Haunted Returns: RHA Event Draws 700 for Community Halloween Fun
By Julia Weeden
Each October, Mississippi State University’s Residence Hall Association hosts their signature event, Haunted.
This student-run event began 15 years ago as just a haunted residence hall and has since evolved into a full Halloween experience with something for everyone to enjoy. It features the main attraction, a haunted residence hall, along with a pumpkin drop, a costume contest and face painting.
This year’s event, which was held at historic Hull Hall, was a hit with over 700 students and community members taking part in the festivities.
James Walker, a senior agricultural science major and director of programming for the Residence Hall Association, or RHA, shares the organization’s vision for Haunted to be an event for the entire Starkville community.
“We invited the Boys and Girls club of Starkville as well as the families and children of MSU staff and everyone at the Partnership Middle school,” said Walker. “We wanted this event to be for anyone in Starkville who wanted to come and have fun.”
The planning process for Haunted begins with identifying a location to host the event followed by brainstorming a theme and activities to offer. For this, they seek feedback from MSU students.
“The General Body of RHA is called Community Council and is almost entirely freshmen,” said Walker. “We ask them what they and their peers want to see out of Haunted to gauge the type of events we want to plan.”
RHA also uses a planning checklist that highlights each part of the event and the deadlines for completion to keep the process on track.
“We finalized which rooms in Hull we could use by August,” Walker added. “In September, we knew who was volunteering and where they would be helping, and by October, we were rolling out our marketing materials. We were also fortunate to receive funding from Dawgs after Dark that helped us tremendously in our planning and execution.”
Plans for future Haunted experiences are not necessarily in the works; however, Walker and his team have been brainstorming locations for Haunted 2026 since this requires the most time and planning. They intend to leave any additional details to the incoming executive team.
RHA was pleased that the attendance for Haunted returned to Pre-Covid attendance numbers.
Freshman psychology major Emma Pittman attended Haunted and expressed her enjoyment of the event.
“I absolutely loved Haunted! There was something for everyone — from face painting and trick-or-treating to games and, of course, the haunted hall. It was great,” said Pittman. “My favorite part was definitely going through the haunted hall with my friends, even though I’m not someone who loves to be scared. Overall, I loved the event, and I cannot wait for next year!”