It’s a waste of Halloween to spend every year walking around town trying to chase down that Snickers bar. Trick-or-treating doesn’t make for a memorable Halloween as much as these options do.

Spookfest
If you’re in the mood to wear a Halloween costume and dance all night, then the Spookfest is the place for you. Hosted by Live 105 at the Cow Palace, it will feature techno artists and bands including The Limousines, Classixx and Steve Aoki. Spookfest takes place on Friday, October 29 from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tickets are $50 and you must be 16 or older to attend. There’s no need for candy to sweeten up the night when you can spend it sweating the night away.

Haunted Houses
What’s the point of Halloween without a good scare? Instead of rotting your teeth, go to a local haunted house and have the time of your life.
One of the most praised haunted houses in the Bay Area is the Beach Street Haunted House at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. The house has professional actors that can scare even Marilyn Manson out of his make-up.

Another spooky place is California’s Great America Halloween Haunt. During October, on Fridays through Sundays from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m., step into a creepy world of goblins and mazes, and, not to mention, several haunted houses. The entire park is fogged and filled with frightening creatures roaming around, providing few opportunities for a normal heart rate.

Halloween Party
Halloween is the night that we all want to spend with our friends, so combine every aspect of your ideal Halloween by throwing a spooky rager.
Before the party starts, make creepy creations with your friends. Some classic dishes that still manage to taunt guests are peeled grapes representing eerie eyeballs, shortbread cookies that look like witches’ fingers and gravestone cookies. Have plenty of face-painting booths, fortune-tellers and candy so you aren’t missing out on the best parts of Halloween.

Later, offer prizes for the funniest, scariest and most original Halloween costumes. Feel free to have your party outside with crazy decorations like skeletons and disco balls. When night falls, share spooky stories over a crackling fire. Bring the fun from the streets to your own home.

Horror Movies
If Halloween happens to be your all-time favorite holiday but you’ve grown out of that old witch costume in the basement, a horror movie marathon is the perfect solution.

Make a short trip to the movie rental store and pick out a scary movie that will keep you and your friends awake until sunrise. If you aren’t an expert on scary movies, some notorious ones include “The Fourth Kind,” “Arachnaphobia” and “The Human Centipede.”

Share a bowl of popcorn and your favorite Halloween treats to maintain that Halloween spirit, and make sure to hand out candy to the kids who ring the doorbell. If you want a little extra fun, try scaring them. The best part about this is that you and your friends are entertained without much effort at all.

Bigger or Better
Who wants candy when you can get something even bigger or better?

Here’s how the game works. First, divide your group of friends into teams. Each group gets a small item (preferably all the same object, like a paperclip), and then each team is assigned to a different neighborhood.

The objective of the game is to go to each house and ask for an item that is “bigger or better” than what you have. At the end of the night, choose the winner by determining which team has the biggest or the best item.

People can end up with “bigger or better” items such as couches, bikes or TVs. There are definitely a lot of possibilities for the best and biggest item, and Halloween privides the opportunity to seek them out.