By Felicia DeMatteo | Staff Writer
This week, the Williams Watts Sherman House, an on-campus housing option for sophomores, hosted its second annual Haunted House event. The haunted house is a festive activity for students who not only enjoy on-campus activities, but also crave a Halloween thrill.
Last year’s Haunted House was so successful that it made the cut for this year’s list of activities with its reputation of giving students a good scare. Some people on the first floor even reported that they could hear screaming coming from the basement of the house where the haunting took place.
Typically groups of 3-4 people go into the Haunted House at a time. When it was my group’s turn, I formed a hand-holding chain with my friends and the first thing we did was enter a very tight elevator that would take us down to the basement. The fun began when I stepped on the elevator and saw Michelle Karparis, an RA in Watts, with her face lit through the darkness. She played a very convincing bellhop. All she said was, “Going down?” to which I responded, “Yes, to Hades, please.”
I immediately encountered a jump scare as I was getting off the elevator, which made me scream at the top of my lungs. As we proceeded walking, with my friend’s hand in mine, we were confronted by many more jump-scares as well as the actors shouting creepy slogans at us, such as a student who was holding a possessed teddy bear and saying, “Wanna play?”
The actors were dressed as characters from classic horror movies, such as Jason from Friday the 13th, played by RA Sinan Zeino. Strobe lights were in use though out the whole walk-through, as well as caution tape and props, which added to the perfect creepy atmosphere. There was even a sign written in big, bold, uppercase letters that were red to resemble blood that said, “RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN.” I asked Jason where I should run, but there was nowhere else to go. As I kept moving, an axe-murderer was pretending to chop the head off of a helpless victim tied to a chair who was crying for help.
The survivors of the Haunted House received candy upon exiting. Naturally, I got back in line for a second round. Overall, it satisfied my needs for a good Halloween thrill, and I hope it returns next year.
