Thursday, March 28, 2024

Haunted Aud returns to MSU for 4th year

October 22, 2012

From Oct. 26-28, students will take a step into their worst nightmares as the Society for Performers and Arts Management, or S.P.A.M., and the MSU Department of Theatre hosts the fourth annual Haunted Aud in the Auditorium.

“This year, (Haunted Aud) is nightmares-themed,” Haunted Aud director and theatre junior Casey Hunsberger said. “I wanted to give the designers a little bit of a free reign over what they wanted to do, rather than a haunted hospital or something standard like that … It’s supposed to pull away from the stereotypical haunted house that makes you jump, and present you with things that are legitimately frightening.”

Haunted Aud will be open from 8 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday and from 8-11 p.m. Sunday.

When it comes to the Haunted Aud experience, Hunsberger said the crew has upped the ante.
“It’s still family-oriented, but I kind of took the initiative to play toward the college audience,” Hunsberger said. “Families are still welcome because there’s no profanity or anything like that, but it’s definitely going to be more gruesome than previous years.”

Theatre senior and S.P.A.M. member Michael Cleland said he has participated in the event since his freshman year. Cleland said everyone in the MSU Department of Theatre comes together annually to help out in any way they can.

“Basically, the entire department is going to be working to design, advertise and produce the haunted house, so the majority of us will be acting in it, setting up a scene, doing makeup or working on getting the word out to everyone to put on the whole haunted house,” Cleland said.

According to Cleland, the fundraiser has become an integral part of the program because all proceeds of the event go to the Department of Theatre.

“It’s just an awesome event because we raise a bunch of money that is really necessary for us because we have to divide it across the department as a whole,” Cleland said. “It’s a great way for us to be able to produce the work that we have to do to get noticed.”

Theatre senior Kate Busselle, the fundraising chair and treasurer of S.P.A.M., said Haunted Aud is the best chance MSU students and others in the area have to get the haunted experience during the Halloween season.

“One of the things we pride ourselves on with Haunted Aud is that we are the only haunted house in East Lansing,” Busselle said. “With most of the participants being theatre majors, we know how to entertain and, more importantly, scare the pants off of people. The basketball team comes to Haunted Aud every year and leaves the building screaming.”

Hunsberger said the actors will go all-out for their performance in the haunted house.

“It’s going to be a great time because they’re the type of people that go crazy,” Hunsberger said. “They’re not just doing it for the job. They’re volunteers, and they want to scare people.”

Tickets cost $10 and will be sold at the door.

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