Park University was crawling with monsters, ghouls, superheroes, royalty, and other crazy creatures on October 26 during Fright Night. Copley Quad turned into a haunted house for the night, and more than 500 trick-or-treaters emerged for candy and games.

The resident assistants on each floor of Copley Quad decorated their floor to give the trick-or-treaters somewhere to collect candy, with the first floor being the least scary and each floor up becoming more like a haunted house. Outside, clubs and organizations set up Halloween games and activities.

Revive hosted a game that required “fishing” for ghosts, with the prize being candy. The Foreign Language Club decorated the Copley Quad conference room and created a space for crafts and coloring. Academic Affairs set up a ring-toss game using pumpkins, and the Park Student Government Association had cookie decorating and a bean bag toss. During all of this, Spectrum had the stage, giving kids the opportunity to show off their costumes while students from the KGSP-Pirate Radio played music.

One newer club, Phi Beta Lambda, had a “Monster Toss” game of tossing bean bags into monsters’ mouths. Freshman member Jocelyn Clayton has helped get Phi Beta Lambda rolling this year. “We’re a business club here on campus,” she said. “Anyone can join, not just business majors. We help build leadership skills and communicate with future employers.”

Biology Club partnered with the pre-medicine club for some sci-fi fun; Zach Hahn, a blood-covered senior biology major, said, “We are doing build-your-own bacteria cultures, out of gelatin and sprinkles.” Because he looked like a zombie, Hahn also said, “Our theme is zombies…We had our own bacteria that went very wrong.”

One mom, Angela, brought her three kids because she cuts a Park student’s hair and learned about the event through him.

“They’re having a blast,” she said.

Though there is no shortage of Halloween-themed events every year, the dorms and the people at Park seem to make Fright Night a unique night of fun for Kansas City’s families.