Dorms celebrate Halloween in their own ghoulish way

By: Jessica Youngs/ Staff Writer

Posted: 10/31/03

This Halloween, Eastern residence halls will be decorating their walls with ghoulish ghosts and hanging spooky spiders from their ceilings in preparation for Charleston-area trick-or-treaters and holiday bashes.

All of Eastern's residence halls, except for Douglas Hall, will host trick-or-treaters. Andrews, Carman, Ford, Lawson, McKinney, Thomas and Weller will host from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Lincoln Hall from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.; and Stevenson Hall from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Pemberton kicked off the Halloween week with trick-or-treating Monday night, said Lori Vozari, the hall's associate resident director.

Friday night, Vozari said Pemberton will have a Halloween dance with a costume party and games.

"There will be a best costume contest with a gift certificate to either the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union Bookstore or to Wal-Mart," said Pemberton Hall Council President Katie Kittell.

She hopes the scary dance will be an alternate to the "Monster Beast Bash" sponsored by WEIU at Old Main.

"This is something for those of us to do who aren't 21 years old yet," she said.

Although Pemberton traditionally hosts a haunted house themed around the story of its resident ghost "Mary," the legendary fourth floor was not available this year.

Melissa King, the chair of Pemberton's Halloween committee, said the event will offer students an opportunity to enjoy the day and have fun with their friends.

"It should be a lot of fun," she said.

A Halloween party full of games and prizes is also in store for Ford Hall residents, said Devin Heishner, its associate residence director.

"People can bob for apples or play 'Ghosts in a Graveyard'," he said.

After the party, he said residents can carpool to the Charleston haunted house and watch scary movies in the lobby.

Not to be outdone, Carman Hall residents will be decorating lounges, painting windows and carving pumpkins, said Complex Director Amy Price.

Many Eastern students will be decorating their rooms with spooky or silly Halloween decorations for contests or fun.

"Some girls decorated the lounge with pumpkins, bats, cats and spider webs," said Mallory White, a Carman Hall resident advisor.

Lincoln and Stevenson halls are taking decorating even further, giving their floors an extra special twist for trick-or-treaters.

Lincoln, Stevenson and Douglas complex director Matt Khoury said one floor has a pretend graveyard and another has a real-looking mannequin in a witch's costume stirring a cauldron.

"The students are taking (the decorating) very seriously and putting a lot of effort into it," he said.

"They are doing it for the kids and the community."

Douglas Hall will not be sponsoring any Halloween activities because of time conflicts, said associate residence director Jason Taylor.

Greek Court will also be hosting Charleston trick-or-treaters in addition to the residence halls.

Its program, "Ghosts, Goblins and Greeks" will be held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. with various activities throughout the court.

Bob Dudolski, the director of Greek Life, said several hundred people usually attend this annual event.

Every Greek house, even off-campus houses, will each be handing out a different type of candy, he said.