Halloween: Do's and Dont's

By Lily Sheridan Power, Second Year, Anthropology

The Croft Magazine // Lily Sheridan Power has compiled a guide on how to have fun without being ignorant or offensive this Halloween

The leaves are changing colour, the temperature is dropping, and the only season it is socially acceptable to wear a tail outside of the house is upon us. We all know what that means – Halloween is here! Halloween is a great excuse to have fun, but too many times has somebody’s idea of ‘fun’ been offensive and inappropriate. So, here are some guidelines to follow for an all-round happy Halloween this year!

DO dress up!

A huge part of Halloween is dressing up, and some people are able to nail that perfect combination of scary and sexy, but if you’re like me and Cady Heron, it can be a struggle. Nonetheless, each year I still race around the fancy-dress shops on the 31st attempting to find the ideal look. Whether its cat ears and the black jeans you wear to every lecture, or a full blown pumpkin costume - don’t be too embarrassed to get your spooky on, it’s only once a year and it’s part of the fun.

DON’T make your costume offensive

This should not need to be said in 2019, but I have already spotted some distasteful looks on my Instagram feed, so for those of you who don’t know: dressing up “as” a cultural group is racist. Look up “cultural appropriation” before you browse the costume shop.

DO decorate!

As students, we love any excuse to go to Tiger and spend money we don’t really have on decorations for our halls, flat or house. Even if it’s only carving a pumpkin, decorations will make you and your space start to feel festive.

DON’T slut-shame people.

What is more boring than a girl dressing up as a cat for Halloween? Hearing you moan about it. Let people enjoy themselves.

DO take part in spooky things!

Halloween doesn’t have to revolve around drinking. If Motion doesn’t take your fancy this year, you can still get involved in numerous activities such as ghost walks, horror film screenings or check out Bristol Aquarium’s ‘A’scare’ium!’. There are countless things going on in Bristol at this time of year that don’t require drinking; check out VisitBristol for more ideas.

DON’T host a “chav-themed” party.

I thought by now everyone would have had a chance to read one of the countless articles around why this is a big fat no, but unfortunately it seems some Bristol students didn’t get the memo. Capitalising on ‘chav’ is classist, distasteful, and it’s ignoring your privilege. Dressing up as a “chav” for one night is endorsing a system that marginalises those who are less well off. Use your head.

Featured: Epigram / Daisy Farrow

Find The Croft Magazine inside every copy of Epigram Newspaper