Can science be scary? It was on Saturday.

Nearly 200 students and parents attended the haunted laboratory from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday in Faraday Hall. The event was sponsored by the NIU Physics Club and the Frontier Physics outreach program.

A group of kids gathered around the first station as Brandon Hamm, physics club vice president, demonstrated the Faraday Cage and Newton’s Cradle.

The Faraday Cage had a radio inside it, but the radio waves couldn’t fit through the holes of the cage, Hamm said. Then he lifted the cage, allowing the radio waves through, and the radio began to play.

Newton’s Cradle consisted of five silver balls attached to string. To demonstrate, Hamm lifted one ball and let go. The ball hit the other four balls, causing them to react.

“Mom, watch this!” said 9-year-old Jordan Nguyen as he played with Newton’s Cradle.

Tim Maxwell, an undergraduate student at NIU, helped the physics club by demonstrating anamorphic drawings.

First, the children drew a picture on a regular-size grid. Next, they copied it to a distorted grid. Last, they viewed the distorted image on the cylindrical mirror making it appear normal again.

The event was free, but there was a bake sale amidst the haunted fun. Cookies and popcorn balls were available to visitors for 50 cents each.

At the bake sale table, Cassandra Wiese, Physics club president, stood in a red devil costume as she stirred her magic potion. The magic potion was punch brewing in a witch’s pot. An eerie fog made of liquid nitrogen and water hovered above the pot as children gathered around the table.

“The kids really loved the magic potion,” Wiese said. “And the popcorn balls have been quite popular.”

Kelly Meyer from Deerborn, Mich. brought her two children to the haunted laboratory while in town visiting relatives.

“This is a good, non-scary alternative for kids who are afraid of haunted houses,” Meyer said.

Her children, Mitchell, 6, and Danielle, 9, were excited about the kaleidoscopes they made. Mitchell, dressed as Spiderman, and a friend played with a beach ball that was flying above a high-powered fan.

“My favorite was the ball hanging on the ceiling over there,” Danielle said as she pointed her finger. “You pull the string and it goes up and down.” She was referring to the Holserman’s Sphere, which also was a favorite of many.

NIU graduate student Jason Shurilla helped children with glow-in-the-dark drawings and kept a tally of how many people walked through the laboratory doorway.

“Since this is our first year doing this, we weren’t sure how many people to expect,” Shurilla said. “Hopefully, this will give kids an early start for the love of physics.”

Patricia Sievert, Physics program coordinator, was pleased with the turnout.

“We had quite a crowd right at one o’clock,” she said. “I’ve had great student helpers and it’s been a lot of fun.”