Ghosts, witches, pirates, clowns and professional athletes filled Warren Towers Wednesday night when 80 children between 5 and 14 years old came trick-or-treating on 35 participating floors.
A 4-year-old named Lily, who was dressed as a cowgirl, said she had a lot of fun.
‘Some of the rooms were really scary,’ Lily said.
Lily said her favorite part was touching ‘brains.’ The fog-filled 18A lounge, which was lit only by strobe and black lights, used gelatin to simulate brains, tomatoes and olives to resemble eyeballs and pretended noodles were intestines.
The floor won the contest for most creative decorations, as all the floors selected a theme whether spooky, funny or traditional.
All 42 floors had the opportunity to decorate their floor lounges to give out candy and then enter a decorating contest. The winners of each category scariest, most creative, best use of technology, funniest and best overall won a pizza party for their whole floor paid for by the RHA.
José Alicea, a 13-year-old costumed as a basketball player, said his favorite part was a student trying to scare the kids in C tower.
‘He grabbed me,’ Alicea said. ‘It was really scary, but a lot of fun.’
But Alicea declined to touch the fake brains, eyes and intestines.
‘I feel my own brains, my own eyes, my own intestines,’ Alicea said. ‘I don’t want to feel anyone else’s.’
The children roamed Warren in groups of about 10, visiting the lounges, ranging from an insane asylum, a maze and a spooky laboratory, as all offered candy provided by the RHA.
Jed Corzo, a 13-year-old, said his favorite part was a student on one floor costumed as Batman.
‘Batman was wack, yo,’ Corzo said. ‘He had a good Halloween voice.’
David Reese, the Shields, or ‘C,’ Tower director of Warren Towers, said he came up with the idea to invite children involved with Child Services of Roxbury and the children of Boston University employees to trick-or-treat in the dorm.
‘Everyone has been looking very forward to tonight especially me,’ Reese said. ‘Halloween is my favorite holiday.’
Marisa Wohl, vice president of the Warren Towers Residence Hall Association, said the organization got excited about implementing Reese’s idea.
‘Warren is a great atmosphere,’ said Wohl, a College of Communication sophomore. ‘It’s something different for the kids.’
Warren RHA President Dana Rauch, a College of Arts and Sciences sophomore, said the event benefited both the kids and college students.
‘This provides a good break from everyday stuff like studying,’ Rauch said.
CAS sophomore and Warren RHA secretary, Rishi Parikh, called the event ‘a great way to give back to the kids and to the community.’
Parikh said he thought the event also helped enrich the BU community.
‘Sometimes we feel so isolated from the city,’ Parikh said. ‘This really helps to bring us closer to the community around us.’
Last year the Warren Towers RHA tried to hold a similar event, but the bus bringing the children to Warren Towers broke down.
Warren Towers Area Director Karen Belanger also helped organize the event.
‘We’re all very excited about the opportunity to offer local children a safe place to trick-or-treat and see what life is like in a college dorm,’ Belanger said.
CAS freshman Julie Vaysbord said she enjoyed the event.
‘It really brought our floor together,’ Vaysbord said. ‘It was a good bonding experience, and it was really fun too.’