The Senior Class of 2026 at Cornell University will not be spooked when it comes to talking about mental health. Class leaders recently threw a pre-Halloween Haunted House party to raise awareness and fight stigma, give first-year students a chance to de-stress, and collect donations in support of The Sophie Fund.

Zoinks! It’s a Zombie!

Students braved the rainy, chilly evening and lined up down the block for the October 25 “Haunted House on the Hill” event, held at Alpha Zeta, a co-ed, honors, social, and professional fraternity devoted to the advancement of agriculture and the life sciences.

Many arrived in costumes, such as a group of friends who dressed up like characters in the Wizard of Oz. One student put bat wings on their black cat, who got into the eerie spirit by perching herself in a window of the fraternity house.

Waiting for you

One of the amusements was an Escape Room, which required participants to sink their hands into mysterious boxes for the key to unlock the door—only to be startled to find themselves fishing in piles of sand and tanks of slime. Then there was the Zombie Walk, where attendees made their way through a gauntlet of streamers populated by Cornell seniors dressed as ghouls.

Zombie Walk

“I remember actually being scared from the Zombie Walk, and the zombies were even my friends!” said Alexa O. ’26. “I enjoyed the free roaming actors like the one with the pretend chainsaw,” said Bre S. ’26. “The doctors by the front with the body on the table were super scary,” said Emma D. ’28.

Cornell alum Miguel B. ’24 enjoyed being back on campus. “The haunted house felt like it brought together so many of my friends and people from all across campus for a fun night,” he said.

Scarecrow surgery

Promotions for the Haunted House read: “Come for a good cause and stay for a good time! Get ready for an evening that you won’t forget full of spookiness, fun, and philanthropy. We hope to see you and scare you.” The event was open to the Ithaca community as well as Cornell students.

The organizers said they lit upon the idea for a fun evening as a way of supporting students who may have become stressed in their first semester on campus not only due to usual factors like homesickness and academic workloads but also the sudden deaths of two fellow first-year students.

The organizers estimated that 250 students attended the Haunted House event. It raised more than $1,231.00 for The Sophie Fund, a mental health advocacy organization named for Sophie Hack MacLeod, a Cornell fine arts student who died by suicide in 2016.

Haunted House volunteers

The organizers said they selected The Sophie Fund due to its work in the Ithaca community as well as on the Cornell campus. They said they were moved by the story of Sophie and also wanted to honor the life of a fellow Cornellian. “We admire your continued dedication to promoting mental health in the Ithaca community, especially with the college students. It is our honor to support the fund and its mental health initiatives,” the organizers said.

The Sophie Fund said it was “incredibly touched by this gesture to spread some joy and support mental health for your campus peers and the Ithaca community at large. You make us proud! Thank you!”