Halloween, to some, means carving pumpkins, dressing up in a costume, and eating lots of candy (calories don’t count in October, right?). To the bravest among us, it also means watching movies so scary it could give others (like me) nightmares for years. Actually, a real fear experience might not be as far as some of us might believe. Take a midnight stroll through Oxford and you might just see why…
Helen Peabody’s Watchful Eye
It’s not surprising that a residence hall as isolated as Peabody should have a ghost to keep its residents company. Helen Peabody, the principal of Western Female Seminary, strongly opposed co-education and was very suspicious of the Miami men who would come to Western property to socialize with the female students. Some have reported seeing Helen Peabody walking through Peabody Hall, watching over the Miami women who live there and keeping tabs on the men.
Unsolved Mystery Disappearance
Another Miami mystery—which still goes unsolved—is that of Ronald Tammen. In 1953, Tammen was a typical Miami student: he was involved in the university dance band, the wrestling team, and was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. At 8:00 on the evening of Sunday, April 19, 1953, he left his Fisher Hall dorm room for new bed sheets from the hall manager, because someone had put a fish in his bed. He returned to his room to study. That was the last time that Tammen was seen alive. His roommate returned to their room at 10:30 to find the lights on and Tammen’s psychology book open, and thought that Tammen had gone to the Delta Tau Delta house for the night. The next day, Tammen still hadn’t returned, and the search began. Today, Tammen’s fate is still surrounded in mystery. Some believe that Tammen was murdered; others say that he is still alive. Fisher Hall was demolished in 1978, and an extensive search was done through the rubble, but Ron Tammen’s remains were never found.
Bloodshed in the Dorms
A third story starts on the evening of May 9, 1959 when Roger Sayles, an RA in Reid Hall, was shot and killed while trying to break up an argument between two male residents. Witnesses reported that Sayles fell, bleeding, onto a door, leaving behind two hand prints. The man who had killed Sayles ran to Ogden Hall and shot and killed himself. Those who have since lived in “Roger’s Room,” claim that the bloody hand print refuses to fade from the door, despite maintenance’s attempts to sand and paint over it. Like Fisher Hall, Reid has since been demolished. In its place is now the Farmer School of Business.
These stories are enough to make Miami seem like the set of a Hollywood horror story! If you’re a scary movie addict, maybe you’ll be lucky enough to run into one of our ghostly friends this Halloween. But if Pretty Little Liars is scary enough for you, focus instead on the beautiful changing leaves and perfecting your costume—that’s what I’ll be doing!