The front of Danieley building D is hard to miss. It’s decorated with cobwebs, orange lights, and jack-o-lanterns — a reminder of the childlike joy of the Halloween season.
This apartment is home to the resident faculty member and assistant dean of global education and associate professor of music Matthew Buckmaster and his kids. who will judge a Halloween door decorating contest among Danieley Center residents.
Halloween is one of the many events that bring the university and local community together. This year, events like Haunted Harper and Loy Village trick or treating aim to include the kids of Elon with the students. On Thursday, Mill Point will also be giving out candy to Halloween-goers.
For some Elon students, they were once those kids.
Sophomore Emily Sledge grew up in Burlington. She knows Halloween as a time to be with family, particularly “driving around to different houses that always have crazy decorations” and going to Isley Farms to find the perfect pumpkin.
Junior Triston Barbour is also from Burlington. He grew up going to trunk or treats at his church and the Dark in the Park, an annual Halloween celebration hosted by the town of Burlington.
Sledge used to perform in the Haunted Train, a favorite attraction at Dark in the Park. The Haunted Train brings passengers through a Halloween-themed Burlington City Park with scares at every bend. Volunteers go all out to give passengers a frightful experience they won’t forget.
This year, the event drew in hundreds of Burlington natives of all ages. Decked out in costumes, people made their way through the transformed park, watching talented aerial silk dancers and stopping at local vendors. Mermaids shared cotton candy with pirates and clowns laughed along with Captain America.
The air was brimming with excitement as hopeful kids signed up for the annual costume contest, eager to show off their carefully chosen outfit.
The night wrapped up with a firework display. Each firework illuminated the crowd, which was a mixture of families with sleeping kids in costume, local vendors who had just closed up shop and some Elon students who took the night to get off campus and explore the area.