2020 has been a year full of uncertainty and change, but some things remain the same. Halloween is right around the corner, and there is no reason not to celebrate; even if things are a little different! There are still ways to spend time with friends and make your surroundings a little spookier.

1.  Zoom Parties!

You can always get together with your friends over Zoom to spend some time together and celebrate Halloween. And since we may not all have our decorations up in our dorm rooms or apartments, you can always change your Zoom background to something Halloween themed! Once in the meeting you can go to settings, select “virtual background” and upload an image of your own – anything from a foggy forest to a pumpkin patch – the choice is yours!

2. Simple Decorations

There are simple Halloween themed decorations you can make with household items, I’ve found a very simple origami pattern for bats, pumpkins, and mushrooms, all you need is some paper and a little bit of patience. You can also save toilet paper tubes to make little ghosts to hang around your room, a simple tissue draped over a toilet paper tube (and secured with some tape or glue) and a black marker to draw on eyes creates a cute little ghost to sit on your desk or bookshelf.

3. Easy Treats

Halloween treats don’t have to be complicated. You can make simple cookie ghosts with just mini chocolate chips, melted white chocolate (easily done in a microwave and a safe bowl) and some Milano cookies – just dip the cookies in the white chocolate and stick on some chocolate chips as a mouth and two eyes! Similarly you can dip pretzels into melted chocolates to make other little Halloween treats – larger pretzel sticks can be used to create Witch Fingers – just add a sliced almond to the end for a fingernail, and little twisted pretzels can be all kinds of faces with chocolate chips for eyes. And if sweets aren’t your thing, there are savory treats too! You can wrap a hotdog in crescent roll dough to create a mummy!

4. Things to do in Whitewater

If you’ve been in Whitewater any length of time, you likely have heard that it goes by another name: “Second Salem”. Whitewater is known for its haunted locations, and the “Witches of Whitewater” stories. Most years the city does a Spirit Tour, unfortunately due to the circumstances this year, the Spirit Tour has been cancelled. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t make the trip to these haunted locations yourself, or with a group of socially distanced friends. There are haunted locations to visit all over Whitewater, some of them very near to campus such as the water tower in Starin Park. If you would like to read more about the spirit tours and build a self guided tour of your own, here is a link to a website about it: https://www.whitewaterchamber.com/spirit-tour/.

You can also check out a blog from a few years ago sharing some of the legends and ghost stories of Whitewater here: http://blogs.uww.edu/ucinfo/2018/10/29/whitewatercemeteries/

So, get yourself some snacks and blankets, turn down the lights, and enjoy this Halloween season, even if it is a bit different this year than the previous.