Although the spooky season has ended, WHS still reflects on the success of this Halloween, as the town of Weston got involved in the festivities with the traditional sophomore haunted house. The sophomore’s haunted house was truly a success, with a multitude of students, parents, and faculty showing up to WHS on Saturday, October 29, to witness this year’s theme of a haunted hospital. 

   “Our haunted house was very successful. We raised even more money than we were expecting and are very happy with how the night went,” sophomore treasurer Nate Whitworth said. “Overall, we probably had around 100 volunteers and 800 people in attendance, which is so much more than we expected.”

   In fact, the haunted house was so successful with a high quantity of people attending, that the waiting time for the event was similarly long, which could be a change implemented for next year’s haunted house.

   “The lines wrapped down the high school halls, outside the building and around the school. It was a tremendous success,” sophomore parent Sandra Gavris said. “Some people were waiting in line for over 1.5 hours. I would really try to figure out how to manage the lines a bit better.”

   Tour guests truly enjoyed this unique and immersive experience, getting into the hair-raising spirit of Halloween.

   “I really enjoyed it. I just thought it was very scary and funny,” junior Priscilla Wood said.

   This year’s haunted house focused on the story of Bloody Mary, with a new twist added to it, which was presented to tourists in a video at the beginning of the hospital tour. 

   “The video told the story of Mary (played by Alessandra Gavris), a young girl brought to the hospital by her mother (played by Farrah Zerola), had an operation that went horribly wrong, and her spirit was haunting the hospital, and each of the rooms within the hospital were haunted,” Gavris said.  

   During the whole tour and the haunted house preparation process, sophomores worked collaboratively to enjoy this event as a grade. 

   “Obviously the haunted house was a great fundraiser for our grade, but I think our grade as a whole learned a lot from this experience. We learned what things went well and how we can run even more successful events in the future. Many volunteers also got to try something new while having fun with their friends,” Whitworth said. 

   With this student cooperation and the desire to produce the best-ever haunted house, the haunted house planning board—consisting of students, faculty, and parents—planned out a clear tour for the guests. 

   “Tour guests were guided by tour guides to the video room to understand the ‘Mary storyline,’ walked by the famous evening janitor (played superbly by Dr. Warby) who warned people not to proceed because the ‘hauntings were happening!’” Gavris said. “Then, guests were guided through the blacked-out halls to the reception desk, the emergency room, the operating room, the morgue and the crematorium, then to the grand finale as Mary appears waiting for the final scare.”

   With all of the breathtaking rooms, completing this scary tour was an achievement for visitors.

   “Each room had different color lighting, sounds and music to add to the creepiness. At the end, we even gave out stickers that said “I SAW MARY” as tour guests were leaving.”

   With this cohesive theme, some people believed that this year’s haunted house was superior to prior haunted houses. 

   “The haunted house was much more scary than our sophomore haunted house,” Wood said. “One of the things why it was better was because it was inside rather than outside. I think the sophomores had a better grasp on what they wanted to do for the haunted house.”

   Parents and faculty are delighted by the accomplishments of the sophomore haunted house, and look forward to more events in the future. 

   “Overall, the 10th graders should be so proud. They did an amazing job, and I hope the haunted hospital will be tucked away as a fond memory of their high school years,” Gavris said. 

   To learn more about the collaborative efforts of the sophomores during the haunted house preparations, and their excitement and goals before the haunted house was presented, read the preview article. https://wildcattracks.weston.org/3688/features/class-of-2025-pr…ted-house-at-whs/

Photos in gallery are courtesy of Sandra Gavris.

Gallery|4 Photos