As the air chills and leaves fall, people all around the country settle in for the holidays. We ran a poll on our Instagram asking students’ opinions on the scariest holiday of all—Halloween!

First, we asked students how they celebrate.

Undoubtedly, wearing a costume, being with friends and eating candy are popular traditions among Lancers. A little more than half of respondents said they partake in trick-or-treating. More respondents checked that they carve pumpkins—around 60 percent. Behind that, horror movies and holiday decorating were only popular with around 40 and 25 percent of respondents respectively.

We also asked about costumes: from the costume-wearing crowd, around 25.9 percent of respondents said they like to buy theirs; 14.8 percent said that they like to create their own; and the majority, 48.1 percent, responded that they do a bit of both.

Among the less costume-inclined, 7.4 percent reported wearing the same costume as last year—(nothing wrong with that, by the way!)—and 3.7 percent reported not wearing a costume. (Again, nothing wrong with that, we’re just wondering why. Please, tell us why.)

Some Lancers decided to show off their costume at school on Thursday. Here are some pictures we managed to snap!

Gallery • 10 Photos

Zach Diethelm

Eddie Ebrows, sophomore, dressed as a whoopie cushion, October 30, 2025.

To most people, “Halloween” means two things: costumes and candy. “What’s your favorite Halloween candy?” is a question as old as Halloween itself—but what is Lafayette’s favorite candy? We compiled the ten most popular Halloween candies as told by Instacart’s 2024 list and asked the Lancers what they thought of them.

With all the data polled, it was clear; Lafayette likes Twix! Perhaps the gold foil really calls out to them and fills them with school spirit? Or perhaps our respondents just have a penchant for caramel wafers.

In second place was Peanut M&M’s, followed by Kit Kat, Haribo Goldbears and Sourpatch Kids tying for third place.

In any case, chocolate was especially popular; we asked whether students favor chocolate candy or fruity candy, with 77 percent of respondents saying that they prefer chocolate candy. 

As far as Halloween candies go, none is more contentious than candy corn. Some find its waxy and hyper-saccharine flavor appalling; others find it appealing. That being said, what do we think?

Overall, students who filled out the form have a favorable view of the candy, with around 70 percent of respondents saying that they “do” eat candy corn.

Respondents also listed some personal favorite candies:

In addition to favorite candies, we also got some non-candy items:

It seems like somebody didn’t exactly have their pantry stocked for October 31st…

Besides favorite candies, Lancers also submitted some of their favorite Halloween memories!

That’s… Lovely.

We also let Lancers submit their hot takes with regards to the holiday, and some students had rather wildly conflicting opinions. For example, trick-or-treating—should high-schoolers be doing it? What about pumpkin spice? Is it really that good or is it all just a load of hubbub? Opinions are meant to be shared, so here are some of the Lancers’ thoughts on Halloween.

As far as standalone hot takes go, we were not disappointed!

As we can see, everyone has their own take on how to correctly “Halloween.” We’ll end it with a fiery-hot, mic-dropping take that doubles as a public service announcement which is very important for all readers to hear:

Keep this in mind as festivities continue throughout the season. But in the end, whatever the rest of holidays have in store, remember to be safe, be smart, and be merry!