On Sunday, October 30, ASFA’s dorm will commence with its annual Haunted Hall, this year’s theme being a haunted carnival. Haunted Hall is an event wholly sponsored and organized by dorm students in which the second floor is turned into something of a haunted house.
The carnival-themed Haunted Hall will commence from 6 to 8 p.m. this Sunday, the night before Halloween. Students not participating in the Haunted Hall can enjoy snacks, drinks, and spooky classic "The Addams Family" screening in the cafeteria as well.
According to the dorm advisor Mr. Jason Akins, this celebration was initially meant for dorm students by dorm students. “It just sort of grew from there,” he said. “In my first few years, it was just an event for dorm kids, and it got bigger and bigger, and the school asked if they could be a part of it. So they were.”
Akins also touched a little on the planning behind Haunted Hall. His specific role is to move plans along, not specifically make them. “I just let the kids run it. I sort of bump things along as they need to be.”
The participants of Haunted Hall are complete volunteers. Dorm prefects, like Math/Science junior Natascha Helfrecht-Kannady, and dorm council members met almost bi-weekly since mid-September to begin planning the event. Helfrecht-Kannady had a massive hand in pulling Haunted Hall together. Many of the hall’s details have been kept a secret to retain the element of surprise, but she was able to take a moment to speak about the process of putting it together.
“Well, everything kind of starts with the theme. It wasn’t hard to think of elements of a carnival and make them scary,” Helfrecht-Kannady said. “It’s kind of been a very linear process — how we’re going to set it up, getting actors and people. It was very step-by-step.”
Helfrecht-Kannady also touched on some of the things she’s most excited for the student body to see.
“I’m so excited for the beginning when they get off the elevator. I don’t want to give too much away ... but if executed properly, it’d be really interesting to watch. That, and the end.” she described. “I do think they should expect ... something similar to the experience at an actual haunted house, but in your own school. Some kids don’t have a lot of friends, and you’re not going to go to a haunted house by yourself, so it’s a good opportunity for kids like that.”
Below, check out a Star exclusive: a promotional video for the Haunted Hall, conceptualized, shot and edited by Mr. Damien Lahey's Movie Madness class, which teaches students the art of film production.
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