Photo by Vaidik Trivedi
by Vaidik Trivedi
News Editor
The Undergraduate Student Association went “far beyond” in turning the Student Activity Center into a haunted building on Oct. 27 to celebrate Halloween.
“Spooky Brook” consisted of all the elements of a small horror theme park to give the students an immense experience of the excitement of Halloween. A “Marauder’s Map” was created of the entire facility showing all the attractions and their location.
A huge inflatable black dragon, flapping its yellow wings, greeted students at the front of the horror house at the SAC, while corridors lined with Halloween decorations led them to activity rooms like the movie theatre, game room, paint room and an escape room.
Video by: Akanksha Kar
The Virtual Reality haunted house stood out in Ballroom A, where students were filling their candy bags, competing with one another in arcade games and enjoying the spooky cake.
Cotton spiderwebs filling the walls, an inflatable giant clown staring down at kids with his crazy eyes and spinning buttons, ghosts hanging from the ceiling and colorful halogens lit in dim light areas turned the usually bustling SAC into an eerie yet fun-filled space.
While DJs were blasting music in the SAC lobby, the third floor remained the center of attraction. The riddle treasure hunt called the Escape Room, organized by the USG, was the attraction where students could test their riddle-solving capabilities and earn prizes.
A group of four students were locked in a room with four puzzles to solve to claim a prize. While many returned empty-handed, they retreated with a smile, wondering how they could miss such obvious hints.
President of USG, Justas Klimavicius, said that this event is different from the previous year’s Halloween celebrations.
“We made it bigger and different this year and hope this trend carries on for more years to come,” Klimavicius said.
A best costume competition was also held by USG and the top three contenders were awarded with gift hampers and prizes.
“I really enjoyed the event and also taking part in the competition. It was an elaborate and well-planned night,” Sarah Renling, a student at Stony Brook University, said.
Spooky Brook was made even spookier in the SAC auditorium where Halloween films like “Hocus Pocus” and “A Quiet Place” were played back to back.
“I really enjoyed the food and the different kinds of games here,” Miriam Velcine, a student at Stony Brook University, said. “The line for the virtual reality haunted house was long but it was worth it.”
With a night full of costumes, delicious deserts like cakes, cookies, prizes and a haunted staircase full of jump-scares, SBU’s first ever Spooky Brook turned out to be a hit amongst the attendees.