BY: DANIELLE CLARK, STAFF WRITER
Students Without Borders is bringing back its student-run haunted house this Halloween season with more elaborate scares and nearly twice as many students. The group will use the proceeds to fund its annual medical mission trip to the Dominican Republic.
The haunted house runs from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23 and 24, in Francis Hall on Clare Road. Parking is available across from the building. Tickets cost $5 for St. Bonaventure students, $10 for children younger than 14 and $15 for adults. A family of five, two adults and three children younger than 14, pays $40.
About 56 students are helping plan, build and perform in this year’s event– almost double last year’s turnout, said Eric Philippou, president of Students Without Borders.
“Seeing that level of growth has been incredibly exciting because it shows how much interest the event has generated within our university community,” said Philippou.
Last year’s haunted house relied heavily on jump scares across a wide variety of rooms. This year, the group is building fewer, more detailed themes that let guests settle into each environment. Some fan favorites will return with new twists.
Philippou said the team is also shifting its approach to scares. Jump scares remain, but organizers are adding suspense, unsettling settings and psychological horror.
“We want guests to feel uneasy even when nothing is actively trying to scare them, because sometimes the anticipation of what’s coming is just as terrifying as the scare itself,” said Philippou.
Better special effects will add to the atmosphere. Philippou’s sister, who works in horror makeup for an FX studio, is helping the team create prosthetics and makeup the group could not produce last year.
Philippou said the goal is to make the experience feel “less like walking from one scary room to another and more like stepping into a horror movie.”
Francis Hall, home of the School of Health Professions, suits a group focused on medical outreach. The building’s layout also lets students transform a familiar academic space into something new.
The planning starts in the summer, when members review what worked the previous year and brainstorm new themes. About a month before the event, they finalize room designs, assign actor roles and organize props. The building itself transforms in the days right before opening.
Ticket sales will pay for travel, medical supplies, medications and other resources for the group’s mission trip. This year, Students Without Borders plans to add a mobile medical clinic in the Dominican Republic alongside its traditional clinic. The mobile clinic will reach smaller, more remote communities that need care, but lack the population to support a full clinic.
“We’re not just hoping to raise more money, but to reach more people and make a greater impact,” Philippou said. “Every ticket purchased helps us get closer to that goal.”
Philippou said he hopes visitors leave talking about their favorite scenes and looking forward to next year, and that they recognize what their tickets support.
“You get to experience a night of scares while helping us make a real difference in the world,” he said.
