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100+
Hackers
$1000
Prizes
21
Hours
Open
to Beginners & First-Timers
About
Spookathon is a Halloween-inspired hackathon hosted by the Iota Xi Honor Society at Orange Coast College. Open to students of all experience levels across any major, participants will work in small teams to build creative, tech-driven solutions to real-world problems.
Not sure where to start?
We have beginner project templates for you to get spooky on!
Tracks
Build apps that gamify learning with spooky themes 🎃. Create study tools with zombie challenges 🧟, develop campus navigation systems with ghostly guides 👻, or design VR educational experiences that transport students to different historical periods 🏰. Make learning fun and spooky! ✨
Create mental health tools with calming Halloween themes 🎃. Build telemedicine platforms that connect patients with doctors like summoning spirits 🔮, develop medication reminder systems with spooky alarms 👻, design accessibility tools that help patients navigate healthcare systems ♿, or craft wellness tracking apps with supernatural motivation systems 💪. Health and wellness systems now rests on your whimsical wizardry! ✨
Build smart home automation systems controlled by haunted voice assistants 🗣️, create meal planning apps with ghostly chef recommendations 👨🍳, develop time management tools with spooky productivity reminders ⏰, design personal finance trackers with mystical budget insights 💰, or craft social platforms that help people connect in magical ways 🤝.
Build Halloween-themed IoT sensors that monitor air quality or noise levels 🌪️, create robotic assistants that help with household chores (think Roomba dressed as a ghost 👻), design Arduino projects for automatic lighting systems 💡, develop wearable devices that track health metrics with spooky visualizations 📊, or craft smart garden systems that make plants grow better through haunted automation 🌱.
Create any projects with spooky use of AI. Help users with Halloween costume recommendations using image recognition 🎭, build natural language processing tools that analyze spooky literature 📖, develop recommendation systems for horror movies or haunted attractions 🎬, craft computer vision projects that detect Halloween decorations 🦇, or design AI assistants that help users learn tech skills through interactive ghostly tutorials 👨💻.
Create a math educational app! Design interactive learning platforms that make mathematics engaging and spooktacular. Build apps that teach algebra through zombie survival games 🧟, create geometry tools with haunted shapes and mysterious angles 📐, develop calculus visualizations with supernatural waves and ghostly derivatives ⚡, craft statistics dashboards that reveal spooky patterns in data 📈, or design problem-solving games where players must use math to escape haunted dungeons 🏰.
Schedule
Contestants Arrive
Opening Ceremony
Ceremony Close & Hacking Start
Team Formation Event
Workshop 1: Idea Formation
Lunch
Workshop 2: How to Collaborate on GitHub
Activity 1: Type Racer Competition
Workshop 3: Intro to UI/UX
Dinner
Activity 2: Ping-pong Championship
End of Day 1
FAQs
Got questions? We've got answers! Click on any question below to learn more about Spookathon.
A hackathon is a fast‑paced event where you collaborate to build a project in a single weekend. You'll attend workshops, get help from mentors, and demo your work to judges at the end.
Spookathon welcomes students from any major and skill level. Beginners are encouraged to join—no prior hackathon experience required.
It's free to attend. We provide meals, snacks, and plenty of caffeine throughout the event.
Yes! We'll recognize top projects in each track and award special prizes for innovation, design, and community choice.
You're still welcome! We offer beginner‑friendly workshops and mentors. You can learn as you go and contribute through design, product, research, writing, and more.
No problem. We'll run team‑formation and ideation activities at the start. You can also work solo if you prefer.
Anything you can dream up—web, mobile, AI/ML, hardware, games, or something wild that fits our tracks. Projects must be built during the event.
Bring your laptop, chargers, and anything you need to be comfortable. We'll take care of food, drinks, and a space to create.
Check‑in opens at 8:00 AM on Saturday and Opening Ceremony starts at 9:00 AM. You can step out and re‑enter with your event wristband; please return before submissions close.
We're in the OCC Student Center Ballroom. Parking is available in nearby campus lots; follow event signage to the Ballroom entrance.