Sophomore year was the year I was placed in Devereux Hall. The most unfortunate thing of all is that I was placed directly below the fifth floor that was closed down. Devereux Hall is one of the oldest buildings on the St. Bonaventure campus, and the most haunted. For years students have been living there, and passing down stories.
Anyone that lives in Dev knows the horror stories that have gone on for years. This year, being my sophomore year, I experienced it first-hand. I have been in Dev for about a month and have already heard many things from others and seen them myself. One of the most known, is the story of “the runners” on fourth Dev. The runners are apparently Friars that passed away that can be heard at night. People claim that in the middle of the night they will hear people running up and down the hallway, but when they open the door, no one is there. Here is a story a friend (@ChrisAyer) once told me. During preseason, while there were only sports players on the floor, he woke up at 2:22 a.m. to use the bathroom. He got up to leave the room when he heard a person shuffling down to the end of the hall. He knew no one was even close to him, so he locked the door and went back to bed. In addition to this, another one of his teammates (@CoryRatka) has had some scary occurrences as well. During the preseason, he was listening to music in his room. According to him, he heard someone whisper right next to him. He took off his headphones, and no one was there.
More stories I have heard from others are people walking above fourth Dev. One of my friends (@MarykatePlante) who lives on fourth has said she has woken up at 3:00 a.m. every night and heard people’s footsteps banging above her. Also she claims her lights flicker constantly. One personal experience from her room when I was in there was in the beginning of the year, when I was with her roommate (@WendyWoite). I was trying to speak to the ghosts, letting them know we were there and not trying to offend them. As soon as I said those words, her pictures fell off of the wall.
Next up is a story from Deanna DiGuiseppe and her roommate Hannah Merges. Deanna was walking towards her room, which is located near the fire escape. She saw a person in an all grey outfit turn the corner towards the fire escape. She checked to see where the person went, and there was no one there. She thought nothing of it and went into her room. An hour later, her roommate came in and told her the same exact thing, without prior knowledge of Deanna’s encounter.
As the year goes on, more and more keeps happening. Another girl on my floor (@EmilyBirkemeier) was taking a nap, when all of the sudden she woke up to what sounded like someone tapping on her desk loudly, and then a loud tap right next to her ear. Another fourth Dev resident (@AleRinella) had even scarier occurrences. It was the middle of the night, around 3 a.m., when all of the sudden, her door swung open and stopped. The following morning her mirror randomly fell, and shattered, but the hook was still on the wall.
Here is a story that was passed down to one of my friends (@DeannaDiGuiseppe) and me. In the previous year, there was a person who was playing video games late at night. He decided to turn it off and go to bed. He woke up in the middle of the night to see his “roommate” up and playing video games at the bottom of the bed. He didn’t think much of it and flipped over on his side to go back to bed, only to see his roommate asleep.
Finally, the last story, of my knowledge. A girl (@TessaMyers) was sleeping on fourth Dev, in a room that is kept pitch black at night. She woke up in the middle of the night and saw a light coming from the closet. Confused, she looked deeper into the closet to see a woman’s face that appeared to be angry and screaming, but with no noise coming out. The following night, the same thing happened, but this time the woman’s body appeared too. On top of those terrifying stories, Tessa was watching Netflix one day; she had to use the bathroom, so she paused the show. When she came back, the show was rewinding on its own.
So, that is it. All of the scary fourth Dev stories I have collected so far. There will most likely be more to come!!