“Wow! Cool costume!” a helper at the sign-in desk exclaims, as a tiny Spiderman waddles up. “Are you excited for trick-or-treating?”

3 p.m. – Chaos and anticipation arose on Halloween afternoon, as local Milwaukee kids and their parents arrived for the annual Trick-or-Treating through Marquette’s residence halls.

Megan Janni, the Program Chair of the Residence Hall Association, said “Seven hundred sixty-one kids are registered to trick-or-treat, which is 100 more kids than last year!”

There were two times available for trick-or-treating: From 3:00- 4:30 p.m. kids could trick-ortreat through the west halls, or from 4:30- 6:00 p.m. kids could trick-ortreat through the east halls.

Leading the trick-or-treaters were Marquette students called “gHOSTs” (pronounced guh-host). One hundred ten gHOSTs signed up this year. For every group of nine kids there were 1-2 gHOSTs and one parent/chaperone.

4:30 p.m. - Like the silence before the storm, Cobeen Hall awaited its trick-ortreaters. Desk Receptionists sat cautiously on duty. Halloween decorations hung spookily in the halls. Girls sat patiently, waiting to distribute candy. Yet, the kids did not arrive until….

4:55 p.m. - The first trick-or-treaters arrived! The gHOST gave the DR their MU ID, allowing the entire group of anxious, costumed trick-or-treaters to enter the realms of candy-hander-outers. Yes, that’s the technical term. The journey through Cobeen Hall starts on the second floor and proceeds up to the eighth. Kids rushed through the open doors, and the chaperones reiterate “Only take one piece of candy each!” The ring of “trick-or-treat” and “thank-you!” was heard as the resident girls dropped assorted candies into the kids’ bags and complimented them on their costumes.

Third floor resident Camille Dihiansan said, “My favorite part about handing out candy is seeing all the kid’s costumes.”

5:25 p.m. - A half hour later, the trick-or-treaters arrived on the sixth floor. Kids were antsy and becoming less cautious with the decorations. Toilet paper streamers were caught on costumes and shoes, while spider-webs were snagged in hair and on masks. Also, a traffic jam occurred on the seventh floor (the cause: 2 baby carriages clogging the hall).

5:42 p.m. - Hooray! The trick-or-treaters reached the top floor. Candy bags have grown quite heavy. Some kids drag their bags on the ground, while some cradle their candy bags because of broken handles.

The gHOSTs made sure to emphasize the importance of sharing their candy with brothers and sisters, and also brushing their teeth to avoid cavities. Then the trick-or-treaters started their trek down the eight flights of stairs.

5:55 p.m. - A unanimous decision was made to take a bathroom break once the group reaches the second floor lounge. While the kids took turns, the chaperone informed the group that she had come trick-or-treating at Marquette with groups for the past 15-20 years.

“This year, there was a lot more candy!” she proclaimed.

6:05 p.m. - The fun did not end once trick-or-treating was over. Groups retreated back to the AMU basement for a Halloween party, where many of the residence halls had created fun activity booths for the kids. Mashuda made scary-face puppets, McCormick painted faces, and O’Donnell had toilet paper races. The party gave the kids room to celebrate a little more, provided closure to the Halloween festivities and allowed the gHOSTs and chaperone’s a chance to rest.

Elizabeth Burke, a gHOST, who stood at the after-party, clutched by little kids and holding two bags of candy, said “I love being a gHOST. I miss [little kids] at home. I love seeing how happy they get trick-or-treating.”

Popularity: 7% [?]

It is that time of year again. As Halloween approaches once more, people are inextricably drawn to horror movies. Seeing as how it is psychologically healthy to watch movies that shock, terrorize and desensitize us, I have come up with my own list of movies to watch this Halloween.

“Dracula”

The original movie staring Bela Lugosi is truly terrifying. I especially like how every time Dracula is about to grab someone’s neck with his teeth the movie fades to black and does not show the actual act! Give it up for horror movies made during the end of the Victorian era! Want to be really scared? Know that this movie probably offended people when it was made.

“Van Helsing”

Given the increasingly short attention spans of American audiences, Universal Studio executives decided to make a movie with not just one or two monsters, but as many as they could fit in. I am sure this decision had nothing to do with the re-release of those classic Universal monster movies such as “The Wolfman,” “Dracula” and “Frankenstein.” “Van Helsing” goes above and beyond with both its rich character development and realistic special effects. Seriously.

“Underworld 1 and 2”

Question: How can you improve upon a movie about vampires at war with werewolves?Answer: By adding Kate Beckinsale and lots of political intrigue.

The low budget original was followed by a bigger sequel with more violence and a pretty good “final death” sequence for the lead bad guy.

“Alien”

Some people call this movie the scariest of all time Having seen it a number of times I think it is safe to say it is pretty tame by today’s standards. However, given the fact that every other science fiction or horror movie shamelessly rips off what it originally did, maybe there is something to that title.

The “Saw” Movies

Ah yes, the slasher movies. Seriously who would not want to watch a movie about a sick character that goes around kidnapping people and forcing them to dismember themselves? There is even a new one coming out on October 26. However, you may just want to wait until the unrated version comes out on DVD.

Popularity: 22% [?]

Ghost sightings from around Marquette’s campus.

Straz

Formerly a YMCA, Straz is said to be home to a young ghost boy, nicknamed either “Whispering Willie” or “Petey.” He reportedly drowned in the swimming pool, and has since been swimmingwithstudents in the Rec Plex and haunting the basement. He is also frequently blamed for unexplained events in the building.

Varsity Theatre

It is said that a projector operator took a smoke break by a large ventilation fan off the balcony. Somehow, his clothes were caught in the fan and pulled him in. He was cut into pieces. He is never seen around the theater, but he is said to still help out around the theater locking doors and turning on lights.

Johnston Hall

In the 1960s, two Jesuits committed suicide by jumping off the fifth floor balcony. Students have seen two faces in the windows, heard unexplainable footsteps and voices, and felt temperatures suddenly plunge. Also, a Native American spirit reportedly haunts the basement of Johnston Hall, which was supposedly constructed on top of the Mascoutens Indian tribe’s burial ground. This reportedly angered the ghost, causing him to appear in a pale blue light and bring extreme cold.

Helfaer Theatre

This theater, they say, is haunted by a former Artistic Director who died right in Studio 13. He is occasionally seen in the studio, but mostly just thumps around the catwalks.

Humphrey

Formerly Milwaukee’s Children’s Hospital, the basement (formerly the old morgue) and the upper floors have been renovated, but the downstairs lobby remains exactly the same as the old hospital. The ghost of a little girl, dressed in a white hospital gown reportedly wanders the fifth floor. If she thinks a student has seen her, she runs away, vanishes around corners, and passes through solid walls. Screams, laughter, and crying from other children have been heard late at night. DPS has even reported seeing images of children on their monitors!

Mashuda

On the fifth floor, a girl reportedly committed suicide some years ago. Residents who have since lived there reported poltergeist activity, such as written words on fogged-up windows, flying objects, and a plethora of peculiar sounds. However, a priest apparently came in and blessed the room and performed an exorcism of sorts. The activity has since ceased.

Written by Kristin Juza and Sarah Rossella

Popularity: 4% [?]

Seven years before the first publication of Bram Stoker’s gothic novel, “Dracula,” Stoker wrote down on a piece of paper: “Young man goes out, sees girls one tries to kiss him not on the lips but throat. Old Count interferes – rage & fury diabolical – this man belongs to me I want him.”

This comes from a bad dream and later becomes a fictional journal entry of Jonathan Harker, one of the several characters in Dracula. Ironically enough, the events of the novel do resemble that of a horrific dream.

The novel begins with Harker’s travel to Transylvania, where he meets Count Dracula to discuss real estate transactions. During his stay in the Count’s castle, Harker encounters many strange things. One of them is the Count crawling “down the castle wall over the dreadful abyss, face down, with his cloak spreading out around him like great wings.”

As the story leaves Transylvania and travels to London, England, the protagonists, Harker’s fiancŽe, Mina Murray, Professor Van Helsing, Doctor John Seward, American-born Quincey Morris and Arthur Holmwood are introduced into the novel. Having lost Mina’s sister, Lucy, to the demonic ways of the Count, the protagonists set up a mission to save Harker from the Count and destroy Count Dracula forever.

In the revised edition of “Dracula,” Christopher Frayling, author of the preface, said that Stoker wrote his thoughts down on notepaper while “on a run in hotels, on trains, in libraries, and leaving from London’s Lyceum Theater,” where Stoker worked. This revelation presents theories on what could have given Stoker the idea to write the novel in an epistolary style, where he uses a collection of journal and diary entries, letters, newspapers clippings and telegrams to tell the events happening in the lives of the characters.

This style, however, does bring the reader right into the story. As Harker, Mina, Helsing and the others write down their thoughts in their journals, diaries or letters, because the reader feels what the characters feel, from confusion, sadness, anguish, anger and joy, at the same moment that the characters felt it. Because the story is presented this way, it gives the novel rawness and authenticity that can be lost in most fictional literary works.

Although the characters have witnessed strange things ever since the Count has settled in London, the reader can take comfort in knowing that the events have already happened.

While Mina, Helsing, Morris, Seward, Harker and Holmwood are diligently trying to figure out what it is that disrupts their peaceful lives, the reader uncovers the clues presented in the writing entries before the characters do because of the advantage the reader has in going back from past entries. Therefore, the reader is always a step ahead of the characters. The anticipation is in the waiting for the characters to come to the same conclusion that the reader has already come to.

With the many vampire novels on the bookshelves, it is easy to read Stoker’s “Dracula” knowing what will happen in each chapter. We even have the option of putting the book down to watch Francis Ford Coppola’s take on Dracula instead. That is if you want to be disappointed. But if you are interested in being terrified by a literary work, Stoker’s “Dracula” is an excellent choice. This book will have you checking to see what lurks behind you.

Here are some other books that will leave you wanting to keep the lights on for the night:

• “The Silence of the Lambs” by Thomas Harris
• “Interview with the Vampire” by Anne Rise
• “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson
• “It” by Stephen King
• “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley
• “The Turn of the Shrew” by Henry Jame

Popularity: 23% [?]

Halloween is the perfect excuse for students to go out of their way to get scared. And what better way to be scared this season, apart from waiting for midterm grades, than to find a haunted house?

The Warrior staff went to Morgan Manor in Waukesha hoping to experience the gripping terror that only comes around on Halloween. Loosely based on the legend of Morgan le Fay, the haunted house recounted the story of how she terrorized the citizens of Waukesha years ago.

Owned by Ann Marie and Tim Gavinski, Morgan Manor has so much variety visitors never know what will scare them. The Gavinskis wanted an array of emotions and experiences that were scary, creepy and sometimes funny. Gavinski described Morgan Manor as “a fantastic theatrical production.”

“We have been doing this professionally for four years,” said Tim Gavinski. He described their profession as “professional haunters.”

Fear was not lacking at Morgan Manor, as various monsters and ghouls approached people as they arrived, and frightened patrons before they entered the house.

As they attempted to fend off monsters, many spoke of their courage, and how they would not be scared. But just a few minutes inside the house the tone changed.

After a short wait, the Warriors were able to enter the Manor. Anyone who expected the haunted house to be little more than blacked out walls with hooded monsters randomly jumping out would have been sorely mistaken.

The Manor every ghoul expected with all the appropriate fear factors. The house oozes with monsters, crawly bugs and surprises around every corner, and shocking patrons into an instant state of panic and fear.

One such room is the laundry room with the ghoulish wash-woman screaming that she “can’t get the blood out,” as visitors navigate a maze of hanging blood stained laundry. Around the corner, a nursery with all sorts of children’s dolls hanging from the ceiling and scary suprises that would send Chucky running for cover. The Warriors were especially scared by the study where Morgan le Fay composed a special letter written in blood.

With no shortage of rooms and scares aplenty, tense visitors moved through the house hallways, where portraits changed to ghoulish faces at a second glance and side rooms snuck up on the unaware.

And what haunted house would be complete without a dining room only Tim Burton would feel comfortable eating in?

In the atrium visitors were advised not to exit, but to continue through the house. Some things should not be revealed, but without giving too much away, be careful what you touch. This haunted house may be too interactive for the faint of heart.

If Morgan Manor is not enough, there are more intense frights and scares waiting a few feet away. Morgan Manor has two haunts: Morgan Manor and Morgana’s Torment for the especially brave. Of the seven Warriors that went, two ventured to brave Morgan’s Torment.

More intense and faster paced, Morgana’s Torment leads people through torture chambers where victims scream for release, a swamp that has a surprise of its own and every other sort of nightmare come to life.

The entire experience would lead some to ask how anyone was able to create a ghostly encounter that rivals theme park haunted houses just outside of Milwaukee. In 2002, the Gavinskis began their haunted house with a haunted corn maze for kids. With help from 15 friends working as actors, the maze was a neighborhood hit. After a couple of years of this successful enterprise the Gavinskis decided to go professional with chills and thrills.

For more information on Morgan Manor , students can visit, http://www.nightmares4u.com/tickets.htm

Popularity: 4% [?]

The leaves are changing colors, the wind is getting cooler and squirrels are frantically running around Raynor Library trying to stash nuts in their mouths. It can only mean one thing: Fall is upon us! And even better, Halloween is only a few short weeks away.Although most of us are considered legal adults, we still feel the urge to get dressed up ridiculously funny and, for the ladies, sometimes risque. With these being the last years we are allowed to engage in such childish shenanigans, we have to make it count.

So with that in mind, here is your checklist for Marquette Halloween Success. It includes everything from finding the perfect costume to what to do on campus that evening.

Making your own costumes
For those of us who have limited budgets for the spirit of Halloween (with the majority of the money going to spirits), here are a few great costume ideas for the person on a tight budget.

• Use household items in your dorm or apartment to create your costume whether you rip off your old bed sheets and put holes in them, like Good Ol’ Charlie Brown, or wrap yourself in toilet paper and go as a mummy. Impulsive grabbing, gluing and wrapping seem to work well in this situation.
• For the guys: Take the taboo out of Halloween and raid your girlfriend’s closet to go as a girl. This is the ONLY time that it is kosher for a guy to sport high heels and eyeliner in broad daylight, so take advantage!
• For the ladies: Obviously Halloween takes on a different meaning. As referenced in the movie Mean Girls, “Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.” With that in mind, girls don’t need to spend $40 dollars on a small leotard and fuzzy bunny ears. Instead, go raid your sister’s closet and just use her clothes, which are naturally a smaller size. With those bright and sparkly tight clothes, it will be easy to make the statement you want this Halloween season.
• And if you’re into the “group thang,” the best way to dress for success in a group is by giving everyone an equal opportunity in the costume department. With group costumes such as the Ghostbusters, Teenage Ninja Turtles or even Oompa Loompas, no one is singled out for having a better costume.

Buying your costumes
If you’re not in the creative mood and have a little extra cash to spend, there are a few great shops in Milwaukee that can hook you up with a great costume.

Value Village
With half-price weekends, this thrift shop is great for the bargain shopper in all of us. Located at 729 S. Layton Blvd., this shop houses clothes for people of all ages. But beware of the smell of savings, which smells akin to dirty clothes and moth balls.

Yellow Jacket
Found on the east side of Milwaukee at 2225 N. Humboldt Blvd., this vintage shop offers classic Halloween costumes, but for a bigger price. If you’re looking for that ‘70s touch to your outfit, or a ‘60s flare, go to Yellow Jacket.

Halloween Express
Located at 5679 S. 27th near Miller Park, the enormous tent in the shape of a smiling Jack-O-Lantern is hard to miss. Halloween Express sells your standard costumes and accessories, including boots, swords, makeup, fake teeth and wigs (oh my!). Watch out, though: All purchases are non-refundable.

What to do on the big nightFor most Marquette students, they look toward the bright lights of Madison to get their “scare-on” this Halloween. And by scare, I mean scared of running away from the cops and being tear-gassed. Aside from the usual route that Halloween takes this year, why not go back to the roots of Halloween and go trick-or-treating?

Neighboring towns, like Whitefish Bay, are known for giving out king-size candy this time of year. And if you really feel that awkward about being too old, drag your younger sister or brother with you, or just stay in the back of the Halloween group of kids. Wearing a mask is also ideal for the guys who sport the 5 o’clock shadow. And with the normal trick-or-treating hours ranging from 4:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., there is plenty of time to engage in the other “ritual” Halloween events.

Ghost hunting on Marquette’s campus!

If you want to get a real scare, however, look no further than a few buildings on Wisconsin Avenue.

• Straz Hall – “Whispering Willie,” a young boy who drowned in the swimming pool, has been spotted on the pool’s deck by those swimming laps.
• Johnston Hall – It is reported that in the 1960s, two Jesuits committed suicide from the 5th floor. Their faces have been seen in the reflection of windows, along with voices and footsteps. In addition to these frightful sightings, another visitor stalks the premises at the bottom of Johnston Hall. It is reported that a Native American haunts the area, because it once was to be the burial grounds of the Mascountens tribe.
• Cobeen Hall – The ghost in Cobeen Hall has been seen both in the stairwell as well as tearing down posters in rooms if he does not like them.
• Humphrey Hall – As a former children’s hospital with a working morgue still in the basement, the sound of children’s voices can still be heard in the basement and hallways.
• Mashuda Hall – When previously functioning as a Holiday Inn, it was reported that a person committed suicide in one of the room’s on the sixth floor.

Popularity: 4% [?]