Undead denizens greeted visitors to the Nature Preserve with shrieks and blood-covered arms as the Paranormal Association held their annual Haunted Tour.
The haunting began near the East Access Road, past Decker Health Services. Starting from the Pipeline Trail, the tour heads towards the small bridge and back through the Marsh Trail where tours encountered a swamp monster that has an appetite for freshmen.
The swamp monster claimed to have been haunting the swamp longer than she could remember. She jumped out from behind a bush breathing heavily and with swamp plants growing on her skin.
“Many years ago, longer than I can remember, I was called Elizabeth,” the monster said. “It’s very lonely out here.”
On the trail, participants encountered spirits from Binghamton’s darker history, like Native American spirits and ghosts from an abandoned psychiatric ward in the area. One mental patient sporting wild hair and a white, blood-stained gown screamed after the tour. The tour guides led the adventurers to a bridge, where they met a witch who needed tourists’ fingers as part of her ritual. Participants were followed by hooded figures that appeared from nowhere and screamed at them.
According to Stephanie Cobb, vice president of the Paranormal Association and a senior majoring in English, many people outside of the club volunteered their acting skills and helped out with costumes, staging and everything else needed to create the nightmare tour.
“The makeup is really amazing,” Cobb said. “We’ve had quite a few people from the theater groups that want to participate, so we’re really thankful for our actors.”
Cobb said the Nature Preserve provided the perfect setting for a haunted stroll through the trees.
“It goes along well with the paranormal feel to have it in the woods,” Cobb said. “We’ve got about eight or nine spirits this year. It’s spooky.”
Ashley Gorman, the president of the Paranormal Association and a junior majoring in integrative neuroscience, said that the walk, along the Pipeline and Marsh Trails, had successfully scared many students in the past.
“We had a huge attendance, around 100 people showed up,” Gorman said. “Last year, I was one of the scarers; it was super fun and we had somebody cry. We could hear the screams from the Union. It was pretty great.”
Gorman said she was hoping for better weather to scare people, as it started raining early in the night.
“It started raining shortly after the first few tour groups left,” Gorman said. “All of the people that came within the first half hour of the event came before the rain picked up. I think that if the rain had held off, we would have had a better turnout.”
Eliza Gellis, a junior majoring in English, said the hike was a good way to kickoff the holiday.
“It thought it was pretty fun,” Gellis said. “I love going for hikes, and Halloween is my favorite holiday. I was in BU Paranormal last year, and I thought this was a good way to get back into the club.”