The streets of Greek Village were filled with spooky visitors, from tiny pumpkins and ladybugs to witches and vampires, for the 12th annual Trick-or-Treat with the Greeks events.
"I just love going around to the different houses, seeing how they are decorated, and they are always so nice and inviting," parent Lavonya Jenkins said.
USC's sororities and fraternities come together every year to welcome members of the community into their houses with trick-or-treating and a variety of games for the children to play. It's one of the ways the Greek community gets involved with Columbia.
Catherine Sherer, a third-year global studies and environmental studies student, said that this event is a great way to get both communities more involved with each other.
"It's one of the few events that we have that we really interact with the Columbia community. As college students most of us are not from Columbia and we spend a lot of time just on campus and we can kind of forget that there is a city and a community around us and this gives us a chance to remember that," Sherer said.
As the children walk around the Greek Village with their parents, they have the chance to participate in many activities that range from trick-or-treating, face painting and pumpkin painting to playing games such as dunk tank and fishing games.
For many parents, this was not their first year coming to this event.
"[There are] definitely more people and I was just telling my husband ... more houses are involved it seems like," Ashley Wold, a returning parent, said.
Lucinda Woodard attended the event for the first time this year and had nothing but positive words about the experience.
"We are very impressed. Everyone's really friendly. Lots of candy, good decorations, good safe environment," Woodard said.
Throughout the entire event, the Greek community also collects Halloween costumes that will later be donated to the children at the Palmetto Health Children's Hospital.