Halloween is slowly creeping around the corner, and you know what that means: fun, spooky costumes, the good old tradition of trick or treating, bags full of sweets, and a lot of overly-planned parties.

Here’s how Venice students and teachers are celebrating Halloween this year. 

Movies 

Some students and teachers are big fans of the Halloween classics, but these three movies seem to be favorite among the Venice community: Hocus Pocus, Nightmare Before Christmas and Scary Movie.

There’s even a new Hocus Pocus film that came out this year. 

“I will be watching the new Hocus Pocus movie, because it just brings back so many memories,” said senior Sheida Mokallaei.

Campus aide Taylor Thomas said her favorite movie is also Hocus Pocus. 

“I have not watched a Halloween movie in a very long time,” she said. “I’m not really into the gory, but I like the classics like Scream and Nightmare on Elm Street with Freddy Krueger.”

BSAP counselor Evelyn Knox enjoys suspense type of movies—the movies where you don’t know what’s going to happen next.

“But my favorite movie of all time is Elvira: Mistress Of The Dark,” she said. “When I think of Elvira, I think of Halloween.” 

Costumes

Some eager students and teachers at Venice High have their Halloween costumes planned out and ready to wear.

Senior Nalanie Gomez and junior Melisa Ozekici are both planning on being Lara Croft.

“I was planning to be Lara Croft because her outfits are really cute and it’s a fun character to be,” Gomez said. “I wanted a cute halloween costume, so I was like ‘why not be Lara Croft’.”

Mokallaei is thinking about being a witch, because “it’s fun and it’s really easy to dress up for”. 

“I’m just doing my makeup, and my hair is probably going to be curly, so it should be fun,” she said.

On the other hand, some are still planning their Halloween costumes.

Knox said she used to dress up a little bit more when she was young.

She doesn’t know what she wants to be, yet she wants to “keep it simple, light, nothing crazy.”

Trick-or-Treating and Parties 

Trick-or-Treating and Halloween parties seem to be the most ongoing Halloween activity that the Venice High community will be doing. 

No matter how old you are, it’s always exciting to get free candy.

Senior Georgia Bean said she plans on going trick-or-treating October 31 and going to a Halloween party the next day.

“I dressed up last year. My friend and I went trick-or-treating, and it was really fun,” said Mokallaei.

Candy Likes and Dislikes

Venice students and teachers have very different and unique taste buds when it comes to candy choices (although many love the classic original Halloween candies). 

A good amount of our Venice peers like the one and only Snickers bars.

Gomez said she likes the original Snickers, but she’s only eating the fun-size (not the mini ones).

A candy she does not grab out of a Halloween candy box is Black Twizzlers and Red Twizzlers. “Those go out the door,” said Gomez.

Twizzlers seem to be not the most liked candy among Bean, Gomez, and Thomas. 

Thomas said her least favorite candy is black jelly beans, “because they taste like black licorice.” Meanwhile, her favorite candy is Heath Bars. 

“It’s toffee dipped in chocolate, and it tastes like caramel,” she said. 

Junior Kate Marchese likes Jolly Ranchers, “but only the blue kind.” 

Mokallaei added that she doesn’t like chocolate-based candies.

“I don’t like Reese’s. They belong straight in the trash can,” she said.