Halloween Hype

Stratford school administrators (from left): Danny Gex, Pamela Metcalfe, Jeff McCord, Carl Blaze, Laura Ragsdale Vilaflor, and Christopher Juntti. (Photo: Paul Brastrom and Rebecca Williamson)

Usually roaming the streets at night in a scary costume is grounds for arrest, but Oct. 31 breaks this rule. In celebration of Halloween, we gave 200 Stratford students a survey to learn more about their ambitions and fears for the popular tradition, for an article that appeared on the shsoracle.com. Below are the results:

Favorite Candy:

Reese’s 20%
Kit Kat 17.5%
Twix 11%
Hershey’s 9%
Snickers 8.5%
Skittles 7%
M&Ms 5.5%
Airheads 5%
Smarties 4.5%
Almond Joy 4%
Butterfinger 4%
Nerds 4%
Milky Way 3%
York 3%
Milk Duds 2.5%
Baby Ruth 2%
Tootsie Roll/Poll 2%
Three Musketeers 2%
Twizzlers 2%
Starburst 1.5%
Crunch Bar 1%
Rolo 1%
Whoppers 1%
Mounds 0%

Biggest Fear: (marked on survey as “Biggest Fear”)

Failure 14%
Spiders/Insects 11.5%
Death 10%
Needles/Injections
Heights 9.5%
Isolation 9%
Clowns 8%
Snakes 7%
Public Speaking 6%
Small Spaces (Claustrophobia) 5.5%
Darkness 3%
Dentists 2%
The Future 1%
Flying 0.5%
Germs 0.5%
Silence 0.5%
No Response: 2%
Doctors 0%

Most Feared: (marked on survey as “Feared”)

Spiders/Insects 49.5%
Death 40.5%
Failure 38%
Public Speaking 35.5%
Snakes 35.5%
Needles/Injections 32.5%
Small Spaces (Claustrophobia) 32%
Heights 31%
Clowns 29.5%
Isolation 29.5
Darkness 27.5%
The Future 12.5%
Germs 12%
Dentists 12%
Silence 9%
Doctors 7%
Flying 5%
No Response: 2%

Average Number of Fears: 4.385

Trick or Treating this Year?
Yes: 33.5%
No: 63%
Unsure/No Response: 3.5%