Haunted House fundraising event scares for a good cause

The halls were dark. Around each corner, a new and frightening character popped out. From seven foot clowns to gloomy cemeteries, Lambda Chi Alpha and Pi Beta Phi’s annual haunted house scared students for two good causes.

The Lambda Chi Alpha and Pi Beta Phi’s annual Haunted House is a fundraising event that has been around for years. This year’s theme was Childhood Terrors.

Ross Bellefeuille,  junior mathematics and education major, is the Lambda Chi Alpha philanthropy chair and helps oversee the event.

“This year, we decided we wanted to do a childhood nightmare experience, so we’re calling it Nightmare on Pine St.,” Bellefeuille said. “So it’s all the stereotypical nightmares children have.”

Sydney Daane, senior kinesiology science major and vice president of philanthropy for Pi Beta Phi said her and Bellefeuille teamed up to organize and oversee the haunted house.

Daane said she was excited to add a hot chocolate bar to the event this year, as well as work with the members of Pi Beta Phi and Lambda Chi Alpha.

“We come up with the theme, characters, costumes, and figure out all of the logistics of the event,” Daane said. “Our members are always so excited and play the parts so well. They are really the ones who make the Haunted House as amazing as it is.”

Daane said setting up for the event requires a lot of hours and dedication but the members make it worth it.

“All of our members are extremely helpful and help us set up all week,” Daane said. “This year we started setting up on Saturday and then we usually work every night until the Haunted House begins.”

The past two haunted houses have had the themes “Scary Movies” and “American Horror Story.” Dane said she was excited to incorporate a new theme this year.

“We wanted to get away from shows and movies,” Daane said. “We ended up choosing the theme ‘Nightmare on Pine St: Childhood Terrors’ which features some of your biggest childhood fears like clowns, dolls, the dentist and more.”

The annual haunted house is one of the main philanthropy events for Lambda Chi Alpha and Pi Beta Phi. All the earnings from the haunted house go to Feeding South Dakota, which is Lambda Chi Alpha’s charity, and Read, Lead, Achieve, which is Pi Beta Phi’s charity.

Pi Beta Phi chapter president Taylor Gustafson helped with makeup for the haunted house and said she really enjoys being involved in it.

“I love fall and Halloween and this event gets to kick off Halloween festivities and get everyone in a fall spirit,” Gustafson said. 

Pi Beta Phi and Lambda Chi Alpha earned just under $4,000 for the haunted house this year, with about 800 students coming through.

Bellefeuille said he thought the event was successful and that he always looks forward to it.

“We kind of make our house a mess, but it’s for a good cause,” Bellefeuille said. “I just really enjoy bringing both the sorority and my fraternity together for two good causes. Overall, my favorite thing would just be the fun of being able to scare people but also it’s for a good cause.”