Campus Activities Council (CAC) had been planning a haunted house for weeks before Halloween. On the day of Halloween, the haunted house was ready to draw screams and fear from students. With preparation and many CAC members working on the project, this event was a success that left students admiring the work that CAC members had put in.
“The event had a huge impact…it created a memorable experience for everyone who attended and really showcased the creativity and dedication of our student community,” said Atma Khalsa, CAC’s Supervisor, who led and organized this haunted house with the rest of the team and other staff.
The haunted house was located in EMU’s Northlawn dormitory on the first floor, where CAC also hosted the party portion of the haunted house outside in the Great Lounge. After students had gone through the haunted house and left all their screams behind, they enjoyed drinks and snacks provided by CAC in the main entrance.
With the whole first floor decorated and rooms throughout the hall all Halloween-themed, much time and dedication was needed for the success of the haunted house. Khalsa said, “Planning and setup took a lot of coordination, creativity, and long hours, but it was deeply rewarding to see everyone come together. The collaboration between different groups—students, volunteers, and staff—made it possible to transform the space into something truly special.”
The haunted house had a butcher room, a mental hospital room, a crazy doll room, crazy clown room, caged zombie room, insane masked room, and a haunting wolf at the end which grabbed the haunted house tour guide inside a dark room. Each room had a “scarer” related to the theme of the room, all of which gave lasting scares to students who dared enter.
“Watching the ‘scarers’ bring each room to life far exceeded my expectations. Each group added something unique, and the atmosphere they created made the experience feel immersive and thrilling,” said Khalsa. This haunted house exceeded many expectations and left a positive lasting impression on CAC among many students who attended the event.
“I thought the event exceeded many expectations. At the beginning, I thought how are we going to pull this off but over time, as we got closer to the show time, it really all came together,” said Daven Molina, a CAC member who helped with the event and was a tour guide for the haunted house. Molina was part of the reason for the big success of the haunted house. He emphasized, “My favorite part of the event was seeing people’s excitement from the start in the waiting area (probably not expecting much) to eventually turn to fear when they go through the first door. Another part that was my favorite was getting pulled by my pal Will Ramos at the end of every tour.”
Arelys Martinez Fabian, senior attendee who entered the haunted house, remarked that “the haunted house exceeded my expectations of it because I was impressed by the way that CAC pulled it off. They did an excellent job of making it really realistic and scary.” She also added, “As it being my first ever haunted house, my heartbeat was racing out at the end of it, I had to take a minute to calm down, but it was a great experience.”
Khalsa showed appreciation to everyone who was involved with the organization, “I want to thank all of the students who helped with design, set-up, and scaring, and an extra special thanks to CAC, as well as Dawn and Chris Neil, whose creativity and time were essential to making this event happen.” Molina also added, “CAC went above and beyond for this event, and it really showed. Hopefully, CAC can do it again in the future and somehow find a way to exceed this year’s event, which may be difficult to do. But if CAC can do this well for the first time, I have no doubt that they can do well again.”
With the great success of this year’s haunted house, prepare your screams and Halloween spirit for perhaps another similar event next year.
