Halloween night on John Brown University’s campus was lit by a hazy moon, and the doors of Mayfield, J Alvin and Hutcheson Hall were opened to receive the costume-clad student body. Through the Student Events Association and Resident and Commuter Life, students were able to enjoy trick-or-treating at Mayfield, a haunted house at J Alvin and mini golf at Hutcheson Hall. The rain from the previous week had cleared, which left campus cool that night and rain-free. After the events were wrapped up, students were welcomed in the J Alvin atrium to enjoy Disney’s “Coco,” along with some refreshments provided by the SEA.
This year’s Halloween Extravaganza was an extension to the Mayfield tradition. The Residential Director for Mayfield, Sarah Cordle said, “This is our 4th annual trick-or-treating event! We partnered with the other dorms and SEA this year to have events across campus. We’ve had talks about this event since the beginning of September and really started working on it about 3 weeks ago. Truly Mayfield has the easy prep for the event, so shoutout to Hutch and J Alvin to having to build stuff for their part!”
Resident Assistants from Mayfeild dressed up and opened their doors to the incoming students. One RA, Mayson Montgomery, put on her best “Where’s Waldo?” outfit and required her trick-or-treaters to find her before receiving candy. Other costumes included a rainbow fish, toast, the Queen of Hearts and a friendly hobbit. Through Up-New to Down-Old, rooms for trick-or-treating were indicated by pumpkin flags hung up above the doorway.
At J Alvin, the basement was set to spook. After a foreboding tale of bodies in the basement, students were sent down the winding stairwell and into the spiderweb-filled basement. Pig masks and clanging trash can lids were the first scares. In the dark, residents of the hall hid under curtains waiting to reach out to whoever passed by. A short crawl and trek around the rock-climbing wall and the house was almost done. It was a quick scare; it lasted around 5 minutes, depending on the speed of your group.
Down the hill, Hutch Hall hosted a game of mini golf. Each hole had a different theme, and the welcome desk was decorated to resemble Disney’s “Toy Story.” Players were greeted and sent on their way with a card, a club, a ball and a word of encouragement. The east wing of the first floor was a colorful ocean scene, and the west wing was themed around Disney’s “Coco.” Above, on the second floor west wing, students played a round at the glow-in-the-dark hole. The final round was set downstairs in the lobby and was themed after Disney’s “Monster’s Inc.” with brightly colored paper doors on the walls and a multi-eyed monster waiting to gobble up the players’ ball at the end.
The monster hole had a special prize for those who were able to make it in within five swings. Players who were skilled or lucky enough were given the opportunity to pie one of the volunteers working on the mini golf course. They were taken outside, given a bowl of shaving cream and instructed to throw it at the poor volunteer chosen.
Volunteer and Sophomore Colby Flannagan said, “For the pieing, the players had five swings to make it up the ramp and into the cup at the final hole; I think the total was seven times.”
The campus wide event of spooks and candy closed with Disney’s “Coco.” After setting up all evening, they were finally ready to move from haunting in the basement, to hosting in the atrium. Students got comfortable and settled in for the last event of the night, saying farewell to Halloween and hello to the weekend.
Photo Courtesy of David Menidrey on Unsplash