Rider’s annual outdoor night of fright is a success again

By Jessica Hergert

Anticipating thrills and spooks, students lined up their cars for the double-feature drive-in movie event, Scream Screen 2, when it returned to campus on Oct. 20.

Sponsored by 107.7 The Bronc and co-sponsored by the Student Entertainment Council and Rider University Greek Council, Scream Screen has become one of the most popular events on campus.

Last year, the first Scream Screen scared students silly as the ghostly movie The Conjuring played on “the largest inflatable movie screen on the east coast,” according to 107.7 The Bronc.

This year, those involved wanted to make the event bigger and better by adding more trunk-or-treat stations, an LED zombie miniature golf course and a blood drive presented by Alpha Phi Omega and the Community Blood Council of New Jersey, which took place in the days leading up to Scream Screen.

Rider was buzzing with activity in preparation for Scream Screen. 107.7 The Bronc was busy making milk jug lanterns that decorated the Trunk-or-Treat area while the monstrous screen inflated.

As 6 p.m. neared, dozens of cars were already lined up hoping to be one of the first 50 lucky cars that would receive a pair of tickets to the renowned Valley of Fear, “America’s most horrifying woods,” and a free, full-service car wash courtesy of Capitol Car Wash.

Members of the community, clad in elaborate Halloween costumes, were also able to attend the festivities, which meant Disney princesses, dinosaurs and monsters were easily found amongst the swarms of Rider students.

Former student Kayla Hernandez returned to Rider solely for Scream Screen. “I loved it so much last year so, even though I am not on campus this semester, I wanted to come back,” she said. “I love Halloween and [until last year] I had never been to a drive-in movie before so, I liked the whole atmosphere.”

The line of trunk-or-treat stations was made brighter by neon orange reusable bags given out by Rider’s Office of Campus Sustainability. Although they started out empty, it would not take long for Broncs to fill up their bags with goodies.

The only challenging part of the night was balancing everything in one’s hands. Between hot, Trenton-style pizza from DeLorenzo’s, appetizers from Applebee’s, buffalo chicken tenders from the Original Candela Pizzeria and Ristorante, hoagies from Tastee Sub Shop and fresh apple cider from Terhune Orchards, sampling everything at once was impossible.

The ice cream from Purple Cow was announced but hungry Broncs exhausted the supply in what seemed like an instant.

Pumpkin painting and sugar skull mask coloring were also highlights of the night, allowing students to really embrace the Halloween spirit as they munched on candy.

The Lawrenceville Eco-Reps manned one of the most memorable stations of the night. With a trunk full of organic lollipops being handed out by a student wearing a costume of hundreds of plastic bags, the Eco-Reps combined the fun of Halloween with an important message about protecting and conserving the environment.

When everyone’s stomachs and candy bags were full, they retreated to their cars or their blankets set up on the grass to watch the first feature of the night: the cartoon Toy Story of Terror.

Eight lucky groups sat front row in brand new Toyotas, part of Scream Screen’s Team Toyota of Princeton’s Frightening Front Row.

After Toy Story of Terror, it was time for the big reveal. As the opening titles for Get Out began, shouts of approval were heard throughout the parking lot. The 2017 critically acclaimed thriller that received 35 percent of student votes did not disappoint.

“The audience really got into the movie,” said senior biochemistry major Caroline Nguyen. “Especially during the twist. You could hear everybody screaming from their cars for the characters to do something.”

As the credits rolled and the cars were ushered out of the parking lot, General Manager of 107.7 The Bronc John Mozes thanked the cars that passed him for coming out. Most likely, thoughts about next year’s Scream Screen are already being thrown around the station with the hope that next year’s event is even bigger than this one.

Printed in the 10/25/17 edition.