Thrillseekers entering the Knorr Student Center on Tuesday night were greeted by a old woman with a ghoulish face and a cane. She then began silently stalking them. She beckoned toward the back of the union where frightening noises sounded from a light fog.
The Delta Sigma Phi fraternity haunted house has traditionally been held at the fraternity’s house, but since the house was transformed into a men’s dormitory — the Watkins House — the brotherhood had to find a new venue for their largest philanthropy event of the semester.
“I’d say that was the hardest challenge — finding a place to have it,” DSP President junior Brett Miller said.
The fraternity received permission to use the Curtis Memorial Dining Hall for the event only one week in advance.
“We started setting up on Sunday night, and all together we probably spent about 12 hours transforming the hall into a haunted house,” Miller said.
Scares in the makeshift house came from fairies, old people, hillbillies, surgeons, monkeys, a dark room with neon lights, and a haunted hallway that concluded the haunted tour.
“We kept the same themes to try to keep it similar to last year because that was our biggest fear — that people weren’t going to like it as much or that it had changed too much,” Miller said.
To create the different sections of the house, the brothers hung strings around the ceiling of the dining hall that held plastic sheeting.
“It ended up being more streamlined because with the house, we were able to go down to the basement then back up and out to the backyard where we had a maze that ended it,” said junior Matt Eltringham, treasurer of DSP. “But we were able to take advantage of this layout and had a solid night.”
DSP’s haunted house raised $350 for Relay for Life. Miller said the total was lower than in past years because the event typically ran two nights, but he thought almost the same number of people attended as would have on a given night in the past. Sophomore Rachel Kurtz, who went through the house last year, said it was just as scary this year.
“I thought it was pretty good seeing as how they didn’t have a house,” Kurtz said. “I was scared, so mission accomplished. It definitely exceeded my expectations.”
Professor of Biology Anthony Swinehart, DSP’s faculty adviser, said he was worried an hour before the event started, but by 7 p.m., the guys had the house looking good.
Swinehart said the loss of the house has had the biggest impact on alumni gatherings and philanthropy events. The fraternity just needed to get more creative this year, he said.
“The fraternity was still able to pull off its philanthropy event, and the men were able to set up a tailgate tent for a barbeque at the homecoming game for an alumni gathering,” Swinehart said.
Miller said the haunted house went better than he expected.
“Even if we have to do it here next year, I think it ran so smoothly, that if we can get it for two nights it can be even better,” Miller said. “We had a lot of positive feedback, so regardless of whether or not we have the house, we can still make it work.”