Need Halloweekend inspo? Here’s how the HelloGiggles staff celebrates the spooky holiday

Halloweekend is nearly upon us! To celebrate, we’re looking back at some of our favorite Halloween traditions — from hitting the pumpkin patch to re-watching Hocus Pocus (with a drinking game twist). And hey, maybe these will inspire you, if you’re looking for something fun, or different, or extra nostalgic to do in the next few days.

“My parents used to take my sister and I to Bate’s Nut Farm in San Diego every single Halloween to pick pumpkins. It’s such an old tradition, and it’s the place where some of my earliest and happiest memories come from. I recently went back with my sister and her five month old son, and it was such a special moment to bring a third generation into the tradition. The hay bale maze, the corn fields, the big mac pumpkin patch, the old general store with fudge and assorted candies…It’s one of my most treasured traditions by far.” — Anna Buckley, Social Media Producer

“It wasn’t until I moved to Los Angeles in 2009 that I started any semblance of Halloween traditions, but now I have it down pat. Every mid-October, I have my friends over for the best and most basic Halloween party ever. The first thing we do is carve pumpkins, with only one rule: they need to be humorously vulgar. I also always make my signature Autumn Sangria (listen, it’s a thousand degrees in LA in October) and then we all create a drinking game around Hocus Pocus. Think you can survive taking a sip every time the Sanderson Sisters reference children? Now you know why we carve the pumpkins BEFORE the movie!” — Dan Magro, Sr. Video Editor

“My favorite Halloween tradition is to binge scary movies. It’s way easier to do now than it was in the early Netflix days. Years ago, some friends and I decided to re-watch all the Halloween movies. It took us all of October to get through them because we would watch two DVDs then have to mail them back and wait for two more. It was the best!” — Keri Pina, Editorial Video Producer  

“Every year for Halloween, my parents and I have a chili dog dinner (usually with lots of candy corn on the side). It’s a tradition from my mom’s side of the family. My mom and her three brothers were always eager to go trick-or-treating, and chili dogs didn’t take long to make and got them out the door faster. I love that it’s a tradition we carry on today, and that we’ve added a tradition of our own — watching It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” — C. Molly Smith, Assistant Entertainment Editor

“I’m super into board games so every year to celebrate Halloween, I get together with friends to play Betrayal at House on the Hill. It’s a cooperative board game where you get to explore a haunted house. But the real R. L. Stine twist happens when one of the players triggers something called the haunt causing one of your ‘friend’ to betray you and the other heroes. Then it’s an all-out battle to defeat monsters and save the day. Really gets me into the Halloween spirit!” — Missy Dawes, Editorial Video Editor 

“I make a big list of horror movies that I want to watch all month and check them off. Now that I’m married, it’s even more fun to do with my husband — even though he’d rather watch Re-Animator than Practical Magic.” — Marie Lodi, Beauty Editor

Want to celebrate Halloween year round? You aren’t alone: “I do not have any timely traditions because it’s always Halloween in my soul.” — Anna Gragert, Associate Editor

Happy Halloween, everybody!