WASHINGTON - Terror struck on the Mount Vernon Campus this week as numerous George Washington University students reported visual assaults upon their psyches by what some have described as a “horrifically spooky” jack-o’-lantern.

Perched on a second story window sill near the fringes of the remote campus, this gourd of ghastly demeanor has spent the better part of the last eight evenings casting its piercing stare into the hearts of any and all passers-by unfortunate enough to catch its gaze.

Reporters from the GW Ax had a chance to catch up with Jack Kellanie, one of the jack-o’-lantern’s alleged victims, in the waiting room of the GW Student Health Center.

“I haven’t been that scared since the first time I saw The Exorcist,” Kallanie said, “it just sat up there, undressing me with its weird little triangle eyes.”

Most other students who filed reports with the University regarding the jack-o’-lantern’s shifty and unwanted gaze have also noted the feeling that this orange menace may have been enjoying the view a bit too much.

Braving the horror about which they had been warned, two intrepid Ax reporters made the trip out to the Vern in order to get the inside scoop and assemble a clearer picture of the situation. After some snooping, Ax reporters managed to trace the jack-o’-lantern back to its carver, junior Ollie Folesman, who agreed to be interviewed. While at first charming, this economics major quickly showed himself to be a mad-man, devoid of reason. His remarks may be disturbing.

“Things can get a little drab out here, I just wanted to be a little festive. I don’t know what people are so upset about,” Folesman said when asked about the jack-o’-lantern, “actually, to be honest, I think it’s pretty ghoul — I mean cool!”

The jack-o’-lantern has yet to be removed, though a rumor is now circulating that faux-cobwebbing has appeared in several locations on the Mount Vernon. The George Washington Police Department declined to comment on its refusal to intervene.