By Maegan White
Elm Staff Writer
In honor of Halloweekend, the Students Event Board hosted a series of events in collaboration with other clubs including a haunted house and a trick-or-treat event.
On Sunday, Oct. 30, SEB, Cleopatra’s Sisters, and the Equestrian Club decorated Middle Hall Dorm and led students through a guided tour of the haunted house.
According to SEB Director of Special Events sophomore Natalie Martinaitis, her committee was in charge of decorating and planning the haunted house, making the set design, and being actors during the tour.
Martinaitis shared that the theme of the haunted house was “Haunted Middle Apartment.” Middle Hall was transformed from a dorm to an apartment complex filled with supernatural beings.
Each tour was led by the “landlord” of the building.
“The leader of the haunted house, as she walked people through, said, ‘You are the new tenants’ and would give them a tour,” Martinaitis said.
Some of those actors included a woman sweeping bones, a little girl dressed as a stuffed doll crawling on the floor, a plague doctor conducting an experiment, and a man covered in blood with an axe yelling at the guests. As students walked through Middle, the doors rattled and screams could be heard from behind closed doors. Fake blood was splattered on the walls and floor of the dorm.
Martinaitis said she wanted to recognize the hard work of her committee, which is composed of sophomores Jules Flaherty, Theo Heiland, and Emily Bechtel.
“Planning the event was a lot of hard work and my committee did a lot,” Martinaitis said. “They should be commended for that effort.”
While waiting to receive their tour of the haunted house, students could participate in spooky feel boxes. According to Equestrian Club president senior Leann Standridge, the Equestrian club was in charge of creating the boxes which students would reach into and guess what was in them.
“The Spooky Feel Boxes consisted of 10 boxes in which participants reached in to guess what was inside each box. Options included eyeballs, worms, vampire teeth, heart, brains, maggots and bugs, skin, witch fingers, witch’s hair, and boogers,” Standridge said. “Participants were able to take their guess at the feel boxes prior to or after the haunted house.”
On Monday, Oct. 31, SEB hosted a club trick-or-treat event. Originally, the event was supposed to take place in Martha Washington Square. Due to inclement weather, it was held in Hodson Hall Commons.
SEB invited all clubs and organizations on campus to set up a table and pass out candy for a Halloweeen trick-or-treat for all students.
Marketing Director sophomore Emily Iampieri said that she wanted to get clubs involved so they could advertise their events and recruit more members.
“We thought having different groups handing out candy would emulate real trick or treating,” Iampieri said. “We also thought it would be a good way to help clubs talk to potential new members and really just get their name out there so even if people don’t necessarily want to join they might at least be more likely to turn out to their events.”
Clubs including ShoreFit, SGA, the Panhellenic Council, Model United Nations, LGBTQ+ athletes, and others all participated in the event. Many club leaders dressed up in Halloween costumes as they handed out candy and talked to students.
Iampieri said that hosting a trick-or-treat event would be an activity that all students could participate in and find enjoyment in.
“I thought it would be really fun, cause who doesn’t love trick-or-treating?” Iampieri said. “It is like going back to your childhood and I love candy – who else doesn’t love candy?”
Follow SEB on instagram @wac_seb for information on their November events.
Photo courtesy of Emma Parker-Watt
Photo Caption: Clubs took the opportunity to gain new members and spread meeting information.