The scariest image I could find...
HAPPY HOLLYWEEN !!!
We had a ball yesterday and I am hoping for the same today. It was the first of two days of Hallowe'en parties, today being that creepy, spooky, and glorious day. Since our students are usually separated into Monday-Wednesday classes and Tuesday-Thursday classes, we decided to spread the festivities over two days so that we could cover all the elementary classes. Of course my middle school students got in on the fun too... without my permission *fume* (I turned my back for a second and someone had lifted two of the slimy eyeballs out of our haunted room and started playing catch down the hallways *grin*). We had one early class and then repeated the schedule for the other three as a single group. Today we have a couple more classes than yesterday but the whole plan should be mirrored.
We started out carving jack-o-lanterns which went very well. I taught them the standard format of making the face and then did the cutting for them, after they had scooped out the pumpkin entrails and splattered them all over their friends. One group of girls broke with the design and made a pumpkin with big animation-style eyes... which if you ask me was the scariest of all and ended up resembling Spawn.
After that, the kids made masks while I snuck out to grab some dduk bokki and check for a few new ghost stories on the internet. When I got back, they all had their masks done and were screaming, "Trick or Treat," like a pack of malevolent automatons. They approached me, almost smothering me, with little bags that all read, "Happy Hollyween." We passed out a bit of candy and then took a quick break.
When we got back, I decided to try an experiment. I told them all I would do my best to show them a real ghost. For a while now, I've wanted to try out something I had read about on the internet-- EVP or Electronic Voice Phenomena. The idea is basically that ghosts can use ambient sound and EM energy to manifest. One means of doing this is by using a tape recorder and recording questions over something with erratic noise. When you play it back, sometimes you get answers to the questions... The best example of this was a recording I heard where someone had taped next to a radio broadcasting in French. On the playback, the English words, "Help me! I am here!" became clear overtop. Another format, and the one I opted to try out, was to do this with a video camera set to record a static station on TV, and then set on infinite playback on the same TV so that the static becomes crisper and more defined with the feedback. I haven't seen so many examples of this (I did see someone who managed to get a good shot of a bearded ghost in sideways profile, though). Success or not, I figured what the heck! Humans (especially young ones) have a psychological predisposition to seeing facial patterns in anything random so whether it worked or not, I was sure I could scare 'em a bit anyway.
The conclusion to the experiment? I don't think the feedback loop was actually on. I was assured it was, but I am pretty sure that all we saw on the main viewer was the static station itself, not the play back. The TV was one of those ones that try to turn blue when there is no signal so we had problems from the start. Before the end of the class, the camera also ran out of tape so it stopped recording. Nobody saw anything, I thought, until a couple of the kids came to me later and said that part of the screen was turning red. That was unexpected... and maybe a little bit spooky.
For one last Hallowe'en treat, I taught them to the age-old tradition of "Scramble" which normally takes place the day after Hallowe'en with all the candies that people don't want. Tossing them into the air to fateful recipients, I managed to fill the hallways with students laughing, giggling, and crashing violently into each other. What fun!
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