It’s all about the costume

be labeled as an outcast or given strange looks.

tumes also seem to be very popular.

In what outrageous ensemble will you be crashing Halloween parties with this year? Halloween is around the corner. Stores are consumed with aisles and aisles of candy and the latest costumes for all ages.

So, what alternate identity do you plan to wear on Halloween night?

Children and their parents await this day where they can pretend to be anything from super heroes to princesses and gather candy from neighbors.

Guys normally choose something simple and not very extravagant.

The floor of the mansion in which some believe the daugh- ter of the Durrance’s family died on. Some have seen the blood rise through the floor around certain times of the year.

One day, he found out his daughter was pregnant and was not happy about it. Because she was so distraught by her fathers anger towards her, she raced through the halls, throwing herself off the balcony and

DANGER sign is one of many scary things in the mansion’s basement.

The Mansion is now home to public safety, the office of the President and other ad- ministrative offices, once was home to the Paul and Durrance families. This building sure has been through a lot over the years! onto the open floor below, killing both she and her unborn child at the same time.

When Xavier found out about his love killing herself, he feared John Durrance and committed suicide by hanging himself in the rafters of Grace Hall. Today, there is a piece of rope hanging from the rafters, which are blocked off for anyone to see.

To this day around certain times of the year, you can see where she committed suicide. If you roll back the carpet, you see blood seeping through the floor.

Some also claim that on the night of the first snow fall, you can see John Durrance walking across the lawn with a shotgun in his hand.

Creepy attic in the room that servants used to live in… wonder what’s up there?

Junior secondary education major Victoria Matkowski, said, “I haven’t figured out what I want to be this year but last year I was an 80’s jazzerciser. I want to make people laugh and wear something that I feel comfortable in.”

This is the only time of year when it’s socially acceptable to dress up as anything you want and to not

We’ve sadly graduated from those days and now Halloween to the typical college student means showing off your outrageous creations while jumping from party to party on Halloween night.

So, what are the popular costumes for this year?

An employee at the Halloween Adventure store in King of Prussia, Pa., said that particular store has been selling an incredible amount of pirate costumes this year for girls and guys. Many girls choose to dress up in various nurse costumes and fairy cos-

Halloween is just around the corner, do you have a costume yet?

Halloween symbology

to mind when I think of Halloween,” Jackie Morris, a sophomore business major, said.

“We see a lot of guys who come in and randomly grab a mask or a doctor’s lab coat as their costume. They are in and out of the store in a matter of minutes.”

While some students jump in whole heartedly and plan their Halloween costumes, many like to create quick and easy costumes that they will still have fun in wherever they go.

Liz Kerstetter, a junior English and secondary education major, said that she was going to be the character Pam from the television show, “The Office.” “A costume for her will be cheap to make and I love that show.”

“ I don’t really pick costumes to fi my personality, but there are definitely some costumes out there I would never wear because they are just not me,” Kerstetter said.

Whether you go out and buy your costume or create it in your very own room, plan to have fun on Halloween night pretending to be whoever you wish to be.

Put on the colorful wig, the tall black hat, that horrific mask or those big sunglasses and flaunt your creativity to everyone at the party.

You might not get any candy but you will get some laughs and a good time. Witches, pirates, grim reapers, football players, nurses; it’s all about the costume on this holiday.

A door in the basement has bricks laid together inside, unable to be opened by anyone. What could have happened that they would have to mount it shut?

As soon as calendars turn to October, the spirit of Halloween can be felt everywhere. Superstitions take control of one’s every move and the supernatural is working overtime. Witches on broomsticks adorn the insides of shop windows while jack-o-lanterns and dancing ghosts haunt front lawns.

“Halloween is a holiday where you can just go out and have fun with your friends,” Jen Oakes, a sophomore English and communication major, said.

To some, however, Halloween is not innocent fun. The symbols and practices are believed to breathe new life into the dark rituals and symbols of past civilizations.

Halloween would be nothing without ghosts, the universal symbol for the departed. All Hallow’s Eve, as Oct. 31 was originally referred to, was a night to welcome the dead who were returning home for a bit of comfort on the eve of All Saints Day.

In Mexico, El Dio de los Muertos—The Day of the Dead—is celebrated. This traditional holiday is much brighter than that of Halloween in America. The Day of the Dead celebrates and honors the lives of the deceased and the continuation of their life.

“Carved pumpkins are the first thing that come

The jack-o-lantern is the most well-known face of Halloween. It stems from the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, a greedy old drunk who tricked the devil and trapped him in a tree trunk. For revenge, the devil placed a curse on Jack which doomed him to wander the earth at night with only a burning lump of coal for light. In hopes that Jack would walk peacefully, families put jack-o-lanterns in front of their homes so he wouldn’t need to bother anyone for light.

Trick-or-treating is one of the most popular aspects of Halloween. The American tradition of children dressing up in costumes and going door to door asking for candy dates back to medieval practices of souling. The poor would go door to door, asking for food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day.

“Trick-or-treating really goes back to the basic Christian belief of hospitality,” Resident Chaplin Fr. Michael Bielecki said. “We welcome all who knock on our doors.”

Whether you believe Halloween to be a day that honors the evil of the supernatural or just an excuse to dress up and eat candy, it is a holiday that can be interpreted countless ways by everyone. It is a day rich in symbolism.

A crisp night in late October full of… toilet paper? Mischief night on Oct. 30 is not meant for children. It is a night full of pranks that young adults play on nearby neighbors with rolls of toilet paper or making yolk-filled messes.

Throughout the years pranks have remained traditional, yet more creative.

At the end of October, Halloween is also celebrated by young children and some adults. The participants of Halloween dress up in various costumes that can be scary, humorous or meaningful.

It is tradition that children ring their neighbor’s door bells and receive the greeting, “Trick-or-treat?”

If the children respond “treat,” which they always do, they receive free candy.

However, this tradition stems back to the beginning of Halloween celebration when older children would respond “trick” and perform their joke and run away.

Because suspecting neighbors give out treats to avoid the “trick” each year young adults leave the

“tricking” to the day before on Oct. 30 otherwise known as Mischief Night.

This night of pranks is celebrated by youngsters throughout the United States, England, Scotland and Ireland. Even though the night itself has various names in different regions it still owns the same concept as it does in America.

In America police have always been conscious of the “tricking” that happens on Halloween and Mischief night.

The police strive to keep the “tricking” to a minimum by adding extra police cruisers to the streets to keep the public safe and without egg on their faces.

Some of the acts that are done are “egging,” throwing eggs, “T.P.ing,” toiletpapering a house or a public building and “forking,” placing forks on a neighbor’s lawn.

A few Cabrini students have been witnesses to the aftermath of the pranks performed by their peers.

They have been victims themselves or been lucky enough to miss having the prank pulled on them and their families.

“A couple of years ago our pumpkins were always smashed when we walked out the door Halloween morning. There has not been any recent damage done in the past few years, but this year might be interesting since a couple of fraternity boys have moved in down the street,” Janene Gibbons, a junior English and communications major, said about her experience with Mischief Night.

Shaen Johnson, a junior history major who had a similar yet less messy experience, said, “In past years I have seen toilet paper hanging from a neighbor’s house from the trees. Fortunately it did not take them long to clean-up the mess but they were not happy that it happened to them.”

Cabrini students have also participated in the night of mischief.

“We drove around and took Halloween decorations off of people’s houses and put them on our friend’s houses. It is more enjoyable when you are a kid, but now you have to worry about getting in trouble,” Gabriel Valentino, a senior marketing major, said. Even though these pranks seem harmless and amusing at the time it can be stressful for the victims to clean up afterwards.