For the 30th year, Elliott Hall promises scares and surprises on Halloween night.
The second annual Haunted Costume Ball will be from 8 p.m. to midnight today with a fee of $3 at the door. All proceeds will go to the Boys and Girls Club.
A group of about 10 Elliott Hall residents have met every Thursday for weeks to plan the Ball. Leo Ortega, Haunted Ball chair, said he wanted to incorporate different Halloween activities besides dancing to professional Disc jockey Brian Bauman's play list.
The Ball will have specialty areas like a mad scientist lab for refreshments, horror movies, pool, free photos with friends, a dungeon equipped with stocks and surprises around every corner.
"If you want, you can invite your friends over to the dance floor," Ortega said. "Then, you can tell one of us you want them locked up. We drag them away and stock them up all for a small donation of about fifty cents or a dollar. We'll hold them for about a minute or two and send them back to the dance floor."
Ortega, who will be dressed as Christopher Walken as the tooth fairy for the Ball, said attendees are encouraged to use creativity for costumes. In past years, students have dressed like Amy Winehouse and Sonny and Cher, according to senior creative writing major Megan Light.
Several attendees will have the opportunity to win prizes and be recognized in the costume contest because people will be judged on four categories: best overall costume, scariest, sexiest and best group.
"Just putting a sheet over your head with eyeholes and going 'boo' doesn't cut it," Ortega said.
The mad scientist lab will be decorated with donated glass containers from Elliott residents and gross "specimens" for display. In addition, the horror movie area will be showing flicks like Poltergeist. Man-made decorations may not be the only spooky elements of the Ball. WWII Veteran William Schaumburg supposedly hung himself after a series of unfortunate events on a rafter on the fourth floor. Ortega said he believes William's ghost will be present at the Ball.
"One night, I was watching TV in the room and the TV screen went to a commercial, so it was black for a second," Ortega said. "On the rafter he hung himself, I saw a figure swing. I turned back and nothing was there."
In the past, Elliott Hall's fourth floor was converted into a haunted house rather than a Ball, Light said. Although the haunted house could be compared to that of professional haunted houses, a dance is much easier to plan and more people attend.
"It would get very tiresome having to put it [haunted house] on night after night after night, not knowing if you were going to have the same amount of people show up," Light said. "Whereas, with the dance, you've got everything to go right when the dance starts. It's only one night ... and it's just one big hullabaloo."
Graduate student Marianne Honrath, majoring in Student Affairs Administration and Higher Education, sent 19,322 e-mails to advertise for the Ball.
Also, Honrath believes the Resident Hall Association was supportive of the event. Sophomore Paul Retseck, an elementary education major, completed the proposal for the Ball's budget. Retseck said RHA provided enough money for various aspects: $150 for the DJ, $200 for decorations and prizes, and $197 for refreshments and drinks.
"I think it's really important to give them a big thank you for that," Honrath said.
Elliott Hall historyArchitect George Schreiber designed Elliott and it was constructed between 1937 and 1939. The building cost almost $400,000 to build.
The Ball family provided funds to build Elliott, the first male residence hall. The building is named after Frank Elliott Ball who died in a 1936 plane crash. A picture of him, his obituary, a Bible, American flag and miniature airplane are within the building.
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