BOO! Spooky scary students in the CSU

Camp Stomper Lake took over Minnesota State’s campus to spook its students Wednesday night. 

For the last 13 years, masked Mavericks in haunted gear have taken over the Centennial Student Union for its annual Haunted Takeover. With the help of the Student Events Team and members of student organizations on campus, “fear” filled the halls of the CSU. 

MSU student Abby Meyers braved the evening with a group of friends. 

“I’ve been to a lot of haunted houses and it was honestly better,” Meyers said. “It was good, the actors were good, it was set up good.”

The line for the event extended outside beyond the fountain, inching toward Armstrong Hall. Once inside Ostrander Auditorium, a graveyard of smoke and skeletons greeted students. From there, an introduction video starring fictional slasher Michael Myers was presented, attacking Mavericks on Camp Stomper Lake. 

Entering the second floor of the CSU, students were led through 10 different themed rooms. One included a carnival of haunted clowns. The CSU ballroom featured a dark sea of fog, with white masked actors sneaking up on participants. Ghosts, knights, witches, demons and more fulfilled their role as a Halloween crew. 

“The clowns were the scariest,” MSU student Annabel Gaug said. “It was pretty spooky.” 

Recognized student organizations on campus were able to be cast as the designated scarers for the evening in exchange for money toward their RSO’s. 

With a third of the semester left, these students were able to lash out, jump out, and scream to relieve the stress of a heavy course load. Students on the other end of the interaction got a scary distraction out of the evening. 

“For a campus haunted house I thought it was pretty good, I was actually scared,” MSU student Katey Hodgkins said. 

One of the recognized organizations that took advantage of the opportunity was MSU’s Anime Club. Club member Mikayla Waskul was a part of the haunted cast. 

“Me and my club decided, ‘Yeah let’s do this, it’s fun and we can raise money for our RSO,’” Waskul said.

Dressed in a skeleton mask and a dark cloak, Waskul threw together a costume from last year’s Haunted house. 

“I liked it so much that I just did it again,” Waskul said. 

The evening was cut short after the fire alarms rang through the building, leading both students and monsters fleeing to the streets. (As of late Wednesday, the cause of the fire alarm wasn’t immediately unknown.) Despite the halt on the haunted house, the students and members that were a part of it will carry on the hype to continue the event for years to come. 

“Being introverted, it’s kind of awkward, but when you get people to scream or jump, it’s exhilarating,” Waskul said. “Sometimes I can’t hold back my laughter.”

Write to Mercedes Kauphusman at mercedes.kauphusman@mnsu.edu