East Michigan News

Central Michigan University Honors students are revamping a campus tradition with a fresh approach. Students in the Studies in the Arts course will present live performances of five stories from the Legends of the Dark walking tour on October 30, just before Halloween. This course is part of CMU's Honors Program.

The Legends of the Dark consists of ten ghost stories, each set in different years and locations around campus. The event typically relies on volunteers to create an eerie atmosphere. However, this year's performance will shift from costumed volunteers to radio-style storytelling techniques.

Katie Mahaffy, a freshman from Grayling participating in the class, explained that performing these stories live involves adapting them for radio drama. Will Anderson, who teaches at the School of Communication, Journalism & Media and has a passion for radio drama, is leading the course.

Students are developing scripts with sound effects, music, and spooky narrative techniques. The project brings together students from various majors to leverage their unique strengths. Artistic students contribute creative ideas while STEM majors provide technical insights.

“It creates a lot of discussion about how to make this work,” Mahaffy said.

The class is divided into five groups, each responsible for one story from Legends of the Dark. They first identified which stories could be adapted into radio dramas and which required narration.

Students collaborated to choose stories that allowed for dialogue and sound effects. They used flashbacks creatively to transport audiences back to when these tales supposedly occurred.

By performance day, students will have spent six weeks preparing. Tasks include finalizing scripts, assigning roles, and perfecting sound effects—mental preparation being crucial too.

“You have to be willing to immerse yourself in the story,” Mahaffy added.

The performance will take place at 1 p.m. on October 30 in Park Library’s Sarah and David Opperman Auditorium, ahead of the actual walking tour. Additional support comes from The Clarke, which helps promote the event and store related files according to Anderson.