Campus Ghost Hunt: A Night of Thrills and Chills

By Amy Lukac
SC Staff Writer

BOO!

Do you believe in ghosts? What about orbs or “spirits?” On October 25, beginning at 9:00 PM in Laurel Hall Lounge, ESU will be holding their 4th annual campus ghost hunt.

Organized by the Campus Activities Board and Residence Life, there will be some snacks and a brief presentation explaining some of the equipment and apparatus used in detecting paranormal activity before the hunt.

Following that, the group will go around the ESU campus hunting for ghosts!

In the month of October in 2008, the Pocono Area Anomalistic Research Society (PAARS) happily investigated Shawnee Hall.

The PAARS, family to the TAPS, or The Atlantic Paranormal Society, came to see if they could talk to the janitor who is said to have died in the building many years ago.

Again, this time last year, students investigated Shawnee Hall. Students reported feeling cold spots and drafts, tapping noises, a flashlight turned off after a question that was asked to the ghosts, and one student was constantly being touched by an unseen presence.

Now, ESU students have taken over, and for the 4th time, they will be walking around the dark campus hunting for Casper and his friends.

“I have worked late into the night a few times at Stroud Hall, and especially during break, in the winter, things start to feel very creaky and lonesome. Outside of Stroud, during winter break, at night, there’s a certain windswept eeriness,” said Bill Broun, a professional and creative writing professor here at ESU.

He continued, “Sometimes, you see or hear feral cats, and in the moonlight, a lurid pallor drapes from the trees. It’s definitely ‘ghostly’ and I have felt… something? Maybe?”

Apparently, there is a ghost of a 9-year-old boy stalking the history section on the bottom floor of the Kemp Library, as well as a black cat prancing around in the government documents section. Is this cat a coincidence to Professor Bill Broun’s “feral” cats?

If you are a person that is really interested in seeing a ghost, you’ll probably have luck in either of the theaters on campus.

In the Abeloff Center for the Performing Arts and the Fine and Performing Arts Center, you might not want to say, “Beetlejuice” more than twice.

“I’ve had paranormal experiences at both of the theaters on campus. You have a good chance at catching a glimpse of something there,” said Amanda Bateman, ESU student.

With Halloween right around the corner, the sky and the atmosphere seem creepier than usual.

If you screamed at haunted hayrides, or mazes, but are ready for some real scary action, the ESU ghost hunt is the event to go to.

Watch out! On Halloween, some students are going to wear costumes to school… you could be looking at dressed up students or a ghost, finally in its own comfort zone.

Email Amy at:
alukacs@live.esu.edu