Driving down the street late at night, houses are decked out with Halloween decorations. Giant inflatables, lights, and pumpkins can be observed outside of many houses. Numerous people find that decorating their houses for the holidays to be enjoyable.
Most individuals decorate their homes for Halloween to sit back and appreciate all the time they spent working hard on this task. AP Human Geography teacher Dena Marlar finds enjoyment in decorating her house for Halloween and enjoys the reward of having a seat and enjoying the relaxing view of her effort.
“I love it, and the thing I love the most is after it’s done, sitting, and enjoying it right? So I have lights on timers, and the lights will come on like right now the Jack-o’-lanterns come on, the lights above the mantle come on, and it makes me happy,” Marlar said.
While some decorations are small and just there, there are other mind-blowing decorations that individuals use to decorate that they are more fond of. Freshman Abby Milligan explains a prominent decoration that their family uses during the holidays.
“Last year we put up a twelve foot skeleton, and it’s been up for three hundred and sixty-five days plus. And so now we have another one and we alternate them between the front and the backyard coming over the fence. My mom is really passionate about it and she likes to dress him up. She’d buy these extra, extra large shirts and dress him up for certain holidays; he gets a Christmas hat during Christmas,” Milligan said.
Many people might not decorate their own house for the spooky season, but still enjoy gazing at other festive homes. Looking out the windows of a moving car, Junior Gabrielle Boakye observes the decorations of many of her neighbors.
“Like I enjoy going around neighborhoods and sometimes driving around to see what neighbors have put up for their houses. Like I know I’m not probably gonna like to decorate my own house, but it gives me a little bit of inspo. when I look at other people’s houses or like ideas and whatever, and it’s actually like a fun experience for me,” Boakye said.
Year after year the same house is decked out for Halloween to the max, and year after year others look forward to that resident’s accessories. Junior Jayden Howard, explains the expectancy that people might have if a certain home puts a lot of effort into their houses’ decorations.
“If you see the same house, do a bunch of stuff every year all year round. I think you come to expect it from that person or that house. They probably feel happy that people are appreciating their effort, and some of the decorations,” Howard said.
Watching other kids through the windows of a bedroom, wishing to be able to join them, but being held back by parents is a reality for some. Art Teacher Stacy Bailey explains how growing up this spooky season was not celebrated and how it affected the perspective of decorating later in life.
“I grew up not being able to celebrate Halloween. So when I got to college, I kind of had a new understanding for how people celebrate Halloween and that it was just literally for pumpkins and fun and candy and to just imagine and dress up. So I think accidentally, it doesn’t occur to me to like to decorate for Halloween. I’ll decorate for Christmas because my family decorated for Christmas and even at the age of thirty-seven you find yourself accidentally perpetuating things that your parents forced you to do and you don’t realize it,” Bailey said.
Being a very popular holiday, Halloween is celebrated in many different ways. Decorating homes for the spooky season comes in many different shapes and sizes. Lights, inflatables, and props are all used to make this event come to life. Those who spend a substantial amount of time decorating for Halloween enjoy the activity and their hard work.
