The moon illuminated students’ faces as they descended to a chamber hidden beneath the library for their sinister gathering to discuss morbid tales of past and present.
South Campus’ Horror Club is not for the faint of heart, but if one dared to join them during a Friday night fright they’d be greeted by Hannah Paden with a smile and popcorn.
“Face those fears and watch a horror movie, dang it,” Paden said.
She is president of the club and works alongside officers Luke Armendarez and Jay Anderson. Every Friday, they meet and transform the Writing Center into a theater dedicated strictly to horror movies.
The club chooses a theme for each week’s double feature, and members can make recommendations as to which films are shown.
Dedicated member Daniel Green will hang around South until 5:30 p.m. when the club meeting commences. He has been a part of the group since its beginning in 2022.
“Getting scared is the best part of Horror Club,” Green said.
Before starting any frightful film, the officers provide a brief warning of its content. They strive for their members to feel safe when watching scary movies and have guidelines listed that must be followed.
“One of the big things we like to do here is have discussion after we watch the movies,” Armendarez said. “So be openminded to other people’s opinions and just be respectful.”
During their black-and-white movie night, the 1931 rendition of “Frankenstein” was shown. While members laughed at some of the outdated scenes, the analysis afterward gave insight to the importance of the film.
Armendarez and Paden began by explaining how “Frankenstein” was foundational to the horror genre and started the path for future spooky stories to be created.
But as the conversation developed, members began to contemplate how long a person created from stitched-together human remains could last before decomposing.
“I’ve never really been a horror movie person, actually,” said newcomer A’jahn Kimble. “But [I’ve] met some cool people and socialized a bit.”
Kimble stumbled upon the club’s poster while in the Writing Center for class and decided to come back for the M. Night Shyamalan feature that week.
Since then, he has come to every Friday movie night.
“Never give away the ending or spoil anything from a movie,” Armendarez said.
Since the club has new members like Kimble, who aren’t as knowledgeable about scary movies as others in the club, Armendarez and Paden made this a very important rule.
“Even though [some] of these movies are, like, older than all of us, don’t spoil anything,” Paden said.
On Oct. 25, the Horror Club hosted a movie marathon to showcase members’ favorite films. First on the list was “Scream,” which almost everyone agreed was on their top five favorites list.
The club sat in the room decorated with spider webs, skeletons and ghoulish figures until late in the evening, watching eerie movies with pizza in hand.
“It’s a great place to make good friends,” Paden said. “Make good memories and watch scary stuff.”
