- A doll-themed haunted house on Halloween marked the first collaboration between ASB Social and the drama department.
- The event was located in Studio 74, which was revamped to be filled with black drapes and eerie music.
- This event opens doors for ASB collaboration with other Lynbrook communities in the future.
Shrieks and boos filled Studio 74’s hallways as a drama student dressed as a creepy doll jumped out from the darkness as part of the new haunted house event on Oct. 31. The event marked the first collaboration between ASB Social and the drama department, and was one of two ASB Halloween activities alongside ASB Spirit’s annual trick-or-treating event.
This year, ASB Social commissioners sought to create more events beyond established traditions like Homecoming. To that end, sophomore and ASB Social commissioner Henry Wang pitched his idea for a haunted house.
“I thought a haunted house would be very cool,” Wang said. “One of my favorite holidays is Halloween, so I planned the original details.”
Wang initially wanted to use the ASB den as the venue, but with feedback from ASB adviser Anna Kirsh, Wang decided to pursue a collaboration with the drama department, using Studio 74 instead.
“Their room has many special lights and a sound system,” Wang said. “It’s pretty unique since it’s big and has a stage area we sectioned off.”
Drama teacher and department lead Larry Wenner was initially hesitant to collaborate, but seeing other schools’ haunted houses, he thought that it would be an enjoyable experience for students.
“I thought it might be complicated, but the students seemed very energetic to do it,” Wenner said. “It’s a way to get students involved with Halloween, so it seemed like a fun thing to do.”
ASB Social and the drama department navigated unpredictable challenges when planning the event. Since this was Lynbrook’s first haunted house, ASB Social didn’t have previous events to take inspiration from and leaned mostly on online research. Although ASB and the drama department were not used to planning events together, ASB Social commissioners frequently updated Wenner on their progress, allowing a smooth planning and execution process.
“Between Homecoming, Winter Formal and Halloween, I was hesitant to have them plan another event at first,” Kirsh said. “But the ASB Social commissioners have handled it beautifully.”
Traditionally, haunted houses include spooky decorations, frightening actors and jump scares. With the goal of replicating these features, ASB Social and the drama department filled Studio 74 with black drapes and eerie music, transforming it into a haunting atmosphere that gave students chills.
In years past, students would visit classrooms at lunch in Halloween costumes for ASB Spirit’s annual trick-or-treating event. With the addition of the haunted house, which was open during tutorial, lunch and after school, ASB Spirit moved trick-or-treating to only brunch of the same day.
“Lunch gave us a larger time span to pass out candy,” junior and ASB Spirit commissioner Rohin Saharoy said. “However, we shifted it around to adapt to the inclusion of the haunted house.”
The collaboration between ASB and an external group on campus opens the doors to future possibilities, including additional collaborations with the drama department, all with a goal to increase student engagement.
“We’ve collaborated with cultural clubs before on events like Dia de los Muertos,” Kirsh said. “We haven’t done a ton of collaboration with departments, but it’s a cool idea, and we’re always happy to expand our community beyond ASB.”
ASB Social envisions their new haunted house to be a recurring annual event, hoping to add a fun and spooky element to Lynbrook’s Halloween atmosphere.
“My goal from the start was to let students have fun,” Wang said. “I’ve been in a few haunted houses and I wanted to bring that experience to Lynbrook.”
