Oct. 30, otherwise known as “Devil’s Night”, is an unofficial precursor to Halloween, and an opportunity for some to provide more tricks than treats. 

While these crimes may be extremely annoying, they are, for the most part, harmless. It’s the serious pranks, however, that can turn a night of tricks into a night of tragedy.

Much more serious crimes, such as arson and assault, have been known to play a role on devil's night, and these types of pranks are not what should be occurring on any given night.

Psychology senior Whitney Cousino believes that Devil’s Night has become a full part of American society, but the way that it is celebrated can take on different meanings. 

“I think that it’s a holiday that has been Americanized and transformed into different meanings,” Cousino said. “I think certain people obviously take pranks too far, but I feel like that’s true with everything."

Premedical freshman Molly Chaffee believes Devil’s Night hasn’t lost its fun side, and is still a night in which pranks are all in good fun.

“When I was younger, Devil’s Night meant that you went teepeeing the night before Halloween, and egged houses and stuff like that,” Chaffee said. “I haven’t really heard anything where (the pranks) escalated quickly, and the most that I’ve heard is tee-peeing and stuff.” 

Human biology junior Samuel Trabucchi  believes someone’s level of involvement on Devil’s Night varies depending on where you grew up. 

“I think it’s different depending on where you’re from,” Trabucchi said. “If you grew up where Devil’s night was a tradition of going out and teepeeing houses, that’s what you did. It’s been well known that Detroit’s devil’s night is not friendly, they’re not pranks, they burn down houses. It’s actually called Angel’s Night now, and they’ve thankfully turned it around.” 

ELPD Lt. Scott Wrigglesworth said Halloween weekend historically keeps the ELPD busy all throughout. 

"Halloween weekend is historically one of the busiest weekends for us," Wriggelsworth said. "That weekend is filled with college house parties, and usually devils night issues are associated with house parties." 

Despite the fun that comes with Halloween weekend, Wrigglesworth still wants students to stay safe.

"You want to be familiar with your surroundings," Wriggelsworth said. "A buddy system is best if you're planning on attending parties. Another thing is to not accept drinks from people who you don’t know. The biggest thing about Halloween weekend is that we have 18-22 year old adults who get one night to act like kids again. They get excited just like they used to when they were young and people do things that they usually wouldn’t do."