The Faces Behind the Fright

At the Fall Dance, students showcased their costumes inspired by the dance’s theme: “Theatre of Terror, A Night of Fright”

Karmiah Smith, Writer • 286 Views

October 14, 2023

Dancing with friends, visual senior Cherise Hightower attends the Fall Dance. Students danced in the gym, walked through the haunted house in the media center, or attempted the escape room.

Belen Rivera

A correction was made to this story on 10/16/2023. In the story, Valisa Shmatko’s name was written as Valisa Shmatk. Her name is Valisa Shmatko. This has been rewritten with the correct name.

Hues of purple, red, and green lights reflected off the gymnasium floor Oct. 12 as students and guests arrived in various costumes to dance to songs, participate in conga lines, and visit the Haunted House in Building 5.

From angels to skeletons, students showcased costumes that they either handmade, taking hours or even days to complete, or found online, spending up to $100 on the costumes they decided to wear to the event. Because of the Fall Dance’s limitations – no face masks or fake weapons – students chose to accessorize in different ways, using face paint, handmade jewelry, or attaching things to their costumes.

“You can be anything you want at (the) Fall Dance,” vocal senior and co-president Ben Levkovitz said. “There’s no limitation. It’s really just students expressing what they enjoy in their life. It’s their hobbies, their interests. It’s all of that coming to life into a costume which is really beautiful.”

Who: Communications senior Angelyna Rodriguez (pictured on right)

Costume: Bedazzled in Blood

Time it took to make: 48 hours

Fun Fact: All of the beads are hand-glued on to the corset and face

(Belen Rivera)

Who: Visual freshman Athena Fleming (pictured second from the left)

Costume: Ice King from “Adventure Time”

Cost: $80

Fun Fact: The costume arrived two hours before the dance

(Belen Rivera)

Who: Visual junior Lily Edmiston

Costume: Joan of Arc, national heroine of France

Cost: $100

Fun Fact: The tunic was homemade, taking approximately one hour

(Aiden Velez)

Who: Visual sophomore Valisa Shmatko

Costume: Biblically accurate angel

Time it took to make: Three days

Fun Fact: At the end of the night, Shmatko won a prize given by Principal Bennett for competing in the dance’s costume contest

(Belen Rivera)

Who: Communications junior London Sanford

Costume: Bayonetta from the video game “Bayonetta”

Cost: $69

Fun Fact: The video game is a 2009 action-adventure title.

(Belen Rivera)

Who: Communications sophomores Isla Warriner and Sofia Morgan

Costumes: Barbie and Maleficent

Fun Fact: They planned their costumes together, deciding to starkly contrast each other.

(Belen Rivera)

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About the Contributors

Karmiah Smith, Print Managing Editor

Karmiah Smith is a third-year staffer and a Print Managing Editor on The Muse. When not working on the publication, she loves going to the beach, watching bad reality T.V, and writing poetry. Karmiah can’t wait to spend her last year on The Muse growing with the staff while producing amazing content!

Belen Rivera, Content Team Editor

Belen Rivera is a third-year staffer and a content team editor on The Muse. When she’s not helping her staffers, she likes lollygagging with her friends and trying to get her little sister to do something with her. She has also picked up a habit of snoozing her alarms seven times because she likes to stay up late to watch movies. This year, she’s looking forward to leading her team called “The Beach Boys” and making her last impressions on The Muse.

Aiden Velez, Editor In Chief

Aiden Velez is a third year staffer and co-editor in chief on The Muse. When he’s not in the publication room, you’ll probably find him hunting for watermelon at Publix or watching reruns of “The West Wing” (on good days) and “Veep” (on not so good days). Aiden is so excited to work with a new generation of The Muse staffers and see all the incredible work they will produce.