Class of 2025 prepares to awaken a spooktacular haunted house at WHS
Haunted house team members, Alessandra Gavris, Abigail Galton, Farrah Zerola, and Emma Ricciardi (from left to right)
October 28, 2022
Trick or treat WHS students and faculty! Yes, Halloween is finally rolling around the corner and sophomores plan to celebrate with the traditional haunted house. This year, get ready to be spooked by doctors, surgeons, dentists, bloody bandaids, and more, as a new haunted hospital is coming to life on Saturday, October 29, from 6-8p.m. at WHS.
“You should expect it to be scary, we would not say it is for the faint of heart. However there is a children’s area for kids who don’t quite want the full experience to go hang out while maybe their older siblings go through,” sophomore president Andreas Gavris said. “I am extremely excited. This is the first real haunted house that was not outside in over two years. It should be a lot of fun and we have a lot of volunteers to get the job done.”
With over 90 students participating, the grade was divided into different teams to work on specific rooms of the haunted hospital, such as an emergency room, a morgue, and an operating room, that will all be installed in the WHS hallways near the auditorium and gym.
Each team has been involved in different parts of the collaborative planning process, including making parts of a preview video that will be presented at the beginning of the haunted hospital.
“I think the filming process for the video was definitely fun because coming in early and dressing up with fake blood and costumes, and seeing everybody in full costume walking around the hallways in school was pretty fun,” sophomore Abigail Galton said.
Specifically, the group designing a story with the main character of Bloody Mary witnessed a synergetic team involvement in creating an innovative plot.
“We wanted to focus the video more on the backstory of Mary, instead of pointing out how scary it was that she still is roaming around the hospital. And we just bounced ideas off of each other,” sophomore Emma Ricciardi said.
Although the preparations for this event have been filled with experiences of worthwhile teamwork, the organization of the haunted hospital has also been challenging to plan.
“We have been preparing since mid August. The planning has been tedious and long,” Gavris explained. “We’ve assigned group leaders for each specific scene to help organize it more, and create a chain of command.”
The haunted hospital not only required organizational thinking to plan the logistics of the event, but additionally necessitated emotional planning to make the haunted hospital personally interactive for students.
“It’s getting progressively more scary as you walk through. I’m Mary, so I’m going to be walking around the hospital wearing a costume trying to scare people,” sophomore Alessandra Gavris said.
In order to facilitate an easier construction of the haunted hospital, new changes have been made to the board of people involved in the decision making process for this event.
“What we’ve done this year for the sophomore class is we’ve actually involved more parents. We created a smaller sub committee of parents who are really interested in this event in particular,” WHS instructional coach, Henry Moon said. “All I’ve done is manage the paperwork for the school, so while class parents and faculty advisors have their input, and provide the historical knowledge of what’s been done in the past, this smaller sub committee of parents have been probably the chief architects of everything.”
Along with managerial alterations that have been implemented this year, there are also new and creative ideas to make the event more relevant to students.
“We’re going to be selling homemade baked goods, we’re also bringing in a taco guy who’s going to be selling tacos. We’re negotiating with Chick-fil-a at the moment,” Moon said. “There’s going to be arts and crafts, and I think we wanted to do a TikTok video recording area where kids in costumes from the sophomore class would get together with little kids and be able to film a fun little video. The TikTok booth is going to be a much more timely innovation, based on how popular that app has become.”
The whole class of 2025 is eager to present their school spirit, commitment, and cooperation as their impressive haunted hospital is showcased this Saturday.
“I am most looking forward to seeing everyone’s work that was put into planning the haunted house truly come together. Many people including students, teachers, and parents have worked very hard to assure that the haunted house will be a success and I can’t wait to see everyone enjoy it,” sophomore vice president Anika Groff said.
To be part of this truly scary and exciting Halloween evening, remember to buy tickets costing $13 per individual and $40 per family. Get into the Halloween spirit and enjoy the eerie games, spine-chilling treats, and fun for every age at the haunted hospital.
