Courtesy of Hannah Bazarian - Photo Editor
Ghosts, ghouls and goblins are making their way to Kendrick House in Hill Court, as the Hill Court Community Organizing Group (COG) plans its first ever haunted house for this Friday, Oct. 28. To get into the Halloween spirit, president of Hill Court COG and junior Kaitlin Pellicano spoke to the Campus Times about the spooky additions coming to the Hill Court side of campus.
How did the Hill Court COG come up with the idea of creating a haunted house?
It was something we came up with when discussing programs for October. We’re hoping it will become an annual tradition.
What goes into creating a haunted house?
[It involves] getting volunteers to be creepy [and] scary, finding a volunteer makeup artist, buying supplies such as fake blood, tablecloths, costumes, refreshments, etc. and finding a safe place to host it.
[Hill Court COG] wanted to haunt the tunnels, but it’s not as much of a fire safety hazard in the Kendrick Community Room.
We’re also working on getting a CD of spooky noises. Ideally, we’d like to expand [the event] to get some of the Greek communities and interest floors in Phase to participate. We’ve also asked freshmen RAs to bring their [residents] there as a hall program.
Other than the haunted house, what are the Hill Court COG’s responsibilities?
We’re trying to build a community here at Phase — it’s not like halls where you see people roaming around to get to their rooms. We’re split up because of the staircases, and suites tend to socialize within themselves.
So our goal is to turn a group of isolated suites into a Hill Court community.
We’re also hoping to get a program running to make banners [for the balconies]. We’re hoping this will be a new signature of Phase, apart from having the balconies in the first place.
Do you foresee any difficulties creating the haunted house with the space that you’re working with?
Not so much with the space as the time constraint. We didn’t get to kick-off COG’s planning until later on in the year, so we’re throwing it together as best we can with the time that we’ve got and with a lack of a previous year’s model.
However, we foresee it being very successful. We’ve got some crazy stuff planned.
Is there an admittance fee?
Nope, it’s free food, fun and more. We do encourage people to bring canned goods as an “entrance fee,” but naturally it is not required.
We are trying to incorporate some kind of charity into the event, and hopefully that will grow into a tradition in future years.
Do you think Hill Court could actually be haunted?
It’s never occurred to us, but I suppose the tunnels can be pretty creepy when adventuring through them alone. I know the laundry room lights are “temperamental.” Interpret that as you will.
In addition, we are on the boundary of the cemetery, which has rumors of hauntings, so if any of those ghosts feel adventurous, the first place they’ll traverse is our hill.
Olfano is a member of the class of 2012.
