The Von der Ahe Family Suite filled with students from every class year. The room was abuzz with students excitedly talking about different ways to protect themselves against potential basement monsters or scary clowns. Projectors playing old Halloween films added to the suspense held in the air. No student knew about the haunted library maze they were about to embark on. While munching on Halloween candy and cookies, LMU students awaited The Haunting of Hannon V: Murders in the Rue Bibliotheque.
The Haunting of Hannon is co-sponsored by the Department of Theatre Arts and the William H. Hannon Library. Theater students and librarians teamed up to execute a scary maze inspired by scary stories, legends, and myths from authors like Edgar Allan Poe and Seabury Quinn. Nothing like being spooked by dead authors’ stories!
Students are transported into a limbo combining their college experience and scary stories from other time periods. Do you believe a person can die of fright? “A Lecture/Demonstration on Dying of Fright” portrayed a mad scientist and professor gone mad. Students were bound up, tied to a board, and were subjected to hideous experiments between classes to find out the truth. “The Horse of the Invisible” explored whether cheating in a relationship is scarier than an invisible horse murdering you in a McKay dorm room. Students screamed when the Ghost of the Third Floor quietly chose them as her victim and followed students through their haunted journey.
Junior English major Allison Ramirez said, “We heard so many good things from previous years and I was curious how scary it was. I want to see their acting skills and I want to be scared.” By far a student favorite was the levitating woman wearing a white dress. Her dripping black hair and obscured face foretold future deaths and horror. Tour groups were captivated by the lack of strings in the air, how she twisted, arched her body and the way her shrieks reverberated into an echo-filled basement. Another favorite was “A Séance” held in a hidden classroom on the third floor. In a pitch dark room, the tour group enters to witnesses the possession of a desperate woman looking for her lost sister. Watch out for the woman is possessed by an evil creature who still walks LMU’s campus!
A night of sold out back-to-back tours embraced shrieks, laughter, squealing, and witnessed friendships tested by human shields. A special thanks to William H. Hannon Library, the Theater Arts Faculty and Staff for putting on a spooky, spine-chilling event!
Today’s post was written by library student ambassador Cynthia Garcia. Cynthia a senior English major with a double minor in Women and Gender Studies and Chicana/o Latina/o Studies.Thank you, Cynthia!
You must be logged in to post a comment.