Ohio University has become known as one of the most haunted places in America. A former insane asylum built on the site, it sits adjacent to a Native American burial ground and is encircled by a "pentagram" of cemeteries, almost seeming like a cliché. The best-known legend details Room 428 in Wilson Hall. In the 1970s, a student in the dorm went a little crazy, babbled in a strange tongue, and died in a fall. People closed up the room for good because her ghost was so active.
Penn State University
Penguins encounter this phenomenon so often that Pennsylvania State University boasts a Paranormal Research Society of its own. One of the most storied ghosts is of Frances Atherton, wife of founder George Atherton, who is said to keep watch over his grave from the second-floor window of the old Botany building. Students tell stories of footsteps, scratching and objects being moved about. Then there's this school's oddest ghost: a mule. They say Old Coaly, the university's original mascot, still roams the campus with his cloven hooves and loud bray.
Fordham University
The gothic architecture of Fordham University is another haunting detail, as "The Exorcist" partially shot at the school. Students still report a silent, blonde ghost peering out of the Keating Hall showers, along with another male spirit who disappears when you turn to look at him. Many also hear loud crashes that cannot be explained near stairwells. In Finlay Hall – where a morgue once sat, students tell ghostly stories of being pulled by the feet or hands appearing around their necks.
Gettysburg College
Gettysburg College, once the site of a Civil War hospital, hosts soldiers' spirits. The Lone Sentinel, a ghostly soldier carrying a gun, walks the halls of Penn Hall, watching students walk by. In one disturbing tale, staff trapped in a broken lift found themselves, not on the first floor, but in a basement where they witnessed doctors covered in blood and wounded soldiers rushing about. At Stephens Hall, students have seen the "Blue Boy," who haunts the windows. According to lore, the residents of the dormitory took care of an orphan boy known as the "Blue Boy," and now he shows his blue face to students who walk past.
Wells collage
He opened a wing of the student health center on Wells' fourth floor to set up a makeshift hospital, where dozens of students succumbed, and he kept bodies behind a door painted red. Even after repainting, the color bled through. More ghosts walk campus, like Max, the campus security guard who was killed trying to escort students out of a blaze. Others say a ghostly hand still pulls you along the stairwell, encouraging you to escape safely. Yet another phantom is said to lurk in Zabriskie Hall; in life, the girl was a science student with great potential who found that her professor was stealing her research. After she confronted him, he ended her life by stabbing her with a knife. Now, legend says she appears to students and asks them to remove the knife from her back.
University of Georgia
At the University of Georgia, ghosts haunt numerous sorority and frat houses. The ghost story of Susie Carithers, who once owned the Alpha Gamma Delta house, features on most of the ghost tours on campus. Abandoned at the altar, she hung herself out of sorrow at the Alpha Gamma house. The members of the house report seeing her ghost watching from the attic window.
Keyon Collage
Kenyon College boasts the "Gates of Hell." The tale tells that if you walk through the gates at exactly midnight with the church bells ringing, you shall be condemned to hell for all eternity. In 1949, tragedy struck when nine students perished in a terrible fire. Now, people claim to hear screams of anguish, see flickering lights, and even hear the sounds of toilet flushes echoing through the halls. Another spirit known as the "Greenhouse Ghost" died in a diving accident in the campus pool. Students report that he leaves wet footprints on the campus grounds and mysteriously turns on showers at random times.
University of Norte Dame
Football legend George Gipp, the first "Gipper," haunts campus with school spirit. The story goes that when he was refused entrance to his dorm on a winter night, he had to sleep on the cold stone stairs and later caught pneumonia and died. Students say he pats them on the back and plays music at night. Since the school is Catholic, the campus hosts spiritual beings as well. People can see Father Sorin, who is buried on the university campus, walking the grounds (he died on Halloween in 1893). Also, tales exist of benevolent nuns and a priest who has lost his feet that walk-through walls.
Boston University
Ghosts in Kilachand Fourth Floor Kilachand Hall have caused odd phenomena even before the Boston University campus moved into the building in 1939. The hotel that BU bought was where the playwright Eugene O'Neill died. People say his ghost remains there, and his apparition haunts the building, with an elevator that halts at the fourth floor, where the lights are dimmest. Students hear knocks on the door with no one there. The darkest of spirits: The Boston Strangler. People say ghosts shake and move chairs, ruffle drawers, and some claim even in locked rooms.
FAQ's
Q: What makes Ohio University famously haunted?
A: Wilson Hall contains Room 428, where a student reportedly died in the 1970s after exhibiting strange behavior, leading the university to permanently seal the room due to ongoing paranormal activity.
Q: Why is Gettysburg College considered a paranormal hotspot?
A: The campus served as a Civil War hospital, and students frequently report sightings of the "Lone Sentinel," a ghostly soldier patrolling Penn Hall, alongside accounts of time-warp elevators.
Q: What is the legend behind Fordham University's spooky reputation?
A: Built over a former hospital, morgue, and crematorium, buildings like Finlay Hall experience phantom footsteps, throat-grabbing sensations, and unexplainable moving objects.
Q: Who is said to haunt Penn State University?
A: Frances Atherton, the wife of the school's founder, allegedly watches over his grave from a botany building window, accompanied by stories of a ghostly campus mule.
Q: What tragic tale lingers at the University of Georgia?
A: The Alpha Gamma Delta sorority house is haunted by Susie Carithers, a former owner who reportedly hanged herself after being left at the altar and now stares out the windows.
Q: Why does Boston University's Kilachand Hall give students chills?
A: The building was once a hotel where famous playwright Eugene O'Neill died, and residents still report self-moving elevators and sudden, inexplicable drops in lighting on the fourth floor.
Q: What echoes through the halls at East Tennessee State University?
A: Students in Clement Hall frequently hear the eerie, unexplained sound of marbles rolling across bare floors, attributed to a phantom known as the Marble Boy.
Q: Who famously roams the campus of the University of Notre Dame?
A: Legendary football star George "The Gipper" Gipp is said to haunt the grounds, with students reporting friendly pats on the back and phantom music.
Q: What dark history haunts Flagler College in Florida?
A: Housed in a historic former hotel, the spirit of founder Henry Flagler is said to manifest when light bulbs flicker or fail if his name is spoken aloud.
Q: What haunts the University of Montevallo in Alabama?
A: Reynolds Hall, which functioned as a Civil War hospital, is haunted by Captain Henry Reynolds, whose official portrait mysteriously shifts positions on its own.
