If you know me, you know that Halloween is, undoubtedly, my favorite holiday. I love all manner of all things spooky and supernatural: horror movies, spine-chilling thrillers, haunted houses, and trashy reality shows like Scare Tactics centered on paranormal-themed pranks. I mean, I used to shop at Hot Topic. Is it any surprise that I adore Halloween so much?
Halloween at Oberlin was a welcome change from my previous high school Halloweens relegated to watching scary movies with my dad. Don’t get me wrong: I loved watching things like The Exorcist, Hostel, and Halloween on the eeriest night of the year. But I also wanted to join in on the fun! In college, costumes became normalized again and I found that people were much more willing to indulge in festivities all month long. I wanted to get myself hyped up for the holiday by consistently participating in only the spookiest, most autumnal of activities. Have no doubt, I will continue to seek appropriately fall-related adventures until it’s too close to December to plausibly delay any longer.
Fall Festival
Starting off with the least spooky event, my friends and I attended the Fall Festival at Miller’s Apple Hill! My friend who drove us there had decked out her car in seasonally appropriate decorations: pumpkin streamers above the seats, leaf decals, and cozy pillows piled up in the back. Listening to songs like Sweater Weather on the drive over, it felt like something from an indie movie. At Miller’s Apple Hill, we took a hayride to a pumpkin patch and took adorable pictures clutching pumpkins that we weren’t strong enough to carry back. There were various food and crafts vendors to shop from, farm animals to pet, and a playset for children. Much of our time was spent admiring all the incredible treats there were to purchase. Everything smelled either of pumpkin, apple, cinnamon, or some combination of the three. You can be certain that I left with a significant amount of pastries stuffed into my bag: the apple fritters in particular were amazing.
Haunted House
I’ll let you in on a little secret: the first haunted house I ever went to, I cried at. It was at the Minnesota State Fair and I was in 7th grade—bawling my eyes out, grasping my friend’s shirt and burying my face into her shoulder. It was not my proudest moment, especially given that small children were walking ahead of me. For the years after that (frankly embarrassing) experience, I developed a love for horror movies and, thus, a stronger constitution for jump scares. Ever since then, I had been desperate to redeem myself in the eyes of… um, haunted houses, I guess? My point being: I was older now, I was stronger. For my quivering, 13-year-old self, I needed to prove that I could handle the scares now. So, over fall break, I reconnected with an old friend and we made plans to conquer Minnesota’s Dead End Hayride. It all turned out to be a very Midwestern experience. We drove out an hour to Wyoming, Minnesota, and devoured our Culver’s sandwiches in the car. In the line for the hayride, I was bouncing laughing and bouncing nervously in anticipation of all the scares. When it finally came our turn to get on the hayride, I elected to sit on the edge of the cart, wanting to take full advantage of the ride and truly get my money’s worth. And oh boy, did I ever. Before we were sent off to our doom, the ride operator made a few announcements: “Make sure to stay seated the whole time. And if you get too scared, you can always push the red button below your seat to stop the ride.” I looked down at my seat, there was no red button. Almost as soon as the cart was driven away from the entrance, the frights began. Clowns, zombies, chainsaw-wielding maniacs, creepy dolls, you name it! I was invited for a date at the butcher’s shop (I declined), asked if I would lend a limb (I wouldn’t), and engaged in a staring contest with a zombie who conceded his defeat by screaming. The frights were all uniquely-themed and sufficiently shriek-inducing: a Texas Chainsaw Massacre-style farmhouse, an alien-infested space station, and a creepy circus, just to name a few! Did I jump and scream too many times to count? Yes. But did I also leave more exhilarated than quivering (unlike last time)? Yes.
Nosferadiohead-tu?
Fittingly, I am taking a gothic literature class this fall. So, when my professor discovered that Oberlin’s local movie theater, the Apollo Theater, was showing the classic vampire silent film Nosferatu, she kindly purchased us all tickets to attend together. The special thing about this viewing, though, was that the film was synced up with different Radiohead songs, adding an auditory element. I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout to the theater, the space seemed to be fully packed with both students and townies alike. Let me tell you: there’s nothing more perfect for Halloween than to fall under the uncanny spell of the “Horror Movie That Started It All” while melancholic, 90s rock shudders through the speakers. The combination of Thom Yorke’s fragile, almost ghostly vocals with the darkly beautiful imagery of Nosferatu made for a wonderfully otherworldly experience. I do have one critique of the screening, though: they never played Creep.
