The Grimm Haunted Hall 2018

On Saturday, Oct. 27, Grimm Hall hosted its annual haunted hall from 8-10pm. The theme for this year was “Fright Fair,” and it could be seen in the makeup on people’s faces and decorations throughout the hall.

Grimm Hall has been hosting an annual haunted hall for nearly 40 years, starting in the early 80s, and continuing to the present day. Nick Lauer, hall director of Grimm and McMillan, gave a little background on the haunted hall tradition. “Back in the day, each hall had its own theme, season, or holiday. Because of the name, Grimm was matched with Halloween. Even now, all these years later, when the rest of the halls have lost their themes, Grimm still has one,” said Lauer.

This year the Haunted Hall was a joint operation between the Grimm and McMillan hall councils as well as the residence and friends of both halls. The Haunted Hall didn’t charge for entry but offered fearmongers an option of donating two dollars or one non-perishable food item to charity.

Volunteers are what keep Grimm’s Haunted Hall alive, without them it would be impossible for the hall councils to put on this event every year. Abigail Wick-Lambert, McMillan’s program coordinator, spoke on the help received from volunteers, “I think we have a good group of volunteers that really want to work hard to make it great. I think that the energy they are putting into this will really show tonight. If people come in with an open mind and want to experience it, they are going to have fun.”

It can be hard to find volunteers, especially at a college campus, where students have a million things going on. With papers to write, presentations to create and group projects to collaborate on, it’s difficult for students to take on more work. “We went through friends, we had an email with a sign-up volunteer link, and then when we had our meet and greet for our hall, we had a bonfire, we kind of talked to people about it from there,” said Emily Ekholm, McMillan’s vice president.

After the Haunted Hall’s volunteers began the job of spooking and scaring those looking for the experience, some UWRF students were asked about their experience.

“That was good,” said one student, he continued and said, “that was a decent quality haunted house for a college dorm.”

Another student said, “It was a very good haunted house considering that it was all volunteer work, and I would recommend going next year to anyone.”