Students Let Down Their Hair at Haunted Trails

What do werewolves and mischief-making have to do with natural health? Not much. But don't tell that to the Bastyr students, staff and faculty who every October create Haunted Trails, the spookiest Halloween event in the region. For two weekends every October, the Bastyr community fills the woods behind the University's Kenmore campus with ghosts, goblins and other creatures of the night. Two students pose for haunted trails

The Haunted Trails event affords students a fun break from studies and a chance to mix and mingle with other mischievous minds. "We basically have a license to scare," says Eric Martin, MS, LAc, an alumnus and acupuncture and Oriental medicine (AOM) resident at Bastyr Center for Natural Health. He began volunteering for the event as a student and will do so again this year.

"It's like being a kid again at Halloween. It's permission to have fun and play," adds Kyo Mitchell, DAOM, MS, LAc, a professor of acupuncture and Oriental medicine at Bastyr.

The freedom to fright isn't, however, their only motivation. The event is also Bastyr University's largest fundraiser of the year, providing $40-$60,000 in funding for student study abroad ventures. The event helps fund both an annual trip to China for acupuncture and Oriental medicine students and a trip to the Czech Republic for naturopathic medicine students to study spa medicine.

"It's play, but with a cause," Martin says. "You want to volunteer because it's important that we raise money. Otherwise many people won't be able to go on these trips." Each qualifying student has the potential to receive enough to cover about half of their travel expenses. The number of annual recipients is growing, with about 20 AOM students expected to benefit from the proceeds of this year's event, he explains. Bastyr's campus provides the perfect venue for this popular event, set for the weekends of October 16 to 17 and 23 to 24 this year. The campus' location, with its miles of tree-lined trails, sets the stage for a unique experience both for those orchestrating it and those anticipating scares on their trip through the woods. Eric leading a group of volunteers

Martin, who has volunteered for four of the past five years as a werewolf, says participating in the event is like being in a big stage production.

"Basically, it's show business," he says. When volunteers arrive at the event, people feed them pizza, put them into costumes and then send them over to make-up. Someone decides how many werewolves there will be, how many vampires are available, and who will be the head witch. A team leader for each group then takes people to their stations.

Martin takes his job seriously, as does the rest of the crew. "You realize that the event grosses $10,000-15,000 in one night, and our job is to entertain the people who pay."

Eric as the warewolf By the time volunteers are at their assigned stations, their alter egos have usually surfaced. "When I get into character, I'm a totally, completely different person," Martin explains. "I don't work in the woods anymore at all; I just work the line, interacting with the crowds waiting to get in. While people are standing there, I'll sneak up behind one of them and stand there a few inches away from their face. Eventually they sense my presence and turn, and then they see a big gory werewolf."

As with any theatrical production, behind-the-scenes workers also play a prominent role in Haunted Trails' success. Volunteers run the vending stands, help in the kids' area, maintain the trail, sell tickets and more.

"It takes a lot of people to pull it off, so students should bring all their friends with them to volunteer," Martin says.

And this doesn’t only apply to those seeking travel funding for themselves. "Students in all programs come out to help, just because it's a good time," Martin says.