Something scarier than snakes and overly confident deer lurked through the Nature Preserve this weekend. Ghosts, ghouls and goblins shadowed unsuspecting Binghamton University students during the First Annual Haunted Nature Walk.

Accompanied by an actor dressed in a costume, participants found themselves being followed by ghouls, clowns and even President Barack Obama as they traversed the Nature Preserve’s Pipeline Trail behind Newing College. Led by a spooky tour guide, walkers encountered scares along the trail and caught glimpses of figures walking through the woods alongside them.

“It was fun and scary,” said Vivian Wang, a freshman majoring in biology. “[The attractions] just popped out at you. Then they followed you and tried to scare you.”

Some students even got to revisit their childhood nightmares.

“It was very scary. I had fun saying ‘hi’ to that guy from ‘Scream.’ I think the last time I saw him was 1996,” said Jordan Pomerantz, an undeclared freshman.

The freshman class of PricewaterhouseCoopers Scholars in the School of Management organized the fundraiser for the refurbishment of a baseball field in Binghamton’s Recreation Park, marking the first time that the freshmen PwC Scholars have been able to organize and execute a fundraiser on their own. This is also the first year that the Friends of the Nature Preserve allowed a walk in the preserve itself.

Charging a $5 admission fee, the event planners, who had originally aimed to raise $250, had a larger-than-expected turnout and raised a total of $700.

“Our first goal is of course to raise enough money, but we really just wanted people to have fun and be scared because we’re hoping to make this a more sustainable and scary event,” said Sarah Safeer, co-chair of freshman fundraising for the PwC Scholars and a freshman majoring in business.

James Kuo, co-chair of freshman fundraising for the PwC Scholars, said he and Safeer wrote up a proposal to use the trail, which they took to the Friends of the Nature Preserve.

“President David Schwartz of the Scholars Fundraising helped on our behalf,” said Kuo, a freshman majoring in business administration.

Safeer and Kuo are looking to improve the Haunted Walk for next year.

“This was our first event in all aspects,” Kuo said. “As sophomores next year, we hope to be more experienced in running the event and fixing technical problems. The Haunted Trail was a big event to run in regards to the other events the scholars program runs … It was challenging as our first event, so now any other event we’ll be ready for. ”