Rogers State University will be getting into the “spirit” of Halloween later this month with the return of Haunting on the Hill.
Slated for Friday, Oct. 27, and Saturday, Oct. 28, Haunting on the Hill is RSU’s annual Halloween event, during which the community is invited to come to the Hill for some spooky shenanigans.
“Before last year, Haunting on the Hill was only held one night, but it was so popular, we decided to expand it to two nights, which we’re doing again this year,” said Katie Anderson, student activities coordinator. “We had more than 450 people come out over the two nights and we’d love to have even more than that this year.”
Haunting on the Hill’s main attraction is a tour through the three-story haunted house.
“Prep (Preparatory) Hall will again serve as our haunted house, with three levels of frightening fun,” she said. “Participants will start on the bottom-most floor in the basement, which will be our haunted asylum, then they’ll go up to our carnival of horrors floor and end up on the top floor which will be our ‘blackout’ floor. We like to keep it as something of a mystery and end up with a haunted elevator ride back down to the bottom floor.”
Anderson said the whole tour takes about 15 minutes and is family friendly but is not recommended for small children or the easily frightened.
In keeping with the spooky theme of the weekend, the RSU Hearse will be parked near Preparatory Hall for viewing and photo ops. The RSU Hearse is a 1947 Pontiac hearse wrapped in RSU spirit colors. Donated by an Oklahoma Military Academy alumni in 2017 as an homage to one of the OMA’s more colorful legacies, the hearse was the “pride and joy” of the OMA cheerleaders from 1963-70, transporting them to sporting events and being an iconic symbol for the cadets.
“Halloween is an ideal time to showcase the hearse to the public, especially since it has history on the Hill, so we’re going to be bringing it out and decorating it for Halloween to allow people waiting in line for the haunted house to view it,” Anderson said.
Although Haunting on the Hill will be held inside Preparatory Hall, tents will be set up for protection for those waiting in line in the event of inclement weather.
“This is probably one of the biggest community events we put on all year and certainly one of the most fun,” she said. “We’re hoping that this year will be our highest-attended Haunting on the Hill ever.”
For more information about Haunting on the Hill, visit www.rsu.edu/haunting.