PEA To Haunt Halloween Dance

The leaves are turning red, the sky is growing black and, as Halloween approaches, Exonians covered in their bedsheets will come out to find candy and await Merrill and Langdell’s annual Halloween Dance. The spooky festivity will be held in Grainger Auditorium on Saturday, October 26, and will feature Exeter’s second-ever haunted house.Last year, Langdell’s haunted house was a favorite among faculty and students. The new addition received so much positive feedback that it has been reinstated in the upcoming dance.“We decided to do it last-minute and it went extremely well,” senior Yvonne Dean-Bailey said. “It was something Exeter had never really had before, so it was really fun to switch it up.”Although the event was not completely planned out ahead of time, senior Danielle Sim described the haunted house as “impressive and creative given the limited amount of supplies [they] had.” She continued, “I was really scared by the people suddenly jumping out at me. It was a great experience and I felt that a lot of people really enjoyed it.”This year, the two dorms have had more time to think about the set-up process and resolve issues in order to meet the fire code and safety code. “Luckily,” Dean-Bailey said, “The faculty have been awesome with cooperating with us so we can really get what we need.”There will be several new features added to the haunted house in terms of design and functionality. Unlike last year, the dorms are trying to incorporate a maze to give students a fuller experience. There will also be several rules and precautions set in place such as the warning of the use of strobe lights and prohibition of wearing masks in the haunted house. Furthermore, each student is only allowed to experience the event once.Logistically, Grainger will be divided into two halves. One side will feature the dance, where students will sport their best costumes and munch on endless candy, while the other will hold the haunted house. The haunted house will start at 8:30 p.m. and end at either 9:30 p.m. or 10 p.m., depending on how long the lines are. In response to the excitement surrounding last year’s dance, Dean-Bailey suggests that students come in at around 8:30. She said, “Last year, there were extremely long lines at one point—it was definitely pretty popular.”Many students are anticipating the event as a fun way to substitute the typical trick-or-treating experience that kids have at home. “Halloween dances are always fun because there are people wearing funny costumes and lots of candy,” lower Caroline Sullivan said.The annual Langdell-Merrill Halloween dance offers a certain special and memorable element that cannot be captured by the typical event that features the latest tunes. Featuring songs such as “Thriller” and “Monster Mash,” upper Mei-An Nolan claims that it will be “one of the most unique dances of the year,” where students will strut their moves in capes, cat ears and witch hats interrupted by the occasional scream echoing from the haunted house.Make sure to check out Saturday night’s Halloween dance and haunted house in Grainger Auditorium at 8:30 p.m. for a humorous scare and a fun time.