S p e c i a l F e at u r e 4 C e r r i t o s H i g h S c h o o l

o c t o b e r 2 8 , 2 0 1 1

“Freddy Krueger can

kill you in your dreams!”

- Kathia Avila, senior

“Chuckie because he kills people in their sleep! He is small, creepy, and totally violent. He is the worst

of all Halloween characters.”- Sabrina Yunus, junior

“The scariest Halloween character is Ghostface from Scream.

He scares the life out of me!” - Sydney Salazar, sophomore

“My choice for scariest character would be Regan from the

Exorcist. Whenever she becomes ‘posessed,’ she has such a

horrific appearance!”- Kelly Crow, freshman

Every year the City of Cerritos holds a Halloween fes-tival on Oct. 31 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Cerritos Regional Park located on Bloomfield Ave. This annual event consists of costume contests, haunted houses, rides for children, food, and a variety of games with carnival booths.

Many high school students volunteer to run these game booths and reward the children who play with free candy. Working with the volunteers, the staff members of the city pitch in to make this event happen. There is no fee to attend the park but the carnival rides for the children have a small price for their tickets. The spooky and thrillful haunted house costs $2 per person. There are also many other fun things like fortune tellers and karaoke.

People come from all different neighborhoods to enjoy their Halloween night here. Many people come with their

families or friends to have a good time. It is such a popular event that you will sure enough find at least one person that you know there if not more. It brings the community togeth-er for this exciting holiday and allows us to celebrate all together. At the same time, the City of Cerritos makes sure it is a safe environment for people of all ages to attend.

Teens come to hang out with their friends, children come to add more candy to their trick-or-treat bags by play-ing the free games, and adults come to have a good time by enjoying the various foods and watching the different things going on the stage.

Whether they are doing any of these things or not, ev-eryone is constantly occupied with some type of entertain-ment. It is an event designed to help us enjoy our Halloween night to the fullest by giving us a great opportunity to spend time with family and friends. It is surprising to find so many different activities you can be a part of. You don’t want to miss out on this wonderful opportunity to make your Hal-loween night even more memorable.

By Hira AladroosStaff Writer

A Spooky Night iN CerritoS

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Which Halloween character scared you

to death?

too reveAliNg ANd UNAppeAliNg?

1895 National Hotel

Located in Jamestown, CA, a wom-an checked into the National Hotel in 1897, telling guests that she had come there to meet and marry a handsome man named Henry, who she had met during a train journey to San Francisco. He joined her and they were happily planning a wedding when, sadly, Henry was murdered.

Today Flo’s ghost stays mostly upstairs where guests report doors slamming, and lights turning on and off. Some say their clothing has been dumped out of their suitcases. Occasion-ally, she wanders through the downstairs dining room in the early morning.

There’s an extremely thin line when it comes to shopping for Halloween costumes, es-pecially for girls. Walking through the mall, one sees all these haunting signs of Halloween from costume displays through store glass windows to wholesales on candy.

There are several costumes to choose, from monsters to princesses to celebrities, etc. But to be completely honest, the typical teenage girl has only two options in their outfits. Want to be revealing? Or unappealing?

In every Halloween store, the most adver-tised outfits are those that show off the most skin. The most innocent costumes, like lady-bugs or bumblebees, and thousands of these other popular costumes are altered into these tight ensembles with form-fitting material and miniature hemlines. It’s almost impossible to dress up, and not end up w e a r -ing almost nothing.

But even I have to admit, those reveal-ing outfits are probably the most attractive of all the other costumes, be-cause the alter-native is rather

ugly. Omitting all the revealing outfits, all that’s left are tacky, tasteless disguises that cover ev-erything but the face. Not the most flattering outfits when trick-or-treating next to the “hot nurse.”

It’s difficult not to get jealous of boys who can go out as a ketchup bottle, or a tree, or prac-tically anything, looking cool, funny, or clever. Meanwhile, girls are constantly pressured to “dress to impress.” Not only do we undergo the struggle of looking good every single day; on Oct. 31, we have to do that with a clever twist. Looking cute doesn’t get a break, even on Hal-loween.

But don’t fear! It’s still possible to stay cov-ered and look nice.

There are so many people that make their own costume for Halloween, and it’s perfect because it’s custom made to fit the wearer’s taste. And let’s not forget; there are actual cute, conservative outfits out there. Just look out for them.

Last but not least, there is the last, hidden option I might have forgotten to mention. It’s just so subtle and obvious that I’ve completely forgotten to mention it. Just don’t care about what people think.

Halloween costumes are so diffi-cult because it’s so hard to please people. We get so absorbed in looking cute that we forget that dress- ing up for Halloween is sup- posed to be fun. In the end, it justgets really stressful.

By Aeia Abas Columnist

Battery PointLighthouse, Crescent

City

This California lighthouse once lit the way for shiploads of lumber bound for San Francisco, but more recently, it’s often mentioned as one of California haunted places. People have heard the resident ghost’s sea-booted feet slowly climbing the tower steps during storms.

Toys R Us

The toy store in Sunnyvale may be one of California’s most unlikely haunted places, but many report seeing the ghost of a young boy. Johnson was a wood-chopper at John Murphy’s farm where he fell in love with the farmer’s daughter. His axe missed the wood one day, cut his leg, and he bled to death. He now roams the back aisles of Toys R Us seeking his love, Beth.

Women report feeling their hair brushed when no one is behind them, faucets turn on and off in the women’s restroom and boxes fly off the shelves.

Moss Beach Distillery

Located in San Mateo County, a woman in blue is still searching for her lover. The Moss Beach Distillery is famous for its ocean views and fine dining, but there is a secret lurking. A young woman named Elibabeth Claire Donovon visited the Distillery where she had a secret affair, leaving her husband and son. She was seen wearing a blue dress, thus the name The Blue Lady. She carried on her affair until she died in a violent automobile accident. She now haunts the Distellery searching for her love.

Queen Mary

She was called the Grey Ghost during her years as a World War II transport ship, but even now, the Queen Mary is still asso-ciated with ghosts and one of California’s creepiest haunted places: over a dozen mys-terious encounters have been reported aboard the ship. eNter At yoUr

owN riSk Snippets of haunted places in Southern California

Winchester mystery house

Sarah Winchester was the first to report spirits in the house. A second bell run at 2:00 a.m. told them it was time to leave. However, it seems that someone might need to ring a bell around the place again. The unusual goings-on reported in the Winchester House include organ music in the Blue Room where Sarah died and a couple linger in the corner of a bedroom. Since Sarah Winchester's death, several psychics have reported feeling cold spots and seeing red balls of light that fade and explode. Psychic Jeanne Borgen visited in 1975 and reportedly took on Sarah Winchester's appearance for a short time. Staff members have also reported seeing apparitions, hearing whispering sounds, seeing lights going on and off and security alarms being triggered from inside the house.

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O c t o b e r 2 8 , 2 0 1 1 S P E C I A L F e at u r e5C e r r i t o s H i g h S c h o o l