When thinking about Halloween, the most commonly associated activity with the holiday is trick-or-treating. 

Many people, including myself, have good memories of going from house to house in our neighborhoods dressed up in costumes and getting free candy for one special night. It was a tradition throughout a lot of our childhoods and one of the best things for us to experience in our younger years.

However, as we grow older and we begin to outgrow our childhood ways, we begin to see other ways to celebrate the special holiday. One of the most popular ways for teenagers and young adults to celebrate Halloween is to host or attend Halloween parties. 

Halloween parties as a concept are a way to celebrate the holiday without the “immaturity” of going trick-or-treating and begging for candy. In teenagers’ eyes, it is a more adult way to celebrate Halloween and enjoy your time with friends while getting to dress up, if that is still something you enjoy.

Then, when you become a parent, you can watch as your own children get to experience the excitement of dressing up and asking for candy on Halloween night. Or, if you don’t have kids, you could partake in handing out candy to children on your porch to help them fill their candy buckets.

This is what I like to call the “Cycle of Halloween,” where you get to enjoy the holiday in multiple different ways throughout your life but still see it as Halloween. Everybody has their own special way of celebrating, but it comes down to your age demographic to see what can be considered as appropriate.

I personally do not believe that it is weird for adults to celebrate Halloween, as long as they celebrate in an age-appropriate way. 

What I consider weird is when adults still try to cling onto trick-or-treating and use it as a way of obtaining candy for themselves. Participating with your children or family can be one thing, but celebrating by yourself and asking other grown adults for candy, while in full costume, can be seen as creepy by other people.

Everybody has their own way to celebrate the special holiday. Trick-or-treating is typically for kids, parties are for young adults, and older adults get to help kids participate in the tradition of Halloween. At least, that is how I see it.

Halloween should be an enjoyable holiday for everyone, as long as people stay in their age-appropriate lanes. Ultimately, there comes a time where you have to give up the candy collecting and let a new generation of trick-or-treaters begin to take some candy for themselves. 

However, that does not mean it’s the end of your Halloween celebrations, because the doors are open for you to celebrate in other ways. It’s just a matter of seeing what you enjoy the most and making the best of your Halloween experience.

But above all else, if there is anything that is most important to know, it’s that Halloween candy always goes on sale once November starts. So if you want to stock up on candy at a more reasonable price, Nov. 1 is the day to shop.