But there is a deep allure associated with Halloween and its social allowance of children and adults to dress up as anyone they wish to be for an evening, and enjoy a week where every event, including the scary ones, comes with candy.
On the UNC Asheville campus, the week was packed with events - costume contests, free frozen yogurt, pumpkin carvings, a haunted maze, "Scream" movie night, and a corn maze trip. All of these events were free. Campus does a great job of making sure that students are not bored, that there are options of things to do on and off-campus. When an event is offered off-campus, transportation is provided so that students who do not have cars, such as myself, are not excluded.
The first event my friends and I participated in for the week was the Eliada's Home Corn Maze. The trip was free to the first 20 students who signed up. Myself and two friends successfully made the list. It was an evening trip to the maze, which included activities such as corn hole, hayrides, giant slides, and shooting ears of corn at pumpkins in a field! The maze is the largest one in Western North Carolina, and it, and the other events the field hosted, did not disappoint.
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| Shooting pumpkins with corn |
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| Inside the corn maze |
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| Giant slide fun |
A couple of nights later, I volunteered to help with "Haunted Highsmith", a night in which the student union building is filled with Halloween events: pumpkin carvings, novelty photos, wax hands, costume contest, and a haunted maze.
I was assigned to help in the haunted maze. At first I was a bit weary, not knowing what I was going to do. But after meeting my fellow volunteers and taking a tour of the maze, I was excited to scare my peers.
The maze was located in one of the large rooms that hosts events; it was constructed out of support beams, patterned tarps, strobe lights, dolls, and fake blood. As a volunteer, I got to take a tour of the maze with the lights on to learn the hideaway corners where I could stand in my "Scream" costume. The maze was eerie even with the lights on! It had all the stereotypical rooms. But what I didn't expect was a claustrophobic tunnel in which tarps were pressed together and you had to squeeze through.
The event lasted for about 2 hours, and the maze successfully scared over 150 people.
I recognized athletes, classmates, and friends alike. I could see them, but they could not see me, my mask concealing my identity.
Everyone that came out that night had a blast, and I loved seeing the smirks on people's faces when I told them which character I was.
I love Halloween and cannot wait for next year.
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