If you’re anything like my family and me, Halloween is a big deal. In my household, we love horror movies, scary decorations and freaking each other out. When my siblings and I were younger, our parents would throw a big Halloween bash for our family. We used to bob for apples, and have cute, but scary, dismembered body part decorations and food themes. It was something I looked forward to every year.

But then, we grow up, don’t we? It’s no longer acceptable to go trick-or-treating and, in my case, a lot of after school activities required us to give up the holiday all together. I was super resentful of high school drama club for that reason, specifically. Even if I wasn’t young enough to trick-or-treat anymore, my brothers were, and I’d have to miss it.

Now, we’re all grown up, and it’s like, what’s there left to do for the adults? Drink? Bar hop? Dress up for house parties? Those are definitely options, but not everybody’s cup of tea. What could still make Halloween enjoyable in our adult years?

The loss of trick-or-treating was equivalent to learning that Santa Claus wasn’t real for me. It was the loss of some childhood magic. Every Halloween weekend since I’ve been at Eastern, I used to go home for the holiday and “celebrate” with my family. Celebrating is now, like, starting a fire in the backyard, making s’mores, and handing out candy to the trick-or-treaters.

This year, I’m not going home. In fact, I have an editorial board meeting on Halloween. I’m really feeling adult-like. But after that’s done, what is there to do on Halloween that would still make it fun? That would bring back some of that childhood magic?

Last year, I went to a local haunted house that Rob Zombie had a hand in designing. It was pretty cool. This year, I’m thinking I might find solace in chilling in my dorm with a bag of candy and watching some unbearably scary movies with my friends. Maybe we’ll do face masks and some homework.

As for the rest of you, I’m sure you can bar crawl in your costumes or attend a costume party. Drinking is, I feel like, the go-to for a lot of us. Maybe you have plans to visit a haunted house or the Airtight Bridge, the location of a brutal murder that happened in Charleston. Pretty spooky. Driving out past the Charleston Walmart is pretty spooky to me. All those cornfields.

Whatever you choose to do in Charleston this Halloween, I hope you have fun and restore some of that childhood enthusiasm for the holiday. That’s my goal this Halloween. Engage in a safe and fun Halloween, Panthers.

Megan Keane is an English and psychology major. She can be reached at 581-2812 or at mkkeane@eiu.edu.