Making Your Dorm Spooky on a Budget

The timing of Halloween relative to other… auspicious campus events is somewhat suspect this year. Must it immediately follow Family Weekend? Does it have to fall right before Election Day? This hodge-podge of high-energy campus events really messes with the sensation of spooky season in campus spaces, meaning that our dorm rooms remain the last quarters free to fully revel in Hallows’ Eve. But, amidst midterms and the typical constraints of student life, time and funds to transform your dorm into a space to feel the Halloween magic are short. That’s why Flyby has compiled our top tricks (and treats, get it?) to add some spook to your suite, no witch’s wand required.

Robbery

In the spirit of Halloween, our first piece of advice is on the mischievous side: steal. Many (much better funded) spaces on campus are decked to the nines in décor fit for this spooky season — or for fall in general; I’m not picky. The dhall is a prime target for a decorations-focused heist, but I’m sure you, dear reader, have seen decorations in other places and felt the urge to see those decorations in your dorm room. This time, give in to the urge; you and I can blame it on a random possession. And, besides, you’re stealing what, a plastic pumpkin? That’s hardly grand larceny, so don’t sweat it. For legal reasons, Flyby and its writers do not endorse participation in any illegal activities, regardless of the scale of the crime, and cannot be held responsible for actions taken by their readership due to overinvestment in the spirit of All Hallow’s Eve.

Recycling

If a life of crime isn’t your speed, you can always look to items already in your possession to decorate your dorm. Paper your walls with your midterms and psets, or if your midterms are stacked towards the end of the semester (lucky), print your Canvas announcements to inspire some dread every time you look anywhere in your suite. If you have such a positive relationship with your education that this strategy fails for you, you could try the boring option of printing out horror movie posters, but that just feels impersonal.

Arts and Crafts

If you’d like to add even more of a personal touch and get your hands messy, drop by your House’s art studio (or Holworthy Basement, if you’re a first-year) to prepare some handmade decorations. I once tried (and failed) to make a papier-mâché goose in fifth grade — please don’t ask — so I’m inclined to suggest sculpting your own miniature CS50 duck. If that’s not scary enough for you, a bust of your professor’s head is sure to do the trick.

DIY Pets

If you’d rather have some blood on your hands, get some cheese from the dhall to lure your extra roommate (read: unwelcome rodent) into a (non-injurious) trap. (You could also ask Yard Ops or your building manager for a no-kill trap, but nothing worth having comes easy.) You can then showcase your new pet in its cage home for the rest of spooky season, featuring it in a prime location by your doorway to jump-scare unsuspecting visitors. Even better, once spooky season has ended, you can dress up your rat in festive gear to serve as a makeshift Elf on the Shelf. Side note: If your new friend bites you, please quarantine. I’d rather not take my midterm while suffering from the bubonic plague.

Grovel

I’ll admit, most of our advice thus far has been rather high-effort. Do you really need to go to the trouble of sourcing or creating your decorations yourself? Not if you can convince a kind senior or alum to donate their decorations! This one is rather self-explanatory, but you will need to factor in some time to convince your would-be benefactor that, by virtue of graduating college (or being close to doing so), they are so decrepit that they themselves are the only spooky décor their future abode will require. (Flattery and/or asking nicely might also work.)

You might have noticed that all of the suggestions above are environmentally friendly. That’s not entirely by accident; reduce, reuse, and recycle is an applicable slogan in the realm of dorm decor, too. In all seriousness, if you look to the materials already around you, you’ll be surprised at how spooky you can make your space with a little bit of ingenuity. Clementines can serve as pumpkins with just a few dabs of Sharpie, and trash bags and toilet paper are staples of spooky season décor (and costumes) for a reason. And if you’ve really got your heart set on having a Chucky animatronic in your dorm room — why, I don’t know — leaning on others is its own brand of resourcefulness; maybe one of the consulting groups (unlikely) or your engineering friend (more likely) can give you a hand.