Mills College WeeklyFaint, creepy music drifted through the chilly evening air as dozens of candles flickered in the art museum.
It was the night before Halloween and the event coordinators had arranged decorations, music, musicians, films, speakers, and plenty of food for “Spooky Reading.”
There were eight acts in all, not including the welcome and conclusion speeches.
“I thought this was a great event to bring people together to celebrate Halloween,” said freshwoman Meredith Sheldon, one of roughly 40 attendees. “It was fun to hear fellow students share their creative and spooky work.”
Outside, in the courtyard, clips of various horror flicks were projected onto the walls continuously during the event. Inside, the rooms were filled with decorations including gigantic cotton cobwebs, dozens of plastic spiders and black crayon sketches of a cat, a witch, and a couple of bats.
A bloody mannequin, two large strange heads, and some masks made for festive decor were in the corners. In the middle of the room, chairs for the audience were strewn randomly between installations.
Among the performances were Alexander Hutchings’ reading of “Frankenstein,” accompanied by a trombone, which made a variety of non-musical noises. Moya Stone told a story about the tables being turned on a wealthy couple that bought animal-head trophies.
And the audience laughed, clapped and cheered during David Rosenfeld’s final performance.
Contributing appropriate holiday atmosphere, museum staff were dressed in costumes for the occasion: museum director Stephan Jost was in a tux, staff member Leimomi Watts was a peasant girl, Pamela Serota, grad student and event organizer, was in a ball gown with a bleeding vampire bite on her neck,, and electronic musician Patrice Scanlon dressed up as a bug.
One unidentified individual was standing so still near the entrance wearing a mask and cloak that he didn’t appear to be alive until he started creeping towards the crowd.
The attendees were noticeably excited, showing support through their shouts and cheers. Sophomore Phaedra Gauci said the evening was “just a bunch of students having a bit of fun at the expense of Halloween.”
