As COVID-19 virus cases rise, Halloween, the spookiest night of the year, is looking a little different. Although many neighborhoods aren’t participating in Trick-or-Treat, people are still showing their spooky spirit this Halloween.

For math teacher Kim Hoke, her Halloween isn’t looking as it did in previous years. When she was younger, she loved to dress up as a baseball player and even wore the same costume for four years. 

Now she would “prefer to sit at home in normal clothes.” 

Typically, she goes Trick-or-Treating with her children and their friend’s families, and she sometimes would hand out candy to children in her neighborhood.

“I don’t mind passing out candy, but sometimes I feel like I try to make awkward conversations with strangers,” said Hoke.

Instead of celebrating Halloween traditionally, this year her family is going on their first camping trip. 

Monica Padgett, a global studies teacher, is still finding a fun way to be involved with Halloween. She is a mother to three dogs, which she dresses up for Halloween each year. This year she is dressing them up as a shark, a hot dog and a minion from “Despicable Me”.   

Padgett’s favorite Halloween costume from when she was a child was when she and her two brothers dressed up as characters from “The Wizard of Oz”. They dressed up as Dorothy, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man. 

On Halloween, she loves to stay at home and pass out candy to people in her neighborhood.  

“We have a small neighborhood and it’s a fun way to hang out with the neighbors,” said Padgett.

Padgett is not sure what is going to happen this year because of COVID, but she still wants to try and do something fun.

Although Halloween is forcing a different type of celebration this year, they are still trying to find ways to be involved in their communities. It may not be as they celebrated previously, but it should still be a thrilling time.