Colleen Grahek
About a half mile away from the Shawnee Playhouse is the historic Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort with its own background of ghost stories.
According to legend, there is a mysterious lady in white. Guests have reported seeing her wandering the halls outside of room 105 in a wedding dress, crying softly. This lady in white was reportedly a guest in 1918.
She was supposed to get married at the inn, but those plans were ruined when she received a telegram stating that her fiancé had died of the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-1919. Heartbroken, she committed suicide on the veranda.
Louis Yanick, a current employee, stated that guests have often heard faint cries coming from room 105. He also said that guests have reported hearing the toilet flushing by itself.
Former employee, Sara Pellegrino, conducted an overnight ghost investigation at the inn with two other former coworkers two years ago.
“So, we found a couple of different ghosts throughout the hotel,” Pellegrino said. “When we started our investigation, we used a spirit box and lights to communicate. We asked yes or no questions, etcetera.”
In one of the ballrooms of the hotel, Pellegrino found a woman whose name seemed to have been Mary.
“She was very friendly but seemed to be trapped in the room or bound to the room,” Pellegrino said. “She said she had four children but lost one. Now, every time I mention her on my visits to the inn, the walkway lamppost lights flicker.”

Pellegrino also stayed overnight in room 105 and listened in on a conversation that seemed to have been between two partners in which the man killed the woman he had a child with. She stated that the woman wanted to keep the baby but the man did not.
“The flashlight that we used throughout the night started flickering and not working correctly,” Pellegrino said. “And by the next morning, the [new] battery was completely corroded.”
Pellegrino also stated that she found a spirit named Dave on the golf cart bridge leading to the second half of the golf course, and that “he said he fell but didn’t really like talking.”
This Halloween, when you are out engaging in your nightly activities, if you think you hear the slightest whisper, that faint touch of someone brushing your skin and you turn around and no one is there, it might not be your imagination.