This edition of Random Rants with Annemarie is just going to be me rambling about Halloween. My love for Halloween, recommendations for things to do in October, my past experiences with some recommendations and discussing costume ideas for this season. 

So buckle up and put your pumpkins out, because we are getting spooky. 

Two things I love are volunteering and Halloween. Imagine my glee when I found out a local place was offering a spot for volunteering for this event called “Halloween Hayrides” when I was in high school. 

At the age of 14, I became involved in Lake Metroparks Farmparks Halloween Hayrides in Kirtland. Now, I know that recently with the new Spider-verse movie there’s a joke that “this is a canon event, I cannot interfere,” meaning it is an integral part of the person’s story, it is supposed to happen. Yet, I genuinely think me volunteering for hayrides was one of my canon events. 

I volunteered with my high school from my freshman year to my senior year, and then I went to Lakeland Community College fresh out of graduation. I then joined their radio station and discovered my love for broadcasting. I also just so happened to see an advertisement on the station’s wall for the hayrides I had grown to know and love. So, another canon event was set in motion: I signed up to be a narrator for hayrides. This was new for me, as I had only been on the scenes acting beforehand, so I was a little nervous. But that year, I met some of the closest friends I have today. 

It was like a butterfly effect. 

Loving hayrides in high school, signing up for the station, seeing that ad and then volunteering again with Lake Effect Radio. That split-second decision changed my life. Now, after COVID-19, Lake Farmparks completely revamped the entire way they do hayrides. It is a lot more fun to attend, but with how it is now I don’t have any interest in volunteering there anymore. And that is completely okay. I would still 100000% recommend attending hayrides. It is such a fun thing to do with the family and honestly is pretty fun for all ages.

I can go on about all the crazy things that have happened during hayrides, but that could be a whole different article. So I’ll save that for later. 

The next thing I recommend is if you’re in the more scary type of mode, go to a haunted house. For one season, I worked at Seven Floors of Hell, a haunted house in Middleburg Heights. I had tons of fun working there, and if I had a more open schedule I would go back. Seven Floors of Hell is unique in the sense it has seven different themed haunted houses all on the same grounds. When I worked there, I flipped from the House of the Dead and the Catacombs. They’ve changed up the houses there now, which is understandable because I worked there during October of 2020. Seven Floors also has a sister company, Forest of Screams Hayrides, which is also equally fun. Both Seven Floors and Forest of Screams are good for the more daring kind of folks around Halloween, yet it isn’t TOO crazy. They get up fairly close to you, but they will NEVER touch you. One thing to remember is that these people are just acting, so please don’t attack any scare actors. I almost got punched myself, and one time a guest got lost and rushed into our little actors alley and almost bum-rushed me. So please keep that in mind if you do go to a haunted house. 

Now, if outdoor activities aren’t your thing, that is perfectly fine too! There are so many Halloween movies you can snuggle up with a nice blanket and some fuzzy socks to. For more non-horror movies, I suggest the “Halloweentown” series, “ParaNorman,” “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” “Beetlejuice,” “Practical Magic,” “Labyrinth” with David Bowie and “Monster House.” All of these movies are absolutely amazing and I strongly urge you to go give them a watch! 

There’s also campy “scary” movies. Basically they were supposed to be scary but it’s more funny. My favorites of these are “Children of the Corn,” “Freddy vs Jason,” and “Jennifer’s Body.” If you want scary movies, you have so many you can choose from. “Friday the 13th,” “Halloween,” “Silence of the Lambs,” “The Shining,” “Nightmare on Elm Street,” “Night of the Living Dead,” “Psycho,” “The Birds,” “The Omen,” the original “Child’s Play”(the sequels tend to go more into camp territory) and “Cabin in the Woods.” 

Now, for my last tangent: costumes.

I have to cut myself off here otherwise I could write a book about how much I love Halloween. As a cosplayer, I have tons of costumes on deck just waiting to be worn for Halloween. The worst thing is trying to choose if I should get a new one or if I should wear an old one. If I do go to the old one, there’s a whole different debacle of trying to choose which old one. So, my solution to this is: wear them all. Halloween falls on a Tuesday this year, so I plan on dressing up the Friday and Saturday before. I also plan on dressing up for both the TV2 shows I am part of, the Blurb and All Systems Go (live at 9 Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.) Most people don’t have several different costumes and several different things to wear them to, so how does one choose what to wear for Halloween? It is perfectly okay to go with what’s popular, but if that isn’t your cup of tea that is okay too. This year there is definitely going to be tons of Barbies, and I am all for that. Imagine showing up to a party and being able to say “Hi Barbie!” to everyone there like you’re in the middle of Barbieland. Phenomenal, no notes.

If you want to do something a little more niche, you could be one of the characters from some of the movies I mentioned earlier. Imagine going around all night on a big wheel like Danny from “The Shining.” Practical? No. Hilarious? Yes. Halloween has so much potential for creativity, so let your imagination run wild. 

I hope this article makes your spooky season 10x better! Now I’m going to listen to “As The World Falls Down” by David Bowie from “Labyrinth” for the thousandth time. 

Annemarie Karabinus is an opinion writer. Contact her at [email protected]