There was non-stop dancing and high energy at last Saturday’s staging of Scream, a Halloween-themed party.

The Mas Camp venue was littered with university and college students, who came dressed in various costumes, from crazy professionals to superheroes.

Upon entering the venue, there were tunnels decorated with skeletons, bones, bats, spiders, webs, and masks.

The musical selections were on point from Halloween-themed songs like Michael Jackson’s Thriller to the 1962 #1 Billboard Hot 100 hit Monster Mash by Bobby Pickett. Ray Parker Jr’s 1984 chart-topper Ghostbusters and Bobby Brown’s 1989 massive hit On Our Own (from the soundtrack to the movie Ghostbusters II) were also crowd-pleasers.

Added to the mix were selections from Afrobeats, dancehall, soca, hip hop, reggae, and pop hits from yesteryear and today courtesy of a high-calibre of DJs, among them Jamdonn & TZ, Fyahman and Vinchi, DJ Mac and Baba, Brush1 and Shantonio, Jugglin Masters and DJ Jubba & Breeze.

Micha’el Meggo, a student attending The University of the West Indies, came dressed as the cartoon character The Mad Hatter.

“What I enjoyed most about Scream was seeing the creativity of the costumes. There is a genuine thrill that comes out of getting stopped by others for us to compliment and be in awe of each other’s costumes. The highlight of Scream for me was the moment of silence taken for the victims of Hurricane Melissa. While small, I appreciate that the platform was still used to spread some awareness as it is more important than ever,” Meggo told the Jamaica Observer.

Medical student of The University of the West Indies Dajae Forrester, who created ripples in his Jorgen Von Strangle-inspired costume, shared that he enjoyed how patrons expressed themselves creatively.

“I loved how the patrons were committed to the characters they dressed up as. They gave the characters an additional layer of life, and this shows that Jamaican’s have been yearning for an outlet of creative expression,” he said while complimenting the musical selections.

“The music selection by the DJs just flowed and there wasn’t a dull moment. Respect to the promoters for observing a moment of silence to those impacted by the hurricane,” said Forrester.

Keifa Desnoes, director of Scream, was pleased with the support for the fourth edition.

“Our first staging was in 2022 and the crowd has evolved tremendously every year. Each year we see the creativity in the costumes, which adds to the overall feel and vibe of the event,” Desnoes told the Observer.

“I also appreciated the moment of silence that Fyahman asked the crowd to observe for the people who died and those who have been suffering in the aftermath in the passage of Hurricane Melissa,” he said.

Scream, according to Desnoes, primarily targets the young adult demographic.

“The event really targets young adults and the working class, but more so those who want to experience the best possible version of a Halloween party in Jamaica, we encourage all Jamaicans over the legal drinking age to give Scream Halloween a try.

During the event donations were collected for hurricane relief.

“We’ve been collecting donations even outside of the event for our Scream hurricane relief plan, but, yes, even on the night we received a very good amount of donations, and it’s good to know that our patrons still have the interest of those affected by this tragedy at heart,” said Desnoes.

These dolls choose a theme for Scream, the Halloween party.

This pair stay in character during the fun.

University students Micha’el Meggo (left) and Dajae Forrester, came to party dressed as the Mad Hatter and cartoon character Jorgen Von Strangle, respectively.