The spooky sounds of classic Halloween tracks echoed across campus, along with the glow of the orange string lights that were spread throughout the Haunted Harvest Festival on Oct. 30. 

Hundreds of students gathered in front of the USU on the chilly evening to celebrate Halloween and participate in the festival from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.. 

After checking in, the majority of the students went straight in line to get a warm slice of free pizza. Once everyone ate, they went on to participate in the many activities at the festival. 

Pumpkin painting was a popular activity for the night. There were plenty of miniature pumpkins piled on a table for students to choose from, as well as miniature sugar skulls. 

Although it was cold, students appeared to be having fun.  A hot chocolate stand was available so students could keep warm while painting their pumpkins.

Sydneé Gathings, a third-year student, sat at one of the tables painting The Nightmare Before Christmas themed pumpkins with her friends. She picked out a plain white pumpkin and started painting the pumpkin like Jack Skellington, while one friend painted Sally and the other friend painted the Oogie Boogie man.

“My favorite Halloween movie growing up was and still is The Nightmare Before Christmas,” Gathings said.

The more daring students decided to hop in line and enter the Haunted Harvest Festival’s frightening maze. In the first section of the maze, circus music played as a bunch of crazy clowns popped up.. As students  kept walking, they encountered creepy hospital patients. Before exiting the maze, they had to get through a foggy graveyard first. The screams from the students could be heard from all the way out of the maze.

Victoria Del Rosario, a third-year student, walked out of the maze laughing. 

“The adrenaline from being scared, pumped me up. Seeing my friends getting scared definitely made me feel less scared. It was so funny to see their reactions to all the scary looking characters in there! The maze was done pretty well,” said Rosario.

For students who  didn’t feel like getting scared, blankets were spread across the lawn where they relaxed and played games such as jumbo Jenga and jumbo Connect 4. 

To make the night more memorable, students also had the chance to take  pictures at the autumn themed photo booth. 

Pikachu and a panda bear made a surprise appearance – many students enjoyed taking silly pictures with these characters as well. 

Alissa Colbert, a third-year student, said that her favorite holiday of the year is Halloween. 

She said, “I usually spend Halloween binge-watching Disney Channel Halloween movies. The best series is Halloween Town for sure. This year I’m dressing up as the devil and passing out candy for the kids.” 

The activities appeared to put many students in a great Halloween spirit.