Halloween Halls of Fame
‘Til graduation do us part, October shall invariably be the source of many midterm manias and presentation pressures — but the horror doesn’t have to end there!
Each year the festivities of the famed Hallow’s eve thrive in the dead of evening all around campus. We see ourselves mirrored in the horror of spooky tales while trapped in our very own low-budget indie horror film of the days after recess week.
This year the NTUSU journalists have chosen to shadow the spirited celebrations held at some of NTU’s halls and bring out the highlights for you to see. Hope you have a fun read!
Hall 1
Covered and Written by Eishani
The one thing that we could all grab from Hall One’s sweet basket of celebration is their dedication to the bit. For both facets of Halloween — the trick or treat meets the horror heat — there was some kind of candy for all in this event held on 15th October at the Hall V MPH.
The highlight of the night, the widow’s hunt, was a clever combination of inter-block trick or treating and the game, The Slenderman.
If you are not familiar with this game, it basically sums up to
i) Slenderman = scary stalker dude out to get you.
ii) Find pages to win and most importantly,
iii) Don't. Get. Caught.
or you’ll die. obvi.
Each of the hall’s clans went knocking on doors, trying to find tricks and treats and pages a piece, protecting their ticking time on their sleeves. How? Well, the Slenderman for the night were two of the council, hell bent on trying to steal the ribbon on the arms of the CGLs. If they managed to do so, the clan was cursed, with a time penalty.
“Slendermen”
The game was well received by the residents, with some considering it “the most interesting part of the night.” There was an embrace of sweetness and darkness all throughout. One might even say, it was like a tryst between the devil and the angel.
Now, we turn to another of the best dressed of the night, Ruri Flora Newman and Ho Yim Kee bringing Zootopia to life. I was surprised by the very real carrot (shoutout Prime) they had as their prop survived the night. RIP carrot; sending Bugs Bunny your way though, in case you’re still here.
Ruri ends the night with words we can only hope the next event can telepathically hear and scramble to fix their costumes accordingly, “it was the camaraderie that got people to go all out for Halloween”
Hall 5
Covered and Written by Eishani
That’s an incredible segway for Hall V’s HalloVeen that was held the next day, as ‘V’ did not disappoint. The fivers’ prized possession, the main purpose hall, was as dolled up as the event-goers themselves. Crepe paper chains framed the wooden stage and ghostly bright plastic candles lit up the booths. The effect was as if there were mirrorballs waltzing through the high ceiling of the MPH, spreading soft splashes of colourful light into the darkness of the dimly lit room; but in truth, it was the vibrance of the costumes and decor, the energy and air of everyone having a good time.
Aaliyah, the Co-president of the Jamband, tells me there were two bands, Werewolves vs Vampires, inspired by the classic Twilight Saga. They chose classic halloween party songs, with the vampires performing songs “Decode”, “Supermassive blackhole” from the franchise. The crowd was spell bound, imprinted on stronger than Jacob on Renesemme.
The lasting imprint of the night, however, was the booths. It was the nature of the design of the hall for any booth to be instantly visible once you walk in, but it was the intentionality of each committee to make it something worth staying for. The HaVOC booth (Orientation Committee) wrought the familial dark-energy havoc of the Addams family through their games and sales. They were also, incidentally, dressed as the Addams family. Go figure.
Figure yourself out some protection as well, because in the spirit of Halloween, the young hearts of Hall V’s 21 Young Hearts committee were offering a prank service. Forget to order from their menu of clingwrap and shaving creams at your own risk — what if someone else didn’t forget to think about you this special night?
There were so many things to do that one may just get overpowered by the sheer choice of what to do next. Thankfully, if you were, QP had you — and possibly even the rest of your life — covered. The tarot card reading booth they set up was not only incredibly picturesque but also magnetic through the unique niche that it filled for the night.
The people were there, and they did not come to play. Literally, as there were prizes for the best dressed. But also, as one of the trio, dressed as the “very girly pop” uniforms from the movie “Barbie princess charm school”, very rightly said, the best part was being able to dress up with friends.
Taking the cake for sustainable artistry that night would definitely be Strawberry Shortcake (Elaine) who put together a very fittingly sweet fit from just the items in her wardrobe.
There was a girl dressed as Russel Crowe from Up, one of the most accurate portrayals of a horror movie character of the night (yes, Up is a horror movie in my book. Have you seen the opening sequence?)
But I digress.
Coincidence is a funny thing by itself, but a funny coincidence is literally bananas. If you had been in the event from 7pm to 9pm you may have been fortunate enough to see a group of nine bananas, Vector from “Despicable Me” accompanied by his famous nemesis Gru, and his very-crazed-very-evilised purple Minions.
They may all have been in it to win it, but these are some of the ones that did. Sorry, that was harsh; winning is hard for those who lost- But you know what else went hard? The costumes of those who did. Cue the applause.
Hall 7
Covered and Written by Eishani
If you’ve ever been to or even walked past the Nanyang Crescent Halls, you might’ve noticed the common area outside the multipurpose rooms — the floor tiled grey and black and the high high ceiling gleaming with stars and clouds. At least that’s how it looked on the night of Hall 7’s Halloween, 28th October 2025.
There were booths, of course. One of them, hosted by EarthLink NTU Human-Wildlife Coexistence, graced us with the presence of their guests of honour, snakes in a jar.
The escape room designed and organised by Hall 7’s Prometheus CCA was a must-visit — though I can safely say I do not look forward to ever having to encounter “Beel” the narcissistic vampire- the resident devil of the escape room- nor coming across his initials plastered across the walls again. The first time was memorable enough.
The performances by the Jamband were set in such a venue that passers-by could just stop for a minute and marvel at the vocal and instrumental talent used to perform hits like ‘The Subway’ by Chappel Roan, ‘Man I Need’ by Olivia Dean, and many more.
The overall atmosphere was of an event designed to be chill, easy-going, and laidback, while also being freeing by virtue of the dressing-up as anything-you-like part.
Interestingly enough, the first costume to catch my eye was Waldo from the popular picture hunt game “Where’s Waldo?”, which was the quickest I’ve won at that game. Accompanying him was the ghost from “spirited away”.
Another costume that I thought was especially well done was an incredibly cute interpretation of Paddington bear complete with his signature suitcase, marmalade sandwich, and even the sign that says, ‘please look after this bear’. Please, my heart. That’s adorable. And that’s commitment. To everyone reading this, this is a message to you, please look after this bear’s legacy and dress UPPP next Halloween.
Halls 3, 12, 13, and 16
Covered by Prisha and Written by Eishani
‘Twas the night before the night before the night of Halloween. The evening of this eve in halls 3,12, 13, and 16 was like any other. The academically harassed residents settled in the reading rooms; a sense of pensive focus broken by sparks of escapism permeating through the air.
And without any warning — unless you kept up with the persistent and, I’m sure, well intentioned promotional messages — came the sounds as if of a getaway parade. Laughter and screams, the buzz of the crowd wafting outside invitingly. It had come: “the night of chaos, costumes, creeping chills”.
Jointly organized by 4 halls, this event was a collaboration done right. The execution of the joint and individual sections was seamless. It was unique from most other celebrations across campus for its embrace of gore — the very crux of what Halloween represents.
One could see decor of luminous ghosts of vibrant hues and devilish grins hung by the witch hats on their heads and "fairy" lights lighting up the way up the staircase to heaven — that is the event, not imminent death (although those steps are steep enough).
The “Maze of whispers” by Hall 12 was considered to be the scariest one out of the four escape rooms in each hall. Long queues jostled outside the D lounge waiting for their turn to be, apparently, genuinely petrified, at least from the looks of those who tumbled out at the end. There were more screams than laughter, which is an impressive feat considering laughter is far easier to draw than genuine terror. Well, at least easier than genuine jump scares.
Hall 3’s murder themed escape room had prosthetics so realistic you start to wonder if it'd just be quicker and less painful to take a shot at those steep haunted stairs. There was a seemingly endless effort budget to achieve this; it looked like they were cursed by a visit from bloody Mary herself. Overkill with the fake blood honestly.
Each hall also had movie screenings in their lounges, a chill contrast to the chaotic almost-exorbitant displays of Halloween decor and music outside. These decorations didn't go unappreciated though, as many found them the perfect backdrop for taking pictures showing off their costumes.
The energy was high till the very end, and everyone seemed to have genuinely had a fun experience.
North Hill
Covered by Prisha and Written by Eishani
Have you ever been to a carnival? No? Well, fear! Because the one chance you had, to experience it for free, has ended! North hill has always been known for its feeling of community, like a self-sufficient living complex in itself, and this showed in the celebration that had many parallels to a fair or a carnival.
Scents of churros, popcorn, and candy floss wafted through the air. Pumpkins and cobwebs were scattered around the courtyard illuminated by shimmering orange lights. The visitors could also join the decor even if they had forgotten their costumes, for there were glow-in-the-dark face painting, bracelet making and temporary tattoo booths.
There were more than just faces marked for the night as bingo cards were given out — once you had ticked all of them off, you got free candy floss. Again, the event’s over, you can’t now. Pity.
Another major attraction was the tarot card reading booth — next to the smallest strip of grass North Hill has a plethora of — especially for those chronically online to marvel at and almost touch some grass while waiting your turn. I’m not sure if hearing destiny speak to you from a tarot card counts as reconnecting with reality though.
Whether you retired early to the reading room, still hearing the echoes, or were a part of it: the loud chorus of voices singing with the Jamband then dancing to the dj, it reminded you of how hall life builds memories for life.
Their trifecta of scare rooms reflected the vibes of the whole event — a good balance between spooky and fun, and surprisingly well done for a student set-up. It felt like a mini theme park moment in the middle of semester stress.
There seems to have been a lot of semester stress this season — just an observation from the past, what was it, five events? Next year let's hope we magically fix our schedules to have more free time at our hands, or maybe they could just delete the finals altogether (I’m kidding, please don’t kick me out).
