America’s 10 Most Haunted Colleges

This is a guest contribution from Chloe Bennet.

Everyone loves a good ghost story, and America is a country filled with spooky, unexplained happenings and creepy old buildings full of history. If you’re interested in ghouls and poltergeists, you don’t need to look very far to find them!

1. Flagler College, St. Augustine, Florida

This college witnessed a series of rather unhappy events, with Henry Flagler’s succession of unsuccessful marriages – including his third wife, who is rumored to have hanged herself on the fourth floor. Some people say Flagler’s own ghost is still trapped in the building, after a janitor accidentally closed the doors during his funeral.

2. Ohio University

In room 428, a student is said to have attempted to separate her spirit from her body (astral projection) and died violently. Following occupants of the room reported objects flying around and moving on their own, so the room was sealed off after a time.

3. Gettysburg College, Pennsylvania

Right by the site of one of the Civil War’s most violent battles, it’s perhaps no surprise that this one makes the list – with the spooky story that taking the lift in Penn Hall sometimes leads unfortunate people to a ghostly field hospital, fully operational and – presumably – complete with the gruesomeness of injured patients.

4. Moravian College, Pennsylvania

Used as a makeshift field hospital during the Revolutionary War, Brenthen’s House has some chilling accounts of ghostly gurneys rattling through the hallways, and long-dead nurses rushing to tend to their patients.

5. Southern Illinois University Carbondale

The university acquired the ownership of a building on their grounds, Sunset Haven – a former mental institution and nursing home. “Paranormal activity, including the clanking of chains, groaning sounds, and flickering lights often beset the building, and it was believed that 87 people had been buried there. Not the sort of thing you want on your college campus!” says Hannah Keene, an editor at BoomEssays and  Academized.

6. East Tennessee State University

This university also lays claim to some pretty impressive ghostly activity, including the more friendly ghost of the founding president, Sidney Gilbreath – who apparently hangs around in order to turn off any lights which have been left on.

7. University of East Colorado

As another more gruesome tale, it’s said that a student adviser who suffered from depression hanged herself in the attics on the Greeley campus. Students claim they can still hear her playing with marbles – which she was said to have loved – up in the loft.

8. Smith College, Massachusetts

This one is abound with tragic stories and the echoes left behind, including a woman who is said to have killed her children after mistaking them for intruders, two lovers who failed to be together in life, and two girls who fell while searching for a secret passageway in the house.

9. University of Denver, Colorado

Home to the Mary Reed Building and Margery Reed Hall – both named after the same woman, who is thought to have been poisoned by her husband so he could inherit her money. “The theater department in the Hall is said to be plagued with odd noises and whispers, as though some vengeful spirit resides there,” says Tony Vallone, an educator at UKWritings and Essay Writers.

10. Texas State University

You can even go on a ghost tour here – there’s plenty of stories on the San Marco campus to chill freshmen, including the one about an initiation ceremony which resulted in the deaths of several new members to a fraternity called Pi Kappa Alpha.

It seems like every university or college has its share of supernatural beings ghosting up and down its passages, banging on the floors, or whispering in students’ ears as past souls linger on with the living. The history of some of these is enough to chill the blood, even if you’re safe at home!

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About the Contributor

Chloe Bennet is a teacher at State of Writing and OXEssays websites. She helps students with grammar, editing and proofreading. Also, Chloe tutors at Assignment Help portal.