Abigail Dunagan, Campus Carrier arts and living editor
On Oct. 21, the annual horror film festival Berry Dismembered will take place in Evans Hall from 3 p.m. – 1 a.m. It is hosted by Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Clinton Peters and a small group of student volunteers. This year the event will also be sponsored by Berry College Alternate Realties (BCAR). There will be a total of 21 movies shown, and the event will consist of rooms with different movie themes: Main Stage, Creature Feature, World of Horror, Heart Stoppers and Found Footage. The final film “Alien” will be shown at 11 p.m. in the Evans Auditorium. Each room will have movies of the theme shown consecutively, and students are invited to come to the event and watch different films. There will also be a costume contest, a screaming contest and a raffle.
Peters hosted the first Berry Dismembered in Oct. 2022. According to Peters, around 370 students came to watch the films during the event, and they ran out of candy twice. Student volunteers had to leave in the middle of the event to purchase more candy. Peters said that one of the most important parts of hosting this event is taking steps to keep the cost down and ensuring that all of the technology in each of the rooms works.
“Last year I went out with a friend to buy more candy,” Peters said. “It was a lot. I didn’t realize we were going to spend that much, and we went through a ton of popcorn.”
Junior Arista Elderkin is a student volunteer for Berry Dismembered, and she helped with the event last year. Elderkin said that she will be helping welcome people into the event, introducing different movies, handing out snacks and running the popcorn machine. This year, they are hoping that the film schedule will allow students to interact more between the showings.
“Scheduling was kind of an issue last year, so we have been making a very detailed schedule this year,” Elderkin said. “We have been making it better for people to interact before the movies start.”
Junior Victoria Severiche is a volunteer, and she also worked at the event last year. Severiche said that one of the most challenging parts of the event is preparing for large crowds and ensuring that there will be enough space and seating for everyone.
“Last year we held it in the Evans auditorium and some of the classrooms next to it,” Severiche said. “I think we utilize our space well, but it was still very scattered, and the technology gave us some issues, and some movies ran late.”
According to Peters, decorating is the most important part of preparing for Berry Dismembered. Volunteers will meet up at around 4 p.m. on Friday and begin setting up the decorations. The group will decorate until 8 p.m., and they will meet up again Saturday morning to make any necessary changes and ensure everything is ready. Peters said that he lets students pick some of the movies that will be shown, and he enjoys getting to see horror movies that he has not seen before. Peters will also be giving away some of the horror movies that he has in his personal collection.
“It’s a lot of fun getting to see everyone’s costumes, seeing the movies that people will pick out, and eating popcorn and candy and hanging out,” Peters said.
Severiche said that she hopes students at Berry can continue holding this event in the years after her graduation. Berry Dismembered is still a new event, but Severiche is optimistic that the tradition will continue in the years to come.
“Next year will be my senior year, and I really want to leave with a bang,” Severiche said. “My dream is that this will be something that will go on for years and years. I think that this is something that I could be proud of, as an alumnus, for helping create.”