Located on the West Side of campus, Shaw Hall is named after Florence Shaw, a beloved faculty member and former head of the College's teacher training program. Shaw opened in 1969. The residence hall is a three-story, 76-room hall with a housing capacity of 157 residents. The building is divided into wings, with two wings on the first floor and three wings on the second and third floors. Each wing has its own bathroom. All rooms in Shaw Hall are double-occupancy. Located behind Miller Hall. Behind Shaw Hall (and another dorm next to it) is the 'new' baseball field. Rumor has it there was a small cemetery there that ran along the edge of the school property and houses that back to it. There is a woman in a long white nightgown with long, curly red hair that stands at the windows at the ends of the dorm floors.... in both buildings. She just stands there, if you try to get close, she will disappear. No one knows who she is or why she would be in either dorm. The rumor was that she was buried in that cemetery and there were no sightings of her until the baseball field or both dorms were built. Somehow the construction disturbed her, for whatever reason.
Named for then College president, Thomas C. Miller, Miller Hall was finished in 1915. Miller Hall was a Civil War hospital and many civil war ghosts are seen, also a nursing student who was supposedly failing, hung herself in the attic (which is now locked), the staff says the attic was kept locked because the college was afraid that the students would hurt themselves on loose floorboards and/or damage the area, and as a fire problem since students would go up there and smoke. Romney,West Virginia.. Peterkin Religious Retreat / Gravity Hall Back in the early 70's, a black preacher died of a heart attack in his room while getting up to use the bathroom. His wife didn't discover this until the morning. Ever since then, the piano upstairs plays music. As soon as you open the door to walk up the stairway, you can hear the stairs creaking as he comes down to greet you. When you walk up the stairs, you can hear him following you. You can hear talking behind several of the closed doors. Cold spots can be felt. Doors sometimes open and shut. You can feel his presence behind you as he watches you go about your business. (My mom used to work here, cleaning the rooms after guests stayed there. He would sometimes follow her, watch her, and sometimes play the piano while she was there.) Guests have reported odd happenings, but they do not fear him. If you ask him nicely to leave you alone, he will go about his business. Good morning everyone! Do you know what today is?? INVESTIGATION DAY! Yippee! We have our 1st investigation tonight as WSP.. We are all excited and anxious to be back investigating.. We have a wonderful crew.. Our Investigation investigators' crew is Patricia Shelor, Josh Bender, Will Calvert, Amber Cox Morton, and Amber Brooke Striker-Bass...(Our Historian is Val Avey-Fenn,Our musician for the group is Paige Martin).. Let's make 2014 the best year ever for investigations! Gettysburg, Pennsylvania is considered one of the most haunted cities in the world. Places where sudden deaths occurred, and cemeteries, are considered hotspots by ghost hunters and Gettysburg certainly has both in abundance. On July 1st 1863, one of the bloodiest battles of the US Civil war took place at Gettysburg. This historic battle is often considered the turning point of the war. General Lee led the Confederate Army and Major General George G. Meade led the north. After three long days of fighting, the North succeeded in stopping the advance of Lee’s Army. The human cost was astounding. The South suffered 4,708 casualties, 12,693 men were injured and 5,830 were either captured or listed as missing. The North, despite its victory, did not fare much better. They had 3,155 killed in battle, 14,531 wounded and 5,369 men were missing or taken prisoner. After seeing the numbers of people that were killed suddenly, and the fact that many of them are buried in the local cemeteries, it is not surprising that this is the place to be if you are hoping to spot a ghost. Ghost sightings in and around the city have been going on for hundreds of years. The ghosts that are most often seen in this area are either recurring, or non-interactive or both. There are numerous claims of people seeing a group of what appears to be soldiers dressed in grey walking in a line into the trees. These ghosts appear regularly, but do not seem to have any awareness of where they are or what is occurring around them. They return each time and repeat the same actions. Many of the places in and around Gettysburg are considered to be historical landmarks so if you do plan to go and explore for Gettysburg Ghosts, do so with care and respect. A neat and orderly graveyard where all the headstones are in lines. Row upon row, upon row. What makes this graveyard stand out? Maybe it is the fact that there are no names on most of the stones, only numbers. Or maybe it is the ring of graves off to the side. Or maybe it is the number of strange sightings that have been seen in this cemetery. This is what you can expect to find if you visit the Ridges Graveyard in Athens, Ohio. It is reputed to be one of the most haunted areas in the world. Why would this cemetery be any more haunted than any other cemetery? Perhaps it has to do with the people who are buried here. These people died within the walls of The Athens Mental Hospital. They were all patients. While they were alive they would have been subjected to numerous treatments that were to help them ‘get well’. Sadly, many of these treatments were not just horrific, many of them rendered the patient worse off than when they started. In fact, some of the treatments were often even deadly. When patients did die and were buried, they simply put a number on the headstone. No name or date, just a number. Many of the patients who were treated at the hospital were not just insane. Many of them were also criminals. One of the most infamous patients of the hospital was convicted rapist Billy Mulligan. Although Billy is nor buried here, many of his predecessors are. Among the dead are hundreds of civil war soldiers who became residents of the hospital, following the war. These people were tortured souls in life. The residents of the grave yard are not the only unique thing about this cemetery. There are numerous rumours and legends attached to the site and where the tombstones are placed. All the graves are neatly laid out in rows except for a few off to the side. These graves form a circle. Locals claim that this area was used by witches who were practising spells and magic. Sceptics say that the graves were moved by juveniles wishing to create their own mystery. Whichever is true, either the witches or the vandals, there are numerous accounts and reports of paranormal activity in the cemetery. These range from strange lights to ghostly beings. Close to this area there is a wooden bridge which allows people to cross over the creek to reach a few isolated graves that are in a wooded area. Over the years there have been numerous reports of screams and noises coming from this section of the cemetery. Investigators of the cemetery have stated that there are high levels of energy in these areas as well. Whether or not you believe in ghosts or the paranormal, the fact remains that the number of people who claim to have seen things in this cemetery is way above average. A soothsayer, who knew what he was talking about, gave the warning “Beware the Ides of March” to Julius Caesar. Caesar was stabbed 23 times on March 15th, 44 B.C. by 60 senators – including his best friend, Marcus Julius Brutus, (“Et tu Brute?” –Thank you William Shakespeare.) Superstitions are actually beliefs we hold without any true or rational basis, beliefs that may be exaggerated or simply false. Superstitions exist for all aspects of life – love, luck, weddings, pregnancy, money, theatre, weather, and, of course, death. They are passed on from person to person, generation to generation. Call them old wives tales, folklore or prophecy, superstitions foretell or fore sway future events. Growing up in Indiana, I learned my fair share of ‘tall tales.’ My grandmother passed on many family superstitions to me. Some that I remember that had to do with death include:Never county the number of cars in a funeral procession. (I was a notorious counter.) Never point at a funeral procession, its bad luck. Never take flowers from a grave. If you spill salt, immediately throw some over your left shoulder to keep the Devil at bay. An owl hooting outside of your window for three nights in a row foretells a death – yours of someone close to you. Here are some other death superstitions you may have heard. Death superstitions involving nature: Flowers will grow on the grave of someone who lived a good line. Only weeds grow on the grave of someone who was evil. If a bird flies into your window, there has been a death. If you see an owl during the day, there will be a death close to you. An owl hooting outside of your window for three nights in a row foretells a death, yours of someone close to you. If lightening strikes near the house when someone is dying, the devil has come for their soul. If it rains in an open grave, it’s bad luck for the family. If there is a thunderstorm during a funeral, the deceased has gone to hell. If there is thunder following a burial then the deceased has reached heaven Physical death superstitions: Hold your breath when passing a graveyard so evil can’t enter. Another version is: If you don’t hold your breath when passing a cemetery, you will not be buried. If you have an involuntary shiver, someone has just walked over your grave. If you cast a headless shadow then you will die in the next year. If you lie down in a coffin you are taunting death to come and take you. Never whistle in a graveyard, you are summoning the Devil. Never wear anything new to a funeral. (Shoes seem to have particular significance.) Coins should be placed on the eyes of the deceased to pay the ferryman, Charon, to row the departed across the underworld river Styx. Death superstitions in your home: Howling dogs in the night signify that someone ill in the house will die soon. If a picture suddenly falls off of the wall, someone you know has died. You should stop all clocks in the house where someone dies or it will bring bad luck. Open a window in the room when someone dies so that they can move on. Cover all mirrors after a death – so that the soul doesn’t get trapped in them. A casket must be carried out with the deceased’s feet first. Death and the number 3: If you hear three knocks and no one is there, someone close to you has died. If only 3 candles are lit in a room, the person closest to the shortest candle will be the first to die. Death comes in threes. Death superstitions about the graveyard: A metal cross on a grave will hold the spirit there. A body should be placed in the grave with its head to the west and feet to the east so that when it rises up it will face the sun. Never remove anything from a gravesite. It is bad luck to walk on graves. It is bad luck to trip when you’re in a cemetery. Being buried on the north side of the church is considered unlucky because of the lack of sun. That area is usually reserved for criminals and suicides. It is bad luck to go into a cemetery at night, or to be there at the stroke of midnight. The WV Turnpike between Princeton and Charleston is plagued with many ghostly happenings. Phantom hitchhikers, strange lights, and UFOs are just some of the things that have been reported since construction of the highway began in 1952 and when it was opened for business on November 8, 1954. The West Virginia Turnpike is a toll road in the US state of West Virginia. It is also signed as Interstate 77 for its entire length as well as Interstate 64 from Charleston to just south of Beckley. From Beckley, the road extends south to Princeton. The Turnpike contains the only tolled sections of either Interstates 64 or 77. Historically, the West Virginia Turnpike was a two-lane road with treacherous curves and a tunnel (which has since been decommissioned). Construction began in 1952, several years before the Eisenhower Interstate System was funded. It was only in 1986 that the entire length of the Turnpike was upgraded to Interstate standards. The road is often referred to simply as "the Turnpike" by locals, since there are no other toll roads in the state. Due to the difficulty and lives lost in construction, it has also been called "88 miles of miracle. Although the whole stretch of road is known for its haunts just as much as its known for its treacherous terrain, most of the activity seems concentrated on a 15 mile stretch between Beckley and Mossy. Along this area, there are numerous reports of activity, many coming from state troopers. In two separate incidents involving two different troopers, a phantom hitchhiker has been picked up, only to disappear in the back seat of the cruiser. One hitchhiker, a young man, was arrested and put into the back of the trooper's car. When the trooper turned around, the man was gone and his handcuffs were lying on the seat. The other hitchhiker was a little girl who also disappeared. She was found wandering the side of the road, not talking. Besides the actual road itself, the old Morton Truck Stop and Glass House restaurant (now torn down) were reported to be haunted, as well as a highway maintenance building and offices. Many old family cemeteries were paved over or moved in the building of the highway, and at least 5 workers died in its construction. The highway runs along the sites of several major floods and mine disasters, not to mention countless murders, so perhaps this has something to do with the activity. |
Patricia Shelor and Josh BenderCo founders of the Wandering Souls Paranormal ArchivesCategories |