Feature Guide 2014

t h e i n de p e n de n t s t u de n t n e w s pa p e r of s y r ac u s e , n e w yor k

halloween guide 2014

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halloween guide

Editors Note:

Trick or treat?

Dear Readers, Halloweekend is upon us.

The Daily Orange has created a special edition that includes both tricks and treats on how to properly celebrate fall’s creepiest holiday. From pumpkin jungle juice to creating last minute costumes, this guide’s got you covered.

Happy Halloween,

Jackie Frere | Feature Editor

Check out videos, tutorials and more content from Pulp’s Halloween Guide.

See dailyorange.com cover photo by renee zhou asst. photo editor models (from left) lindsey moskowitz, joey cosco, bridget hallinan, corey crockett, emily bebbington

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Meredith Newman

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halloween guide

The Landmark Theatre in downtown Syracuse is believed to be haunted by several ghosts. The ghosts’ stories attract many people to the theater in search of experiencing paranormal activity. For those interested in ghost hunting, the Landmark Theatre hosts ghost hunts open to the public throughout the year. The most famous ghost, Clarissa, is believed to have haunted the Landmark Theatre for over 80 years. Clarissa’s presence is sensed when the smell of lilacs fills the air. photos courtesy of jeremy brown

Paranormal activity Spirits haunt downtown Syracuse’s historic Landmark Theatre, attract visitors for hunts

By Clare Ramirez asst. feature editor

S

he’s roamed the majestic halls of the Landmark Theatre for more than 80 years wearing a simple white dress and smelling distinctly of lilacs. She’ll linger in the upper mezzanine, staying loyal to the theater and its employees after all of these years.

And if you break any of the Landmark’s rules, beware: she’ll make her presence unexpectedly known in the form of a pale apparition.

Clarissa is one of Landmark’s resident ghosts and has famously haunted the theater for decades. Landmark’s employees and professional ghost hunters say that not only do the ghosts exist, but their presence adds to the theater’s atmosphere.

Legend has it that in the early 1930s shortly after the theater opened, Clarissa witnessed her lover die of electrocution while working backstage. Another version of the tale states that she was an actress who was distraught from losing an important audition.

Either way, the result was the same — Clarissa threw herself off the balcony.

But she may not be the only ghost that haunts the theater, said Thomas Kazmierczak III, the executive director of Landmark Theatre. Stories of other spiritual entities such as Charlie, the janitor who died of natural causes in the boiler room, and Oscar, the stagehand who may or may not see landmark page 4

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landmark have been Clarissa’s lover, are common as well.

“I think they contribute in the way that they bring excitement and history to the theater,” Kazmierczak said. “But it’s also sad that they want to be there because they’re staying out here instead of the afterlife.”

Kazmierczak said the staff hosts “small ghost hunts” and “big ghost hunts,” in which members of the public are invited to explore the theater in hopes of encountering the spiritual entities.

The smaller hunts may be hosted by staff members holding flashlights and taking people around the theater. Kazmierczak said the big hunts are “more official,” emphasizing the presence of equipment, ghost hunters from the Central New York Ghost Hunters and the local go-to psychic.

Stacey Jones, who founded the Central New York Ghost Hunters about 10 years ago, said that she has done 25 ghost hunts at the theatre.

“I was never really a believer in ghosts, but I think people have to have their own personal experiences,” Jones said. “I was always skeptical, saying I wanted evidence. Tales were fine — I didn’t dismiss them — but I wanted my own evidence.”

The need for evidence drove Jones, a former police officer, to become a ghost hunter. She said that during ghost hunts, they use voice recorders to pick up “electronic voice phenomena,” or EVP. They re-created Clarissa’s death by throwing a dummy off the balcony and went around the theater trying to be as quiet as possible to pick up traces of EVP. Through the ghost hunts and investigations she has conducted at the Landmark Theatre, Jones said she has a different theory about the

relationship between Clarissa and Oscar.

“I think he might have been her father,” Jones said. “We checked the census for that year before the incident, and the following year, a father and a child weren’t accounted for. We suspect she was traveling with Dad and saw him get electrocuted, but we just don’t know.”

Next January the ghost hunts will happen on a monthly basis. But for now, Kazmierczak, who has been the director of the theater for just over a year, said that the theater will stick to holding several ghost hunts during the Halloween season.

Kazmierczak has also had paranormal experiences in the theater. During a ghost hunt this year, he thought Amanda Schulz, a volunteer, was tapping his shoulder when really, there was no one near him. He also smelled lilacs, indicating the possibility that it was Clarissa next to him.

“We thought (Schulz) was tapping me on the shoulder,” Kazmierczak said. “There were people to my right and left, and (Schulz) could sort of see me moving, but no one was tapping me on the shoulder.”

As Schulz recalled the memory, she noted that the area they were standing in was also colder compared to other areas of the theater.

“That was really weird to be there, to know that something definitely happened, even though I couldn’t see anything there,” said Schulz, a science teacher for Central Square Central School District north of Syracuse.”

Schulz also said she thinks the ghosts add a new dimension to Landmark Theatre’s personality.

“It’s already beautiful, and it’s got a lot of history. It can attract different people and crowds,” Schulz said. “But there’s also the mystery aspect of ‘You never know what you’re going to get.’” clramire@syr.edu | @clareramirez_

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halloween guide

THE LEAKY CAULDRON pumpkin punch INGREDIENTS

WHAT YOU NEED

25.4-ounce bottle of spiced rum

Large bowl for mixing

1 cup orange juice

Measuring cups

1 cup lemon juice

Spoon

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

Punchbowl

2 1/2 cups sparkling water 2–3 cinnamon sticks for garnish

Recipe adapted from Honestlyyum.com

EDITOR’S NOTE If you don’t like pulp, pour the drink through a fine mesh strainer before serving. But if you’re like us, you can’t get enough of Pulp.

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g r a v e e x p e c t a t i o n s Pulp took classic Halloween costumes and updated them with a college twist. Each costume is do-it-yourself and can be made within 10 minutes. They can be as simple as ripping up a white T-shirt or making a quick trip to Salvation Army. These costumes are easy and creepy, and will help you have a stress-free Halloweekend.

Photos by Allen Chiu Models: Vampire Sean Lamble, Grim Reaper Simon Abranowicz, Shining staff photographer Twins Maya Champion, Natalia Forsey, Zombie Nina Bracey Styling by Jackie Frere and Lindsay Dawson the daily orange Makeup by Beth Fritzinger

Check out Pulp’s step-by-step guide on how to make costumes and apply makeup at dailyorange.com

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halloween guide

Local attractions offer partying alternatives Bar crawls, haunted houses offer scary entertainment as a way to celebrate Halloween in lieu of typical off-campus house parties SCOPE HAUNTED HOUSE Can’t make it off campus? Don’t worry, on Oct. 30, the South Campus Organization for Programming Excellence will bring the fright and fun of Halloween to you. The Skybarn on South Campus will be transformed into a haunted house with SU students starring as the creepy characters. Since there is no bus that travels directly to Skybarn, buses will be provided to transport students from South Campus to the haunted house. The event will also feature free food, candy and a costume contest.

CREEPY CAMP If you dare to visit the campgrounds of Chittenango, you’ll be lucky enough to experience one of central New York’s longest running haunted attractions. For the past 20 years, Creepy Camp has been frightening its guests with three terror tours: the Creepy Cabins, Slaughter House and Intensity. Guests can visit every Friday, Saturday and Sunday in October, starting at 7:30 p.m. All three attractions can be seen in a $20 package or for $8 each, and all proceeds benefit High Esteem’s Camp Goodwill for young adults and children with physical disabilities or special needs.

5755 State Route 13/Falls Blvd., Chittenango, New York, 315-655-1033

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halloween guide

ZOMBIE CRAWL For the over-21 crowd, this night of demons and drinks may provide a more mature scene. The 95X Zombie Crawl starts at 7:30 p.m. and parades through Tipperary Hill. Crawlers will begin at the Blarney Stone and end at Rosie’s Sports Pub & Grille, making pit stops at George O’Dea’s and McAvan’s Pub along the way. Admission is free, and drink specials will be offered at participating pubs along the way.

The Blarney Stone, 314 Avery Ave., Syracuse, New York, 95x.com

FRIGHT NIGHTS AT THE FAIR This Halloween, the New York State Fairgrounds are transforming their typically cheerful grounds into a midway of haunted attractions. This year, Fright Nights at the Fair is offering five different haunted houses for guests to face. The Dungeon of Doom, Clown Prison, Chainsaw Massacre, Hostel and House of the Living Dead are all open from 7 p.m. until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, and until 11 p.m. on Sundays, until Oct. 26. Tickets can be purchased for $10 per attraction or $20 for all five. Visit frightnightsatthefair.com for discounts.

New York State Fairgrounds, 315-863-6714 THE HAUNTED FOREST The Haunted Forest has a little bit of everything to fulfill your Halloween cravings. Choose between the Dark Harvest walking trail, the Original Wagon ride through the haunted forest or the Asylum, the newest indoor attraction. There is also a hearse ride, haunted hayride and outdoor screenings of Halloween horror films. Each attraction is priced individually.

95 Nichols Rd., Williamstown, New York, thehauntedforestcny.com — Compiled by The Daily Orange Pulp staff

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halloween guide

Assistant pagan chaplains discuss Samhain, Halloween relationship

By Alex Erdekian asst. copy editor

The Daily Orange sat down with Hendricks Chapel’s assistant pagan chaplains, Kurt Hohmann and Timothy Nortz, to discuss the relationship between the Pagan holiday Samhain and Halloween.

The Daily Orange: What does Samhain celebrate? What is its meaning within paganism?

Kurt Hohmann: Samhain is the celebration of our ancestors. It is an opportunity for us to honor those who have — as we would consider

within the pagan path — crossed over the veil, those who have died who are no longer with us in this realm. We went from honoring all of our ancestors to — within the Christian church —honoring the hallowed saints. Thus, All Hallows’ Eve is where the word Halloween came from.

The D.O.: What Halloween traditions have pagan roots?

Timothy Nortz: Pretty much all of them but candy. Really, jack-o’-lanterns were originally carved to scare things that you didn’t want showing up at your house away. Costumes — it

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was the trick-or-treating costume thing came from people needing to go out in their villages in medieval times after dark. And on Samhain the veil between the world is at the thinnest, so things that are there can cross over very easily — good, bad or different.

The D.O.: How is Samhain historically related to Halloween?

K.H.: We already have a festival that is in an agrarian society set up to be the very last of the harvests. We’re going to go out and sacrifice the cows and the sheep and the chickens that just otherwise are not going to make it through the winter. Because of that, I think that idea of this transition from life to death became a lot more prevalent, and the rest of it kind of flows together from there.

The D.O.: How has contemporary Halloween affected the celebration of Samhain as it grew in popularity?

T.N.: I don’t really think it has. I mean, for most people who celebrate contemporary Hal-

loween but don’t know anything about paganism or pagan paths, they don’t even know about it — they don’t even think about. I mean it’s been so commercialized that you don’t even think about how it ties in, where it came from.

Whereas for us, we’re still over here doing our thing the same way or similar to the ways it’s been done for centuries. I mean we’re not sacrificing the animals anymore, but we are still honoring our ancestors.

The D.O.: What is the pagan community like at Syracuse University?

T.N.: It’s really diverse. I mean, you’re talking students from not only around the country, but students are here from Latin America, South America, Asia, so you have people with very broad spectrums of traditions and experiences who come here, and they look for a group of like-minded people that they can get together and practice with and learn from.

It’s not just us teaching them. Because of the varied places and traditions, they get to teach us, too. aerdekia@syr.edu

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NIGHT AT THE MAUSOLEUM

Cemetery workers, board members share stories about history, unusual occurrences in massive graveyard near Syracuse University campus

By Brendan Krisel asst. feature editor

R

ight off Comstock Avenue lies Oakwood Cemetery, the home to more than 66,000 bodies.

It’s the home to Anna Short Harrington, the face of Aunt Jemima; to Syracuse University chancellors James Day, Charles Flint, William Graham and Melvin Eggers and to more than 200 Civil War veterans, two of whom were in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry that inspired the movie “Glory.”

Established in 1859, Oakwood Cemetery is filled with a rich history that is more than a decade older than the university that surrounds it. Dan Galvin, the executive director of the cemetery, said Oakwood Cemetery was originally designed to be a park as much as it was a cemetery.

“It was always a cemetery, but it was a park setting where people would come here and spend the day at a loved one’s gravesite,” Galvin said.

Galvin added that many people still visit the cemetery for leisurely strolls, exercise and for historical walking tours.

But there have been times when the cemetery’s visitors weren’t always peaceful on the property.

Glenn Kress, 62, who has worked at the Oakwood Cemetery for 40 years, said he remembers cleaning up after SU students who spent their nights

throwing keg parties in the cemetery.

He also remembers when he thought the Oakwood Cemetery would never be open again after the Labor Day storm of 1998. It wasn’t until the Federal Emergency Management Agency spent a month cleaning up the wreckage that the cemetery could operate again.

But what Kress remembers most about his

The cemetery is where you learn the history of the community where you’re located. The movers and shakers are buried there, plus there’s some spectacular artwork.

Susanna Greenhagen hocpa

time working in the cemetery was a strange sequence of events that took place about 20 years ago, when a group of people started to do strange things in Oakwood Cemetery.

“They were burying eggs, and then it got a little bit extreme when they started getting into old mausoleums,” Kress said. “Like, 1800s, really old, big, mausoleums. And they were getting into the crypts and were taking out the skeletons.”

It culminated when an SU student took a skull back from the cemetery and started to boil it in his dorm’s kitchen. It turns out that the student took the skull, believed to be that of former Syracuse Mayor John Crouse, to help him in his art class, said Susanne Greenhagen, a board member of the Historic Oakwood Cemetery Preservation Association. They were studying anatomy.

Greenhagen added that the cemetery has become one of the most historic places in Onondaga County and attracts visitors with its unique combination of history and beauty.

“The cemetery is where you learn the history of the community where you’re located.

The movers and shakers are buried there, plus there’s some spectacular artwork. Some of the sculptures on some of the monuments are just beautiful.”

Many of the cemetery’s main attractions are the elaborate mausoleums, some of which were built in the 1800s, said Galvin. There are 24 private mausoleums in the cemetery, of all shapes and sizes, but they are no longer accessible due to incidents of vandalism.

One mausoleum that visitors can’t miss is

that of Cornelius Longstreet. Rising 71 feet high and sitting at the top of a hill, the pyramid that he was buried in provides a towering presence to the cemetery.

Greenhagen said the statues found throughout the cemetery are equally as beautiful and impressive as the mausoleums. The Haggerty Lion, a statue sculpted by SU alumnus Thomas Haggerty, is her favorite attraction in Oakwood.

Haggerty created the statue as a memorial to his older brother Michael, who died in a car accident in 1974.

But for Galvin, the executive director of the cemetery, what makes the cemetery special isn’t the history or the architecture, it’s the people.

“I would say (my favorite part of working here) is probably the people we come in contact with on a day-to-day basis. You meet all kinds of people,” Galvin said. “A lot of people think, ‘well, it’s just the job where people come in because they’re grieving.’ No, that’s not the case.”

But now Oakwood Cemetery is a tranquil place, Kress said. It’s a place for reflection and learning.

For Greenhagen, the cemetery is a gem of Syracuse, one that can only be appreciated by exploring it.

“There’s so much to be seen,” she said. “And you don’t see it driving by on the street, you have to go in and look. There’s so much to learn.” bskrisel@syr.edu | @brendan_krisel