Written by: Alexandra Long

Last Thursday, at E.J. Thomas Hall, The University of Akron held its annual Boo at the Roo festival. Students dressed up in their favorite costumes and danced the night away, and also participated in a costume contest for the grand prize: two free airline tickets.

The stage was decorated appropriately for the event. There were spiders and bats hanging on the walls, and, together with smoke machines and eerie lighting, the event was all too spooky.

Students were dressed in elaborate costumes. From Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Gang, to Internet horror Slender Man, there were more costumes than one could imagine.

The DJ hyped up the dancers by blasting the beats of today’s modern music. Students who wanted their costume judged for the grand prize all made a single-file line and tried their best to impress the judges.

There were hundreds of participants, but only 10 made it to the finals: a scarecrow; Chuck Noland and Wilson the volleyball from the movie Castaway; Snap, Crackle and Pop; Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Gang; a marble woman; The Mighty Boosh; a zombie lady; a monster skeleton; a retro-styled girl; and the house that crushed the Wicked Witch of the East in “The Wizard of Oz.”

The costume contest was split into three categories: Most Original, People’s Choice, and Best Costume. The winners of the Most Original and People’s Choice awards would each receive $100 gift cards to Best Buy, while the winner of the Best Costume award would win the free airline tickets.

The Most Original winners were juniors Victoria Teresko and Tyler Wright, as Wilson the volleyball and Chuck Noland, respectively. Teresko, who spent the entire night in a papier-mâché volleyball, said it felt amazing to win Most Original.

“It was super-hot, and I had no arms for most of the night, so it feels pretty good that we won,” she said.

The winner of the People’s Choice award was senior Alexandra Richards as the house that crushed the Wicked Witch of the East. Richards, who also had no arms for the night, said it was a “fabulous feeling” that she won.

“It was funny. The judges looked at me like I was crazy when I came up in my costume,” she said.

The grand prize winner, taking the title of Best Costume, was junior Matt Woods, who dressed up as a seven-foot-tall scarecrow.

“We had to mold our heads to the masks to make them fit,” he said.

Woods also sewed his own shirt for the costume, and modified a pair of platform boots in order to reach the seven-foot height.

He plans to go to Las Vegas with his free airline tickets.

“I go every year,” he said.

This year’s Boo at the Roo proved to be exciting, from the impressive decorations and music to the even-more-impressive costumes. Boo at the Roo was the perfect debut to the Halloween season.