English Club aims to scare Eastern students, let them participate in various activities and get them in the Halloween spirit.

“Haunted Coleman Hall” will be hosted for its second year from 7 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday on the third floor of Coleman Hall.

English Club adviser Angela Vietto will be reading tarot cards during the haunted house.

“A line always forms when I pull my tarot cards out,” she said.

Other events include Halloween/literary themed bingo, movies, face painting, a haunted classroom and free candy. Caramel apples will also be sold for $1.

“The caramel apples are the only cost,” Vietto said. “So, if you don’t buy any of those, the entire event is completely free.”

All the money earned from the apples will be used to fund English Club’s other activities throughout the school year.

“We’re going to have a scary movie playing in one room, but we will also have a more family-friendly movie going on in another room for those who aren’t horror fans,” Jagoda Szostakiewicz, a sophomore mathematics education major and president of English Club,said.

Halloween will be the scary selection, while Halloweentown will be the family-friendly movie.

The face painting will feature scary special effect makeup applied by Miranda Gomez, a junior secondary education major. She will be cosmetically applying cuts and bruises to participants’ faces.

Vietto and Szostakiewicz said they were both looking forward to the haunted classroom section of the haunted house.

“I think that the haunted classroom will be the most exciting part of the night,” Vietto said. “There’s something in there they’re not even telling me about.”

Szostakiewicz said she agreed and was excited because the haunted classroom is a new addition this year.

“Since the haunted classroom may be kind of scary, it’s totally optional and in its own separate room,” Szostakiewicz said. “People won’t have to deal with it if they don’t want to.

Vietto said the members of English Club started “Haunted Coleman Hall” last year to attract students from all majors to English Club.

English Club members plan to host a poetry slam in the spring and a Valentine’s Day event similar to “Haunted Coleman Hall.”

Additionally, they will be putting on a series of seminars about A Handmaid’s Tale, at which Vietto is giving a presentation.

“The most popular event last year was probably the bingo,” Vietto said. “I didn’t know there were so many bingo players on campus, but I guess there are.”

Szostakiewicz said one of the grand prizes for bingo is a new, decorative book of scary stories by famous authors.

Anyone is welcome to attend English Club, and it is a great time to socialize with other people who have the same interests, she said.

“We would love to have anyone who enjoys literature, writing or anything else English-related to come join us,” Vietto said.

Travis Moody can be reached at 581-2812 or at tlmoody@eiu.edu.