Friday, Oct. 30, AMP hosted its Hollywood Horror Haunted House, featuring film-inspired haunted paths and students as scare actors, in James Blair Hall at the College of William and Mary.
The second and third floors of Blair were transformed into a series of rooms inspired by psychological thrillers and horror films, including “Obsession” and “Frankenstein.” Each room featured a distinct theme, allowing visitors to move between different horror settings as they made their way through the haunted house.
Attendees began in a film room that AMP designed to introduce the concept of escaping horror movies. After watching a 30-second clip, the screen began to glitch, signaling the start of the haunted house experience. They then entered a room inspired by the psychological thriller “Obsession,” where Nikki, a character from the film, screamed at visitors.
The experience continued with scenes depicting mad scientists and medical horror, drawing inspiration from films such as “Frankenstein,” “The Exorcist” and “Dracula.” Each setting offered a different atmosphere, giving visitors little time to anticipate what they might encounter next.
On the third floor, eerie music led attendees into a room centered on killer clowns before they reached the final section, which drew inspiration from slasher films. Throughout the attraction, student scare actors appeared from behind tables, emerged from dark corners and surprised visitors as they moved between rooms. The combination of themed sets, lighting, sound effects and live performances helped create an immersive experience that kept attendees on edge.
Cameron Cooney ’29 is a member of AMP’s intern committee, which organized the event. Cooney explained that the different themes were designed to keep visitors guessing as they moved through the haunted house.
“It’s sort of a different experience every time you walk from a new room to a new path or another room,” he said.
According to intern committee member Nora Solomon ’29, the haunted house has been an event for many years, but to her knowledge, this is the first year that its theme has centered on horror films.
“Last year, from what I was told, the theme was like an outbreak of a virus, or interns one year were actually affected by a zombie virus and chased students around,” she said. “We tried to do something different.”
Every year, AMP’s intern committee organizes the Haunted House as its first project of the academic year.
Along with planning the rooms, AMP members also recruited student actors through sign-ups shared with other student organizations and on social media. The performers took on different roles throughout the haunted house, helping create the unexpected scares that visitors encountered as they moved between rooms.
Scare actor Jaden Grant ’28, who frightened visitors by emerging from a dark room on a unicycle, said he decided to participate after seeing an email asking for actors. Grant explained that he enjoys acting after taking a course during his freshman year and participating in a recent production of “Anna in the Tropics” at the College.
For attendees, the haunted house provided an opportunity to experience the work of AMP’s student organizers and performers. Elis Greenfield ’30, a first-time haunted house attendee, said the event exceeded her expectations.
“I’d actually never been to a haunted house before, and I didn’t know how the AMP productions were, but I was genuinely scared,” she said. “The experience really got my adrenaline going. There was one room I refused to even walk through.”
Despite the scares, Greenfield said the event encouraged her to attend future AMP and student-run activities. She said she was impressed by the commitment of the student performers and the effort put into the production.
“All the actors were super committed to their roles, and the decorations and the lighting and everything was super good, so I’d definitely go to another event,” she said.
