Each year around Halloween, Park University typically holds Fright Night. This year it was scheduled for Oct. 28, but due to the impact of the pandemic it had to be canceled.  Instead, a drive-in movie night was launched by Park’s Student Activities Board.

The event was designed to celebrate Halloween and gather students to spend a joyous movie night. It was supposed to be outside but was urgently transferred to Park Distance Learning in the underground due to the weather. The reason for choosing PDL is also because other buildings are not allowed to eat inside unless it’s packaged snacks, but there was a Brazilian food truck scheduled for the event, and it was too late to cancel it.

Mackenzy Lowe, a junior majoring in special education and PSAB’s vice president of internal events, said the group chose a recent movie to attract more attention and student interest and, “we also get food trucks to get people to come.”

The movie selection was in line with the spirit of Halloween – “Candyman.” This film is adapted from a short story by Cliff Barker, an expert in horror fiction. The story is triggered by the premise: “Candyman, it is said that if you say his name to the mirror five times, he will appear in the reflection and kill you.”

In addition to typical spooky season themes, this slasher movie explored identity and racial issues. After the end of the credits, a website was posted to guide the audience to “get more information about racial justice and equality.”

Despite the sudden drop in temperature and rain, it still did not affect the students’ desire to engage and relax outside of study. A total of 67 students showed up for the movie night.

Simon Sharber, a sophomore majoring in mathematics, thought it was a successful event. He originally wanted to experience a drive-in movie, but the sudden change did not cause him to cancel the plan because, “Candyman is a movie that I want to see, but never had time to see it.”