As COVID-19 cases trend downward, some University of Miami students may creep out and return to full, in-person Halloween festivities. Others aren’t so sure.
Maya Nakdimon, a junior nursing major from Boca Raton, said she spent her last Halloween taking a bubble bath at home and does not plan on doing much this year either.
“I don’t like costumes or spooky things,” Nakdimon said. “I got to college and realized I actually hated Halloween.”
Instead of participating in Halloween festivities, Nakdimon predicts she will be studying for upcoming exams and quizzes.
But many students are keeping the Halloween spirit alive this semester with fun, on-campus events and programming, including Canes Night Live’s “Halloweentown,” UBS’ “Halloween Thump,” the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” in the Shalala ballrooms and a “Trick-or-Tunes” concert and horror movie screening.
Nia James, a junior graphic design and interactive media major, planned a costume party with her peers in Elevate Runway Fashion, an on-campus art and fashion charity organization. The show happened 7-9:30 p.m. Oct. 30 in the Ballroom East of Shalala.
Beyond campus, Halloween is coming back throughout South Florida. Events include Club Space’s three-day Hocus Pocus Halloween weekend featuring Adana Twins, Bob Moses, Charlotte de Witte, Chris Lake, Enrico Sangiuliano, Ilario Icante, Layton Giordani, Loco Dice, Marco Carola and Nicole Moudaber. The location, which is to be announced, was part of the mysterious hype for the event.
International student Oscar Bartual says he will check out a frat party and attend a South Florida club to experience local Halloween happenings.
Bartual, a junior journalism major from Alicante, Spain, said Halloween in his country follows a similar framework abroad, minus the creative house decorations.
“In Spain, Halloween is just an excuse to go out for the night,” Bartual said.
He notes that women sometimes get dressed up, but guys in Spain opt for a more casual look throughout the night. He plans on changing that narrative for his American Halloween experience.
“I am looking for a costume now,” Bartual said earlier in the week.
Meanwhile, junior Gabriella Socarras spent last Halloween at home with her younger siblings in Tenafly, New Jersey. She had wanted to return home this year and give her younger siblings, Aiden and Olivia, the proper trick-or-treat experience they deserve.
Socarras’ father Hernán decorated the house for her siblings to celebrate their first Halloween as trick-or-treaters. Socarras said five neighbors in their cul-de-sac opened their homes for the kids who wanted to trick-or-treat, but the experience was not the same.
“I felt for my siblings because I remember the feeling of having Halloween stripped away too. They just don’t know what a normal Halloween looks like,” Socarras said.