Dickinson hosts Halloween Spectacular

The head of freshman Colin Zamow (center) is the main course in "Hell’s Kitchen" on floor one of Dickinson D for (from left) freshmen Aubrey Wisler, Matt Werline, Danielle Russo, Alison Hoban and Seth Hillstrom.

12:24 p.m., Oct. 31, 2005--Witches, werewolves, ghosties and goblins made their way through UD’s Dickinson Residence Complex, Oct. 26, for the residents’ second annual Halloween Spectacular, alternately being scared and plied with candy and trinkets.

Dickinson residents invited neighborhood and faculty children and parents to come in costume for the celebration. Newark Mayor Vance Funk stopped by to thank students for their efforts in making Halloween a safe and fun night for neighborhood kids and give them Newark T-shirts.

Most of the 21 floors in Dickinson’s six buildings were decorated by approximately 500 of its 738 students, residence assistants, hall directors and complex coordinator. There were haunted houses with scary inhabitants, funeral displays with ghosts and ghouls, tours of frightening places, games, best floor décor contests and candy--lots and lots of candy.

Judges Diana Vansant, senior secretary, and Carol Bedgar, staff assistant, both with Residence Life, chose floor one of Dickinson D as having the best décor and presentation.

“We loved that floor because everyone participated; the whole floor helped,” Vansant said. “When we got there, a guide took us on a tour of the floor. There was blood on mirrors and bodies wrapped in tape, knives stuck to the walls and cobwebs everywhere. As we were guided around the floor, we were forced to duck to get away from spooks. The lounge was decorated as Hell’s kitchen with a head as a table centerpiece and dead flowers and eyeballs on the table. They really scared us,” she said.

“Floor two in Dickinson B, which came in second, had a gangster funeral motif, and we sat with the mourners as they talked about the dead mobster. People around us were crying, and at the end of the funeral, the corpse sat up in the coffin,” she said.

Complex coordinator, Sami Nassim, said Dickinson definitely will be doing it again next year, “It’s an annual event,” he said.

Article by Barbara Garrison
Photo by Duane Perry

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