A Haunted Holland Halloween

It was a Wednesday afternoon like any other. Laptops, consoles and “You n00b!” screaming across the room, marking the start of the training session for this week’s UCL vs Imperial gaming tournaments. This was just the beginning.

In the dark depths of the Sherfield building (beneath Holland Club, to be precise) the Gaming Club committee was scheming. They were setting up for a night that would even give veteran My Little Pony players, nightmares. This was going to be a Halloween like no other.

In the function room, the consoles were set up and the computers deployed. On offer: a variety of games made to have you scream like a little girl. When the clock struck 6pm, the doors creaked open, unleashing the horde into the basement of the condemned Holland Club.

The night started slowly - bringing in casual games of zombie slaughter to the masses. Nazi zombies grabbed out at you, as you emptied your last clip and the dogs dashed for your throat, as you ran away.

Adjacent, the screenflashed blue as energy swords dropped the survivors to the ground, shields and armour depleted.

The night wasn’t always that peaceful however. In a dark, dark corner of the room, the atmosphere became much more bleak. Isolated from the rest of the room, our victims took their turns, one-by-one to face the Slender man. Alone. Running through the woods, flashlight bobbing, trying to find the notes of the last survivors. Just don’t look at his face and you’ll be fine.

Once all sanity (and the spare underwear) had been depleted, we moved into the abandoned European castle of Amnesia. Followedby shadows and chased by the darkness, you make your way through the libraries and cellars of the god-forsaken fortress. Only when you reach the flooded tunnels and you see the water ripple, as some invisible stalker makes his way towards you, do you realise that all hope is lost.

For those who hadn’t wimped out and run off to the comfort of pizza and the Holland Club bar, one challenge still remained. SCP Containment Breach. We covered SCPCB last year, but for those who missed it, it’s based off the SCP universe (duh!). It all started with a massive wiki page, containing hundreds of listed items - any of which could ruin your day. Think of the premise of Warehouse 13, but where everything is Lovecraftian e.g. a neverending staircase and for SCPCB, monsters where you can’t blink, or you’ll die (don’t even bother pointing out the similarities to Doctor Who). Crying and screaming over, it was time to go home.

It’s a shame that the future of the Holland Club is uncertain - it’s a great activity space for club events. Let’s hope we don’t lose our way.