Students Go All Out for Halloween

Dressed in an off-white billowy shirt, ripped up khaki pants, and a dirty blue vest, Sarina M. Patterson ’14 portraying Captain Jack Sparrow was a physical manifestation of the lively Halloween festivities that occurred on Harvard campus on Monday.

“Apparently I was very convincing, because my professors didn’t recognize me, my friends didn’t recognize me, and tourists kept stopping me in the yard to take pictures with me,” Patterson said, who also sported a leather tri-corner hat with white cloth bandages wrapped around her hands.

Though most students chose to dress in costumes over the weekend rather than for Halloween day, many activities for the holiday still occurred throughout the day.

For their annual tradition of reverse trick-or-treating, members of the Harvard Radcliffe Science Fiction Association walked around freshmen dorms, visiting students door-to-door as they passed out candy behind a prop door.

“People open their doors to find our door in front of them. When they knock, we open it, coo over their costumes, and give them candy,” said Jason R. LaRue ’12, a member of HRSFA.

“Some people say it makes their night or makes their Halloween,” added LaRue, who dressed as an old grandmother to pass out candy, wearing a white, floral wool sweater, white mop cap, and baby powder white hair. “They tell us they miss trick-or-treating, so we’re really hoping that it improves the freshmen’s lives that we’re doing it, too.”

Harvard University Dining Services ensured that upperclassmen, too, could end their Halloween feasts with a sweet treat. House dining halls offered caramel apple stations with two different types of apples, caramel dipping sauce, and an assortment of toppings.

Students in need of a caffeine break later on in the night dropped by the Cabot Café Halloween Extravaganza, where customers received free candy with any purchase and had the chance to vote for their favorite costumes in the costume contest.

Patterson was declared the winner of the contest at the end of the night.

“Your costume is really only limited by your imagination and how well you can pull it off,” she said.

To set the Halloween mood, Cabot Café was decorated with banners, pumpkins, and dry ice, while a Halloween-themed playlist, featuring songs like “Ghostbusters” and “Monster Mash,” was played for the customers.

“[Sunday night], right at midnight, we blasted ‘Thriller’ on the speakers to celebrate the beginning of Halloween,” said Jesse J. Kaplan ’13, co-founder and general manager of Cabot Café. “We definitely scared a bunch of the customers, but it was worth it.”

Various dormitories, including Currier House and Pforzheimer House, offered trick-or-treat events for their residents, while the Sparks House hosted a Halloween event with classic and gourmet candies, encouraging students to come in costume before heading over to Memorial Church for the Harvard Organ Society’s annual Halloween Organ Recital at midnight.