Students enjoy annual Howl Halloween Party
Men fitting through toilet seats, students holding tarantulas and nine tarot card readers were just a few of the activities at the concert-less Howl on Saturday night.
Despite a $15,000 budget cut, students said they saw improvements in activities and line waits.
“I went to the Howl once when I was 18, and it was definitely better this year,” said Ashley Hunt, who came to the event with her husband Logan. “Me and my friend left early last time because we didn’t like it very much, so this year’s great. This year we walked right in, we didn’t have to wait at all.”
The event stretched through all three floors of the Taggart Student Center and continued to the Nelson Fieldhouse where students could find DJ Marcus Wing providing music for the night.
Nicole Montgomery, a freshman from University of Utah, came to the Howl for the first time based off the event’s reputation.
“We heard it’s one of the most popular parties in Utah for Halloween. The most exciting thing here we can’t wait to see is the dance. It’s gonna be crazy,” Montgomery said.
Megan Gasienica, also a freshman from the University of Utah, said she enjoyed the environment.
“So far, I like all the cool costumes and all the people, everyone has been really nice and not too creepy. A guy did come up to me at one point and put his arm around me and said ‘Let’s go, girl’ and started dancing with me,” she said. “It was awesome.”
The USU Dance Team performed several times throughout the night. Eden Kershisnik, a sophomore majoring in journalism and communication, took part in the team this year. Kershisnik said the performances happened throughout the building, rather than the stage.
“Well, there’s the witches, and they’re trying to possess the kids. I’m a kid, and then there’s priests who are trying to save us,” Kershisnik said. “We just have to walk around and scare people and stay in character. I think it’s kind of hard, like I’ve been performing since six o’clock. I feel like there was more people last year.”
Logan Hunt was in the audience at the hypnotist show when he became part of the act and danced on the stage like a supermodel.
“When I was hypnotized, I was aware of what I was doing, but not afraid to do anything, to act out or whatever. I was following the instructions that I heard. The audience wasn’t even there for me, if that makes sense,” he said. “I feel more energized. Not woozy, but more aware of my surroundings. I would say I remember all of it, just takes a second to recollect it. It doesn’t feel like a whole hour at all.”
The Howl was a first for Kali Roche, a student majoring in business. She said the event was fun, but there’s room for improvement.
“I would say next year to have more things going, like more events for people who don’t have any dance moves, like jump houses. That’d be sick,” she said.
Roche and her friend, Kristen Brangsma, couldn’t help but shriek when they held the creatures at the Creepy Crawler Encounters activity. Tarantulas, scorpions and beetles and other creatures were available to be held.
“That was fun, that was the funnest thing I’ve done. It really embraces Halloween,” Brangsma said.
Brangsma, a student from College of Southern Idaho, was at the Howl for the first time as well.
“I just heard a lot of good things about it. And I have some friends here, so I wanted to come check it out. It’s pretty awesome, lot of fun things to do. You feel a lot of adrenaline.”
Roche and Brangsma had been to the dance after waiting in the line to get in for quite some time.
“I think that should split up the dance more, there’s so many people. It’s so crowded, like you can’t really move,” Brangsma said.
Jonah Leavitt, a freshman majoring in business, said he enjoyed his first Howl experience, though he ran into a few problems getting in with his punk outfit.
“I have tattoos, and I had a chain, but they took it away. And I had a stack of fake hundred-dollar bills. They took those away too. I don’t know if I’ll get them back,” he said.
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