This reflection paper recounts a workplace Halloween decoration contest in which the author and colleagues transformed a section of an office hallway into a fully immersive haunted house experience. Using only black trash bags, everyday materials, and coordinated teamwork, the group designed a pitch-black corridor complete with hidden scare actors, a table of the dead, a "wall" concealing a team member, and a sensory table of gross textures. The paper traces the project from initial planning through late-night construction and the successful day-of execution, illustrating how creativity, collaboration, and division of labor can turn a simple idea into a memorable and rewarding shared achievement.
I experienced the power of creativity one year at work. It was Halloween, and every year each department competed for the best Halloween decoration. It was fierce competition, and our fearless leader — our boss — was also very competitive. We decided to transform our section of the building, which consisted of a small stretch of hallway, into a mini haunted house.
All efforts on this project would occur after hours or during lunch. The work began about two weeks before Halloween with cutting apart and piecing together black trash bags. We had no idea how many bags it would take, so we started with fifteen boxes. Someone would slice the bags apart at the sides while someone else taped them together. This worked like an assembly line and proved very efficient.
The plan was to hang the bags from the ceiling tiles. They would hang just outside the cubicle walls, blocking any outside light from seeping through. We also cut up and pieced together enough bags to create a front and back "door," marking the two ends of our department. The idea was that when the hall lights were turned off, it would be pitch black. Once we knew the measurements we needed, we made all the pieces and tucked them away until the day of the contest.
On the day of the contest, all team members were to dress in black. When the lights went off, the hallway was literally pitch black — exactly as planned. Creativity, as this project demonstrated, often emerges most powerfully when a team commits to a shared vision and works through the practical constraints together.
It took days to get the sheets cut and pieced together properly. Then we had to source tables, and every team member had to contribute ideas for what would go on them. Everyone on the team was assigned a specific project. Someone was responsible for making sure all food articles were prepared and ready for the day of the contest.
Each team member had to stay late the evening before the contest and arrive early on the morning of the event to help hang the sheets of trash bags from the ceiling. This step alone took hours. We climbed ladders and stuffed the ends of the sheets under the edges of the ceiling tiles, then walked the entire length of the hallway to patch any gaps that allowed light to seep through. The attention to detail required here was considerable — a single patch of light would have broken the effect entirely.
This kind of collaborative problem-solving in a workplace setting demands clear communication and mutual accountability, qualities our team demonstrated throughout the construction process.
We decided to feature a "table of the dead," in which one department member lay on a table pretending to be a corpse. He was dressed as Dracula and would wait, perfectly still, until a visitor was walking through the hall and looking directly at his face — sometimes just inches away — before suddenly shrieking and scaring them.
"Hidden actors, sensory tables, and surprise scares"
"Contest won; creativity and teamwork celebrated"
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