Halloween events across campus are ready to scare students, teach history, donate food, throw out a couple chainsaws and start a black hole. 

One of the main attractions is the Ames Haunted Forest, which is in its 15th year.

The Haunted Forest is a family operation and is run by Lee Ballard. Ballard’s brother and mother own the property.

The Haunted Forest also gives ISU students an opportunity to work somewhere where they can be creative. Ballard and his brother recruit a month in advance so they get the chance to talk with the student-actors about their costume, story and makeup ideas.

“We hire 50 ISU students, and we let them use their creativity,” Ballard said. “It’s different every night.”

The scare factor is also a reason why Ballard and his family are able to sell it as being the “No. 1 haunted attraction in Iowa.”

“Some go after a couple years because people complain about them not being scary, pricey or both. Ours isn’t the most expensive and no one person ever complains,” Ballard said.

One of the popular attractions at the Haunted Forest is the black hole, which is a dark tunnel that gives the illusion that the floor is moving. 

“It’s about a 20-minute trip through the forest, we have two to four chainsaws and you get scared 20 times through the whole trip; you definitely get your money’s worth,” Ballard said. 

Kim Paul, senior in psychology, is one of the actors at the Haunted Forest.

“It’s my second time working at the Haunted Forest and I would keep doing it again,” Paul said. “I like the freedom [the actors] get to decide what we want to be or what we want to do each night.” 

Paul highly recommends the job for students. 

Freeman Haunted House is a free event that is open to the public. Gretchen Schrock, junior in biology and the community adviser of Freeman-Vollmer, said it “just sort of happened in time” with no exact period of when the tradition started.

The haunted house is an event that uses the four floors of Freeman Hall and transforms them into a terrifying maze, with each floor having a specific theme.

Though the main reason for the haunted house is to scare, the hall uses this as an opportunity to have a food drive. The food is donated to a local food pantry.

“We want to encourage ISU students and the Ames community to bring their family and friends out to this event,” Schrock said.

University Museums will also be hosting an event for Halloween night. Ghost Stories of Iowa State is a chance for ISU students to learn some history and listen to stories about those who haunt many lecture halls on campus. Such buildings include the Farm House Museum, Molecular Biology, Beardshear Hall, Morrill Hall and more.

Haunted Forest Information: 

Ticket Cost: $13

Hours of operation:

Friday, Oct. 25 7 p.m. – Midnight

Saturday, Oct. 26 7 p.m. – Midnight

Sunday, Oct. 27 7-10 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 31 7-11 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 1 7-11 p.m.

Freeman Haunted House Information:

Date of event: Friday, October 25, 2013

Location: Freeman Hall part of the Barton-Lyon-Freeman Community

Time: 8-11 p.m.

Ghost Stories of Iowa State:

Time: 7 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 31

Location: Room 2019 in Morrill Hall in the Christian Petersen Museum