In the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s difficult to determine how to best carry out Halloween traditions while still following safety guidelines and protocol. According to the CDC, people must keep a distance of six feet and contact with one another is discouraged. Therefore, here are five alternatives to Halloween traditions.

1. Teleparty/Scener 

Formerly known as Netflix Party, Teleparty is a Chrome extension that allows people to watch Netflix movies with their friends without physically being in their presence. Since you won’t be able to physically hang with your friends, you can watch scary movies with them by hosting a Teleparty and talk about it in the chat log. However, Teleparty doesn’t allow you to see each others faces, and therefore if you want to physically see eachother like that of facetime, the Chrome extension Scener allows for you all to be in a virtual movie theater. 

2. Try out new candy 

There are many limited edition Halloween candies that can only be found in the store around October. Since we can’t trick or treat with each other, why not trick or treat around the store and pick up some candy to taste test. You can even try candy that you haven’t heard of or paid attention to. 

3. Carve Pumpkins

It’s pumpkin carving season, and therefore it’s time to carve your favorite faces. You can purchase pumpkins from your local grocery store or a pumpkin patch and create some of your favorite designs to display outside of your house for smiles and laughter. 

4. Virtual fashion show 

Although you won’t be able to traverse the neighborhood with your Halloween costumes, you can still create DIY Halloween costumes and have a virtual fashion show with your friends. You can even turn it into a game and vote on who has the best costume, or even make it like the Face Off reality show with multiple rounds of fun. 

5. Play horror games with friends 

Horror games are amusing to play, especially with the jump scares and anticipation. Gather with friends on a gaming channel such as Discord and try out some of the games such as Friday the 13th, Resident Evil, and Emily Wants to Play. It’s sure to be a great fright.