Most Haunted Places in America: Fordham University

The Fordham University in Bronx, New York is a century and a half old college, certainly old enough to have developed a few ghost stories. Fordham University is not, however, believed to be the origin of the paranormal activity here. The haunting of Fordham University dates back much farther than the facility’s existence.

Fordham University was built in 1841 atop the site of several other much older buildings, The Rose Hill Manor House for one; home of Scotsman Robert Watts who made his fortune as a New York merchant. Adjacent to the Rose Hill Manor was a medical facility. Like all hospitals in those days, the mortality rate was high, the stench of medicinal fluids all but unbearable.

If the design of Fordham University, with its castle-like structure and gothic overtones, weren’t enough to inspire Hollywood to produce a multitude of macabre films, the campus has plenty of its own haunting legends that date back as long as the college has been standing.

The most significant phenomena occur in Keating Hall. When you enter the first floor, there is a massive lobby with a seating area, the walls lined with century old relics of the early days of Fordham University. In those days, Jesuits made up the student body. Throughout the years, people have felt uneasy here as if being watched from the shadows. There are often cold spots reported here as well.

The haunting of Keating Hall continues on the third floor where an icy hand has been known to grab shoulders. Those who suffer the fate only to turn to find no one there. Students in the auditorium have reported a crashing sound from the rear stairwell, famous for its cold spots, but upon rushing to the scene there is no sign of anyone in the area except for a chair found toppled over at the end of the steps. In the ‘Blue Room’, a ghost reportedly manifests itself.

Keating Hall’s Martyrs Court also claims to be the home of an apparition; a young blonde woman who appears in the shower room. She does not interact or respond to anyone, moving not an inch, but staring straight ahead until she finally disappears into thin air. A male ghost also appears in the halls here, walking along aimlessly, but as soon as someone steps into the hall to see who walked by, the ghost vanishes.

The basement of this area is alleged to be the old hospital’s morgue, and home to the most cryptic of all Fordham University ghost haunts. It is now a small library of sorts, with several shelves of books and a comfortable seating area. One night during the 1970’s, a security guard was making his rounds. After a long night, his feet hurt badly, so he took a seat, removed his shoes and relaxed for a few moments. Suddenly he heard the door slam closed. Knowing he was alone, the guard became unsettled, but it wasn’t until the chairs began moving, slamming up against the wall, that he jumped up and ran screaming from the building. He did not even bother to grab his shoes, and is rumored to have never returned to Fordham University again.

The university’s Finlay Hall was for many years a medical school where students commonly dissected human cadavers. These studies have since discontinued, taken over by other subjects, but the students who reside here aren’t so sure the history has dissolved with the classes. In the deep of night, several have awoken to an icy clenched hand over their throats.

Hughes Hall of Fordham University is haunted by a little boy who’s been seen traipsing the upper floors. A construction worker had a tragic accident in O’Hare Hall many years back and is said to continue hammering away at the walls in the wee hours of the night. A ghost appears in the balcony of Collins Auditorium, where the actors on stage have been frightened by disembodied whispers.

The relentless history of the site leads one to believe that the potential for a haunting at Fordham University is certainly plausible. For the thousands of students who have lived there, especially those who’ve had personal experiences, there is no doubt that Fordham University is haunted.

Most Haunted Places in America: Haskell Indian Nations University

The Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas is over a century old, and as is the case with many historic locations, it carries a terrific past that has resulted in what paranormal advocates believe to be an antediluvian haunting.

Haskell Indian Nations University students pass the stories of its haunting on from one generation to the next so that all may understand the strange sensations and eerie disembodied voices they are likely to encounter along their trail of education. This has been going on since the early 1900’s.

The Haskell Indian Nations University was first established in 1884 as a means to “tame” and “Christianize” the area native Indians. This information is readily available, most of it on the university’s own history page. What you won’t read there, however, is the conditions in which they were mandated to be taught, torn from their families, forced to leave their customs and cultures behind.

These students were poor, as was the school itself. Little funding was provided, and the students themselves were required to work endless hours to maintain the university and their studies. Many were victims of illness, killed by a lack of medical care and respectable nourishment.

On the grounds of Haskell Indian Nations University lies a cemetery with about 70 graves where the deceased were buried, marked with white tombstones. It is believed that much of the paranormal activity at Haskell Indian Nations University stems from their tragic fate.

Among the most haunted areas of Haskell Indian Nations University is Hiawatha Hall, where in lies a gregarious ghost, lacking any shyness around the living. Doors open and close seemingly of their own accord, even when propped open, and many have claimed to have been touched when walking the halls alone.

A ghost affectionately named “Libby” by the student body resides in the library and regularly pushes books from the shelves, letting them drop to the floor.

No one seems to feel comfortable around the bell tower, where common claims of eerie feelings, as if being watched or followed, are often told.

The apparition of a young man appears in the Auditorium, adjacent to Hiawatha Hall, dressed in mid-1900’s apparel. He seems to enjoy watching the shows that take place as he’s been witnessed on numerous occasions seated among the crowd. A little girl crying has been heard backstage.

Children can also be heard crying in Pocahontas Hall. The anguished weeping is said to be related to the old medical infirmary, once located in the basement of the same structure.

Students and staff members alike have traversed the grounds, wholly expecting to see football practice underway as the sounds and voices of players could be clearly heard from around the corner. But as they came around the next building in view of the field, not a single soul was to be seen. The same reports have come from the university’s pool, where splashing and congenial voices were heard, but upon entering the area no one was there.

Haskell Indian Nations University is haunted, of that there is little doubt. The good news is that there doesn’t seem to be any hostility involved. There have never been any reports of malicious paranormal activity over the 115+ years the Haskell Indian Nations University has stood.

Most Haunted Places in America: Bowling Green State University

Bowling Green State University is a century old college nestled in the bustling city of Bowling Green, in northeastern Ohio. First established in 1910, just nine years after the city was incorporated, Bowling Green State University is home to more than 20,000 students, over 200 undergraduate courses and multiple known ghost hauntings.

The most famous ghost at Bowling Green State University is called “Alice”. No one is precisely sure how the story of Alice got started, but it is generally accepted as the true story of the Ohio University haunting. In fact, it’s become tradition to invite Alice to all of the shows that take place in the theater to prevent any bad circumstances from occurring during the show.

There are two floating stories as to how Alice ended up haunting the University. Both say she was an actress at the school, but one says she died when a heavy object fell on her during a show; another says she met her untimely death in a car accident. Her death is believed to have taken place around the 1920’s due to the clothing her apparition is most often seen wearing.

Not only is the ghost of Alice invited to the show, it must be done in a precise manner. At the end of the final dress rehearsal before the show goes on, the stage manager will take the darkened stage all alone and extend a formal invitation to Alice to come and enjoy the show.

Strange happenings occur when this tradition is not followed. The lights may go out during the show, the set may fall completely apart, objects fall over, or worse.

Alice’s ghost has been seen in the theater on numerous occasions. Her apparition is very pale with long flowing hair and 1920’s attire.

Several years back, a Henry IV play took the stage at Bowling Green State University. Two actors were lucky to make it out without medical assistance. Something – presumably Alice – knocked down several props, knocking out the box office computers on opening night and injuring two of the actors in the process. According to one staff member, some of the actors were speaking ill of Alice during rehearsal, and this is why Alice’s ghost wreaked havoc on the set.

Alice’s Ghost is said to haunt both of the theaters at the University, Joe E. Brown Theater and Eva Marie Saint Theater.

Another ghost reportedly haunts the Chi Omega sorority house at BGSU. The legend tells of a young girl named Amanda who was desperate to join the sorority. She accomplished all she needed to accomplish to be permitted into the group, but on the very night she was to be made a sister, Amanda was killed by a train.

They say that the ghost of Amanda did not give up on her sisterhood, and remains a part of the sorority to this day. There is even a room in the chi Omega House called “Amanda’s Room”. Within this room, pictures and objects tend to fall from the walls, the lights turn on and off and the door locks and unlocks by itself.

The ghost even has its own closet, dubbed “Amanda’s Closet”; a simple utility closet where things that go missing tend to turn up a short time later. Evidence of her continued presence in the Chi Omega House is the 1986-87 annual photograph of the sorority girls. Each year a picture is taken, and a seat is always left open for Amanda. On this year, no seat was left open, and it is this particular photo that is regularly falling from the wall of the house.

It seems most universities carry legend of one ghost or another, but Bowling Green State University has a long history of haunting – and remember Alice and Amanda are just the most famous of numerous ghost stories at BGSU – that it’s hard to discount the prevalence of these tales.