According to About.com, modern Halloween practices resemble medieval mumming, wearing costumes and causing mischief, and souling, going door to door offering prayers for the dead in exchange for treats.

This does indeed resemble the Halloween for American children since the 1930s, but what is our excuse for the grown-up’s Halloween?

Adults dress up, too, and they can prank just as much. Though their version of pranking mostly includes drunken-shenanigans, such as puking in the neighbors jack o’ lantern.

Why do we go from something as innocent as a quest for candy and laughter into what appears to be a quest for who can drink the most while wearing lingerie in public disguised as a costume solely by the addition of cat ears?

Sure, I love Halloween as much as the next person, but even I am wearing something other than my fishnets for a costume. (I’ll be Batman’s Robin, if you must know.)

Ladies, less is not always best.

Think about your future. I know that is what we are all supposed to be doing while in college, but sometimes you really have to concentrate your efforts in that direction.

It may be hard to do when you’re having a little too much fun, and partying a little too hard when the camera comes out. It might have seemed like a good idea at the time to strike that pose, wearing so little while holding whatever it is you were holding at that particular moment.

Halloween photos can make you think about haunting in a whole new way. These pictures can haunt you for the rest of your life, ingrained in you internet existence. And the evidence can be very damaging.

Girls, when photos of you and your dressed-up lovely lady lumps hit the Internet archives, people can see them. Future employers, ex-boyfriends, tech nerds who can bypass your Facebook security preferences — the list goes on.

You don’t want to give everything away. After all, Halloween is all about using your imagination.  You can say so much while showing so little.

And if the strangers aren’t even paying you for it, you shouldn’t be showing it off.

Think about it, the porn industry does not need your charity. Reel it in with all those scandalous Halloween costumes. You can still be sexy and have fun with your clothes on.

Keep it decent, so that when your photos get online, at least you aren’t nearly naked. You may be overly intoxicated in that picture, but at least you won’t be underly dressed.

Just remember to work on those poses, you can’t blame the camera for everything.

Email Taylor Leckie at reporter18@unfspinnaker.com.