Of the many Halloween events and traditions around the University of Connecticut, few are as popular and engaging as Haunted HEEP, a haunted trail walk hosted by the Office of Sustainability (OS). The immersive experience returned this year with full Halloween spirit on Wednesday, Oct. 29, running from 7 to 9:30 p.m.
The walk took place at UConn’s Hillside Environmental Education Park (HEEP), a remediated landfill converted into 165 acres of protected land. The park contains three miles of hiking trails that run through a variety of different environments and natural features.
Amanda Stowe, a seventh-semester environmental science major and a sustainability intern for the OS, oversaw the volunteer coordination for the event.
“It’s a great event to bring awareness to the Hillside Environmental Education Park,” Stowe said. “We have a really nice area for students to go on hikes and take a break from their classes.”
The hundreds of students brave enough to dare the haunted forest (and the cold) made their way to the Red Trail of HEEP, located beside UConn’s Innovation Partnership Building (IPB). After completing a waiver and waiting in line, students were gathered into groups of 10 to 15 people. One person per group was given a flashlight with a narrow red beam, enough to make out rocks on the path and different scares, but not illuminate the entire trail. Interns briefed the groups about the general route and some basic information about HEEP before sending them in.
The trail was decorated with plenty of spooky decor to unsettle walkers as their flashlights shined on them. There were plenty of tombstones, body bags, eyeballs on strings and spiders, among other things.
The main attraction on the trail was the scarers. Along the way, walkers passed by students dressed in various scary costumes, with plenty of Scream masks, zombies and ghouls. They would take different approaches to frighten the walkers, sometimes running out from the darkness while screaming, other times staring at students from behind a tree without moving. Those that seemed to elicit the most yells were the ones that pretended to be in a group before turning around and surprising everyone.
There were also designated scenes along the way that ranged in severity. There was a priest performing an exorcism on a writhing body, a cluster of witches forming a Labubu cult and a checkpoint where students were forced to dance before continuing their journey. The final scene involved undead woodsmen wielding chainsaws, a fitting way to end the experience.
According to Stowe, everyone that was on the trail to scare walkers were volunteers. She reached out to club sports, student organizations, fraternities and sororities for people interested. This year, they got over 160 volunteers, a jump from last year, when they got just over 100. Stowe also said the OS tries changing up the scares every year.
“We don’t want the same thing every year, and we try and make it fun,” Stowe said. “We give options for different clubs and organizations that are volunteering to make their own themes for their station.”
Loc Tran, a seventh-semester computer science and mathematics major, said her favorite scare was a volunteer that infiltrated her group.
“There was this little girl in a raincoat, I think from ‘IT,’” Tran said. “She was leading the path, we were following her, and then she turned around right in front of my face.”
Ashley Bejar, a seventh-semester psychology and human development and family sciences major, said her favorite scare was the chainsaw section.
“I loved the chainsaw guy,” Bejar said. “I loved being chased by him.”
Stowe said the OS counted over 800 students that registered ahead of time and estimated that another 500 students would register during the night.
For those interested in exploring HEEP in their own time, the nature preserve is open to the public and features entrances by the IPB, C-Lot and Hunting Lodge Road. More information about HEEP, including trail maps, can be found at the Office of Sustainability’s website.