The Student Printz

Issue date: 10/26/06 Section: News

Media Credit: Rebecca Macias Freshman marketing major Katie Funk from Gulfport tries on a Strawberry Shortcake halloween costume in Booger Hollow Tuesday.

Halloween is not a childish holiday anymore - USM students, like young adults nationwide, are part of a growing industry devoted to costumes, candy, haunted houses and revelry galore.

The fun begins at 7 p.m. tonight with the 12th annual haunted house hosted by the Southern Miss Epsilon Upsilon chapter of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. The house will be open through Oct. 28, beginning at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Member and public relations chairman Whit Meets said the $5 door charge benefits Habitat for Humanity.

"We decided to do a haunted house because there wasn't a big one in Hattiesburg and we knew we'd get a big pull from the Southern Miss campus," said Meeks. "And everyone loves a haunted house."

Meeks said kids and families usually come early in the evening with more adults and college students attending as the nights progress so they make it scarier to accommodate the older Haunted House goers.

According to an article on halloweenonlinemagazine.com, Halloween is the one night out of the year grown-ups can dress up as any fantasy they choose and have their persona accepted.

The article also cited a 2005 Halloween online survey found more than 75 percent of adults who participate in the haunted holiday are going to wear a costume as part of their Halloween merrymaking.

The modern celebration of Halloween comes from the ancient Celtic fire festival called Samhain, the feast of the dead in Pagan and Christian times signalizing the close of harvest and the initiation of the winter season.

Now, the holiday is one of the biggest days of the year, for both trick or treaters and businesses.

Cameron Brown, store manager at Hot Topic, a store that sells rock and roll fused fashion in Turtle Creek Mall, said Halloween is one of the store's busiest seasons.

"We have already sold out of several costumes," said Brown, explaining the costumes they sell are for older audiences who can find anything from a gothic cheerleader to men's wrestling masks.

"In areas that wear school uniforms, such as most of Louisiana and Alabama, Halloween season is busier than the back to school season," she said.

Shane Lott, a recent graduate of USM, said he and his friends decided to have a Halloween party as a

See Halloween, pg 3

way to get friends together.

"If you don't come in costume, I won't let you in," he said. "That's the fun of Halloween."

USM graduate student Essay Hood said she and a group of friends spent their fall break at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World in Florida.

Hood said they were surprised to see more adults than children dressed in costumes ranging from Harry Potter and Star Wars characters to Jack Sparrow and Disney princesses.

"I think it is just our culture wanting to put an age limit on Halloween," she said citing an area of Tokyo where people dress up every day.

"We were surprised not to see as many kids because we have been complaining about how Halloween is expected to be a kid's thing. Older people want to dress up too."

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