October marks the end of summer and the beginning of fall festivities which, in turn, brings about corn mazes, hot apple cider and most importantly, haunted houses. 

Mississippi State University’s Residence Hall Association along with other organizations on campus including the Panhellenic Council, Barnes and Noble, Black Student Association and Latino Student Association will sponsor and volunteer in the construction of a haunted house in Rice Hall.  

The house, named “Haunted,” will take place in Rice Hall Oct. 29 through Oct. 31 from 7-11 p.m.  

Rice Hall will transform into a Halloween wonderland, with a kids-only area that will be open from 7-8 p.m. and an all-dark time exclusively for students from 9-11 p.m. Tickets are $5 each and will be sold at the door.  

The event, which has taken place for the past eight years, was previously held at the Horse Park in Starkville. It has since moved to campus to make it more accessible for students, so they can have Halloween festivities within reach. It was also brought to campus so the Starkville community could have an inside view of the different organizations on campus.  

RHA President Deb Eseyin has high hopes for the event. 

 ”I hope that the Starkville community sees RHA’s haunted house as a chance to get in tune with the campus. We try to put on events, not for our benefit, but to get the community to rally and get them, and the students, involved on campus,” Eseyin said.

“I think the haunted house is important because it represents a big population of students, and the community getting to meet the organizations on campus who are helping to put it on,” Eseyin said.

Although this is Eseyin’s first year volunteering with the haunted house, she is enthusiastic all the same. Her job is to make sure that the event runs smoothly, and she is in charge of the volunteers for the event.  

The MSU Panhellenic Council is also sponsoring the event, and they are planning to provide snacks and pizza for everyone who comes out to the haunted house. 

Rachel Dumke, president of the Panhellenic Council, is ecstatic about the event. 

“Students and other members of the community should check out this event because it is the perfect way to get in the Halloween spirit, and it will be what everyone is talking about on campus. The Panhellenic Council is sponsoring this event because we were excited to see something this big being put on right here on campus,” Dumke said.  

RHA Program Director Cheyenne Simmons is in charge of supervising the program and is also in charge of the themes of each floor. This is not her first year volunteering for “Haunted.” 

However, since Simmons began, she said the expectations for the event have changed. 

“I want to reach everyone as much as possible, students and the general public. I just hope to have a successful event and to donate as much as possible to the Boys and Girls Club of Starkville. I also want to get the students to have a relaxing, yet scare-ful time, and just to make sure everyone has a good time,”  Simmons said.

According to Eseyin and Simmons, the haunted house is still taking volunteers. Volunteers will be given the option of different teams, such as actors, makeup artists, costume team or set up/tear down crew. For more information on volunteering, those interested can email either Eseyin or Simmons at [email protected] or [email protected].