Written by: Brian Hickey

Not only are they in October movie marathons, but zombies have been spotted on the VSU campus – all thanks to Campus Recreation.

This year Campus Recreation will be putting on its annual haunted trail. The trail will be located behind the Sustella parking deck by the CORE ropes course. Admission to the haunted trail will be $3 for VSU students and $5 for VSU faculty, staff and Valdosta community members.

The trail will be available Oct. 28-30, 8-10:30 p.m.

This year’s trail has a different twist. “Zombie takeover” is the theme, a new idea Campus Recreation hopes to be very popular among students.

“There have been lots of stuff in the news about zombies in the past two years, and the Walking Dead is super popular,” said Katy Latevola, graduate assistant for special events and student development. “We knew the zombie theme would be an automatic thrill to people.”

That is not the only thing Campus Recreation has up its sleeves. It has also worked with a scare coach who owns haunted houses in the Atlanta area.

“Participation numbers are also way up,” said Katherine Geter, senior and team leader for special events and student development. “This will help as far as that scary factor and having something around every corner (goes).”

Students also have the opportunity to participate in the trail as volunteers. As always, donations are accepted.

“We ask (volunteers) to provide their clothes,” Latevola said. “We have masks and someone doing their makeup for them.”

All proceeds raised from the event will go into a scholarship funded by Campus Recreation to help students attend a nationwide conference where students interested in recreation or fitness and wellness can network or get graduate assistantships.

“It’s NIRSA (the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association), our national conference,” Latevola said. “We put the money into our scholarship fund, and it’s divided for undergrads to enhance their professional development.”

Students interested in volunteering for the haunted trail are encouraged to email Katy Latevola at knlatevola@valdosta.edu or Katherine Geter at kegeter@valdosta.edu.