The smell of pumpkin spice is in the air, from the free candy to the creepy costumes, the season for haunted houses is here.
During the month of October, haunted house attractions sprout up across Texas to bring thrilling experiences to fans of spooky adventures. These haunted attractions even show up on Texas States campus through student organizations.
The tradition of haunted houses is a long-standing tradition although many who enjoy them do not know how they got started nor where they came from. According to Monsters Inc. by Lily Rothman in Time Magazine, haunted houses date back centuries, but in the form of “ghost Shows.” As time has passed the attractions have become more and more horrific partly due to the increasing terror in Hollywood movies.
The fraternity, Phi Kappa Psi and the sorority Delta Zeta are two Greek organizations at Texas State teamed up together to bring a scary experience to students for $5 a person. The proceeds from the haunted house will go to the Starkey Hearing Foundation and The Boys and Girls Club of America. The houses ran until 10:30 p.m. at the Phi Kappa Psi house at 428 N Comanche St. Oct. 29-30.
According to Phi Kappa Psi’s president, Todd Podbielski, an urban planning junior, the Greek organizations started the haunted house as a unique way to raise money for their respective charities. In future years, Phi Kappa Psi and Delta Zeta intend to make it more of a carnival in addition to a haunted house to serve a greater audience, since scary is not for all.
“We are always trying to find new and innovative ideas to do fun philanthropies that will get more than just Greek and one organization involved,” Podbielski said. “Trying to get more people in the community involved, to get people that live on campus or live near campus something to do that’s fun and not super expensive and all the money goes to something that matters.”
Porter Chase, computer science senior, said he has been to several haunted houses throughout his lifetime.
“I feel like when you go to a haunted house everyone is on an even playing field,” Chase said. “So, if you get scared and your friend gets scared and their girlfriend or friend gets scared, it’s a lot more fun as a group.”
Laura Ross, fashion merchandising senior, has not had the best experiences with haunted houses. When Ross was ten years old, she went to a haunted house with her family at the state fair and only made it about halfway through before they had to carry her out because she became too scared.
“It was just the popping out parts that really scared me,” Ross said. “I don’t like clowns and it was filled with clowns.”