Child's play?flickr: robholland

Zoe Silkstone: NO

Are we ever too old to dress up? No! Nein. Pas de tout. Absolutely not. Never! I’m coming from the standpoint of 100 per cent Peter Pan mentality here. As someone who is the baby in every situation, I intend to live out my youth for as long as possible. And by youth I mean childhood. And by childhood I mean all things Disney. Halloween is the perfect opportunity to relive those childhood dreams.

Having worked at my primary school during September, I remember one particular day in the playground watching about 20 eight-year olds running around, playing on the slide and swinging on the swings without a care in the world. Looking at them, I was struck by how easily we forget what it is to enjoy pure fun and those care-free moments of childhood. However, as my friends and family would concur, I still relish any opportunity to be an immature kid, whether it’s dressing up as Jasmin for a Disney Concert at Trinity, or buying a full Alice in Wonderland costume for the Freshers’ finale at my college.

With Halloween just around the corner, what better chance to fully indulge in childhood memories of dress-up without a shred of embarrassment? Whether you’re five or 50, the proverb holds true: age is just a number, but fun is forever. Not only am I extremely over-excited about choosing an outfit, but I’m also planning a trick-or-treat expedition with friends. The plan is to get as legally-high on sugar as possible (not that we don’t do that a lot already).

For Cambridge students who have to deal with eight weeks of intensity and few opportunities to rest, unleashing the child within us can be very therapeutic. So, if you or your friends need convincing before dressing up tonight, think of it as a an academic exercise. It is a necessary part of the Cambridge experience, and the stress release needed to write that next essay. Personally I don’t know what’s scarier, my supervisor or Halloween zombies...

On a more serious note, we spend far too much time caring about what other people think of us and living our lives according to other people’s ideals. For just one day, ignore society’s expectations and other people’s opinions. If you walk out in a full blown Frankenstein or vampire costume for Halloween, most of those looking at you askew will simply be jealous. But even if they are laughing at you, so what? It’s not social suicide to dress up as your favourite super hero or literary character, despite what Mean Girls might say.

So, in the words of Taylor Swift, “Shake it off!” and unleash your inner child.

Roxanna Pourkarimi: YES

We do love a good themed event here in Cambridge. Maybe there’s an element of escapism to it: with so much stress and exhaustion in our own lives, to have fun we need to pretend to be someone else for a night. Or maybe it’s just another opportunity to be pretentious – to choose themes which exhibit our excellent pun-making skills, or flaunt our knowledge of classical literature. Whatever the reason, it is an undeniable truth that Cambridge students take any excuse to play dress-up. And Halloween is the ultimate fancy dress-themed night, right?

Wrong! It has been said that we owe fancy dress to Halloween, but times have moved on since that first sexy cat costume. Since every semi-competent Ents Officer knows not to use the same theme twice, I am entirely baffled as to why they have allowed Halloween to continue on for so long. Hasn’t anyone in the Ents world ever stood up and spoken out against the horror of the same Halloween parties being inflicted upon us year after year? When is someone going to be brave enough to say what we’re all thinking – that Halloween is tired and old, and we want to do something fun and different instead?

Let’s set the scene: it’s Halloween. Has anybody in the past few days asked you what you’re thinking of dressing up as? Of course not, because most people haven’t even remembered that it’s coming up – maybe a week ago you thought, ‘hey, Halloween’s approaching’, but that’s about as far as things got. Because, who’s really that bothered about getting a costume anyway? Are you even going to go to that Halloween party? Maybe. If you get your essay done. And if you finish your laundry. As for a costume – well there’s that box of face paint left over from the last BOP, so it shouldn’t be too hard to whip up some fake blood, maybe a couple of stitches drawn on with eyeliner. Or there’s the old sheet-with-eyeholes trick; minimal effort and you can still wear your own clothes underneath. Or maybe that glow-in-the-dark headband you wore during Freshers’ Week, which kind of makes you look like an alien. Sorted.

The problem with Halloween is that it involves so little imagination these days. Whatever you decide to do, you can guarantee that it’s been done before, so why bother putting in the effort? In fact, so much has been attempted to make Halloween fresh, that the whole thing has just become rather confused. Nobody knows anymore whether they’re supposed to look scary or sexy, or to dress so alternative and niche that it just looks like you’ve turned up to the wrong event. I’m all for a good party, but let’s stop wearing out the good name of Halloween and just leave it to the kids. Give Halloween the break it deserves.