Of all the spooktacular events that happen all over Transylvania University’s campus during the Halloween season, the annual Haunted Hallway is a long-lasting tradition that many students look forward to more than anything else. Dressed in their scariest outfits, the Student Activities Board hosts a haunted ‘house’ in the basement of Poole Residence Hall. Students are welcome to enter if they dare to experience the unexpected horrors that exist on our campus.
The theme of this year’s Haunted Hallway was phobias, with promotions for the event asking, “What is your biggest fear?” Entering Poole on the night of October 25th, it was impossible to expect the terror that was to come, but tensions and excitement rose as dozens of students lined up throughout the night to experience the madness. After a long wait that only further built anticipation, it was finally time to descend into the darkened hall below.
Entering the hallway, you took hold of a chain as a guide led everyone through distinctly designed rooms that brought many common fears to life. As we slowly made our way through the hall, we saw crawling clowns, medical procedures gone awry, and sinister spiders dotting every surface. We even passed through a claustrophobic tunnel with dedicated scare actors on the other side waiting to scare us. The Haunted Hallway presented its visitors with a fast-paced flurry of fears before permitting them to return to the world above.
The eerie night took an unexpected turn when the fire alarms of Poole began blaring, sending everyone into a frenzy of panic– was this another evil trick of Poole’s ghouls and goblins? Thankfully, the truth was much simpler: a fog machine set off the alarms and caused a short hiatus of hauntings. After patient patrons waited for around 20 minutes, the scares continued as they were before, and well into the night to make up for lost time.
Haunted Hallway was just one of the events sponsored by SAB during ‘Raf Week’, a week-long celebration of both the eponymous professor and the Halloween season. Other events included a ghost tour through Gratz Park, trick-or-treating in Back Circle, a night of murder mystery board games in the Campus Center, and, of course, PumpkinMania, the annual event where campus and community members come together to carve pumpkins to be featured on the steps of Old Morrison.
