In the depths of Vermont, through the thickness of the foliage and across the black waters of the Winooski River lies St. Michael’s College, where claims of hauntings and ghosts have been running rapid, leaving students in a frightened daze. Keep your candy in your pillow case and your Halloween costume in place, because I am here to set the rumors of hauntings on campus straight, and tell you what ghosts may be lurking in your dorm!
The Herrouet Theatre
The Herrouet Theatre, where most of the theatrical productions took place some years ago, resides on North Campus, covered in debris and wrecked from the wear of weather with broken windows and shattered glass. The theatre not only looks like something straight out of a horror movie, but also is haunted by Sister Sarah, a nun whom worked at St. Michael’s until she died in the late 1950s. The theatre may be abandoned now but some say they have seen Sister Sarah in the audience’s seats observing their performance and also moving props that are never to be found again. When the McCarthy Performance Center was built, the stage and productions were brought there, leaving the Herrouet Theatre to become a storage space, but when the Herrouet was put out of use, Sister Sarah moved along to the McCarthy building as well. Evyn Whiteley (’15) last year during technical week for ‘Crimes of the Heart’ had an encounter with Sister Sarah whom was roaming around backstage.
“We were on hold during rehearsal, waiting for technical things to happen and I was sitting backstage looking into the shop. The lights were all off but I thought I saw someone standing in there. It looked like an older woman who then began to smile at me, and thinking she might of needed something, I began to walk towards her when she suddenly she disappeared. Startled, I then looked up and saw her standing on the dock landing, smiling down at me. I would have noticed or heard if she had climbed the ladder but then I blinked and she disappeared again. I went backstage in a daze and someone asked me if I was feeling ok when I said I thought I just saw a ghost, and then they told me the story of Sister Sarah.”
The Chapel on North Campus
Next to the abandoned theatre lies a decrepit chapel that has been out of use for decades. The outside of the chapel is chipped and torn, left in one piece, but just barely. Its doors are locked tight and no one has been inside since the Herrouet caught on fire. Passerbys say that every time they cross the pass of the chapel and the theatre they are left with the eerie sensation that someone is watching them, even in broad daylight. In 1978, in the middle of the night, the chapel bell sounded waking students out of a sound sleep to the theatre catching on fire. Later, when the fire fighters went into the abandoned chapel, they found that there was no alarm to have been sounded.
Joyce Hall
Legend has it when Joyce Hall was an all boy’s dormitory, occult meetings were held in the attic in the late 60s. One night, when the cult was meeting, security broke up their gathering in the middle of the ceremony, making it so the members forgot to close the ‘portal.’ There have been accounts of footsteps running across the ceiling of the 4th floor of Joyce as well as the lights flickering on and off in the attic. There was one instance where a 1979 graduate was staying on campus during a holiday break with only one other resident at the end of the hallway, leaving the rest of campus deserted. One night, around midnight, the student woke up to the sound of running and children’s laughter. The sounds were coming from the above! He was confused as to who the noises belonged to since campus was abandoned due to the on-going holiday. Shouts, laughter and the pounding of steps above continued until he shouted “Cut it out!” Immediately after he uttered the words, the laughter and running stopped, almost as if though a recording was being shut off. After a few moments, the same noises started again and the student proceeded to keep shouting. Being frustrated and confused, the student wandered into the dark hallway where he saw his hall-mate Bob standing at the end of the hall. Bob had heard the same laughter and sounds of running from above, but Bob, struck with intense curiosity, decided to proceed into the attic only holding a broom as a his weapon of choice. As they got closer, the sounds of a muffled Latin-ish chant grew louder. He opened the attic and after a few minutes was startled by something and stumbled backwards. What he found was a pentagram of candles. There have been no other accounts of hearing footsteps or children’s laughter, but people have seen the attic lights flicker on and off from time to time in the Joyce attic. It’s safe to assume that these ghosts that may be wandering around Joyce’s attic are benign, but still something unsettling remains in the alumnus’ tale of the occult and the way they left matters in the attic.
Founders Hall
Founders Hall is the oldest building on the St. Michael’s campus, overlooking all the purple majestic mountains of Vermont and made of beautiful auburn brick covered in ivy. Now as beautiful as Founders is on the outside, there is something supernatural going on inside the building itself. There have been multiple accounts of different types of deaths to have occurred in the dorm, but it seems as though the spirits of some of the deceased still roam throughout the halls. One of the mysteries that have yet to be solved is the unexplained locking and unlocking of doors. It also seems as though the televisions will change channels, as well as powering on and off without being touched. In the bathrooms, the toilets will flush themselves randomly and the faucets will turn and off. Now, Founders may be old and the wiring may be a little faulty, but after countless deaths in the building, us students can’t help but wonder if it’s paranormal activity trying to open the students’ doors in the middle of night.
Sloane Darkroom
In the Sloane art building, located on North Campus, it is believed that the darkroom residing in the building is haunted. Cy Sloane was an art professor at St. Michael’s and passed away in 1995, leaving his room to be converted into the present darkroom. According to the students, in the small dark room there is an un-doubtable presence. Objects go missing to never be seen again, until they show up in another area without any explanation. Many of the students working in the darkroom have seen the image of a man appear from time to time. Creepy, eh? As if a darkroom wasn’t scary enough, now a ghost lurks under the red lights as well.These stories are to be taken with a grain of salt, as nothing has been verified, but maybe next time you decide on an all-nighter in the art building, or consider taking a moonlit stroll by the abandoned chapel, you’ll think twice because you never know who, or what, is lurking in the shadows.
If you want to read other stories about buildings on campus or see what other students have to say, check out some of these videos and websites I referenced!
http://www.hauntin.gs/St.-Michaels-College_Colchester_Vermont_United-Sta…
http://smcunexplained.blogspot.com/2012/09/its-been-long-time.html
http://smcunexplained.blogspot.com/2008/01/blog-post.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUIK4NH_aQo