Bree “Roadkill” Rody-Mantha, Stimulant editor, Media in Canada news editor

Best Halloween costume: A lot of people went as Natalie Portman in Black Swan in 2011, but I actually spent the whole night in my pointe shoes on a (somewhat) graceful relevé. Take that.

This year: I’m Idaho, but only because I’ll never be able to afford enough orange fabric to make my Gritty costume.

Halloween as a kid: Growing up in a town where we already had snow on the ground by Oct. 1 and the temperature was well below zero by Halloween, we always had to get Halloween costumes on over our snowsuits… which I was NOT a fan of. I preferred to stay home handing out candy and look at everyone else’s costumes.

Halloween as an adult: I love dressing up for Halloween, but I’m not actually a fan of bars or parties, so it’s not weird to see me just dressed as, say, Eleven from Stranger Things strolling down the street with my groceries or drinking coffee alone in Starbucks.

Favourite Halloween movie(s): Die Hard is a Halloween movie.

Favourite Halloween candy: I am the lady who gives out mini toothpaste tubes, don’t @ me.

Best way to be creative on Halloween: Carve pumpkins with the faces of famous Gords: Downie, Lightfoot, Howe, Ramsey, Bombay (you know, the dreamboat coach from the Mighty Ducks franchise)? Get it? They’re gourds.

Melissa “Done” Dunne, Stimulant contributor, special reports editor/copy chief for strategy magazine

Best Halloween costume: I kinda hate Halloween costumes, but love Halloween candy. IMHO, the best Halloween costume is no Halloween costume. Don’t @ me.

This year: See above.

Halloween as a kid: See above. Side note: You should still give candy to kids who don’t dress up when they come to your door, all kids deserve candy.

Halloween as an adult: See above. My “costume” will be wearing a giant T-shirt as a pseudo-nightgown whilst sitting on the couch watching Beetlejuice, eating Halloween candy.

Favourite Halloween movie(s): I hate scary movies more than I hate Halloween, but I do have a soft spot for 80’s and 90’s movies like Beetlejuice or Casper the Friendly Ghost.

Favourite Halloween candy: All. Of. The. Candy. You wouldn’t pick a favourite child, would you?

Best way to be creative on Halloween: Don’t force creativity. If I want to come to your Halloween party dressed as myself just chill, okay? Don’t enforce a “costumes or you can’t come to my Halloween party” rule. Parties are about fun, not rules.

Catherine “Cleaver” Phillips, Stimulant contributor and staff writer at Media in Canada

Best Halloween costume: My best costume came late (arguably a little too late) in the game. When I was 14 I dressed up as Claudia from Interview with a Vampire, wearing a dress my best friend’s grandmother had made so she, years before, could be Rose from Titanic. I paired it with fangs (of course) and about a can and a half of hairspray to supply my pin straight hair with those signature ringlets. To die for.

This year: I took far too long to get my act together, so I’ll probably end up following Melissa’s lead and spend it in my pajamas, eating candy.

Halloween as a kid: I really loved Halloween as a kid. The smell of lit pumpkins, running around the neighbourhood in the dark and, best of all, dumping all my candy out afterward and trading my gross, powdery Rockets for literally anything else.

Halloween as an adult: Halloween as an adult is great if a) you’re still invited to parties or b) you have kids.

Favourite Halloween movie(s): Hocus Pocus, Casper and The Craft are great, but the ultimate Halloween movie has to be Practical Magic.

Favourite Halloween candy: Candy corn forever.

Best way to be creative on Halloween: Bake some Halloween themed treats with friends!

Just “in the Ground” Dallaire, Stimulant contributor and C-Suite news editor, strategy

Best Halloween costume: In my latter years of university, I let my beard grow out, threw on a black top hat and suit, and called myself Abraham Lincoln. Few people seemed to recognize who I was, except for a young Barack Obama – whom I happened to cross on the sidewalk!

This year: A writer who’s grown too old to dress up (sorry). (Editor’s note: Justin was issued a formal warning shortly after the publication of this story).

Halloween as a kid: I quickly became the 12-year-old handing candy out to the 15-year-olds and would inevitably ask, “Aren’t you too young to be handing out candy?”

Halloween as an adult: I’ve become the guy who contemplates dressing up as “the three-hole punch version of Jim” (see below).

Favourite Halloween movie(s): I’ll take a Halloween special of one of my favourite TV shows (The Office comes to mind) over any movie. I have yet to watch The Exorcist, Halloween, The Shining, A Nightmare on Elm Street or any of the other classics, and hope not to break that tradition this year.  

Favourite Halloween candy: Virtually anything that will fit in my mouth.

Best way to be creative on Halloween: Have fun fabricating all kinds of excuses for not having a party of attend!

Deepa “don’t pronounce my last name” Venkatesan, Shopper Marketing Report editor, staff writer for strategy and Media in Canada

Best Halloween costume: I’ve never celebrated Halloween (before), sorry! However, today I wore my T-shirt inside out and sitting through a board meeting, with a freaking tag on the outside. So it kind of counts.

This year: I’ll be making my Halloween debut as Ali Wong in cheetah print dress with a fake baby bump.

Halloween as a kid: I grew up in India, and while we don’t celebrate Halloween there, all year round you have to deal with aunts shoving down food down your mouth with the ulterior motive to see you grow fat cheeks. Also, Indian weddings give you a chance to wear silk and satin, and braid your hair with flowers and don the most princess like-look ever.

Halloween as an adult: Capturing spiders and potato bugs in a jar.

Favourite Halloween movie(s): Goosebumps. And The Mask. Do parody movies like Vampires Suck make the cut?

Favourite Halloween candy: Gummies.

Best way to be creative on Halloween: Wear a wacky costume, paint your face and have the most serious conversation about cryptocurrecy with 10 strangers on the TTC.