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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Cemetery exploration far from grave mistake
MADDY MIKINSKI
mmikinski@kansan.com
As my packed Volvo station wagon pulled up to the entrance of Oak Hill cemetery, all seven of us craned to make sure the gates were open. They were, and, in the dark, they were creepy. I drove through the gates and followed the twisting road through the lines of stones and mausoleums. Each was paired with its own fuzzy shadow due to the full moon.
In what looked like a macabre Volvo ad, we all exited the car from every available opening. We got our first unhindered glimpse of the cemetery where wed be spending the next two hours. A couple of us
made the requisite "Supernatural" jokes. "Where's the salt?" "Who has the lighter fluid?" We wanted to be ready.
The graves stretched out in front of us over rolling hills and around bare trees. One of the tombstones belonged to basketball legend Phogg Allen. Countless others memorialized the victims of Quantrill's 1863 attack on Lawrence. We were prepared to meet every single one of them.
Cameras ready, adrenaline pumping, we trekked through the wet grass up our first hill. This put us above everything, looking out at the cemetery below. With the help of the moon we were able to see everything, the entire graveyard and
the lights of Lawrence beyond. The first object of our attention was a large mausoleum.
With the flash of the camera following us, we made our way over. We stood at the large, stone pillars marking the door and dared each other to touch it. One by one, our hands brushed the metal door. We laughed at our audacity. It was an initiation of sorts.
Once initiated, we turned our attention to another mausoleum. This one towered over the rest of the cemetery like a castle. It stood on the edge of the property near the tree line. A few more camera flashes blinded us as we went up to this next building. It was even more massive up close. The stone
walls didn't have any decorations on them, just two arched windows and a matching door.
From the darkness next to the mausoleum came an eldritch chiming. It was borderline frightening, so, of course, we had to go check it out. We went towards the noise, trying not to trample old stones and wilted flowers. I knocked my knee into one of the upright stones. I guess that's what I get for disturbing the peace.
We made it to the charms relatively unscatched so we could make sure it was the wind making the noises and not some horrific ghost bent on killing us all. It was just the wind — that time.
weirded out someone would put wind chimes on their grave, we continued to the rear of the cemetery. The cemetery was less populated in the back, which made room for erie lone graves.
Slightly relieved and even more
Two lonely tombstones sat underneath a leafless tree. A couple of us went to investigate while the rest mused about the inevitable serial killer hiding in the woods. By then the adrenaline had worn off and the cold was getting to us.
We decided to end our freaky night at one final mausoleum. This last one was built into a hill. Grass-covered earth was lumped up so only an entranceway was visible. We climbed up to the top of the hill and set down a blanket.
The timer was set for five minutes. As a finale we sat in a circle in complete silence, just in case any wayward spirit wanted to send us a secret message or pose for a picture. I watched a plane cross the moon and listened to the dogs barking. Wind rustled the leaves and I started daydreaming about the food I was going to get afterwards. (Cemetery stalking is hungry work.)
When the timer went off (Bach's "Toccata and Fugue"), we packed up our cameras and hesitantly returned to the world of the living.
Edited by Sylas May
Top songs for your Halloween
ATLANTIC RECORDS
Song: Highway to Hell
Artist: AC/DC
Album: Highway to Hell
Song: Cemeteries of London
Artist: Coldplay
Album: Viva La Vida
Song: Wuthering Heights
Artist: Kate Bush
Album: The Kick Inside
Song: Superstition
Artist: Stevie Wonder
Album: Talking Book
Song: Monster Mash
Artist: Bobby "Boris" Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers
Album: The Original Monster Mash
Song: Still of the Night
Artist: Whitesnake
Album: Whitesnake
Song: Haunted
Artist: Evanceasc
Album: Fallen
Song: Thriller
Artist: Michael Jackson
Album: Thriller
Song: Seven Devils
Artist: Florence + The Machine
Album: Ceremonials
Song: She Wolf
Artist: Shakira
Album: She Wolf
Song: Demons
Artist: Imagine Dragons
Album: Night Visions
Song: Ghostbusters
Artist: Ray Parker Jr
Album: Ghostbusters: Original Soundtrack Album
Song: Miriam
Artist: Norah Jones
Album: Little Broken Hearts
-Edited by Sarah Kramer
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OPINION
College halloween proves more fun, over-the-top
By Dani Brady
dbrady@kansan.com
For each year we get older, Halloween becomes longer, more outrageous, and in my opinion, entirely more fun. We have matured into college students, who find any excuse to dress like hookers, get wasted and party for consecutive nights. And that's why Halloween is bigger than the Super Bowl for most students.
College has turned what was once a holiday filled with traditional pumpkin carving and trick-or-treating into a week of shenanigans.
As kids, we looked forward to a classroom Halloween party with snacks and games before we returned home to go trick-or-treating with our neighborhood friends before it got dark. Collecting enough candy to rot our teeth out of our face was our biggest concern, and we had one costume that usually consisted of our favorite Disney princess or superhero.
First, it doesn't matter what night Halloween falls on; in college, Halloween lasts multiple nights. This year we are blessed to have Halloween fall on a Thursday. People will be partying all week: the Saturday before Halloween until the Saturday after. Good luck, my friends.
College is also a time when most
When we got to college, all of that changed.
In high school, we prayed that Hallowen fell on a Friday or Saturday because we couldn't get wild at a basement party on a school night. We got excited to dress up for one night and stay out later than usual at a house that was parent free for the weekend. The following week at school, everyone would gossip about what they did, whose house got "egged" and who got in trouble for throwing a party or coming home too drunk. Halloween parties in high school weren't too different from the normal weekends that we hid the beer from our parents and lied about parents supervising a party.
of us are finding ourselves. Perhaps we can cite this as the reason that most college girls find it OK to dress like hookers. All costumes are made provocative with the word sexy thrown in front, e.g. sexy cop, sexy sailor, sexy nurse; the list goes on. Other girls will dress in group costumes with their roommates or couple costumes with their serious boyfriend of two months. For guys, it's usually the tool with his shirt off or the class clown dressed as a crude stereotype.
Besides allowing the celebration to last as long as Hanukkah and dressing more provocatively than necessary, for college students, Halloween is about getting drunk and acting ridiculously.
You have four years before this behavior is no longer appropriate, so take advantage of this special time, drink (kind of) responsibly and make great memories even if you may not remember them. Happy Halloween!
Edited by Heather Nelson