Fall is the favorite season of many students at Wheaton. Arguably, campus is at its best under the tint of orange and yellow leaves, with students breaking out their cozy sweaters, and hands clutching warm drinks from the Hood Cafe. Perhaps most importantly, the fall season signals the arrival of the always-popular holiday, Halloween. This past weekend, campus was overrun by events to celebrate fall and Halloween together.
The weekend kicked off on Friday afternoon with Fall Fest, sponsored by the Programming Council. The Fest included a number of campus clubs that used the event as a way to fundraise for their groups. Traditional autumn delicacies were provided, such as hot cider and hot chocolate, caramel apples, apple pie, and pumpkin brownies. Students were also able to participate in photo shoot with friends on hay bales framed by picturesque leaves, wrap each other up like mummies in toilet paper, and race to eat donuts hanging from a string. Live music was also provided throughout the day, creating a truly festival-like feel.
Later Friday night, ECCO House hosted their annual Haunted House. The theme of the house was “The Orphanage,” and groups formed a line out the door waiting to be taken inside by the “host.” The host would then take the group on a tour of different rooms, which included an insane chef, a crazy doctor and his patient, rabid babies, and other unspeakable terrors. Jacob Horowitz ’16, a resident of ECCO house, said he and his housemates had a fantastic time showing off their spooky side.
“All of us had a blast,“ he said. “We had so much fun decorating each other with blood and make up. We also completely trashed the entire house, just to make everything more realistic. With strobes, eerie drones, and Oscar-worthy performances, ‘The Orphanage’ was a great success!”
BACCHUS also joined in the Halloween spirit, offering a Friday night screening of the classic Halloween movie “Hocus Pocus” as well as mocktails in a wildly decorated Emerson Dining Hall. They followed up on Saturday night with a showing of the horror movie “The Conjuring.”
Of course, it would not truly be Halloween without a costume dance at Haas Athletic Center. Halloweentown became Hallo-Wheaton as Wheaties from every class donned disguises Saturday night. The walking paths to Haas became a patchwork of minions, Mario brothers, punk rockers, flappers, basketball players, and even movie characters such as Alan from “The Hangover.”
Despite the brisk temperature of the mid-fall night, students endured the New England cold for the sake of their costumes. With Public Safety and the local police making their presence known, the dance did not have any chance of turning into an out-of-control rave. Still, hundreds of students danced into the early morning to the remixes of popular and hip-hop songs, and it was clear that while Wheaton certainly will not be showing up on any party college lists any time soon, we can still have a “Thriller” of a night.
Since Halloween is not until Thursday, you can be assured that the events will not stop with this past weekend. On Wednesday evening, students can enjoy free cider and donuts in The Balfour-Hood Center while painting pumpkins, which will be provided. On Halloween night itself, while students will not likely be trick-or-treating, there is still plenty to do. The Asian American Coalition will be showing “Ringu,” the original movie that inspired “The Ring.” That same evening, the second annual Walk of Courage through the Wheaton Woods will be hosted by the Anime Club. Additionally, the Moonlight Brunch will serve breakfast from 10 p.m. until midnight in Chase Dining Hall. Last but not least, join Live at the Loft later in the night for its own Halloween Cinema.