Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School’s drama department hosted their second annual Fall-o-Ween celebration on campus for the MSD community to enjoy. Guests were encouraged to attend in costume.

Fall-o-Ween was held on MSD’s campus on Saturday, Oct. 29, with an admission price of $8 to be paid on arrival to the event.

This year, Fall-o-Ween aimed to give visitors a good time, with some frights and scares piled in between. Unlike last year’s Fall-o-Ween event, this occasion was geared towards teens, with scarier activities available to experience.

“I expected participants to have a great time and be scared,” drama member and sophomore Melissa Azzarito said. “We always have a ton of fun stations with games for the younger kids, but this year we also had a scary maze for the first time, so hopefully the older kids got a fright.”

This is the second year Fall-o-Ween has been held at MSD. Previous events included Very Scary Haunted High School from 2005 to 2017 and MSD’s Not So Scary Halloween in 2018 and 2019. With the COVID-19 pandemic hitting the country, they were unable to plan a Halloween party during the 2020-21 school year.

The most popular event at this year’s event was the Fright Night Fear Maze. Participants would be guided by one of the drama members, who were dressed up to look scary. The maze ran through Marjory’s Garden, and included fog machines and strobe lights to enhance the fear factor. Students who were also dressed in skeleton costumes would pop out to scare unsuspecting passersby.

“There is no way I wanted anyone to walk out and say they weren’t scared,” drama member and senior Nick Bedusa said. “We like tradition at MSD drama and we wanted something scary, new and inviting for the teens.”

Besides the maze, other activities included a cake walk, where participants would stand on a certain number and walk around to stop on another. A random number would be called out, and whoever stood on that spot would win a dessert to take home.

Stations themed to different Disney movies were scattered throughout the courtyard for enjoyment. Musical chairs, themed to Monsters, Inc., were held under the gazebo in the main courtyard. Winners of the game received candy. Inflatable bowling and cookie decorating were also part of the festivities.

Trunk or Treat was arranged in the south parking lot for attendees to visit and collect candy from. Along with this, a Kona Ice Truck was parked in the south lot, which offered snow cones to customers.

A petting zoo was set up in the grassy area near the 500 building. Animals such as llamas, ducks, pigs and chickens were available for families to pet and feed.

One difference from this year’s Fall-o-Ween event is that it was arranged only by MSD drama, and not co-hosted with the Student Government Association (SGA).

“We didn’t have SGA partnered with us this year,” drama member and senior Alex Jolly said. “We were in charge of Trunk or Treat with all other clubs, and we had the petting zoo again which was with SGA at first.”

Overall, the event was well-received all around by students. The main contribution to Fall-o-Ween’s success were the frights that were not present in last year’s party.

“My favorite activity was the haunted maze because I think the school and students did a good job setting up the garden with props and decorations,” sophomore Ava Maya said. “I would say that this year’s event was better because there were more attractions. The addition of the maze and food added a lot to the event.”

The drama department has an upcoming musical entitled “The Importance of Being Earnest,” that will be shown in MSD’s auditorium on Nov. 3 and 4 at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $8 for students and $15 for adults.