Frightful nights

University of North Alabama - It hasn't been easy draping black plastic sheeting throughout the house, coordinating the costumes and props and making sure there's just enough blood and gore without being too scary, but that's been the job of members of the Kappa Sigma fraternity at the University of North Alabama this week as they've prepared for their annual haunted house.

"The plastic has been the most time-consuming thing, but we want people to come here who might have been to other haunted houses but remember this one as the most scary," said Josh Conner, a member who will be in costume as Michael Myers, the villain in the classic horror flick, "Halloween."

The haunted house has been a tradition at the fraternity for the past three years, and, because of the money Kappa Sigma receives from the student allocation fund to prepare for the event, it's free not only to the campus but to the community.

"There had been a lot of talk about doing some kind of fun event in the fall, and when we were able to get the money from the university to do it, we decided this would be our contribution," said Bishop Alexander, a senior member of the fraternity.

Any student organization can make application to the student allocation board to fund an event. The money comes from a portion of the $25 student activity fee. This semester's fund has around $133,000, all of which will go toward events.

Tammy Jacques, UNA's director of student engagement, said there are criteria for organizations to follow when asking for the money, and they must be timely in their request.

"The point is for them to learn how to budget their time and money and how to plan ahead because those are skills they are going to have to know when they look for jobs one day," she said. "It's not a guarantee they will get the money if they ask for it, either. It's given out on a first-come, first-served basis."

Jacques said the committee of six students and one faculty member has been deluged with requests this year. It's likely the fund will be depleted before the end of the semester.

The maximum an organization can receive is $4,000, which is the amount Kappa Sigma received for its haunted house.

Justin McGill, who has overseen the purchase of supplies, said every penny has been spent creating the spooky setting.

"We try to develop the theme each year around Molly, the ghost at the Off Campus Bookstore (on Court Street in Florence)," he said. "We were there before it became the bookstore, and there's already a lot of people who know about Molly. We write a script around her death and make it as scary as we can."

Molly, a child of about 10, is rumored to have died of rabies after being bitten by a stray dog. Others suggest she died after being hit by a car when she ran into the street to save her dog. Since her death, however, there are those who say her unsettled spirit remains a presence at the bookstore, which was her childhood home.

Some members of Kappa Sigma say a ghost haunts their house on Larimore Street, which was built in 1984.

J.T. Adams, a freshman, said he's heard many a bump in the night.

"I live in the house and I've heard doors slam when no one could have been around, so yeah, it gets a little creepy to have the basement tricked out like a haunted house," he said.

Michelle Rupe Eubanks can be reached at 740-5745 or michelle.eubanks@TimesDaily.com.