HALLOWEEN 2025 | The Blue and White

THE BLUE AND WHITE

Columbia’s Undergraduate Magazine. Founded 1890.

Cover by Svea Van de Velde

BOARD

MAYA LERMAN, CC ’27, Editor-in-Chief

CHRIS BROWN, CC ’26, Managing Editor

GEORGE MURPHY, CC ’27, Deputy Editor

ELI BAUM, CC ’26, Publisher

EM BENNETT, CC ’26, Illustrations Editor

ISABELLE OH, BC ’27, Illustrations Editor

SELIN HO, CC ’27, Layout Editor

DERIN OGUTCU, BC ’27, Web Editor

SCHUYLER DAFFEY, CC ’26, Literary Editor

SAYURI GOVENDER, BC ’26, Literary Editor

LUCIA DEC-PRAT, CC ’27, Crossword Editor

EDITORS

NATALIE BUTTNER, BC ’27, Senior Editor

MARVIN CHO, CC ’28, Senior Editor

NNEMA ÉPÉE-BOUNYA, BC ’28, Senior Editor

PRAHARSHA GURRAM, CC ’27, Senior Editor

ELIKA KHOSRAVANI, BC ’27, Senior Editor

DUDA KOVARSKY ROTTA, CC ’28, Senior Editor

GABRIELA MCBRIDE, CC ’27, Senior Editor

LILY OUELLET, BC ’27, Senior Editor

ROCKY RŪB, CC ’26, Senior Editor

KATE SIBERY, CC ’26, Senior Editor

EVA SPIER, CC ’26, Senior Editor

CECILIA ZUNIGA, BC ’26, Senior Editor

STAFF

AVA LATTIMORE, CC ‘27, Staff Writer

ALTHEA DOWNING-SHERER, BC ’28, Staff Writer

SELMA KALI WHITE-PASCUAL, GS ’27, Staff Writer

BOHAN GAO, CC ’28, Staff Writer

MARIANNA JOCAS, BC ’27, Staff Writer

AVA LOZNER, CC ’27, Staff Writer

ZOE GALLIS, CC ’27, Staff Writer

LUCY MASON, CC ’27, Staff Writer

MICHAEL ONWUTALU, CC ’27, Staff Writer

HANNAH LUI, CC ’28, Staff Writer

SARA OMER, CC ’28, Staff Writer

CAROLINE NIETO, CC ’27, Staff Writer

EVAN ROSSI, CC ’26, Staff Writer

ABBY OWENS, CC ’28, Staff Writer

MAIA ZASLER, GS ’27, Staff Writer

JEREMIAH BARRON, CC ’28, Staff Writer

TIERNEY SMINK, CC ’28, Staff Writer

ERICA LEE, CC ’26, Staff Writer

MAGDA LENA GRIFFEL, CC ’28, Staff Writer

NEDA RAVANDI, BC ’29, Staff Writer

ANA MORALES, SEAS ’28, Staff Writer

IRIS EISENMANN, BC ‘28, Staff Writer

SEPP ZAMUTO, CC ’29, Staff Writer

JACK BRADNER, CC ’29, Staff Writer

ZAYNA JAMIL, CC ’29, Staff Writer

ANA SORRENTINO, CC ’29, Staff Writer

ADRIENNE PARK, CC ’27, Staff Writer

LUKE ZINGER, CC ’28, Staff Writer

JORJA GARCIA, CC ’26, Staff Illustrator

JACQUELINE SUBKHANBERDINA, BC ’27, Staff Illustrator

EMMA FINKELSTEIN, BC ’27, Staff Illustrator

ETTA LUND, BC ’27, Staff Illustrator

INES ALTO, CC ’28, Staff Illustrator

JUSTIN CHEN, CC ’26, Staff Illustrator

AMABELLE ALCALA, CC ’28, Staff Illustrator

IRIS POPE, CC ’28, Staff Illustrator

KATHLEEN HALLEY-SEGAL, CC ’28, Staff Illustrator

ELLIE HODGES, CC ’26, Staff Illustrator

JULIE SHI, CC ’28, Staff Illustrator

SVEA VAN DE VELDE, CC ’29, Staff Illustrator

LILAH CHEN, BC ’29, Staff Illustrator

TRUMAN DICKERSON, CC ’29, Staff Illustrator

JING JENG, CC ’29, Staff Illustrator

AUDREY WANG, CC ’29, Staff Illustrator

VANESSA ZHOU, BC ’29, Staff Illustrator

Halloween 2025 Masthead

Inserts by Selin Ho

Halloween Letter from the Editor

Maya: I think my Managing Editor is trying to kill me. Chris: Don’t mind that. Fall is a season for change, but rarely is it associated with firsts. While the leaves are changing and preparing to drop, it’s an exciting time of renewal for The Blue & White . New writers, new illustrators, and for the first time we’ve finally decided to come out of our early fall hibernation and celebrate Halloween. M: I don’t remember writing that. But perhaps I’m jumping to conclusions—my m

Bwecommendations - Halloween 2025

Media we think you would enjoy — but likely not as much as The Blue and White Magazine Maya Lerman , Editor-in-Chief: José Donoso, The Obscene Bird of Night . Speak No Evil (2022). The Descent (2005). Lost Highway (1997). Doechii, “Spookie Coochie.” Chris Brown , Managing Editor: Over the Garden Wall (Max). Shaun of the Dead (2004) . Geese, Getting Killed . Dave Lubar, In The Land of the Lawn Weenies and Other Misadventures . “The Creeps,” Adventure Time (Hulu). George Mu

Illustration by Ellie Hodges

Trick or Bweats

By The Blue & White Staff Illustration by Isabelle Oh Goldfish Have Teeth Every Friday after school Tim ushered the family into his bedroom to take our pick from the pet shelter. He presented his stuffed animals to us in a row, sometimes sorted by genus, other times by temperament, but never without some organizing principle. If my gaze lingered for more than a second, Tim would wrap his sticky kid fingers around mine until I was firmly grasping the adoption leash, still coa

Orange Notes

Where is the Humanity?

Ana Sorrentino

A Halloween Odyssey

Schuyler Daffey

Everyone Here Before You

Luke Zinger

Club Classics

Selma White-Pascual

Death by Coffee Culture

Maia Zasler

Ghosting Our Ghost

Tierney Smink

The Ghost of General James Peter

Lucy Mason

Body Horror

Neda Ravandi

Journey To The Haunted Mountain

Iris Eisenman

Comic by Ines Alto

Essays

The Life Cycle of a Cyclotron

Jack Bradner

Haunting the Stone

Natalie Buttner

Illustration by Lilah Chen

The Conversation

Eleanor Johnson

Traversing the horror of the domestic sphere. By Caroline Nieto Illustration by Isabelle Oh Eleanor Johnson is a professor of English and Comparative Literature and the author of four books, the most recent of which, Scream With Me: Horror Films and The Rise of American Feminism , was published just last month, on September 30th. Throughout her time at Columbia, Johnson has taught about the earliest depictions of horror in popular literature, specifically in her course “Hist

Caroline Nieto

Irina Reyfman

By Eva Spier Illustration by Derin Ogutcu The Columbia students who dare stray into the Russian department—further than the mandatory two-year language requirement—gather in single-digit numbers in Hamilton classrooms to revel in declensions and verbs of motion. Every two years, these students are offered a literature seminar devoted to foundational scary stories in the Russian tradition, conducted entirely in Russian. I wade through these texts with my classmates under the g

Eva Spier

Specials

October Horoscopes

As foretold by The Blue & White . By Hannah Lui Illustration by Em Bennet Aries: This autumn you may realize you’ve outgrown people or behaviors from your past. These changes may feel uncertain, but you will come into your own and settle into new routines. Watch the sunset from Riverside Park sometime this month. When it gets dark out, find a leaf on the grass and literally turn it over. Taurus: Get that money up! The stars say it’s a prosperous season ahead. Let good things

Campus Gossip

As heard by The Blue & White. Illustration by Jiaying Geng After a brief hiatus, Blue & White Campus Gossip is back with a vengeance. … AND WHO LET THIS DOG OUT? In an effort to rebuild trust with the student body, Public Safety has been spotted tabling outside of Lerner, proudly displaying a trench-coat-clad hounddog mascot. While the intent seems Sherlock Holmes-esque, this reporter can’t help but note that the execution lands closer to the neighborhood flasher in a furs

Illustration by Emma Finkelstein