The College Fix

A college campus is a great place for a ghost story to take root. From library stacks to lecture halls, universities are targets for students and locals alike to get their fix of hauntingly scary stories come Halloween.

Here’s a College Fix round-up of some of the most haunted campus ghost stories in the country:

Fordham University

The Exorcist was filmed here. Need we say more? The centerpiece of the Jesuit campus is a Gothic-style building, Keating Hall, and a dorm, Finlay Hall, which were built on top of an old morgue. It is alleged that sleeping students are awoken with cold hands around their necks. In another dorm, tale tells it that a ghostly priest wakes a student and tells him that he has performed an exorcism to rid him of demonic spirits. If that isn’t enough, students also say that there is a blonde-haired ghost who cruises the showers. ht/Daily Caller

Mercyhurst University

Students at this small Catholic campus have unwisely used an ouija board outside the Mercyhurst Christ the King Chapel. Didn’t someone teach them that’s a no-no? This university in (no pun intended) Erie, Penn., is said to be haunted year-round. The most famous legend of is that of a deceased nun who hung herself on campus. Students say her bitter soul still roams the halls. There are also stories of the South Parlor in Old Main, used as a viewing room for the deceased. Rumors circulate that a deceased nun was placed in her coffin, and the next morning her body had disappeared, but footprints were found leaving the room. This mystery was never solved, but now the doors to this room remain permanently shut. ht/The Merciad

University of Tennessee

At Hoskins Library, it is not unusual for students deep in their studies to hear unexplained footsteps, books falling off shelves, elevators that move between floors without any riders, and experience the scent of fresh cornbread. Allegedly, the ghost of Evening Primrose is responsible. While her identity is not confirmed, she is rumored to have been an undergrad who died in the library. Other parts of campus are haunted, too, so the stories go. Many students claim to see the apparitions of six Union Army soldiers conferring next to Perkins Hall. In another part of campus, Tyson House, lights flicker on and off and someone can be heard roaming the halls when no one is there, accompanied by low moans. ht/UT website

College of Charleston

In this small but thriving southern city, students at the College of Charleston tell stories of the haunted Berry Dorm, an all-girls dormitory. Prior to becoming a dormitory, this building was Jenkins Orphanage, which burned down in the 1800s. The residents claim fire alarms mysteriously go off, electronics malfunction, and odd noises are heard frequently. ht/The Examiner

Kansas State University

From the 1920s to the 1950s, Kansas State fraternity Delta Sigma Pi’s house was Parkview Hospital. When the hospital moved, at least one patient, George Segal, died of neglect. Today, the room where George died is occupied by some fraternity brothers, and it is said that George has a heavy presence in this part of the house, according to first-hand accounts. In the 1970s, Manhattan endured a violent ice storm, and the town lost power for days. However, in this room, each day the television would turn on at 4:30 p.m. for the daily airing of Star Trek, George’s favorite show. The TV would then turn off as soon as the show ended, despite the power outage. In addition to strange occurrences like this, it is also rumored that random items would zoom across the room, lights flicker, windows open and close, and fan turns on and off. While George’s pranks are mostly playful, it is said that instances become more serious if George is instigated. ht/The Collegian

University of Arizona

Students and fans of University of Arizona know the famous battle cry that inspired the school’s fight song: “Bear down!” However, many do not know its origins. In 1926, UA student body president and starting quarterback for the football team, John Salmon, was in a car accident. He spent nearly two weeks in the hospital before his death, and just before he took his last breaths whispered the phrase “Tell them…Tell the team to bear down” to his coach, James ‘Pop’ McKale. The campus and community were devastated by his death, as he was very well liked. The university’s first gymnasium was then named the Bear Down Gym in his memory. The staff and maintenance workers of this facility claim they often see the ghost of Salmon walking the halls of the gym. The ghost is always sporting his well-used football jersey and whispers the words “bear down” to them. ht/University of Arizona

Wells College

The Main building at Wells College is said to be one of the most haunted places on campus. While it is now an administration building, it used to serve as a dormitory until students started to refuse to live there. Prior to becoming a dorm, the building served as a student hospital during a flu epidemic and then became a temporary morgue for students who did not survive. After it became a dormitory, many students began suffering random, untimely deaths. Not only do the ghosts of the hospital and morgue hang around, but ghosts of those who died unexpectedly haunt this building, too, according to legend. ht/Huffington Post, Wells College website

Georgetown University

Students and residents of Washington, D.C.’s Georgetown University point fingers at the fifth floor of Healy Hall when it comes to campus hauntings, which supposedly can be traced back to one student’s exorcism chants. The legend of the fifth floor supernatural has been around for years, the alleged source of loud moaning and wailing. The design of the Victorian building built in the late 1800s leads to the speculation of secret floors sealed off with ghostly creatures. Officially, the fifth floor of Healy Hall does not and never has existed, but the tales of this university suggest otherwise. ht/The Examiner

Fix contributor Katie Jones is a student at University of Arizona.

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