Our BetterMost Community > The Polling Place
Your Neighborhood Haunted House
Brown Eyes:
I voted yes, but I'll add that it's not in my current neighborhood. There were several haunted locations at my college (Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts). Some of the stories about the hauntings are many generations old and at least on is taken quite seriously. I'm at work at the moment... so I'll come back later this evening to tell the stories!
:)
p.s. I adore good ghost stories.
Brown Eyes:
Heya!
So, I'm back to tell the most famous ghost story associated with my undergrad alma mater, Mount Holyoke College. It's a very old college so there are lots of ghost stories actually. But, this is the most credible by far. And, this story has gotten even spookier in recent years.
One of the oldest and most beautiful historic dorms on campus is called Wilder Hall. And, there's a story that goes back to the 1950s about a girl hanging herself in one of the corner rooms on the 4th (top) floor in a room located near the staircase (apparently this part of the story is true and verifiable... that someone did commit suicide). It's the only room on the 4th floor with a crystal/glass door knob. And, the room has been unassigned for a longtime because the rumors and stories about it are so pervasive, that it's unlikely that anyone would want that for a dorm room these days. When I was a student at MHC, there were tons of stories from people in Wilder about faucets turning themselves off and on by themselves and there was a rumor that it was impossible to hang posters or anything on the wall in the dorm room that was adjacent to the "haunted room." Frequently, people also talked about feeling the sensation of being pushed as they tried to walk up or down the stairs near the room. The room was "closed" as a dorm room by an old dean, who was also an alum of MHC (well familiar with the Wilder stories). So, apparently in years previous to my enrollment, she volunteered to sleep overnight in the haunted room. The story goes that she left in the middle of the night from the room and declared that it would not be assigned as a dorm room from that point on.
Previous to the dorm room being "closed" as a functioning dorm room, the scariest rumor was that anyone who was assigned to live in that room was injured somehow or other in "random" violent accidents (beginning with the roommate of the girl who hung herself).
I recall the building being truly creepy (if beautiful)... I hated even going in there (to visit friends, go to parties or eat in the old dining hall there, etc.). I'm creeping myself out even retelling this story. You couldn't have paid me enough money to take dorm a room in Wilder.
So a few years ago, in 2006, there was a violent wind storm on campus which knocked over a giant, very old beech tree near Wilder (I remember the beautiful tree well). The tree fell on the dorm and apparently did the most damage to the haunted room and to the porch!!!
:o :o :o
I'm attaching a link to an article about tree falling. And, I also found this nice succinct story about the ghost story combined with the recent tree story in a recent student's blog. So, I'm including a quote from that here.
An article from Feb. 2006:
http://www.themhnews.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=649835a6-2a29-4287-88f9-76bca85f7198
High Winds Cause Extensive Damage to Wilder
One of the Oldest Trees on Campus to be Cut Down
A related comment from a blog:
www.opacity.us/forum/index.php?
"As some of you know I am a freshman at Mount Holyoke College. There is a very old dorm hall called Wilder near the center of campus. On the top floor (4th) of Wilder, there is a room across from the kitchenette right as you reach the top of the stairs with a very strange story attached to it. Back in the 1950's (some say earlier) a girl hung herself in that room (I forgot why, but I think it was over a boy). Shortly after her death, her roommate broke her leg. Nobody thought anything of it, until a pattern emerged. Ever since, any girl assigned to the room has been seriously injured. Since the 70s or 80s when the Dean of Students couldn't even bear to spend an entire night in the room, it has been locked. The room # is 403, but what is creepy is that according to the official layouts of Wilder Hall on the MHC website, there IS no room 403, just a space where the room is and a little rectangle symbol in the middle of it. Anyway, the latest incident involving this room occured last Friday, Feb. 17th at around lunch time. A HUGE tree that was probably 150 years old broke apart and landed right on top of Wilder hall, hitting the EXACT spot where the room is. It was the ONLY room damaged. The tree apparently had rotted through and broken, so they just cut the rest down. Another portion of a tree also crushed a porch flat on the side of the building. A girl was exiting the building at the time, but amazingly she wasn't seriously injured. Many people ore saying that because the window of 403 was broken, the spirit of the girl is free. I don't know if I believe this stuff, but if the school boards up a room, something's up. Apparently, the room is old and worn, hadn't been refinished since it was closed, and there is lots of exposed piping. it is also the only door in the building with one of those old-fashoned glass doorknobs."
Here are two historic views of Wilder Hall
<img src="http://www.divshare.com/img/5722063-822.jpg" border="0" /> <img src="http://www.divshare.com/img/5722064-b86.jpeg" border="0" />
The "haunted room" is in the front of the building under the pointed gable at the upper left in these pictures.
Here are several pictures of the 2006 tree damage. (Sorry they're so tiny! They're tiny in the article where I found the images).
<img src="http://www.divshare.com/img/5722065-203.jpg" border="0" />
This is a detail of the "haunted room's" window and gable after the damage. Note that the window is indeed open as the blog writer describes.
<img src="http://www.divshare.com/img/5722066-487.jpg" border="0" /> <img src="http://www.divshare.com/img/5722067-9d6.jpg" border="0" /> <img src="http://www.divshare.com/img/5722387-f8a.jpg" border="0" />
David In Indy:
Thanks Marge and Amanda for your contributions to this thread. I love reading about real haunted houses. :D
Amanda, that building (Wilder Hall) looks amazing! What a gorgeous building! And that room sounds really creepy and scary! That's weird how there is no room #403 on the map/diagram, isn't it? I wonder why they didn't put it on there? It almost seems as if they are trying to hide something, or deny the room even exists. And it is also very strange how the tree fell and only affected that one room... well that one room and the porch. Thank goodness the lady down below wasn't seriously hurt. Thanks so much for posting this very intersting information.
I've heard about Eastern State Penitentiary too. Sci-Fi channel's TAPS (Ghost Hunters) went there and did a couple of investigations. They were very impressed. Great Britain's Most Haunted paranormal team also went there and did a live investigation too (I think it was a two day investigation, but I"m not certain of that) and they were also very impressed. TAPS caught a very strange figure on their FLIR heat sensor and infra-red cameras. It was some sort of "creature" and it was padding up and down one of the corridors. They couldn't see it with their eyes, but it showed up on the heat sensor as clear as a bell. It was very spooky looking. :o
Brown Eyes:
--- Quote from: Casper on November 01, 2008, 11:43:13 pm ---Thanks Marge and Amanda for your contributions to this thread. I love reading about real haunted houses. :D
Amanda, that building (Wilder Hall) looks amazing! What a gorgeous building! And that room sounds really creepy and scary! That's weird how there is no room #403 on the map/diagram, isn't it? I wonder why they didn't put it on there? It almost seems as if they are trying to hide something, or deny the room even exists. And it is also very strange how the tree fell and only affected that one room... well that one room and the porch. Thank goodness the lady down below wasn't seriously hurt. Thanks so much for posting this very intersting information.
--- End quote ---
I think they removed the room number 403 when they decided to stop using the room for a dorm room. I don't really know what that blogger means by "official layouts" or how old the floor plans are that she might have been looking at it. But, her description of the story is more or less exactly how I remember it. LOL, I don't know if they can hide that the room exists... the "haunted dorm" stories about Wilder are some of the first things you learn about the various dorm options when you enter as a first year. I remember knowing about it at least by the time orientation started my first year (or maybe even before I entered). People also tell the Wilder ghost story a lot at Halloween events (among some of the other campus and local ghost stories).
I also should add that the recent story about the tree damaging the room blows my mind. Of all the rooms on campus to be damaged in such a way... it's truly remarkable that it would be that one!
Thanks for posting all those stories about buildings in Indiana. Real life ghost stories are by far the scariest!!
David In Indy:
I'll be going over to my Dad's house tomorrow. I'll try to remember to take a picture of that tunnel entrance built in the hillside which used to lead to the House of blue Lights. The house is gone, but the tunnel entrance is still there. That tunnel is very creepy looking too! :o
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