In the U.S., relatively minor holidays such as Labor Day and the Fourth of July occur throughout the year, yet in the last three months of the year, America’s “big three” receive heightened celebration. The first leg of this holiday season, Halloween, occurred on Friday. Halloweekend exemplifies a special part of the year for teens and young adults because celebrations occur on each night of the weekend following Halloween, from Friday through Sunday. To celebrate, NC students showed out on campus for Halloween and the rest of Halloweekend.
This year, countless new movies, books, TV shows, and memes provided inspiration for Halloween costumes. Inspired by the July 2025 reboot of “Superman,” starring David Corenswet, DC Comics fans showed their true love for the franchise, and a multitude of people dressed as the hero. Superman costumes this year acted as a hybrid between Clark Kent and Superman himself: wearers completed their outfits with an open white dress shirt, which revealed Superman’s suit underneath and accessorized with the classic Clark Kent glasses.
“I spent months thinking and planning about my costume. I eventually picked Superman because I aligned myself with his beliefs. He’s a brave person who truly believes in what he fights for. I decided to celebrate Halloween by being close to friends. Halloween is all about spending time with friends and seeing a bunch of crazy costumes. I think about it throughout the year,” magnet sophomore Raegan Fife said.
On campus, Halloween costumes ranged from full-blown cosplays to toned-down outfits. Sophia Chen, a magnet sophomore, dressed as “Alice” from “Alice in Wonderland.” Sticking with television and film, magnet junior Arianna Randles dressed as Momo from the anime “Dandadan.” Deciding to dress simply, magnet junior Matthew Mayette wore skull makeup, and Hamadi Haggari, also a junior, wore a pink bunny onesie. Magnet senior, Ana Taylor, wore a classic Halloween-related character — “Catty Noir” from “Monster High”— costume. On the niche side, Trevor Njuguna, a senior, dressed as “Buckethead” from Plants vs. Zombies. Across grade levels and different interests, NC students loved showcasing their Halloween spirit on campus.
Even students who chose not to celebrate Halloween still brought spirit to school. NC’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) provided candy and candy gift bags across all lunch periods. FCA members spent their regular Thursday morning meeting assembling the gift bags and coordinating which students would work each lunch. FCA also provided an opportunity to request a prayer anonymously for anyone who wanted one.
No matter the year, group and duo costumes appear each Halloween. A popular group costume, “Teen Titans Go!,” maintained its relevance this year. Newer releases, such as “Wicked” (2024), inspired one pair to dress as Elphaba and Glinda, played by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in the film, respectively.
“I love musicals in general. My best friend, Hannah Nicholson, and I also love “Wicked,” so dressing up as Elphaba and Glinda was the perfect best friend costume opportunity. They represent our friendship so well, especially personality-wise, and we had so much fun. We went to a friend’s house to celebrate and danced and ate,” magnet senior Idong Okpok said.
