Brace yourself for some chilling photos of the Alpha Psi haunted house
Written and Photgraphed by Marissa Graf, Staff Writer
Putting on the annual haunted house is a long-standing tradition for Alpha Psi Omega, the National Theatre Honor Society. This year, Alpha Psi member Sawyer Ahmad was in charge of organizing the event. Much more work goes into creating a show like this than one might think.
Ahmad was inspired by haunted houses of years past. Their layout was inspired by the 2018 production when Aurora (Rah) Hadzic redid the haunted house layout, creating a version similar to this year with the guest being led through different rooms in the Ida Green basement.
The entire event was a joint effort. Ahmad had help from Juno Forbus, the leader of the 2019 haunted house, and the other members of Alpha Psi to decide on ideas, themes, decorations, and costumes. “While I planned the basics, I let the group and the new members have some creative freedom with it,” said Ahmad.
This year’s haunted house featured a clown room, vampire hallway, serial killers, and more. Ahmad pitched initial themes and ideas for the different rooms and let the team develop them. For example, the actors in the vampire hallway wanted to insult the guests as they walked through and Pan Brigwater had creative liberty when setting up the tv studio only knowing that they would be dressing up as a serial killer.
Despite the difficulty of many moving parts, Ahmad and the rest of the team pulled off a successful haunted house. Because it was during homecoming weekend, alumni attended, as well as students, professors, and even some kids. During my walks through the haunted house, it was great seeing how much fun the Alpha Psi members were having in their costumes, as well as the guests. Some were genuinely scared while others just enjoyed walking through with their friends and seeing them get scared.
Here are a couple “favorite moments” from the cast and crew (some have been minorly edited for length and clarity):
Sawyer Ahmad ’23: “My favorite part would have to be the very end of the haunted house. At 9:45pm I went down the elevator with the “elevator man,” Larry Ramirez, and met the tour guides. As we went through each scare one last time, I told everyone the pizza was waiting in the arena. Instead of going for the food everyone we passed joined our group. By the last room we had made a parade of people chanting and cheering. It was one of the most awesome things I was a part of.”
Chloë Bachofen ’22: “The comic relief with the wacky “British” people hurling insults.”
Olivia Trusty ’22: “As a creepy tour guide I really loved seeing all the different group dynamics. While some people were leaning into the experience and laughing with the actors, other groups were genuinely scared and doing the classic “No you go first no wait you go first! Hold my hand!!” This was a very different theater experience for me and I really loved getting to be a part of it!”
Zoe Crews ’22: “For me, my favorite part is the behind the scenes stuff and all the fun that we have together in between groups!”Sarah Harper ’22: “I was in the clown room. I had so much fun because the people that participated were really invested in creating a genuinely scary haunted house while also being respectful of people’s space. The zombie and the vampire rooms were super cool because all of the people involved were very committed to their roles. I think the nun part was also extremely haunting!”
Cast members getting their makeup done 
Sonia Charales as a creepy nun 
Cast members getting ready for the run-through 
Mya Flores jumping out from behind a curtain to scare the guests 
Zoe Crews and other cast members dressed as scary dolls 
Pan and Alora as serial killer and victim 
Sarah Harper dressed as a clown 
Siran Berberian, bloodied and screaming 
Percy Stout as Morty the theater ghost 
Shannon Fagen and Bird Luker dressed as vampires, insulting the guests as they pass through 
Brinn Flores as another insulting vampire 
Sean as a zombie 
Amina, Rhys, Chloe, Olivia, Deedee, and Agui as creepy hosts
