This is the pro argument on Halloween. To read the con click here.

I run alongside my friends from one house to the next, feeling sugar-induced excitement at the prospect of getting more and more candy as the night goes on. No, this isn’t a memory from one of my childhood Halloween experiences. This is just one part of how I spent this year’s Halloween night.

Halloween is a holiday that, like many other holidays, serves the purpose of bringing people together in a celebration of happiness. What could make people happier than dressing up and getting free candy from strangers? Not much.

Not only is Halloween about dressing up and getting candy, it is about togetherness. Halloween parties and trick-or-treating serve as opportunities for families and friends to put their busy lives on hold for one night of spooky fun.

Some people say that there should be an age limit for participating in Halloween activities. Although I do see some validity in this statement when applied to, for example, trick-or-treating, I don’t think there is an age limit on dressing up one day of the year. Halloween is about being a kid, something that some adults need every once in a while.

People take the traditions of holidays too seriously nowadays. Halloween has evolved from a religious holiday to a commercial holiday for a reason. The fact that people now dress up and forage for candy does not change, or take away from the original religious focus of Halloween. Halloween as a holiday has simply evolved with our new, commercialized culture. And since when has buying a fun costume and dressing up ever hurt anybody?

If you don’t like Halloween, just stay home. But know that you’re missing out on tons of sugar-coated, costumed, spooky fun.

Kaley Martin is an Opinion Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.