Halloween is a time for Carleton’s traditions to shine, and this year’s festivities were no different. From the annual Halloween concerts in the 90s to the 2000s, costume parties as well as the annual Samhain ritual, the holiday has seen an evolution at Carleton. Students’ responses to Halloween over the years have been as varied as the events themselves.
Since the 90s, the Halloween concert has drawn Carls to a night of spooky music and costumes. In 1988, former Carleton College President Robert A. Oden appeared in costume to raucous applause as the concert began with the iconic 20th Century Fox fanfare. President Oden dressed up as Chewbacca — the gorilla-like warrior from Star Wars — and wrestled the baton from conductor Hector Valdivia, professor of music, who directed the orchestra while dressed as a mad scientist.
Valdivia also tossed fake eyeballs and a severed foot to the audience. In 2005, however, the concert start time was moved from midnight to 10 p.m. after the chapel reportedly sustained damage from very spirited attendees.
“I graduated in 2007 and [the Halloween concert] was definitely alive and kicking,” Chaplain Schuyler Vogel ’07 said. “Then, the orchestra was playing, and everyone was in costume late at night. They closed it down, in part because I think it became a drunken mess in my understanding, and apparently it became kind of a liability for the college.”
“I remember it being very dramatic,” Vogel said. “Halloween music [was] being played by the orchestra and the organ, and everyone was dressed up, lights would go up and down. It’s very much the event for the whole college, student body. When the chapel was full, it was very, very fun. But they don’t do that anymore.
Carls hold a range of perceptions of Halloween. Archival issues of The Carletonian around the holiday suggest that no uniform opinion exists, though thoughtful reflection and satire can often be seen in equal proportions.
“Halloween is pointless,” Bruce Manning ’96 wrote in the Oct. 28, 1994 issue of the Carletonian. “Barney the Dinosaur going ballistic over some sugary rocks while destroying vegetables and creaming all over other people’s property is hardly the stuff that tradition is made of. It is an embarrassment to the title of holiday because we’re all still at school the next morning. In short, I move that we abolish Halloween, replace it with a real holiday, add a long weekend, make a vacation of it. Then we’d be in business.”
Back in 1983, Harry Tilis ’85 voiced a similar frustration, satirically lamenting Halloween’s shift toward consumerism in the Humor section, which is a precursor to the current Bald Spot section.
“The commercialization of Halloween is alarming,” Tilis wrote in the Oct. 28, 1983 issue.“Last Fall, we were overpowered by E.T. selling Reese’s Pieces. Didn’t he make enough money from his movie? No! Greedy, greedy, greedy, E.T. had to try to make another 10 million dollars by selling candy. Rumor has it that E.T.’s home planet has a monopoly on the awful tasting peanut butter (?) which fills the little candy shells.”
“What about Halloween costumes?” Tilis asked. “Long gone are the traditional days when you took your bedsheet (or your roommates) and cut two holes in it to make an instant ghost. Nowadays there are all sorts of crazy costumes. Nobody wants to go out as the crime-fighting heroes of our era – No siree. Kids like to go out dressed like little criminals. Costume makers love it.”
Fast-forward to the 2010s, Maddy Crowell ’14 reflected on the death of trick- -or-treating and Halloween spirit without satire. Recalling fond memories of her childhood, she noted with sadness that this holiday spirit has been lost since people transition to adulthood.
“Until Halloween rejuvenates itself and we have our own kids to chase (perhaps by that time someone will have invented an effective way to keep track of our reckless progeny), we must wait it out in the awkward stage of knowing we are too old to get dressed up but too nostalgic to give it up altogether,” Crowell wrote in the Oct. 28, 2011 issue.
Anne Posner ’99 expressed similar sentiments about the campus drinking culture. She noted that Halloween’s timing often affects students’ approach to celebration. She found that, due to the holiday falling on a weekday, most Carls toned down their revelry.
“I remember freshman year we became totally convinced that Halloween was yet another occasion to celebrate by becoming disgustingly intoxicated,” Posner wrote in the October 29, 1998 issue.“This may be true when the big day falls on a weekend (like this year!), but it was a Wednesday night. In fact, we were incredibly confused when we realized that a large portion of the campus was actually sober.”
In earlier days, Carls celebrated Halloween with movies in Little Nourse Theater as well as a Halloween Party hosted in the Sayles-Hill gymnasium, as reported in the Oct. 31, 1941 issue. On the other hand, in the Nov. 6, 1901 issue of the Carletonian, ghosts were reported to mingle with students.
“A spectral throng of spirits appeared, from whom the young men chose their partners, when immediately the spirits vanished and earthly forms took their places,” an unnamed author wrote.
This year, Halloween activities at Carleton continue to honor traditions while adding new twists. On Wednesday, Oct. 30, the festivities began at the Gould Library. A pop-up exhibit of spooky books curated by the Gould Library Special Collections showcased rare and eerie works.
Among the display is “The Vampire and other poems,” a miniature book by Rudyard Kipling and “Andre Vesalii Anatimia,” an anatomy book from 1604, featuring intricately detailed skeletons. The miniature book is only 3.5 by 2.5 inches large and contains accompanying illustrations. Kipling is also best known for his fiction work, “The Jungle Book.”
Published posthumously in 1604, “Andre Vesalii Anatimia” is one of the most significant works for early modern medicine. It was created by Andreas Vesalius, who is considered one of the founders of modern human anatomy. The event provided a chilling exploration of literature, with visitors receiving skeleton-themed buttons to mark the occasion.
“We curated a small collection around the theme of Halloween and hope to do more events like this in the future,” Zoe Roettger ’27 shared. “We had a lot of fun selecting the pieces and making skeleton buttons.”
This year continued Carleton’s spooky traditions. On the week of Halloween, theHaunted Knights concluded on Saturday in the Cave with a costume contest and “Hauntcert,” that kept the spirit alive. Then, on Union Street, students joined the Nightmare on Union Street bash, also complete with a costume contest. For those drawn to Halloween’s spiritual origins, the Carleton Druids hosted their annual Samhain ceremony.
“Samhain is a Celtic celebration which marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter (the colder half of the year when much of life sleeps),” said Austin Skoda ’25, President of Carleton Grove of the Reformed Druids of North America. “It is generally considered to be a precursor to modern-day Halloween!”
“I am glad to have had the opportunity to bring the Druids back to campus since they’re such a cool and interesting part of Carleton’s history,” Skoda said. “The ceremony’s going to be great and I hope to see a lot of people there!”
For students who prefer a low-key celebration, Halloween can also mean cozy nights with friends. “I’m going to watch “Over the Garden Wall” with friends,” said Ike Smalley ’25.
Carleton’s traditions continue to reflect a blend of celebration, reflection and humor. The mix of opinions — from the playful to the satirical to the thoughtful — finds Halloween’s lasting impact on campus even if it often means Carls making the most of their limited time on a weekday night.
