Student Life Archives

Dan Daranciang

Pamela Anderson and a Starving Puppy

The night starts off a bit awkwardly when the puppy starts to hump Pam’s leg vigorously. It gets even more awkward when, at the end of the night, she instinctively makes out with him while they cuddle in bed. After losing her contract to support animal rights, tragedy strikes when she feeds the dog 200 pieces of bad chocolate and he collapses dead at the foot of their king-size water bed.

Kobe and a Random Unsuspecting White Girl

The white girl “makes up” a story to get attention about some antics that supposedly went down in the haunted house. Kobe buys his wife a $5 million diamond ring “just to make sure she knows how much he loves her.”

Godzilla and a Busy Japanese Crowd

Godzilla keeps trying to convince people that he’s really nice once you get to know him. But too many people refuse to believe him and take off running as soon as they see the 200-foot tall dinosaur stomping toward them and crushing everything in his path. The crowd sets a new world record for candy collection, systematically locating the best houses while simultaneously being motivated by the threat of near-imminent death from a Godzilla in close pursuit.

Chancellor Wrighton and the SWA

The SWA sets up a bunch of haunted tents and refuses to leave them until the end of the night, when Chancellor Wrighton finally works out a deal to raise minimum wage for on-campus workers by three Snickers bars and a bag of Twizzlers. Wrighton then makes a huge impulse buy, blowing his entire $594,000 annual salary on Halloween candy at Target.

Stephen Hawking and Jessica Simpson

Hawking explains to Jessica how her Louis Vuitton bag would be affected in a black hole, to which after hearing, “Why do you talk so funny, you silly robot man?!” for the 10th time, Hawking snaps and runs Jessica over repeatedly with his wheelchair. Celebration ensues worldwide, and the national IQ average rises five points from her loss.

Billy Graham and Tinky-Winky

Tinky-Winky repeatedly suggests blowing off trick-or-treating to run in a magical meadow with three tubby compatriots. Unfortunately, Graham has too much work to take him up on his offer. With millions of sinful demons roaming the streets, he continues a self-patented tradition of “trick-or-convert.” After much effort Tinky-Winky remains a non-believer, mostly due to his lack of understanding beyond his ten-word vocabulary (five of which are “la,” “hee,” “po,” “woo” and “yaaay”).

Pee Wee Herman and Michael Jackson

After spending five minutes together, they realize they are soulmates. They also realize that Halloween is their favorite holiday by far-for the candy, of course.

Dan Daranciang

After this past weekend, it might be difficult to comprehend that Halloween wasn’t always about excessive drinking and barely-there costumes, or getting intoxicated enough to forget how little you actually are wearing.

Not that there’s anything wrong with what college does to Halloween, but when you’re throwing up from drinking too much, you have to admit you’d trade it in a heartbeat for throwing up from eating too much candy.

Whether Halloween played a major role in your childhood, or you just miss the fact that candy wasn’t detrimental to your diet back then, everyone suffers from at least a little nostalgia at this time of year.

Back then, costumes might not have gotten us laid, but they sure scored us some brownie points.

At my elementary school, we had a parade every year. And there was nothing like hearing “oohs” and “ahhs” from the parents when we walked by-my jack-in-the-box costume in kindergarten, Statue of Liberty costume in second grade and old lady costume in fifth grade (to name a few) wowed the whole community. And as you might guess from that list, I barely had to show any skin.

Sophomore Stephanie Purisch said that she and her friend dressed up as “morning women” for two years in a row.

“We wore PJs and robes and our hair in curlers and carried coffee mugs,” she said. “Everyone in the neighborhood loved it.”

Of course, Halloween was about more than just the costumes. It was about raking the leaves, playing in them and then re-raking them into those big orange garbage bags that looked like pumpkins. It was about carnivals and hayrides. It was about Affy Tapples-which have a totally different meaning than taffy apples. It was about the family trips to pick out the perfect pumpkins and then going home to carve them. Purisch said her family even had a “pattern book” they used when they carved their pumpkins.

More than anything else, Halloween was about trick-or-treating and all that it entailed over the years.

For the first chunk of youth, trick-or-treating means one thing: candy. Rain or shine (in my case, almost always rain), we made it around the blocks that, after years of research and experimentation, proved to have the cream of the crop.

A woman I knew only as “the candy lady” for the better part of my childhood lived a few blocks away from me. No treat has ever compared to what she put in those plastic pumpkin buckets everyone carried around. She passed out bags of homemade, gourmet, chocolate-covered everything you can imagine. Traffic on that block on Halloween could have competed with rush hour traffic in any major city.

Candy trading was intense back then, and you had to be pretty manipulative to get what you wanted. I don’t remember a single year before high school when my candy trading practices didn’t turn into friendship-altering fights.

Beyond the candy trading and the actual candy getting, trick-or-treating where I grew up was about something else: shaving cream and silly string fights.

There was one street that was infamous for its shaving cream fights on Halloween. When I was younger, we went there to watch all of the cool older kids rub shaving cream and squirt silly string all over each other.

So, if things like pumpkins, shaving cream and candy still exist today, why aren’t our Halloweens just like they used to be?

Maybe people feel they’re too mature or too old for jumping in piles of leaves and knocking on people’s doors to ask for treats. It is kind of a disturbing concept when you think of it like that.

And while I highly recommend continuing the traditions of buying and carving pumpkins and playing in the leaves during this season, the whole candy and trick-or-treating thing might have transformed permanently.

Many college students’ diets don’t quite allow excessive candy consumption. But beyond that, we have crossed over to other side: we’re the givers now.

The dorms sponsor the Safe Trick-or-Treat program, which entails sitting in your room with candy for the local children who come knocking.

And when we’re the knockers at this age, we’re usually knocking to ask for donations for charity, rather than our overfed stomachs and sugar highs. Tonight, for instance, between 7:00 and 9:00 p.m., the girls of AEPhi will be trick-or-treating for donations to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation.

So try to get into the Halloween spirit tonight-whatever that means for you. Give money. Shove your face with candy. Carve a pumpkin. Play in the leaves. Attack your friends with shaving cream and silly string.

No one’s too cool for this holiday.

Dan Daranciang

Plastic-wrapped costumes line the walls of Rag-O-Rama, carrying titles like “Naughty French Maid” and “Sexy Witch.”

They are the most popular Halloween costumes for women across the country, and one need only consult a handful of female friends to understand that such costumes are embraced on the Washington University campus as well.

Before even attending their first Bauhaus party, freshmen are well-schooled in what to expect: not just drunkenness and loud music, but also scores of women wearing anything from one of those skimpy, pleather costumes to, well, latex paint.

Such traditions raise this question: what provokes college-aged women to dress in next to nothing on a freezing cold night in late October?

Some answers may lie in history, says Susan Stiritz, a professor of women’s studies.

“From the beginnings of Greek culture, women were given two choices: either to be the good girl, which meant following patriarchal rules for their sexuality…or to be the bad girl,” said Stiritz. “You can just go through history and see that these two choices have been given to us.”

Obviously, society has changed since ancient Greece-American women are no longer forced to hold solely reproductive roles-but they are still judged on their exteriors. Because women on our campus don’t want to be immediately labeled “tramp” or “slut,” dressing provocatively for one night allows them to express their sexuality in ways that would not be acceptable on a typical day, according to Stiritz.

“Halloween is a time in which we’re supposed to reverse roles,” said Stiritz. “Children can demand treats from us. So what do women want? We want to be sluts. And on Halloween, it’s okay.”

Halloween costumes weren’t always as readily available as they are today, and so promiscuous costumes weren’t always a staple of a college Halloween.

“We would not have [dressed promiscuously] 30 years ago-we would have dressed up as hippies or hobos,” said Stiritz. But today, “you go into a costume store and [sexy costumes] are what is available. Younger and younger, women are being sexualized, and I think that’s part of it, too,” she said.

Professor Stiritz informally polled students in her Social Construction of Female Sexuality class on why they feel college-aged women tend to dress provocatively for Halloween, and the answers seemed to fall into three categories.

Many students believe dressing in skimpy costumes attracts desired attention-both from men and other women.

“The media has showed us that sexiness, nakedness and sluttiness attract attention from both sexes,” one student wrote. “Many women are secretly envious of the attraction slutty women receive from men but don’t want to be seen as slutty.”

Other students saw Halloween as the one occasion each year for women to express their sexuality in a more overt manner than usual.

“When girls dress up to go out on a normal weekend night, they constantly ask their friends if their jeans are too tight or if they’re showing too much cleavage,” said one student. “But on Halloween, if their clothes are too tight or their breasts or stomachs are showing, they don’t have to defend it.”

“At other times of the year, I don’t think a girl could dress slutty without some sort of social punishment, such as getting labeled ‘slutty’ or treated as a ‘slut,'” wrote another student, “treatment which most girls view as negative and undesirable.”

Yet another group of respondents saw an element of peer pressure in the decision to choose sexy Halloween costumes.

“For me, I never really wanted to dress slutty,” said a student. “But if you want to get noticed, and everyone else is half-naked, you have to be half-naked too (or more).”

It’s probably safe to say that the University’s female population won’t be covering up for Halloween anytime soon.

The jury’s still out, however, on exactly what showing off one night a year means for each individual woman and the student body as a whole.

“I guess you could ask the question, is this primarily a woman-centric campus or is this more a male-centric campus?” said Stiritz. “Are women doing this to please men, or get their attention? Or are they doing it for their own selves for fun? You have to decide for yourself-are things here mainly for guys, or for women?”

wustl.thefacebook.com

Did you wake up this morning and realize that after a year planning the perfect costume, you just never got around to it?
Planning to go to a Halloween night party downtown and worried you’ll be laughed out of the place for dressing in jeans and a shirt and saying you’ve “come as you are,” like that Nirvana song?
Have no fear. This year, Student Life offers you the perfect solutions, using materials at your very fingertips. Here are a few easy-to-throw-together ideas for tonight that may, at most, require walking across the hall:

Walk of Shame

Featured in every single college movie classic, the Walk of Shame is a staple dilemma at all universities. Why not poke fun at this situation? All you need is a mini-skirt (tube tops will double), high-heeled nightmares and an oversized, preferably stained, men’s t-shirt-the more holes, the better. Add some makeup smears under your eyes, fuss up the hair, and you will be a vision. To add a bit more clarity, one could always sport the Captain Obvious “Walk of Shame” sign around the neck. With this ensemble, who wouldn’t want to give you candy? Someone obviously thinks you’re sweet.

All-Nighter

As Halloween falls on a Monday this year, this one may not be so much a costume as a reality for some. Combine the bed-head tousled look and dark bags under your eyes with some sweat pants or pajama bottoms. Sport a coffee mug and a “don’t-bother-me-I’m tired” attitude, and you’re all set. A textbook or two, supposedly the reason for the late hours, might also help clarify the situation.

Sexiled Roommate

Another awkward part of the college life, being the sexiled roommate, also doubles as a great Halloween costume. Grab a large backpack or hobo-style satchel, throw in a toothbrush, books, pajamas and maybe a pillow, and top it all off with a cardboard “Homeless: Busy Roommate” sign written in Sharpie, and you are ready to go. With a little Halloween luck, it will be your own roommate donning this costume.

Shower Dilemma

We’ve all been there. After grabbing all of the essentials needed for a shower (old-dorm style), the crucial component, your key, is forgotten in the rush. After a relaxing shower, you return to your room to discover that, not only did you forget this item, but your roommate has rushed out to her three-hour seminar. This costume only requires a towel (size can vary, based on preference), wet hair and a shampoo bottle or two. Don’t forget to bring your key.

Mummy

While one may only wear this costume after losing a bet, it is still a viable alternative for the procrastinators around. Raid your bathroom for an endless supply of toilet paper, and start wrapping. Extra points for any gold jewelry, beetles or stuffed cats.

Knight

With this costume, you can finally make good use out of some of the Bed, Bath and Beyond paraphernalia your mom bought at the beginning of freshman year. Grab that trusty mesh trash can (emptied, of course), dress in all black and hold an umbrella in your outstretched hand. Instant knight. Now you just need a dueling partner, or possibly a noble steed.

Roly-poly

With this costume, you might actually have a chance at keeping warm in the frigid October air. To dress up as your favorite childhood bug, merely put on every piece of clothing you own. If that look is too extreme, at least double up a few sweatshirts with a bunch of long sleeves and a few pairs of sweatpants-the tighter the better. How attractive.

Facebook Picture

In order to properly show how college students spend 75 percent of their time, it would only do the Facebook justice to honor it with a Halloween costume. Even with the advent of photo albums on Facebook, the one opening shot still has to be picked with care. To properly use this look as a Halloween costume, grab one of those empty handles of Smirnoff (or Dimitrov) lying around your room and that digital camera. Based on the majority of Facebook pictures I’ve seen, it seems that the only consistencies are the presence of alcohol and a drunken demeanor, so this costume will be pretty easy.

Sumo Wrestler

To be a sumo wrestler, all one really needs is a big pillow and maybe an over-sized pair of tightie-whities. Cram that pillow under your shirt to create the big stomach. Then pull on those tightie-whities over whatever pants you have on. The last step is the massive bun on the top of your head. As with the knight, make sure you have a partner to randomly tackle throughout the night (although I guess random people would work, too).

Superhero

Along the underwear lines, a superhero costume is also a snap-just think Doug Funnie. Rip a blanket off your bed and attach it around your neck. Pull on a pair of underwear over your pants, and, to top off the costume, pull on a pair of obnoxious rain boots. You also must think of a creative super power and proceed to demonstrate the power all night. Just steer clear of trying to fly.

Underpass

This last Halloween costume requires a little more preparation but leaves a more permanent mark. In the spirit of the famed underpass that leads to the South 40, this costume creates its human counterpart. First, decorate your body with tape in interesting designs or words (clothing in certain areas is allowed, but not mandatory). Next, allow your friends to paint all over your exposed areas. When you rip off the tape, voila! You’ll be a walking billboard, sporting any message from “Wash. U. Girls are Hot” to “I Ate Grilled Cheese for Lunch.”

Dan Daranciang

Bel-Nor is a quiet neighborhood in the St. Louis suburbs, with picturesque brick houses along a tree lined street. This season, the crisp autumn leaves are drifting through the breeze to settle at the feet of busy rakers. It is hard to believe that Satan would feel at home here.

But evil did take up residence in one of the quaint brick houses once, back in 1949, manifesting itself in the possession of a young boy.

In 1949, just miles away from the house at the now demolished Alexian Brothers Hospital, a small group of relatives and priests gathered around a young boy. Their mission was grave, for they sought to free him from the devil’s grip through the ages-old Catholic rite of exorcism.

While this may seem like cinematic hogwash, the event was real, and the boy, believed to be possessed, lived in this nondescript brick home.

Those who delight in the supernatural have most likely seen “The Exorcist,” a thrilling cinematic classic based on William Peter Blatty’s book. The movie follows the grotesque possession of a young girl and her subsequent exorcism.

Filled with horrific delights and the well-known 360-degree head twist, the movie and the book are no doubt showcasing a hyperbole of supernatural science fiction.

But few know that at the root of this creative endeavor lies a true story, a good vs. evil, heaven vs. hell showdown that ended in Washington University’s own backyard, here in St. Louis.

Blatty fervently researched the obscure case to write his book, but the real main character was a 14-year-old boy, usually referred to as Robbie, whose identity is well-protected. This is evidenced by the use of a girl, Regan, in Blatty’s book.

The story begins in a small suburb of Washington D.C. in 1949 where Robbie was growing up. The family’s life was suddenly interrupted by a variety of odd occurrences, such as scratching noises in the walls, violent shaking of Robbie’s bed and the inexplicable movement of stationary objects around the house.

Robbie underwent extensive medical and psychological evaluations, but no natural causes could be found. The Lutheran family eventually turned to the Catholic Church for help, and the Jesuits assigned to the case further examined Robbie and kept him under constant observation.

Robbie and his family eventually moved to St. Louis to stay with relatives with the hope that the new environment would ease the afflictions that were gripping Robbie. Also spurring them to relocate to St. Louis was the mysterious branded appearance of the word “Louis” on Robbie’s chest.

The worst was yet to come, though, and Robbie would later endure fits and violent outbursts, spitting and cursing. Meanwhile, mysterious scratches and welts, which observers claimed spelled out words such as “Spite” and “Hell,” appeared all over his body.

After a grueling two months of exorcism attempts following a 27-page exorcism rite detailed by the Catholic Church, an April night finally brought an end to the horror. A voice claiming to be St. Michael the Archangel burst forth from Robbie, and he sat up, recalling a bright vision of the angel but remembering little else.

Much controversy has surrounded the haunting tale, and details are largely suppressed, due to the secretive nature of exorcisms. Most sources claim that all buildings associated with the exorcism have since been destroyed, but here the proclaimed fact is actually fiction-the house of Robbie’s aunt and uncle, where he stayed while here in St. Louis, still stands, nestled in relative anonymity.

No longer a haven for the dark and mysterious forces that gripped Robbie and the surrounding community, the house is now for sale.

Although the house’s seller refused to allow for a tour and didn’t want inside photos taken or an address published, the realtor speaking on his behalf said there were no “bad vibes” in the house and promptly hung up. Fortunately, realtor appointments aren’t necessary for an external view of the house.

A winding path leads up to the house, which itself exudes a still air. Dead vines cling to the white plantation shutters highlighted by the red brick, and there is a broken basement window. There is no rush of malcontent or malice to lace the air, but every now and then, a shudder, a chill, fingers up the spine-the knowledge that something sinister had been here before.

Physically, there is nothing of the mysterious house to suggest the unsettling events of 1949, but, it stands a testament to the mysteries of the mind, the power of possession and the human fascination with the phantasmal.

Neighbors are well aware of the house’s paranormal history and reporters and television stations have found the house, despite attempts to conceal its location.

One neighbor, who wishes to remain anonymous to keep the relative location of the neighborhood less publicized, has been living next door to the house for 20 years. She lived in a different neighborhood at the time of the events but recalls the buzz that echoed through her Catholic high school.

“It wasn’t publicized and nothing was determined,” she recalled, “but there was a current of excitement and we knew it was something big. It was just something everyone knew about but no one knew the details. But you knew that there was definitely something going on there.”

The tale has been met with extreme controversy among believers and non-believers, and factual disparities fuel constant debate. But books, blogs, documentaries and websites have all been devoted to the exploration of the mysterious happenings.

Some claim the case to be a psychological issue rather than demonic possession, and others prefer the possibility of mere boyish pranks taken too far.

“I personally choose to believe the case for possession and exorcism,” commented sophomore Chance Grannan. “I guess I always wanted there to be something more out there, not necessarily just the physical.”

Whether pranksters or poltergeists are behind it, the St. Louis exorcism captures the human desire for the metaphysical and innate fascination with the paranormal.