Tag Archives: Fall

Halloween in the Halls

Halloween is on a Thursday this year, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be celebrated. Celebrating in the residence halls can be difficult when all you want to do is trick-or-treat like when you were little. (At least that’s how I feel every year!) While it seems like there’s no way to celebrate All Hallows Eve on campus, here are some ideas to get you into the spooky spirit!

Watch Disney Channel Original Halloween Movies.
Growing up, I was obsessed with Disney Channel Original Movies, and the Halloween ones were always my favorite. If you’re a sucker for a good old fashioned DCOM, here are some of my personal favorites.

    • Girl vs. Monster (Hulu)
    • Halloweentown (Hulu)
    • Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge (Hulu)
    • Mom’s Got a Date with a Vampire (Hulu)
    • The Scream Team (Hulu)
    • Twitches (Hulu)

Watch family Halloween movies.
DCOMs aren’t for everyone, but other family Halloween films can help you get into the spooky season. They might not have the DCOM flair, but they’re still prized gems.

    • Corpse Bride (Hulu)
    • The Haunting Hour: Don’t Think About It (Amazon; $3.99 to rent)
    • Hocus Pocus (Hulu)
    • It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (Hulu)
    • The Nightmare Before Christmas (Hulu)
    • Scooby-Doo and the Witch’s Ghost (Hulu)

Watch horror/thriller Halloween movies.
Some people want more thrills than wholesome content on Halloween, so here are some scarier films if you’d rather watch something from between your fingers.

    • The Amityville Horror (Hulu)
    • The Blair Witch Project (Amazon; $1.99 to rent)
    • Donnie Darko (Amazon; $0.99 to rent)
    • The Exorcist (Amazon; $2.99 to rent)
    • Pet Sematary (Amazon; $2.99 or $4.99 to rent)
    • Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (Amazon; $14.99 to buy — available to rent starting 11/5)

Bake themed treats and pass out candy.
If you live in East, South, or West, you can take advantage of the kitchens to bake Halloween cut-out cookies or Pillsbury Halloween sugar cookies.  You can also hand out candy to other residents on your floor. Ask your RA if you can have a small Halloween party! This will give you a fantastic excuse to wear that costume you’ve been planning for weeks.

Carve or paint pumpkins.
Carving pumpkins can get kind of messy, but you can still decorate pumpkins without the pumpkin guts! Whether you pick up some paint and a paintbrush or a knife and spoon, decorating pumpkins is a fun activity to help de-stress with friends and roommates.

Photo courtesy of Pexels.

Fall Hall Events

Millersville Housing & Residential Programs love to show their fall spirit. With Halloween right around the corner, we are right in the center of the fall season. With fall comes along pumpkins and Halloween festivities. Within our residence halls, students have been celebrating the season by attending events held by our Resident Assistants , better known as RAs.

RAs try to create programs to help students celebrate the season and also have fun while doing so. One of the events that was held to aid in doing so was the Pumpkin Painting Party that took place in West Village A , but was also open to the whole West Village. During this event , residents were able to come out with their friends to paint a pumpkin which they could display outside of their door for decoration. This residence hall is having a door decoration contest, so many students were eager to create a great pumpkin to add to their door display. A pumpkin painting party was a perfect event for students to talk and meet other students as well as to get into the holiday spirit.

One resident , Allie, said,  “It’s relaxing.”

Pashence said , ” This activity brought out my Halloween spirit! It’s the season to paint pumpkins.”

Other great events have been held in other halls as well. If you live in the residence halls and want to gear up for the spookiest day of the year, see if your RA has any event flyers posted on your floor or you can ask them if any events are going on.

Many of the residence halls are having a door decoration contest, so make sure to decorate your door for a chance to win a prize. Also if you live in East Village B, there will be a Halloween Party on October 28th at 7pm , be sure to check it out because there will be food, music and plenty of fun. In South Village, there will be Halloween crafts on October 30th and a scary movie night and costume party on November 3rd, so make sure to check out these activities as well.

How to Have a ‘Suite’ Halloween

Since it is officially October, spooky season has begun. Halloween is a great holiday that many college students like to celebrate, but do not know how to while living in the residence halls. Although it seems like there are no ways to celebrate this fun holiday, I created a list of some ideas you and your friends can try out.

 

  1. Host a movie marathon.

One way to get in the Halloween spirit is to host a scary movie or Halloween themed movie marathon. You and all your closest ‘ghouls’ can watch Halloweentown, Hocus Pocus or Halloween in your residence hall common area where there is a lot of room to sit and enjoy these classic films. My favorite Halloween movie is Hocus Pocus, I can recite the whole movie from beginning to end.

 

  1. Have a door decoration contest with people who live in your hall.

Another option can be to ask your RA if you can have a door decoration contest for Halloween. Decorating your door can be fun and a great way to bond with your roommate while trying to beat the competition. If you need some ideas for door decorations, you can always check our Pinterest out , our username is @villehousing !

 

  1. Plan a small Halloween party.

Ask your RA if your floor can have a Halloween party or ‘trick or treating’. Having a floor Halloween party can be a fun reason to get dressed up , but it can also help you to meet more people who live on your floor. This is also a great excuse to eat a bunch of Halloween Oreos and piles of candy.

Photo courtesy of Canva.

 

  1. Bake themed treats with your friends.

For example, you and your friends can make Halloween cut-out cookies or the always delicious Pillsbury sugar cookies in the residence hall kitchens. These kitchens are a great resource that students can take advantage of especially when it comes to baking yummy treats.

 

  1. Carve or decorate pumpkins.

When I hear the word Halloween, the first thing I think about is pumpkins. Decorating pumpkins is a great way to be creative while being festive. This can also be a fun activity to do with your friends or roommates to take your minds off of schoolwork and tests!

 

Have a spooky and fun-filled Halloween! Also, if you live in West Village make sure to check out the pumpkin painiting, costume contest, food and crafts as well as a Halloween movie night that is happening on October 25th starting at 6:30 pm.