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High-spirited hijinks at a halloween party ended in horror for friends of a south suburban woman who plunged four floors to her death in an accident at a downtown Chicago hotel Saturday night.

Elementary school teacher Megan Duskey, 23, was attempting to slide down a railing on the mezzanine at the Palmer House Hilton, 17 East Monroe, when she lost her balance and fell over the edge to the basement level about 10:30 p.m., police said.

Duskey taught special education classes at Orville T. Bright Elementary School on the far South Side and was a "caring, energetic person who was full of life and eager to help others and make a difference in the world," her family said.

She was partying with friends at the "Haunted Hotel Ball" - a costume party for more than 2,000 revelers - and was dressed in the yellow and black costume of the comic book superhero the Silver Spectre when she died, authorities said.

Duskey was dead on the scene, according to the medical examiner's office, which ruled her death an accident.

Police said she had suffered head trauma.

Friends - some of whom had been partying with her just hours before - gathered Sunday at her family's home on the 3600 block of Melanie Lane in Crete, to mourn with her parents Debbie and Jim, and her two brothers, Matt and Mark.

A graduate of Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, Duskey graduated from Northern Illinois University in 2009 with a degree in early childhood education and early childhood special education, family friend Rita Miotti said in a statement released by Duskey's family.

Her death was "a tragic loss," Miotti said.

Counselors will be at Bright Elementary on Monday to help staff and students come to terms with Duskey's death, Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman Monique Bond said.