These five activities are sure to get you in the October mood
After a few weeks of October, the fall feeling has finally hit the APU campus. With this season come all the usual October activities and fall festivities. Since Azusa Pacific is in southern California and the temperature hits 80 degrees fairly often, people are still going to the beach, surfing and doing all the things residents in other locations can’t during this time of year. However, along with these activities, is all the fun October-specific things to do too. If you are still having a hard time getting into that autumn mood, here are a few fun things students like to do in October.
Pumpkin Patches:
Pumpkin patches seem to be the most obvious of all for fun things to do in October. Not only can you find the perfect pumpkin to carve into a spooky jack-o-lantern, but you also can make a whole day of it by participating in other activities like petting zoos, mazes, carnival rides, face painting and pony rides.
“I always think it’s fun to go to pumpkin patches to get your own pumpkin,” said junior business management major Jake Perrow. “Usually you can see the leaves changing, and everyone is in a good mood, and it’s just a super fun time.”
Here are some of the pumpkin patches in the southern California area:
Underwood Family Farms Fall Festival – This temporary fall festival is open until the end of October. It has pumpkins and everything else you would want to do at a pumpkin patch. Featuring live music during the weekends and everything from an antique tractor show to a petting zoo and pig races, this pumpkin patch with fill the need for a true October experience.
Mr. Bones Pumpkin Patch – This pumpkin patch has plenty of things to do besides picking pumpkins. It has activities for little kids such as face painting and pony rides, as well as things for older kids like the petting zoo, pumpkin decorating and henna tattoos.
Spooky Movies:
Another October staple is watching scary movies. Some favorites are: “It Follows,” “Halloween,” “It,” “The Shining” and “Sinister.”
If you and your friends can never agree on a movie to watch, just have a famous Hollywood director choose for you. The New Beverly Cinema, a theater in West Hollywood, is owned by Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino curates the schedule for the New Beverly and is playing both old and new horror films that he picked.
“I love cuddling up in warm clothes and hot chocolate and watching all of the spooky movies that come with October,” said junior social work major Alexis Brown.
Haunted houses and mazes:
Another way that students like to get spooked in October is at haunted houses and corn mazes. There are plenty of haunted houses in southern California; the trick is to find one that suits your level of scariness. Some are suitable for young children, like The Haunt With No Name in Los Angeles, while others are more terrifying such as The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride in Griffith Park, which has an annual theme. This year’s theme is “clowns.”
“For some reason, I get way too scared at scary movies. With haunted houses I know that they’re not real and the people can’t hurt me, so I like them a lot better,” said junior nursing major Sarah Tantare.
Knott’s Scary Farm and Halloween Horror Nights:
Knott’s Berry Farm and Universal Studios’ Halloween themed-nights in October are some of the most popular October activities among college students. During the day the parks remain the same as they always have been, but once night comes, they turn into a complete fright fest.
“The increased competition [from Halloween Horror Nights] has led [Knott’s Berry Farm] to adopt a quality-over-quantity ethos that has produced a line-up of haunted mazes that has grown stronger each of the past few seasons,” said Los Angeles Times critic Brady Macdonald.
Fall decorating:
When living in southern California, the usual signs of fall don’t really show until later in the year. In order to really get a sense of fall, decorate your room to make it feel like an autumn wonderland. Students use jack-o-lanterns, Halloween decorations and fall-scented candles to decorate their living spaces for October.
“What I love to do in October is bring out all my fall decorations, but most importantly the fall-scented candles,” said Kayla Wood, a junior communication studies and worship major. “I love them because they remind me of how my house smells at home in northern California.”
With October now upon the APU campus, the time for jack-o-lanterns, scary movies, and pumpkin spice lattes is here. So grab some friends and get into the spirit of the season with one of these great activities.