Spookappella Roars up the Crowd with Some Spine-Tingling Vocals 

Image Courtesy of Luis Zonenberg 

By Luis Zonenberg

This past Halloween on campus has brought in quite the crowd, with haunted houses and ghost tours now being offered to ring in the spooky season. Beautiful ofrendas are even being made for Día de los Muertos, allowing students to reconnect with their cultural roots and reflect on the rich history of their families. Amidst this sea of spooks and thrills, Redline A Cappella hosted their annual Spookappella event in the Pryz Great rooms on October 24, 2025. 

This is the 10th Spookappella event hosted by the organization, once again bringing together several a cappella groups from the DMV area to deliver spine-tingling vocals for the students on campus. All of these a cappella groups dressed for the occasion, with each one having its own costume theme and wonderful songs to sing. From a band of pirates to a ‘70s disco crew, there was no shortage of creative costumes to admire. 

In terms of the event itself, the Business President of Redline, Elliana Arnold, opened up about how much preparation went into organizing this year’s Spookappella. “I worked with our E-Board over the last couple of months to get the entire event ready,” Arnold said. “We worked with Anna Borgess to help book all of the green rooms and the great rooms and get the tabling done… our secretary handled our tech plan for the event and we also had people on marketing and also just organizing the group to be ready for the event itself.” 

Redline opened up the event with two songs, “Shut Up and Dance” by Walk the Moon and “Airplanes” by B.o.B. and Hayley Williams. The a cappella group was dressed to impress in greaser costumes, really getting into the groove as they kick-started the show. Redline members performed their set incredibly well, showcasing the dedication and talent the organization still has to offer today. 

A cappella groups like DeCadence from the University of Maryland (UMD) showed real creativity with their songs and wardrobe, boasting an incredibly hilarious Despicable Me costume theme. The students showed great enthusiasm, really getting into their character roles as they hyped up the crowd. Their performance really elevated the show to new heights, with their vocals and rhythm adding onto the original songs while still making them feel like a creation all their own. 

Other a cappella groups from Catholic University also got a chance to perform in the spotlight. Washingtones took the stage with their 70s disco costumes, performing “Super Trooper” by ABBA and “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac. The Music Deputy for the organization, Tanner Brady, opened up about what it was like to be on stage for the first time this year. 

“It was just super surreal because I remember being in the audience last year,” Brady commented. “To finally like be on stage for one of the biggest a cappella events of the year was just really special, and it was wonderful to share it with my people in Washingtones.” 

Redline A Cappella returned to perform the last three songs for the night, starting with a rendition of “Big Time Rush” by, of course, Big Time Rush, and continuing with “We Found Love” by Calvin Harris and Rihanna. The final song they performed was “Light On” by Maggie Rodgers, even allowing fellow Redline alumni to join them on stage as they closed out the show on a high note! This year’s Spookappella featured a lot of creativity from the different organizations, creating another fun event that will hopefully return bigger and better than ever next fall.