When you think of what Ohio University is known for, number one party school may come to mind. Although OU may be known for partying (especially it‘s annual Halloween block party), we’re known for something else as well. Ohio University is one of the top haunted campuses in the United States. Featured on FOX’s Scariest Places on Earth, chilling ghost stories were told by students and faculty. A few of the haunted places are listed below:
The Pentagram: OU’s campus is right in the middle of a pentagram created by five local cemeteries. A pentagram is known to have magical associations and goes along with the practice of Satanism. Many residents of Athens and Ohio University believe the pentagram around the campus to play a part in the haunting.
The Ridges: If one thing sticks out around campus, it has to be the scary buildings across from Peden Stadium. The Ridges may be one of the most haunted spots on campus. A former insane asylum in the 1800s, The Ridges housed around 200 patients with a total of 544 rooms. In the early 1900s the number of patients increased to 2,000. The Ridges Cemetery is lined with slender headstones marked with only patient numbers. The last patients buried were woman #847 and man #1117. Lobotomies were performed in the hospital, and a secluded building was home to tuberculosis patients. The asylum closed its doors in 1993, but not everyone left. The most widely known story circling The Ridges is that of a woman named Margaret Schilling. Margaret escaped from a ward in the hospital and was not located until 1974 when her body was found on the floor of an abandoned room. The spookiest part? Where her dead body was, a stain remains on the floor. It’s an outline of a woman’s body. People say you can see Margaret standing in the window of the room where she died to this day. The stain is still there.
The Weeping Angel: The cemetery on West State Street is home to another Athens ghost story. An angel statue is said to flap it’s wings and cry. The statue is there to commemorate the unknown soldiers buried in the first years of the cemetery opening. Feeling brave? Take a trip to the cemetery and see if the angel is as haunted as it seems.
The Dorms: Were you or a friend ever a resident of Jefferson, Washington, Crawford, or Wilson? You may have experienced a haunting or two as a resident. Jeff Hall is known for what sounds like marbles being dropped and rolled on the ceilings. Washington Hall is said to have an entire girls basketball team haunting it. The team stayed there between practices, and after they were killed in a bus accident they came back to the place they had so much fun at. Crawford Hall began having weird experiences after a girl fell out of a 4th story window and died in 1993. Rumor has it that CD and tape players refused to play the Bob Marley song “Laura” after the incident, that was the girl’s name. Wilson hall is also said to have weird experiences, as it sits in the dead center of the pentagram around campus.
The Sigma Phi Epilson House: This fraternity has other things to worry about besides throwing parties. Someone that isn’t a member of the fraternity lives there, a slave named Nicodemous. The house on East Washington was once a part of the Underground Railroad and harbored fugitive slaves. When the authority found out about the slaves there, they stormed the house and shot Nicodemous as he fled through a tunnel. This house has been home to four Greek groups throughout it’s history. Each one talks of strange things happening there.
Next time you’re walking around campus and get that spooky feeling, it might not be your mind playing tricks on you. Halloween is right around the corner, go out and explore what haunted Athens has to offer!