The last time physics teacher Elizabeth Overcash went to a costume party was on Oct 13. She went straight from a birthday party to a friend’s house for a spectacular end to an eventful day.

“My good friends are really into Halloween and they also just got engaged, so it was kind of like a Halloween meets engagement celebration meets- I don’t know – a bunch of college friends were in town,” Overcash said.

Overcash arrived late in her Eeyore onesie, however, her husband and herself completed their miniature scavenger hunt and found the party downstairs rather quickly. Why did she find everyone so fast? The answer is simple: volume.  

“The [Overcash’s friends] played a lot of music and they were like: ‘If I can hear you talking, it’s not loud enough!!!’ But it was a lot of fun. I was surprised that their neighbors didn’t call the cops just because you could hear [the music, usually Old-School Rock but sometimes Overcash’s favorite, Hip-Hop] from outside, it was one of those crazy loud parties.”

The music wasn’t the only stand-out part of Overcash’s costume party experience because every piece of her night glowed with Halloween cheer. Cupcakes on tables, scary movies on projectors indoors and other images outside, lights galore and a knick-knack at every turn, Overcash’s friends did a frighteningly good job.

“I personally don’t think I could have a Halloween party like that,” Overcash said

Despite not wanting to throw parties on quite the same level as her friends, Overcash is no slouch when it comes to Halloween efforts. Her costume last year, The Wacky-Wavy-Inflatable-Arm-Flailing-Tube-Man. This year’s costume, a storm cloud complete with lightning and thunder, will prove the lengths she’s willing to go for holiday spirit.

“I actually have a white noise app on my phone, so I’m just going to have my phone going and lights I can flick on and off. It’s going to be paper-mache, fluffy and I’m going to do the make-up. I just hope I can pull it off because I set my standards pretty high last year,” Overcash said

Some people may have difficulty relating to Overcash and her friends’ love for Halloween, but the deep desire to put up lights, spend hours on costumes and go to large parties can at least be appreciated with Overcash’s philosophy on the holiday and costume wearing.

“On Halloween when you dress up in costume you can be whatever you want to be, and, for some reason, in your mind, you’re drawn to that costume. I feel like it’s a portrayal of what you’re feeling inside at that point. Whether people realize it or not, what you imagine yourself to be for Halloween, if you’re going to dress up, there’s something that makes you want to be that costume or person. I probably read way too much into it.” Overcash said

It wasn’t only the guests, the hosts of the party had their own fully analyze-able costume set, as well.

“[The hosts] are big Game of Thrones fans so they were Daenerys Targaryen, Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains, and all that jazz, and her fiance was one of the dragons. So if you asked them: ‘Hey where’s your other dragon?’ They were like: ‘Don’t bring that up.’ I won’t spoil it but they stayed in character.” Overcash said.

Whether or not the costumes mean anything more than they are, Halloween costume parties are certainly memorable experiences, at least to Overcash.

“I’m really glad that my friends decided to have a costume party because I never want to lose that side of myself, that side of my friends that creative, fun piece of us,” Overcash said.