Listen up ghouls and ghosts ‘cause it’s time to get spooky! To get ourselves in the Halloween spirit, Offbeat reporters asked UMD students what their favorite flicks, traditions, and, of course, costumes are! From our favorite scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis to the nostalgia that is Halloweentown, students had a lot to say about the candy-corny holiday.
You can find us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. A full transcript for this episode is below.
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BAYLER STEWART: Me and my friend were trick-or-treating and it started pouring. And we were like still knocking on people’s doors, even though it was pouring and it was like really fun and we had like a great time even though we like our makeup smudged.
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FATIMA YAZDI: It’s that time of year again, the leaves are changing to vibrant oranges, reds and yellows. The festive pumpkin flavors are showcased at every eatery.
MEGAN BARNES: And best of all, it’s time to get spooky with funky costumes, horror movies and candy. Hi, I’m Megan Barnes.
FATIMA YAZDI: And I’m Fatima Yazdi and welcome to Offbeat by The Diamondback, a podcast about the weird and wonderful here at the University of Maryland.
MEGAN BARNES: Today we turned to the streets of College Park to get student opinions about all things Halloween.
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MEGAN BARNES: Let’s begin with their favorite Halloween classics.
JASLEEN MANN: Mine would probably have to be Twitches.
YEMI IKOTUN: Um, just watching Twitches over and over again. For sure. I watch Twitches once or twice, maybe even three times in a weekend. So stuff like that.
ABIGAIL SCHLOSSBERG: Halloweentown.
EVELYN GREENBERG: Me and my roommate just watched Halloweentown the other night. So I think that’s gonna be our new routine. Every Halloween we’ll watch it.
LAURA WORTMAN: I unfortunately, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Halloween movie, which is so sad. Um, but I definitely need to. I, one of the songs that I listen to almost every Halloween, is “Thriller” by Michael Jackson.
MEGAN BARNES: And there were of course, some more hair raising favorites as well.
ANN MARIE COLE: It’s probably Misery by Stephen King. Oh,
MEGAN BARNES : What is that all about? I’ve never heard of that one.
ANN MARIE COLE: It’s about this woman that gets obsessed with an author that writes a series called Misery. And she just kidnaps him after he gets into a car accident which she caused. So it’s just about how he escapes that whole situation.
MEGAN BARNES: But there were also a few that people found to be a little overrated.
JAMIE NARCISO & ABIGAIL SCHLOSSBERG: What’s that one with Michael Myers in it? Halloween? Yeah!
ANN MARIE COLE: Probably Halloween? The whole series.
MEGAN BARNES: With Jamie Lee Curtis?
ANN MARIE COLE: Yeah.
MEGAN BARNES: They’re making like nine of those. What’s your thoughts?
ANN MARIE COLE: It’s very annoying.
MEGAN BARNES: You’re sick of it?
ANN MARIE COLE: I’m very sick of it. I think so. I mean, personally, I would have just moved after that whole situation, I would have moved off the country, but she still remains at the same place. So I do kind of blame her.
FATIMA YAZDI: However, there’s so much more to the season than just a good fright from a spooky movie. There are tons of other things people associate with the holiday festivities.
LAURA WORTMAN: I feel like the first word I think of is spooky season. I think of pumpkins, bats, orange and black. See what else? Costumes, parties — just a lot of like social events and gatherings mostly, yeah.
BAYLER STEWART: I love Halloween, it’s my favorite holiday. Um, I just think of like trick-or-treating. I was a little kid in my neighborhood really when I think of Halloween.
FATIMA YAZDI: And who could forget all of the crazy costumes.
YEMI IKOTUN: I know I dressed up as Jasmine when I was four or five.
BAYLER STEWART: Yeah, I dressed up as Edward Scissorhands one time, and it was just like, the best costume in my neighborhood. So yeah.
EVELYN GREENBERG: My grandpa was always Albert Einstein because he is just old and he looks like has crazy hair and it was funny.
FATIMA YAZDI: But what appears to matter most to people is just the community involved with the holiday.
YEMI IKOTUN: But I know a lot of people enjoy hanging out with one another, just going out doing new things for themselves. So that, yeah.
IAN ZHAO: I associate with maybe some like, events or family dinner or some kind of party.
FATIMA YAZDI: Definitely. So do you have any plans? I know you mentioned that you’ve been celebrated before. So do you have any plans this Halloween or any way that you’d like to celebrate?
IAN ZHAO: Oh, yes, we got invited by our neighbor to celebrate Halloween. More of a family dinner.
LAURA WORTMAN: But now I would say me and my friends like to go to pumpkin patches. I feel like that’s a very festive thing to do or just dress up and go out together. I low key feel like college students are more festive than just kids in general when it comes to Halloween. So yeah.
MEGAN BARNES: Thanks for listening to Offbeat we’re your reporters Megan Barnes
FATIMA YAZDI: and Fatima Yazdi.
MEGAN BARNES: This episode is brought to you with the help of our editor Julia Bishoff and our assistant editor Grace Kpetemy.
FATIMA YAZDI: Our music this month is by Frank Schroeter. Follow Offbeat on Twitter @DBKoffbeat, and follow The Diamondback on Twitter and Instagram @theDBK you can find a transcript of this episode at dbknews.com. If you liked this episode, tell your friends
MEGAN BARNES and FATIMA YAZDI: and tune in next time!
The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Spooky Halloween 2 by Frank Schroeter
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/9999-spooky-halloween-2
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frank.schroeter.52
