Halloween’s coming up, and we all know what that means—kids getting costumes ready, adults getting candy ready, and teenagers saying they’re too old to go trick-or-treating. We all know what happens; you’re going to say “I’m too old and too cool to go trick-or-treating” while I shove all the candy down my throat and choke while laughing at you. Our ego overtakes our decision to be happy doing something like this, and I frankly don’t see the reason why.

The beginnings of the most spooky holiday of the year has ties to two older cultural holidays, Dia de Los Muertos, otherwise known as the Day of the Dead, and the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. Both of these holidays focus on the opening of the spirit realm with the designated day regarded as the most spiritual day of the year. Halloween could be seen as a sort of day of making peace with the dead, so our ego shouldn’t interfere with it. 

Over the next century, Halloween warped from a religious festival to what it is today. Halloween used to be a solemn holiday meant to appease the dead, and now it is a community-based holiday centered around friends and family. So, what’s more family-centric than going trick-or-treating with your loved ones?

Besides, the pros of trick-or-treating far outweigh the negatives: Free candy, free candy, and free candy. Did I mention free candy? But, in all seriousness, it’s also an great way to just hang out with friends instead of just texting everybody. Going alone is probably the worst thing on Halloween, and is probably why most people aren’t going, but once you find some people to go with, trick-or-treating becomes a lot more fun.

Traditionally, trick-or-treating wasn’t just for children. Looking back towards the start of Halloween in America, people dressed up and went trick-or-treating (or at least the closest equivalent) regardless of age or what people thought. Nowadays, we’re too occupied with what our friends are thinking of you. That doesn’t matter. Trick-or-treating is fun and it should be treated as that. You won’t be persecuted for doing this, so you shouldn’t be afraid to go.

Trick-or-treating started in America in the second half of the 19th century near the time of Ireland’s Great Potato Famine. The idea actually came from Irish and English immigrants whose traditions included dressing up in costumes and asking neighbors for food and candy, and this custom was added to American Halloween. So, the roots of trick-or-treating during came from people being hungry. Notice I said people, and not children.

Halloween is a holiday to enjoy yourself and to be with your community. It’s okay to go trick-or-treating, but people act that they’re too cool to go do this. Trick-or-treating is fun, and that is all it should be regarded as. You should have fun regardless of age. So, if you think that trick-or-treating is fun (which in reality most of you do) you should go trick-or-treating. End of question.