The night of October 31st is when the dead arise from the ground and join the living. Young people dress up in different types of costumes and go trick or treating. But what happens when trick or treating becomes a trick rather than a treat?

Senior, Mitzy Perez, shared her hair-raising Halloween experience with the Talon.

Four years ago, Perez went trick or treating around her neighborhood. All the houses were decorated and there were children saying “trick or treat”. Mitzy stopped by a house that was fully decorated and had a festive Chucky statue displayed on the front porch. When Mitzy rang the doorbell, she discovered that the Chucky “statue” wasn’t actually a statue, it was a real person. She turned around to see Chucky staring right at her, holding a knife in his hand. Mitzy slowly started walking away from the house, but Chucky chased after her until she lost him. Perez was terrified after and she claims that it was the most terrifying halloween ever.

Paulina Kruk is also a Senior at East Leyden. Five years ago Paulina went trick or treating with her friends. Like most children, she walked all around her neighborhood trying to obtain as much candy as possible. She recalled a house that had extremely creepy decorations with a person dressed as a werewolf standing outside. As Paulina began walking towards another house, the werewolf started running after her and her friends. They ran all the way down the block and when they turned around the werewolf was no longer chasing them. Paulina still wonders why that werewolf was chasing her, but apparently she needed a trick rather than a treat.

Over the years Halloween tricks have become common. Most people ring the doorbell and then hide after. However, some fighting tricks might be to visit friends’ houses and write on their bathroom mirror with your finger, the message needs to be something scary such as “I’m watching you!” Afterwards, breathe on the mirror and you can see your words. Once your friend takes a shower, the words will appear again when the mirror fogs up. The tricks played on Mitzy Perez and Paulina Kruk are not as silly as ringing a doorbell, they go above and beyond custom traditions.