Maleficent, Bob Ross, and the whole Scooby Doo crew showed up at Cafeteria 1 for East’s annual Halloween dance last Friday, along with plenty of other favorites, like Danielle Cohn Rat, Squidward and Sponngebob, and even an entire group of hippies.

Students started to flood East hallways at 7:00pm. Plenty of freshmen showed up for their first high school dance, but so did students from other grade levels. Costumes burst with creativity and color, ranging from creepy clowns, the divine and divine supernatural, and sports girls.

A projected silent scary movie played in black and white, equipped with an abundant assortment of snacks, which did not seem to disappoint-brownies, cupcakes, sodas, and chips stocked the tables at anyone’s disposal, “Oh shoot, these brownies aren’t half as bad as I expected,” said Gwen Kelly (‘23), who dressed up as Steve from Scoops Ahoy. 

Ghouls and jokers alike hung out by the courtyard, and of course, friendly competition broke out. Dressed as the psychotic Joker himself, Zachary Dinter (‘23) carried a witch in bridal style across the courtyard into the Cafe repeatedly, attempting to win against Jacob Hablak (‘23) who lifted Maya Hemo (‘23), dressed as an e-boy, and ran the courtyard. Piggy back rides were a must, and the victor was Gwen Kelly (‘23), who at first was making fun on the sidelines. “I didn’t even know it was a competition but they gave me a lollipop so that’s cool!”she said. 

Festivities continued within school walls as well; inside the Cafeteria lined three booths for face painting, knocking down clowns, and throwing glowing hoops. 

Students danced, ran around, and seemingly had a good time. As soon as the Cha Cha slide hit the speakers, everyone lined up and danced perfectly in sync. Well, all except for one particular Joker who seemed to struggle. “Yeah I danced, horribly, but I did it”, Zachary Dinter (‘23) said, cheeks flushed with laughing so hard at his own attempt to dance with his two left feet. 

“I had so much fun, and met new people that I would never have talked to otherwise,” said Maya Hemo (‘23).“I’m glad I came, seriously…only five dollars to hang out with the best weirdos I literally just met two hours ago? Yeah, ten out of ten I would recommend.”

Although the dance may not have been as spooky as one might expect, it certainly left an unforgettably spine-chilling impact on students, one that will shape the years to come.