Higher Ed Halloween 2017: Trick and tweets roundup

Here on the TERMINALFOUR blog, we have been celebrating 'Higher Ed Halloween' since we started out. We have been covering all the best Digital Marketing and Social Media ideas that have emerged from our freakiest of holidays and it's always one of our favorite times of year:

• 4 of our all-time favorite Higher-Ed Halloween Trick or Tweets
• Great idea: Vassar College's spooky Halloween homepage takeover

We wanted to bring you a roundup of the digital Halloween events that took place in universities and colleges around the world. The higher ed community really outdid themselves this year so this is just a small flavor of the spooky shenanigans that went on.

Penn State World Campus does Stranger Things

If you're like us and binge-watched the second series of Stranger Things the moment it arrived on Netflix, you'll really appreciate Penn State's Halloween Website 'Easter-Eggo' Trail. Stranger Things loves to treat fans to 80s trivia-based 'Easter Eggs' which is why we think Penn State World Campus might just have won Halloween. On the 31st of October entering the word 'Eggos' into the search function on the university’s website brought users to the Upside Down. See how many Easter Eggs you can spot.

Watch the video here. https://youtu.be/u4eXiIhLr14 

Vassar College Homepage Halloween takeover 

We have been enjoying the Vassar College Halloween homepage takeover for so long now (See here and here) that it's become a big part of our higher ed Halloween tradition. We hope they never stop creating spooky Halloween Homepage takeovers as they really are a thing of wonder. Check out the full archive here which date back as far as 2006. Glorious! https://www.vassar.edu/halloween/ 

Vanderbilt revisits Halloweens’ past 

 

We're suckers for a good throwback post and we love this one from Vanderbilt University – featuring past students in their Halloween costumes from over the years. Check out their Instagram

 

University of Glasgow hunts ghosts On Facebook live  

The University of Glasgow outdid themselves for this year's Halloween. So much so that we're featuring two of their spectacular events. The first one was a 'ghost-hunter' style Facebook live event that they held where they explored the secret underground tunnels located on campus. Have a watch and see if you can spot any ghosts!

https://www.facebook.com/UofGlasgow/videos/1829282457091461/ 

The Facebook Live video has been viewed over 22,000 times so if you have any 'haunted' buildings on your campus, it might be worth getting creative next Halloween.

University of Glasgow carve lanterns out of anything but a pumpkin 

Another creative video from the University of Glasgow, where they asked students to carve a lantern. The only catch was they couldn't use a pumpkin. Students carved pineapples, peppers and squash and the results are entertaining. You can watch the pumpkin carving minus the pumpkin here.

https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/925287482886733825 

University of Florida- Halloween Science Stories

 

http://news.ufl.edu/articles/2017/10/check-out-our-spookiest-stories-if-you-dare.php 

Fancy a good scare before bedtime?  Take no comfort in the fact that these scientific horror stories are all science not fiction. This is probably one of the most inventive ways we have ever seen to publicise the incredible research that university researchers undertake and it's a testament to good storytelling. Find the story (the creepier the better) and you will find an audience. Read the University of Florida's Halloween Science Stories.

That's all the spooky Halloween stories we have time for on the blog, we hope you've gotten some nightmarish inspiration to terrify your campus with next year!