Video by Kate Hyland, executive broadcast editor 
Story by Grace Baldino, staff writer 
During the two hours of Haunted High School, five girls dressed as Mal from Descendants, four girls dressed as Elsa, three girls dressed as Anna, both from Frozen, two Pikachus, and one Bruno Mars all made appearances at the community wide event. This is just a taste of the costumes worn by both children and parents.
An estimated 400 people showed up to Wednesday’s event and everyone seemed to be having a blast. For some people it is a fun event put on by the high school but for Jenna Sandstead, one of the French teachers, it means even more.
“ I love that this event allows two parts of my life to come together so it’s really fun. It is a great way for my family to see what it’s like for me at work and vice versa,” said Sandstead.
Associate Principal Scott McDermott also likes being able to bring his younger son to Prospect.
“It is a pretty great experience, getting him acclimated to Prospect years before he will even be here,” said McDermott, “ I think it is such a great event and you can tell based on how many families are here, not just from Mount Prospect and Arlington Heights but all over the place.”
Katie Anderson, a mom who enjoys bringing her daughter Penny to Haunted High School also likes how family-friendly the event is.
“Because she is four, this is a fun way for her to dress up without all of the sweets,” said Anderson. “It is also nice because instead of being outside it it nice and warm in here.”
This event has been running for 12  years but has not always been a charitable food drive. The first year it was just inviting families to have fun at the high school. But then someone suggested to Lyn Scolaro that they charge a dollar to make a ton of money.
However Scolaro and Student Council didn’t want to do that because it is about celebrating with families.  But, they thought, since it was nearing winter, they thought they would ask for canned food donations. People are going to need food during winter so they decided to collaborate with the school food drive.
In 24 minutes, on Wednesday, they collected about 500 cans. In an hour it was about 715 and by the end of the night they had 836 cans of food. Scolaro said people will donate anything from one can to a grocery bag of cans.
However, this spook-tacular doesn’t come together on its own. Student Council puts out an all call to any clubs, sports, or even classes that wants to participate. Then StuCo coordinates and the groups organize the events.
“ I won’t take credit for any of it. This is all the work of Mrs. Collins, Mrs. Scolaro, and Student Council. I know they put in a lot of work in bringing in groups,” said McDermott. “ In the grand scheme of things it did take a lot of work but I will not take credit for any of it.”
Many activities put together events like French Club to Foods. The Sophomore Class Board also hosted a room. According to Class Board Member Emily Page everyone either made a poster, decorated, brought in candy, ran the room, or did a combination of those. They also had two meetings in the mornings about Haunted High School.
The Teal Pumpkin Project also hosted a room that night. For kids who have food allergies, it can be hard trick or treating on Halloween. But, if someone puts a teal pumpkin outside their parents can breath a little because that means that house is giving out non-food goodies. And for Grandmother Monica Traversone, the whole event is something big because her granddaughter attends the Prospect Preschool.
“Every room has something to show them or some game to play and the high schoolers are really into it which makes the young ones into it,” said Traversone.