said.

Others took a less macabre approach.

“I dressed up as Mother Nature. I had a whole bunch of leaves and flowers that I had to pin, and I did green and yellow makeup on my face. I also had a flower crown,” senior Nyawira Nyota said.

It’s not only the costumes that brought fear when trick or treating as kids.

“The scariest thing I’ve ever experienced on Halloween was when I was under 10 years old when I walked down the street and one of our neighbors put a bunch of decorations out that make it look like a slaughterhouse,” junior Mason Vanveigen said.

Some take it to extremes when trying to provoke terror on Halloween.

“The scariest thing that I encountered as a kid while trick or treating was a man dressed in all white, with fake blood staining his clothes as he carried a working chainsaw,” junior Christina Avellaneda said.

Halloween is a time to live out your wishes, whether it’s being scary or fulfilling childhood dreams.

“My favorite costume was probably when I dressed up as a princess. It’s the most stereotypical costume for a little girl, but of course that Halloween I felt like I was actually a princess all night,” sophomore Carly Herbert said.

If given the opportunity by WCPSS, students have ideas on what they would wear to school on Halloween.

“I’d be a clown because people are really scared of them right now, so it would be funny,” senior Demetrius Everett said.

Others let their lack of motivation surface.

“I don’t think I would dress up because it would take too long, and I already take too long as it is,” sophomore Rachel Davis said

Haunted houses are a popular destination this time of year.

“I went to Panic Point. My, oh my, that was so scary. Everything was the scariest part. If I had to be specific I would say when the chainsaw dude came up, and he would turn on the chainsaw. The haunted forest was scary too,” sophomore Carmen Haywood said.

Some let the fear get the best of them.

“We went to a haunted house with my youth group when I was 13. The most terrifying part was not being able to see anything. I had my eyes closed; I looked down once, only to see things trying to grab my feet,” senior Sara Brooks Daniel said. “We all held on to each other’s shoulders, and I ended up getting a concussion because I ran into a corner when I lost the shoulder of the person in front of me.”