With Halloween right around the corner, many people are making preparations for their personal ways to celebrate like watching scary movies, simply setting up those spooky decorations and much more. 

At Magers Hall, a handful of people came together to get in the spooky spirit on Saturday, Oct. 19, by hosting a Murder Mystery Party in the dorms’ very own Narnia House. 

Sophomores political science major Wyatt Sormunen and forensic biochemistry major Dylan Neelis were the two that made the idea come to life. They had planned the event for several weeks in advance, and made it, fittingly, “Narnia” themed, giving everyone attending a role to play with their own personalities and quirks—some even dressed up. 

It began with everyone in character mingling with the others while drinking punch or sparkling juice, but it wasn’t long before the first victim was found. What followed was looking for clues, questioning the other characters and deciding who was suspicious. All the while Sormunen and Neelis were the two mysterious masked butlers overlooking everything.

“My favorite part was watching everyone act in character, and the conversations that came out of it,” Sormunen said.

Sormunen, the resident who originally pitched the idea, didn’t have much of an inspiration behind it aside from the simple fact that he liked mystery. However, Sormunen specified that he did want to make it a tradition for the house in the future, since they lacked one. He said he’d prefer just keeping it small scale and within the house.

“We don’t really have anything that stands out. We have a bonfire, but that’s it, really. I wanted to spice it up for Narnia,” Sormunen said.

When asked about the process of planning it, Sormunen said that the main challenge was just working with his partner, Neelis. 

“Since we split up the work for the characters, not everything lined up. A lot of his ideas were a lot bigger than what I planned,” Sormunen said.

In the end, it was a night full of twists and turns, mystery and finger foods. Despite some organizational bumps, Sormunen felt confident in saying that the Murder Mystery Party was indeed a success.