The stage was set for our favorite spooky holiday: decked out Halloweekenders, an eerie cold breeze, classic spooky-season candy and delicious mocktails. All the elements necessary for a perfect Halloween night were waiting to be put into action. The Case Western Reserve University Residence Hall Association (RHA)  did just that, creating a haunted house to remember and decking out the Elephant Stairs with candy stations, spider-toss, word searches and riddles.

Located on Murray Hill Road at the Sigma Nu fraternity house, students were greeted by ghosts and vampires and were served blood-red mocktails at a spooky-themed bar. Despite the short and sweet nature of the haunted house itself, every second was packed full with jump scares and amazingly-frightening costumes. Guests were guided down a dark and dimly lit path through multiple rooms. Along the way, they were confronted by all types of monsters, from zombies holding axes to crazy-psycho-killers. The grand finale featured Annika Minotti, president of Carlton Road Community Council, playing the role of a captured victim fighting for her life. The guests were provided Nerf guns in order to defend themselves and save the helpless soul from its captor. Upon victory, the guests were led out and released back into the now monsterless world. All who visited the house were sure to leave with their adrenaline pumping, hearts racing and, most importantly, smiles wide.

Whether it served as a warm-up for the haunted house experience or was a part of the stroll home afterwards, the Candy Crawl located on the Elephant Stairs of the South Residential Village was an altogether different, but equally enjoyable, experience. Complete with Halloween candy, the event was a sweet and welcome shift from the spookiness experienced for a majority of the weekend. The setup was ingenious, with a unique station located as each of the three rest stops on the stairs. Walking from the bottom up, CWRU students arrived at the first station armed with candy bags waiting to be filled with delicious treats. The first stop featured a test of aiming ability, with candy awarded to anyone who could successfully toss fake spiders into a bucket. The task was more difficult than expected, leading to lots of laughs as the spiders bounced around on the stairs after failing to hit their mark. The next stop featured a rapid-fire word search with a one minute time limit. Each word correctly identified meant a piece of candy for everyone, so the bags were filling up by the time the third station was reached. The final stop was my favorite, with Halloween themed riddles getting everyone’s minds working at the prospect of extra candy. Even if target tossing, word searches and riddles weren’t everyone’s cup of tea, the kind members of RHA provided everyone with candy anyways and made sure that each and every student had a blast.

Members of RHA and all those involved in the planning and execution of the events this past Halloweekend should pat themselves on the back. I think that I can speak for many when I say that I will look back on my haunted house and Candy Crawl experiences with fondness, and I cannot wait to see what they pull off next year.