This post was updated Oct. 22 at 12:26 a.m.

First-year psychobiology student Felix Bailey found herself in a seemingly unusual place Tuesday night, hiding behind a stack of presents next to an evil Santa Claus.

But nothing was unusual at the On-Campus Housing Council’s Haunted Hill – where volunteers wore ghost makeup, tattered costumes and fake blood to put on a horror-filled event for students.

“Ever since I was younger, I’ve been able to laugh like a baby and cry, so I do that and then chase after them,” Bailey said. “It seems to get most people.”

Bailey is one of about 50 students who volunteered at the annual Haunted Hill event held in Carnesale Commons Oct. 14, which housed a horror maze for students to navigate. The event, led by the OCHC, centered around Los Angeles horror legends, such as the Cecil Hotel, the Black Dahlia and the Queen Mary.

Maya Viramontes, OCHC’s director of programming, said OCHC began planning the event last spring. Student volunteers worked on site as designers, actors, makeup artists and coordinators who guided students as they made their way across multiple eerily lit rooms lined with cobwebs.

Viramontes, a second-year neuroscience student, said the makeup artists were given assignments based on their specialties – from applying ghost makeup to working with fake blood and latex. She added that the organizers collaborated with a third-party vendor to provide an expert opinion on ensuring student safety.

“It’s really a good way to be able to express your creativity,” Viramontes said. “We decided on the theme since last year during spring quarter, and worked on it through since then … to make sure all the residents on the Hill are happy with it.”

The organizers brainstormed potential themes to create a feasible but “higher-tier” event, Viramontes said. She added that she consulted students on their likes and dislikes with regard to the horror genre to specialize the event.

The event is also an opportunity for students to relieve their stress as midterms approach, Viramontes said. The event attracted over 100 attendees, with a line stretching from the Carnesale Commons entrance to the De Neve Drive crosswalk.

“It’s definitely good for giving them a break from all the studying that they’re probably doing, or logging in hours at Powell,” Viramontes said. “It’s important to take breaks, and this is a very good opportunity to do that … It gives you the time to meet people, have fun, be scared.”

Mikayla Gutierrez, a member of the OCHC programming board, said the organizers and volunteers were given creative freedom with the project. The artists chose actors’ Halloween makeup, said Gutierrez, a second-year civil engineering student.

“They just did what they felt, and they allowed us to give our input to them of what we would want,” she said. “Within my room, we did something different every time people came in.”

Bailey said the Haunted Hill event can help new students find a community on campus. Gutierrez added that the fact that the event was student-run made the working environment comfortable.

“It’s really important for the students from far and from close, just because it gives them a way to feel like they have a community away from home,” Bailey said.

Abbie Smolyar, a first-year world arts and cultures student, said that, as an LA local, she grew up hearing about the myths featured at the event. She added that she recognized the haunted hotels portrayed in the maze, and often drove past the haunted buildings that the maze featured.

Smolyar said she believes the event was well-produced – adding that she enjoyed the “jump scare factor.” Seeing volunteers enjoy the event behind-the-scenes made the Haunted Hill especially worth it, Viramontes said.

“Honestly, just being able to put smiles on people’s faces makes this all worth it, even if that sounds a little cheesy,” she said. “I think just seeing how many people are excited to do this and to be a part of it – as either a general volunteer, a scare actor or makeup artist – really makes it come to life.”