Fall has been my favorite season since I was young and Hocus Pocus was the vogue of Halloween. Who didn’t’ t snack on apple cider donuts and read Goosebumps curled up on the sofa?

As I got older, the magic died down a little-if not become an afterthought. I’ve turned into one of those people who decide a little vampire makeup and fake blood constitutes as a costume. While it hasn’t been AS bad as throwing on a “this is my costume,” t-shirt-I’m still missing the allure of fall. But this year, I’m determined to carve some pumpkins and watch a lot of Saw.

Try more pumpkin-stuff

I say this vaguely because I’m a newbie to the whole pumpkin-spice party. Pumpkin candles, pumpkin-spice lattes, pumpkin-alcohol (if you’re of age of course)-is all the rage. So where have I been? I guess I’m a stick-to-my-norm type of person, but this year I plan to stock my shelves with “all-pumpkin-everything.” I’ll even buy the Pringles pumpkin pie spice. (Ok, maybe not that one).

Carve a pumpkin or two

Knives, art, and me don’t mix. I’m determined to be one of those people with cute jack-o-lanterns on her porch. I’ve been envious of the people who make masterpieces and cool shapes out of pumpkins-so I’m determined to get some Youtube tutorials up and start carving.

Decorate like crazy

The decoration aspect in college has gotten a little lame. We have cute little pilgrim-straw figures my roommate brought from home, a plastic jack-o-lantern that sits year long on our dining room table, and this 10-dollar plastic skull that has become an odd yearlong decoration as well.

This year-I plan to stack up on the most cute affordable decorations I can find. Hopefully my house will be full of plastic singing witches stirring potions and ghost shaped napkins.

Watch horror movies that really scare me

And revisit the Goosebumps series, of course. This year, I’m determined to get scared. Like, fearing-the-dark scared.

With that in mind, I hope my boyfriend and roommates are ready to sit down with me and our new pumpkin spice pie Pringles, watching murderers slash campers in the woods. And maybe we’ll tone it down with some spooky Disney thrillers, too.

Try harder to find a costume

My mom used to make our costumes from scratchso I have no business being lazy with this one. This year, I’m determined not to be another girl-with-cat-ears or army chic (not that there’s anything wrong with that-i.e. freshman, sophomore, and junior year.)

I’m ready to get my creative-juices flowing to be something obscure and cool this year.

Visit the Eastern State Penitentiary

This one has been on my bucket list since freshman.

But as a senior, I’m finally set on going.

The penitentiary is an abandoned prison notorious for jailing some questionably sane people. So of course, they made a haunted house out of it. It’s action packed with all the thrills of Halloween-things jumping out of you, your peers freaking out, and walk through old prison cells. What could be freakier than that?