Zombies in MSV: RHA terrorizes 4th East residents

By Manuel Lopez

On Friday, the gloominess of the night, the breath-revealing cold, the solitude of the streets, and the wet leaves outside of MSV prepared the atmosphere for what was about to happen. As soon as I entered MSV and attempted to head to the warmth of my room, something sneaked up behind me. Barely after I identifed the thing as a zombie, it yelled “HEY!”. Of course, as every human would do at that point, I got startled. The zombie then calmly told me that I should go to the haunted 4th East.

I thought it would be good, free, convenient fun and didn’t expect it to be scary at all. Just in case though, I invited a couple of friends. At the entrance there was a line of about 10 people. However, a couple of minutes after, we were signing our Liability Release Forms. “Liability Release Forms?!”, I said when we were told to do it. I could have been signing my death, or their permit to create a permanent psychological scar in me! The entire thing was scary even before it began.

A hooded, old person welcomed us with slow, Shakespearean English. He was going to be our guide through a town. I tried to identify the student, but the dim light only let me see his chin. He said we would go room to room to visit the townspeople. I tried to look for the exit but couldn’t find it. The floor was completely decorated and dark pieces of opaque plastic sectioned the floor successfully.

The first room was a cemetery. A strobe light revealed a dead girl lying on the bed. When the door closed, she woke up and hissed, ready to suck our blood. The guardian of the cemetery stopped her dramatically with a cross and suggested us to visit the “zoo”. There were nice sound effects that suggested the presence of more beasts inside the room.

We then headed to a mother’s house. She was crying for her baby next to a collection of bloody, torn dolls. We could only see her back, as she rocked side to side in her dark robe. The mysterious guide encouraged us to console the desolate mother. My “friends” pushed me to be the first to calm her. Before I touched her, I knew what was coming. When I touched her shoulder, I realized I was not ready. Her sudden, shrill call for help together with her realistic deformed face made me want to leave the room quickly. She forced me to hold her “baby”: a really ugly, Chucky-looking doll that just stared at me. I dropped it, as I didn’t want to hold it any longer. The guide rushed us out of the room and then apologized for the mother’s “unexpected behavior”.

With the heart in my throat, we went to the zoo. As we walked, we saw a masked killer writing blood messages on the mirror of the bathroom and another killer dancing frantically to a red strobe light in the trash room. When we entered the zoo, the guide made us move away from a “radioactive” wall. This time, we all knew that zombies would appear. They appeared in front of us, and looked inoffensive as a fence stopped their slow walking. Then, the human-hungry zombies start opening the fence and the guide told us to leave the room. As soon as that happened, zombies came out from underneath a bed and grabbed my friend’s foot (he later told me that instinctively he tried to smash the grabbing hand, we apologize if we caused any harm to the actors). More zombies came out from nowhere and we panicked a little.

We knew the adventure was almost over when we saw the bright exit sign. Our guide then mentioned that one room he had never entered was open. We took a look inside and a killer with a saw chased after us. Then, for some reason, other killers chased us from the other side of the corridor. We felt trapped. In the confusion, a friend bumped into another and some glasses fell on the floor and were stepped on by someone. Somehow we got out of there.

That night I could not take out of my mind the desolate mother’s face. Now I understand why we had to sign the waiver.

I found out from a member of the Residence Halls Association (RHA) that about 90 people experienced the terror of 4th East that night. My friends and I congratulate RHA members for putting up such a nice event so close and accessible to us. For sure, I will be looking forward to more events organized by them, as this one was just great.