Spooktacular!

The choir entertains guests with their elaborate costumes and hard-practiced pieces. 
Photo by Haley McCord

Things got a little spooky on the Campus Beautiful last week! On Friday, October 30, the second annual Spooktacular was held in the Fine Arts Building from 7 PM to 9 PM. Tickets were sold in the box office and were priced at $5. That $5 won patrons entrance to the concert, the Haunted Hall, and the Halloween costume contest. Several students, faculty, parents and their children gathered inside the main auditorium to watch the band and choir perform. The band performed the well-known main theme of Jurassic Park and the choir performed two songs – one arranged by student and choir member Alli Whitener. Both band and choir members were dressed up for the Halloween occasion. The nature of the costumes varied from scary to funny to nostalgic, and included thigns like Cruella De’ville from 101 Dalmatians, Twisty the clown from American Horror Story: Freakshow, Batman, Anger from Inside Out and Dr. Hudson dressed as a purple Crayola crayon.  

A costume contest followed the band performance and those who chose to participate were asked to come to the stage; everyone in attendance was welcome and could be entered in the contest. First, second, and third place were awarded to adults and children. The child that won first place was dressed as a hen and wore a fuzzy white suit, orange chicken hat and yellow triangle shaped feet. First place in the adult division was awarded to a girl dressed in an elaborate costume made up of a tunic woven with leaves and flowers. There were several other costumes that I had never seen before. For example, there was a couple dressed as a deer and a hunter.

After the performances, attendees were encouraged to go through the haunted hall after signing a wavier; several groups awaited their fate inside the Fine Arts lobby. After approximately fifteen minutes, the groups began their trip through the hall. Anger, from Inside Out, lead the groups through the haunted hall and told a story of a little girl that had supposedly died inside the halls as a result of a sleepy and negligent mother. Since then, she’d haunted the practice rooms in the music department, looking for unsuspecting students to play with her. The hall was well lit and acceptable for all ages. It had enough good quality scares creep-factor to entertain older patrons, but wasn’t too over-the-top as to scar the littler patrons for life. Most of the people that went through the haunted hall thought that it was an overall good experience. Trash bags were hung on the walls to darken the atmosphere and students in makeup and costumes lurked in the corners waiting for the perfect moment to either jump out and scare patrons or simply follow the tour group quietly and unnervingly. Sarah White, the coordinator of the haunted hall says, “This year’s turnout was much better than last year.”

Overall, the event brought a lot of the community together and students enjoyed dressing up and sharing their music. The band’s performance was unique and the choir performed mostly a-cappella which was definitely impressive. Families enjoyed the haunted hall and listening to both performances. It was a great way to kick off the Halloween weekend, and the event raised 380 dollars, which is more than was made last year. Hats off to the music department, who made this year’s event a scary success and raised a lot of money while doing it!