Personal tools

  • Contributions
  • Write a story
  • Recent changes
  • Gallery of new images
  • Random page
  • Request account
  • What links here
  • Related changes
  • Special pages
  • Printable version
  • Permanent link
  • Page information

Class Notes

  • Do you have news for fellow WSU alumni and other readers of Washington State Magazine ? Send us your class note .

Current issue

Past Issues

  • Alumni/Friends
  • Give to WSU
  • View source

Campus Legends and Ghost Stories

From our story.

Railroad Sam of Orton Hall

Spooky Noises in Regents Hall

In the ‘70s, parents of a Regents Hall resident were waiting in the lobby for their daughter. She was graduating, and after waiting for a while the parents began to worry. They found an RA who let them into her room, where she had hung herself by the rod in her closet. The parents never knew why she committed suicide.

Regents residents claim their doors open for no reason and closets open and shut at random. They say she still wanders Regents in the night and there was a sighting of the girl in the mid ‘70s.

Why Don’t the Doors on the Second Floor of Streit Hall Close Properly? * In the ‘80s, there was a knock at the door of a second-floor room in Streit Hall. The woman resident answered her door and saw her roommate’s ex-boyfriend standing at the door with four sticks of dynamite strapped to his chest. The man told the resident that if his girlfriend would not go home with him for spring break then she would never go anywhere again. The woman went to find her roommate and called the police.

The police and fire department arrived at the scene and tried to talk the man out of igniting the dynamite. The man set it off anyway and blew out an entire wall of Streit Hall. The doors on the second floor still do not close properly. The man was killed, but no one else was seriously injured.

People have seen a ghost in Streit on several occasions; they say it is the ghost of the man still searching for his girlfriend.

* Editor's note: Bob Tattershall, WSU's director of housing, says: "Fyi, the bomb went off on Perham 5 and the doors close fine (I was just up there and checked)."   

The Black Cat of Stevens Hall

Stories compiled courtesy of Rosy Larkin, custodian in Stevens Hall, Richard Kayser, custodian in Regents Hall, stories from residents and Evergreen archives.

  • Ghost stories
  • Residence Halls
  • Stevens Hall
  • Streit Hall

Our Story site map

Our Story main page | Our Story categories | Help Desk Contact | Give | Advertise Washington State Magazine | Washington State University | Class Notes

Our Story is coordinated by

Washington State Magazine

In partnership with

Our Story and Washington State Magazine are publications of Washington State University. All rights reserved. P.O. Box 641227, Washington State University , Pullman, WA 99164-1227 USA | [email protected] , 509-335-2388 Accessibility | Copyright | Policies

  • Login or Register

orton hall haunted

Now’s The Time To Explore The Most Haunted Places In Columbus

' src=

As the leaves turn shades of crimson and gold and the chill in the air grows sharper, it’s that time of year again when we embrace the spookiness of the season.

In fact, Columbus is home to more than a few haunted locations that will send shivers down your spine. From the historic Ohio Statehouse to the ivy-covered walls of Ohio State University, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most haunted places in Columbus. So, if you’re ready to explore the supernatural side of the city, grab your flashlight and join us on this ghostly adventure!

Ohio Statehouse

ohio statehouse haunted

  • Address: 1 Capitol Square, Columbus, OH 43215
  • Website: Ohio Statehouse

When it comes to haunted history, the Ohio Statehouse is a star player. Built on the grounds of a former Civil War hospital using prison labor, it boasts an impressive roster of resident spirits. From Civil War soldiers to weeping apparitions in grey, this place has it all. The most famous ghost? None other than the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln himself!

Kelton House Museum

Kelton House Museum and Garden

  • Address: 586 E Town St, Columbus, OH 43215
  • Website: Kelton House Museum

Located in the Discovery District, the Kelton House Museum was once a stop on the Underground Railroad. It seems some members of the Kelton family still linger in the home. Visitors have reported apparitions, unexplained voices, and even furniture that rearranges itself, offering a glimpse into the past.

Ohio Governor’s Mansion

  • Address: 358 N Parkview Ave, Bexley, OH 43209
  • Website: Ohio Governor’s Mansion

The official state residence for Ohio’s governors is not without its own spectral stories. The ghost of an African American woman, believed to be a servant who met a tragic end, is said to haunt the mansion. Reports include the scent of smoke and burning hair, sightings of the woman in various rooms, and even conversations with staff members.

  • Address: 546 Jack Gibbs Blvd, Columbus, OH 43215
  • Website: Fort Hayes

Fort Hayes, now an alternative high school for the arts, once served as a military training post and arsenal. The spirits of former soldiers are said to linger in some of the old buildings, including the Shot Tower and the Drill Hall. Prepare for encounters with soldiers from the Civil War to World War II.

Thurber House

thurber house columbus ohio

  • Address: 77 Jefferson Ave, Columbus, OH 43215
  • Website: Thurber House

The Thurber House, now a literary center, was once the residence of writer and cartoonist James Thurber. Thurber himself reported paranormal encounters during his stay. Footsteps, shadowy figures, and flying books are just a few of the eerie occurrences at this historic site.

Green Lawn Cemetery

green lawn abbey

  • Address: 1000 Greenlawn Ave, Columbus, OH 43223
  • Website: Green Lawn Cemetery

With over 150,000 burials across 360 acres, Green Lawn Cemetery is one of Ohio’s largest. The final resting place of prominent Columbus figures, it’s no surprise that paranormal activity has been reported. The Gay Mausoleum and the Hayden Mausoleum are said to be particularly haunted.

Orton Hall at OSU

  • Address: 155 S Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210
  • Website: Ohio State University – Orton Hall

In addition to the eerie happenings at Mirror Lake, Ohio State University’s Orton Hall has its own share of ghostly tales. The building’s namesake, Edward Orton, is often seen reading by flickering candlelight, accompanied by chilling gusts of air. Another entity, a prehistoric-looking figure, creates disturbances by slamming doors and banging on surfaces.

The Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield

blood prison ohio reformatory haunted house

  • Address: 100 Reformatory Rd, Mansfield, OH 44905
  • Website: Ohio State Reformatory

While not in Columbus, the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield is worth the short drive for ghost enthusiasts. The prison, famous for its role in “The Shawshank Redemption,” has a dark history that continues to haunt its corridors.

Buxton Inn, Granville

  • Address: 313 E Broadway, Granville, OH 43023
  • Website: Buxton Inn

Guests at the historic Buxton Inn in Granville have reported flickering lights and mysterious noises. It’s said that the ghosts of two former innkeepers still roam the halls, leaving a sense of the past lingering in the air.

Snowden-Gray Mansion

  • Address: 530 E. Town St, Columbus, OH 43215

The Snowden-Gray Mansion, located on East Town Street, stands as an architectural gem in the heart of Columbus. Built in 1852, this magnificent mansion exudes the grandeur of the antebellum South. Its construction reflects the Greek Revival style, which was prevalent during the mid-19th century.

The mansion has a rich history, with various owners and uses over the years. However, it’s perhaps best known for the lady in pink. This spectral apparition, often seen in the mansion, is believed to be a woman from its past. Her story remains shrouded in mystery, making her appearances all the more intriguing. The lady in pink adds a touch of elegance and eeriness to this already captivating piece of history.

Westin Great Southern Hotel

westin hotel columbus

  • Address: 310 S High St, Columbus, OH 43215
  • Website: Westin Great Southern Hotel

The Westin Great Southern Hotel, with its elegant architecture and timeless charm, has been an integral part of Columbus’s history. The hotel first opened its doors in 1897 and quickly became a hub for local and traveling dignitaries, as well as a venue for numerous social events.

The seventh floor of the hotel has gained a reputation for being a paranormal hotspot. It’s believed that this floor was once the site of a grand ballroom where guests would dance the night away. Many of the stories surrounding the hotel’s hauntings are connected to events that took place during the grand ballroom’s heyday. Guests have reported encounters with phantom classical bands, unexplained noises, and ghostly apparitions.

Whether you’re a believer in the supernatural or a skeptic, these haunted places offer a fascinating journey into the unknown. This spooky season, why not embark on your own ghost hunt and experience the eerie side of Columbus for yourself? Just remember to bring your courage and a camera – you never know what you might capture!

' src=

Chelsea Wiley

Chelsea Wiley, first of her name, Queen of the Seven Andals... wait. That's not right. Joking aside, Chelsea is a writer and photographer born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. She is an avid reader and a lover of animals.

Privacy Overview

WSU Summer Session ad

The Daily Evergreen

  • February 22 Charlisse Leger-Walker’s legacy: ‘she makes other people better'
  • February 21 WSU faculty call for new president, administration
  • February 21 Public Relations students promote campaign for national competition
  • February 15 The making of a legend: Tara VanDerveer’s Idaho origins
  • February 15 'They get hype, I get hype,' How WSU students are changing the culture around WSU basketball

12th floor horror, Orton hall turns haunted

A+prop+displayed+in+the+haunted+house+on+the+twelfth+floor+of+Orton+Hall+on+Thursday%2C+October+30%2C+2014.

A prop displayed in the haunted house on the twelfth floor of Orton Hall on Thursday, October 30, 2014.

From staff reports October 31, 2014

Pullman and Moscow residents can have spook-filled night while giving back to the community they live in.

Orton Residence Hall on the south side of campus will host its annual haunted house with a twist. From 8 p.m. to midnight today and tomorrow, Orton’s 12th floor will be turned into an “Insanitarium.”

“Haunted houses often make me laugh,” said Wendy Gallagher, president of Orton’s Leadership Council. “I find them more entertaining than scary.”

The Orton Leadership Council collaborated with residents to get ideas for this year’s theme, looking to popular TV shows and the inventory of supplies already amassed from previous haunted houses. Through a process of elimination, they came up with the “Insanitarium” idea.

The “Insanitarium” theme follows the story of a boy named Jack who went through a traumatic experience. Visitors can expect surprises around every corner and will encounter spiders, mental patients and dead people, Weller said.

As part of the 14-year tradition, the student volunteers work with the Pullman Food Bank, where they donate the entry fee to the haunted house: canned food or a cash donation.

“I am excited to be a part of Haunted Hall, it’s a charitable event with all donations to going to the Pullman Food Bank,” Gallagher said.

Last year, Orton donated about 300 canned foods to the food bank, Gallagher said.

This year the goal is to raise about 500 cans or dollars, said Katelyn Nguyen the director of programing for Orton.

Visitors must be at least 18 years old to attend the Orton Haunted Hall. WSU students should bring their Cougar Card, and non-WSU students need a form of ID.

Reporting by Amberlynne Umayam

Northeastern FUSE fair ad

Tractors, grains and trains

Native dancers performing at the 45th annual Pah-Loots-Puu Powwow, April 16.

11 Native Drums, 115 Native dancers

Attendees breaking fast together, April 8.

Break fast, love all

A display at the Cougs Love Art Festival, March 24.

Cougs Love Art: WSU artists showcase paintings, graphics and more

People on stage in the CUB senior ballroom during Middle Eastern Night, March 24.

‘Home away from home’

Robin Wall Kimmerer will read her book Braiding Sweetgrass.

‘Braiding Sweetgrass’ author Robin Wall Kimmerer to read for WSU

Festivalgoers watched films in the Compton Union Building Auditorium on Jan. 24.

Pullman meets the great outdoors once again

Eman Ahmed, Outstanding Senior Award winner, reading an original poem

An hour of poetry for the National Day of Racial Healing

Jiemei Lin and her team paint the Racial Healing Wall on a canvas in the CUB Jan. 17, 2023.

Racial Healing Mural halts several passing through CUB

Traditional Persian food and competitions like trivia will be at the annual Yalda Night.

Yalda Night will honor Iranians protesting current regime

  • Meet our Staff
  • Submit a News Tip
  • Work With Us
  • Advertise With Us

Receive News Headlines Right in your Inbox!

orton hall haunted

Is Ohio State's campus haunted?

  • October 29, 2011
  • Erika Dejolsvay-Brooks

Ask Ohio State students what they are afraid of and a haunted campus is often not the first thing that comes to mind.

Being scared on campus is something students occasionally feel, especially during finals week or a big game.

Erica MacDonald, a third-year in communication, said she has reason to fear sporting events.

“It’s really weird but I’m afraid of mascots,” she said. “I can’t go near them.”

MacDonald said her friends tease her but she refuses to approach any mascot.

“Something about a giant mask covering up their face really freaks me out,” MacDonald said.

Other phobias are more common.

“Being alone in the dark scares me,” said Rachel Newman, a third-year in logistics and operations management.

Newman said she doesn’t know what it is about the dark that scares her, it just does.

“I sleep in a dark room, but walking in my basement in the dark, there is something very scary about that,” Newman said.

OSU’s campus has a variety of eerie happenings.

If the tales are true, several well-known buildings around campus are haunted by those who choose to never leave. Pomerene Hall, Bricker Hall and Orton Hall all have stories that change over the years but the same ghostly tone remains. All these tales are from various myths, legends and stories from around the university.

Pomerene Hall and Mirror Lake

In the early 1900s in a garden where Pomerene Hall now stands a professor shot himself after losing money on an oil venture. His wife, angered by his suicide blamed Ohio State for not doing more to help him. She vowed she would return to haunt the place of his death. A year after she died, students walking at Mirror Lake began to see a woman in a pink dress float across the lake in the early morning and late evening when a mist is hanging over the water. The lady in pink has also been said to haunt Pomerene Hall. There have been footsteps heard when no one else was in the building and a door that unlocks itself.

Bricker Hall

When former trustee and cheerleader, Herbert Atkinson, died in 1952 his ashes were buried in a wall of Bricker Hall. On the second floor lights flicker on and off when no one is inside the building at the time. There have also been sightings of Atkinson in front of the plaque that marks where his ashes were placed.

Named for Edward Orton, the university’s first president from 1873 to 1881, Orton Hall is one of the oldest buildings on campus. Orton is believed to haunt the building. Before bells were placed in the tower, Orton would read in the room at night. These days, flickering light resembling his oil lamp can be seen through the slots in the turret.

Whether these legends are true hauntings or simply tricks of the tired minds of students, on Halloween people welcome the chance to get a scare or two.

Related Posts

orton hall haunted

SGSR makes history with first-ever all-women broadcast Sunday

What makes the buckeye men’s tennis team so good, upcoming speaker series by business honors cohort program looks to redefine failure.

orton hall haunted

People’s Justice Project holds rally for Casey Goodson Jr., Meade awaits retrial

College of nursing debuts new accelerated bachelor’s degree program, research shows emotions can negatively affect word retrieval for those with aphasia.

""

Men’s Basketball: Buckeyes fall on the road for 17th time as the Golden Gophers offense prove to be too much

The go go brings back ‘standup comedy show spectacular’ with new, rotating cast members, buckeye blood club wants to know…what’s your type.

Pullman Radio

  • [ February 23, 2024 ] 38 Year Old Lewiston Man Pleads Guilty For Burglarizing Whitman County Tool Trailer News
  • [ February 23, 2024 ] Idaho Foodbank Community Distribution Monday News
  • [ February 23, 2024 ] City of Moscow Seeking Nominations for Earth Day Awards News
  • [ February 23, 2024 ] Pullman & Moscow Ranked Among Best College Towns In The Nation By Rent Cafe News
  • [ February 23, 2024 ] 23 Year Old Colfax Man Pleads Guilty For Firing Gun At College Hill Apartment Complex In Pullman News

Orton’s Haunted Hall Opens Friday Night at WSU

October 24, 2019 Evan Ellis News

The annual Orton Haunted Hall starts Friday night at Washington State University.  Admission is a dollar or a non-perishable food item.  Orton’s Haunted Hall is from 8:00 to midnight Friday and Saturday night.

The eight haunted places in Cambridgeshire you can spend the night - if you dare

Are you brave enough to last the night in one of these spooky locations?

  • 18:51, 21 APR 2019
  • Updated 08:40, 2 OCT 2019

orton hall haunted

Sign up to our dedicated Peterborough newsletter for the latest news direct to your inbox each day

We have more newsletters

Haunted hotels aren't just a thing of Hollywood movies there are actually a few here in Cambridgeshire.

It's one thing to brave a house of horrors or venture on a ghost hunt but if you want to really take your scary activities to another level you can spend the night in one of these places, which are believed to actually be haunted.

According to horror enthusiasts, and those who like things that go bump in the night, there are a fair few places here in our county which play host to some very   long-term guests.

From old country pubs, to haunted museums and spooky cathedrals, there are a whole host of opportunities to embrace the paranomal.

But for those of you who are true thrill seekers there is a chance to take it one step further.

If you're brave enough and think you are a true hardcore paranormal fan then we've got some options for your next spooky adventure.

We've rounded up eight places in Cambridgeshire, said to be haunted, where you can stay the night - if you dare that is.

The Old Ferryboat Inn - Holywell

orton hall haunted

This Grade II listed pub sits overlooking the Great Ouse river and dates back to the 17th Century.

A part of the inn is said to have been built over the top of a grave of a beautiful young girl.

Seventeen year old Juliet Tewsley died more than nine hundred years ago when she took her own life in March 1050 after being jilted by her lover.

It is said that on the anniversary of her death, her spirit takes the form of a White Lady ghost.

The ghostly apparition appears by the pub before walking towards the nearby river.

If you fancy your chances at trying to spot her, book a room here on March 17 and you may be lucky enough to meet the White Lady.

You can find out more here

The Bell Inn - Stilton

orton hall haunted

The Bell Inn has stood its ground in Stilton since at least 1500, though it could be as early as 1437, with the current rendition of the building dating from 1642.

It's most notable claim to fame is the association with Dick Turpin, the infamous highwayman. Supposedly he hid in the hostelry for nine weeks while being hunted by the law.

Surprised by a raid one night, he threw open the window and jumped out onto his horse, Black Bess, before galloping off up the Great North Road, the precursor to the A1.

It is believed that Dick Turpin's spirit likes to come back and revisit this old haunt. When a new landlord moved into the Bell in 1962 he reportedly asked the locals about the strange atmosphere in one of the bedrooms.

According to the landlord, the fire had suddenly ignited in the room, although nobody had lit it. He was told that this had been the room Dick Turpin slept in.

Guests have also reported seeing the apparition of a dark figure outside on horseback, and some even reported waking in the early morning to see a dark figure standing at the foot of their bed.

Turpin isn't the only ghostly goings on though, there is also the figure of a woman dressed in period clothes who roams the corridors. Staff often report equipment as having been moved, or even having disappeared from the bar or kitchen, only to reappear several days later.

Some staff have even said they get the feeling they are being watched, and see figures in their peripheral vision. One table in the restaurant is said to be cursed, with lots of accidents happening around it and reports that at least three customers have died while sitting there.

If you fancy trying to meet the outlaw, or just fancy trying one of their three eateries, then you can find out more here

The George Hotel - Buckden

orton hall haunted

This eighteenth century coaching inn had a more modern makeover when it was bought by the Furbank family in 2003.

Now, each of the rooms are named a famous George, such as George Best, George Orwell and George Eliot.

Previously the rooms had a more conventional numbering system, and some rooms in the old part of the George gained themselves a ghostly reputation.

Both staff members and guests alike reported ghostly goings on in four of the rooms.

Guests sleeping in the rooms said that they were woken up in the middle of the night be something lifting up their bedcovers to pinch their legs.

Another paranormal phenomenon was the apparition of a man wearing a tricorn hat and black coat, who was seen by witnesses gliding along the first floor corridor, and a woman who has been seen to suddenly manifest on the main staircase.

Locked doors have been known to mysteriously unlock themselves of their own accord, and heavy phantom footsteps have been heard wandering the building.

Perhaps one of the creepiest stories is one which occurred in the 90s. A guest was staying in the hotel one night, along with her young daughter.

Apparently the guest was woken by her young daughter, who was speaking in a disturbing deep male voice. It is said that the lady and her daughter left pretty sharply the next morning, and I don't blame them.

If you feel like trying to channel the spirits you can find out more about the George, and it's gorgeous rooms and restaurant, here

The Haycock Hotel - Wansford

orton hall haunted

This early 17th Century coaching inn sits by the banks of the River Nene in Wansford. The original building is said to date back to 1632 with extensions added in the 18th, 19th and 20th Centuries.

The hotel has seen an array of wealthy and famous, or sometimes infamous, guests grace its rooms over the centuries. Most notable has to be Mary Queen of Scots, who stayed at the hotel while it was still a coaching inn on her travels to Fotheringhay Castle - where she was to be executed...

It seems as though Mary's spirit revisits the hotel, as people report numerous sightings of her, with guests claiming that the encountered the spirit of Mary in the halls and their own rooms. Mary Queen of Scots is said to haunt several other places she stayed en route to her execution, so if that is her then she is one busy ghost.

Guests staying at the hotel, particularly in the oldest part, report not only sightings of figures, but a feeling that someone is in the room with them. There are also reports of disembodied voices and footsteps, which may not seem like much to a keen paranormal enthusiast, but if you aren't a fan of ghost stories and urban legends it would be enough to send you running for the hills.

If a night in the Haycock Hotel, with an outstanding restaurant, appeals to you, you can find out more here

The Golden Lion Hotel and Restaurant - St Ives

orton hall haunted

Another former coaching inn, the Golden Lion Hotel and Restaurant dates back to the 19th Century, and has a reputation for being haunted.

There are several apparitions that have been reported at the Golden Lion, including the local legend that one time resident Oliver Cromwell likes to show up from time to time.

One of the most common and mischievous of ghosts is that of the Green Lady.

She is said to be the cause of doors randomly opening and closing, and bells ringing. That's on top of the accusations that she pulls the sheets off the beds in Room 13.

One witness claimed that they saw the lady in the green dress in room 12, and they were terrified.

Another phantom figure said to roam the hotel is that of a ghostly cavalier who has been witnessed gliding through the building.

One day a maid working in the hotel witnessed a figure walking along the corridor before vanishing through a wall. Just a few seconds later a terrified guest came running out of their room saying that they'd seen a ghostly apparition of a man dressed in military uniform enter the room through the wall before vanishing into thin air.

If you think you can handle the haunted reputation of this, otherwise gorgeous, hotel, then you can find out more here

The Bull Hotel - Peterborough

orton hall haunted

The Bull Hotel was built in the mid-1700s, it's another former coaching inn, which has been resorted and refurbished over the years.

The archway which forms the entrance to the hotel would have been the entrance to the stableyard out the back.

It is believed that the Bull may have been built on the site of an early Nonconformist chapel, as archaeologists had to excavate brick burial vaults and human remains before the foundations could be put in for an extension in 1999.

These remains could be the cause of some of the ghostly goings on inside the Bull.

It is said that in the main bar on a quiet evening, visitors sometimes feel the room go cold and feel an unseen entity brush past them. There's also a mysterious jingling sound, as if a set of keys is being carried.

Another story from a member of staff explains paranormal activity in the rooms at the back os the building, which is built across the old coachyard.

The story goes that a great lady travelled through the area in the early 1800s, by horse-drawn coach, and decided to stop and spend the night at the Bull. The lady's coach was taken to the yard to be unloaded, and her pet dog used this opportunity to jump out and stretch its legs.

After being confined during their travels the dog was eager to relieve itself against the back wheel of the coach, just as the brake was released for the coach to move off again. The coach rolled back, hit the dog and unfortunately it did not survive.

Now, staff claim that if they visit that room to change the sheets, even if it has been unoccupied, they will sometimes find muddy paw prints on the bedding.

A muddy paw print may not be the spookiest of ghosts, but if you fancy a trip to the Bull - which has some fabulous rooms and food, you can find out more here

The Hardwicke Arms Hotel - Arrington

orton hall haunted

Set in the rural village of Arrington, just 7 miles north of Royston, is the Hardwicke Arms.

Another former coaching inn, and later part of the Wimpole estate, the building dates back to the 13th Century, though there isn't much evidence of that left.

At one point in time the hotel was a busy coaching inn, and since the 1980s has had a bit of a reputation for being haunted. It is said that the dining room is haunted by a nasty poltergeist.

Along with the poltergeist there is a woman said to haunt the guest room. The ghostly woman is seen  in a red dress, sitting at the dressing table, and guest describe seeing her looking up at them as they enter the room, before disappearing into thin air.

Staff members have also reported seeing a monk standing by the fireplace in the bar area. It is said that he appears for a few seconds before disappearing through the wall.

If you want to find out more about the Hardwicke Arms, their rooms, or their food - with ingredients provided by Wimpole Farm, you can do so here

Orton Hall Hotel and Spa - Peterborough

orton hall haunted

Orton Hall Hotel and Spa was at one point the seat of the Marquess of Huntly, George Gordon, and yes thats' Gordon as in the gin brand.

The majority of the mansion dates to around the 1700s, with some older parts. During building works, Anglo-Saxon burials were found on-site.

There are a number of ghostly sightings in this property, including prisoners-of-war, but the most persistent ghost is the White Lady.

Staff, and even some managers, claim to have experience with the White Lady. It is said that the White Lady prefers to pick on male members of staff. One even reported that he had been propelled down a corridor by an unseen force.

Another female manager was asked to stay one night, as duty manager while there was a large function. She agreed ont he condition that she could have a nice suite to share with her husband as it was their wedding anniversary.

It's reported that neither of the couple slept that night, and not because it was their wedding anniversary, but because they claimed they were being touched, poked and prodded by icy hands - despite the fact that they weren't touching eachother...

Staff even tried an experiment to see if they could capture evidence of the ghost. They set up a video camera in a conference room which the ghost had been seen in, and locked the door.

All the keys were taken offsite by a manager, so nobody could interfere. They came back the following morning to find the video camera knocked off its stand and lying on the floor.

When the footage was played back staff saw the curtains apparently opening and closing by themselves.

If you fancy visiting Orton Hall Hotel with it's stunning surrounding parkland you can find out more here

  • Peterborough
  • Most Recent

orton hall haunted

Orton’s Haunted Hall: IT and All Their Friends

About the event.

Welcome to Orton’s annual Haunted Hall event! This year’s theme is “It and all their friends.”

After checking in and paying/donating your entry fee of $1 or a non-perishable food item in Orton’s lobby, you will be put into groups and sent up to Orton’s 12th floor to lead Georgie out of Pennywise’s lair. Through the dark maze, you will encounter some familiar faces from different horror movies across Hollywood.

This event will be going on Friday and Saturday, October 25 & 26, 8 p.m.-12 a.m.

All food donations will be donated to Rosario*s Place, the food bank at the Women*s Center here at WSU.

Most Haunted

ORTON HALL PT1

Ficha técnica.

Copyright © 2024 Apple Inc. Todos los derechos reservados.

Términos del servicio de internet Apple TV y la privacidad Política de cookies Soporte técnico

Ohio State nav bar

Ohio state navigation bar.

  • BuckeyeLink
  • Search Ohio State

Campus Legends, Horrors and Lore

Block O

By Avery Samuels

Human knowledge is rooted in storytelling. Early humans developed the cognitive machinery necessary to make sense of their lives through narrative, and then began to write these stories down to be passed on to future generations. Our ancestors first told stories orally, then began to paint on cave walls. They tattooed their skin, they carved into tree trunks, they traced lines in the sand, and these tales began to take on lives of their own. Some stories explained natural phenomena, like the weather. Other stories were about people who had really lived and done incredible things, which were then embellished in every subsequent retelling. 

Naturally, stories are often rooted in the geographic landscape and culture where they originated. Legends—semi-true stories passed from person to person which are usually based in historic fact but involve mythic elements—are different from myths: stories based in tradition and symbolism which ‘convey truth’ as opposed to recording true events. Both kinds of stories are still passed down today and are continuously revamped to correspond to location and cultural sensitivities. Ohio State, in its 150 year history, has developed its fair share of each. 

For the last six months, the Department of English's Student Communications Team has been researching and compiling the various myths and legends around Ohio State. Each of these stories has something to do with a building on campus. We listened to podcasts, explored the now-defunct Forgotten Ohio website, dug through blogs and painstakingly read online archived files end-to-end. We documented the legends, and tried to explain the myths as best we could. We’ve included the meatiest of these, plus some legendary rumors about crimes or disasters.  

To follow along with the locations of these stories, use  this  map, which correspondes with the locations in parenthesis below.

Fifth-Floor Phantom | Denney Hall (010, F6)

In 1990,  The Lantern  published an article, “Halloween Tales Haunt University,” about an English professor who murdered a female student many, many years ago. According to the article, this dirty deed occurred in an elevator stopped on the fifth floor of Denney Hall. The professor fled and left the student there, where she unceremoniously bled to death. Rumor has it that whenever someone tries to take this elevator down from the fourth floor, it will sometimes take a detour to the fifth floor first. Perhaps the ghost of the murdered student is hoping someone will still save her. ( Source : Page 3)

No Refills | Derby Hall (025, F6)

The date was January 31, 1925, and campus was shrouded in darkness. Sunlight broke through the mottled blanket of midwinter clouds for only a few hours each day. It was the middle of flu season, and dozens of students headed to the student-run pharmacy in Derby Hall to fill prescriptions of fever reducers and pain relievers to cure their sneezes and dry their snot. At the time, Derby Hall was a chemistry building—the third chemistry building on campus, in fact, since previous iterations had all burned to the ground. 

Before returning to his room at the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house for the night, student Charles Huls payed a visit to the pharmacy to pick up a pill called quinine, a common fever reducer at the time. Within hours, however, he became deeply ill, suffered a series of violent convulsions, and died. The following morning, another student, David Puskin, took a pill for his cold and was dead twenty minutes later. Police and the university blamed tetanus and viral meningitis for the deaths, until more students became violently ill, one of whom was a football player. The athletics director pressured the dean of the College of Medicine to run tests on the pills, and it was discovered that the pills were pure strychnine—a deadly neurotoxin that produces some of the most painful and dramatic reactions of any known toxin. 

The story goes that then-President Thompson believed that there was no way the poisonings were an accident, although it remains unclear whether the poisonings were an attempted mass murder or made to target a specific individual. Derby Hall still stands, but its pharmacy is long gone. ( Source )

The Hopkins Handprint | Hopkins Hall (149, F7)

There are a few versions of this myth, but they all begin the same way: Soon after the building’s construction in the 1960s, a student stayed late in Hopkins Hall working on a project. She went to use the elevator, but it became stuck, and since there was nobody in the building to free her, she remained trapped throughout the night. When the janitor came the next morning and finally opened the elevator doors, the student was located at last. She’d had a breakdown and scrawled angry messages all around the elevator walls. Another version of the myth states that, instead of leaving notes, the student left handprints on the elevator walls. Supposedly, one can still occasionally find angry messages scrawled on scraps of paper on the elevator floor or, depending on the version of the story you believe, one can still sometimes see a ghastly handprint on the side of the building—a symbol of her struggle that long and lonely night. ( Source )

Curator in Chief | Hayes Hall (039, E7)

The oldest building on campus, Hayes Hall, is named after President of the United States and three-time governor of Ohio, Rutherford B. Hayes. Originally, it housed the school’s military department. Accordingly, a large gun room occupied the back of the building. 

From the years 1916 to 1920, Hayes Hall was also used for student housing. There was a strict curfew imposed on those who lived there, but college students always find a way! One night, two students stayed out after curfew, but their usual tricks to get back inside—tossing pebbles at friends’ windows, for instance—weren’t working, and it seemed like they were going to be stuck outside all night. That’s when a bearded man, who identified himself as the building’s curator, appeared in one of the doorways and let the boys inside. Nobody else had ever seen the mysterious bearded curator, and so the boys had no way of knowing who to thank. Sometime later, the two students spotted a picture hanging in the hall—it was an image of the man that had let them inside. When they showed it to friends, someone recognized the picture to be not of a building curator, but of President Rutherford B. Hayes, who had been dead for a quarter of a century. ( Source )

Eugene on the Scene | Ohio Union (058, C8)

At 6 a.m. on a Thursday in June, 1929, a corpse was found on the side of the road near Sabina, Ohio. The corpse possessed no identification besides a written address, 1118 Yale Ave, which turned out to be a vacant lot in Cincinnati. A man named Eugene lived near the lot so the town started referring to the corpse as “Eugene.” Eugene was embalmed, and the funeral home placed him on a couch in the brick shed out back in hopes that someone would come and identify him, which no one ever did. Eugene remained in that shed for decades. In Sabina, word of this grotesque display began to spread. Over time, millions of people passed through the little town and to pay a visit to the mummy. 

One morning in 1958, a custodian noticed someone sitting on a bench outside the Ohio Union with a newspaper over their head. The custodian went to investigate and realized that the person was not a person at all but, rather, a mummified body. Upon receiving a call from the custodian, someone at the police station recalled Eugene and phoned the Sabina funeral home. Sure enough, Eugene had fled his shed. Ultimately, five Ohio State students were arrested for the crime. They cited the theft as a prank, but one student was suspended and four were expelled. ( Source )

Mendenhall's Monster | Mendenhall Laboratory (054, D7)

The following does not take place in Mendenhall Laboratory proper, but it is nonetheless associated with the building. Physicist Thomas C. Mendenhall, for whom the lab was named, was the first faculty member hired in 1873 by the then-named Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College. The year prior to his hire, he taught at Columbus (today known as Central) High School. Mendenhall requested and was granted permission from the state to allow him to run a reanimation experiment on the corpse of a recently-deceased prisoner. He wanted to ply the body with electricity and try to bring it back to life, Frankenstein style. A murderer named John Barclay was sentenced to hang to death on October 4, 1872. After he was formally pronounced dead, Mendenhall had his corpse transferred to Starling Medical College in downtown Columbus, a gothic cathedral of a building and one of the predecessors to our own College of Medicine. There, Mendenhall juiced up his generators and began shocking the body. 

Squeamish readers might want to stop here. For those unphased by the macabre, a newspaper called  The Cincinnati Commercial documented the results of the experiment: “The first test was on the spine. This caused the eyes to open, the left hand to become elevated, and the fingers to move, as if grasping for something. The hand finally fell, resting on the breast. The battery was then applied to the nerves on the face and neck, which caused the muscles of the face to move as in life. The test was next applied to the phrenic nerve of the left arm, and afterward to the sciatic nerve.” In other words, the body twitched and flopped around like it was alive again, but of course it was not, and the experiment, for better or worse, was a failure. ( Source )

Dr. Orton and the Caveman | (060, D6)

On the south edge of the Oval sits the gloomy Orton Hall, whose bell tower chimes every fifteen minutes as it oversees the goings-on around campus. It’s a well-known piece of architecture; an example of the Ricardian Romanesque style, it is the second oldest building at Ohio State, behind Hayes Hall. The gargoyles perched on the edge of the building’s roof are not gargoyles, but prehistoric creatures that are stranger-looking than any fiction. Fossils, relics from when Ohio was a primordial seafloor, are embedded in the limestone steps. A towering skeleton of a giant sloth greets visitors as they walk through the front doors into the lobby, where roseate light streams in through stained glass.

The building was beloved by Dr. Edward Orton, Sr., the professor of geology for whom it was named. It is said that he used to love reading in the tower by lamplight and that the ceiling is scarred by scorch marks from the lamp. Some whisper that one can still sometimes see the glow of his flickering light shining through the night and that, to frighten students, he makes noises around the building and chills the air.

In the 1990s, two psychics came to visit Orton. They were trailed by a reporter from The Lantern , who wrote that the psychics sensed a ghost of a Cro-Magnon man haunting the museum. Supposedly, he is upset by his surroundings and doesn’t understand his place in time, and will go around the museum slamming doors and banging on the walls in frustration. ( Source #1  and  Source #2 )

Dr. Clark and the Pink Party Girl | Pomerene Hall (067, D6)

In the hours before dawn one morning in the autumn of 1903, Dr. Frederick Clark shot himself on the hill overlooking Mirror Lake, where Pomerene Hall now stands. He had become depressed following a failed Alaskan mining (or oil, depending on who you ask) investment, even turning to the president of the university for financial help. When none was given, Dr. Clark committed suicide. His wife reportedly blamed Ohio State for her husband’s death. Dr. Clark supposedly haunted Pomerene and banged on the walls and slammed doors, but following Pomerene’s renovation, maybe the spirit has moved on. 

Also associated with Pomerene is the ghost of the pink party girl who can manipulate computers. Wearing an outdated bright pink party dress, she lurked in room 213 and was known to walk the length of the room to the window and look to the north over Mirror Lake. Then, she would disappear. ( Source )

Lady of the Lake | Mirror Lake (888, D6)

The most widely-spotted ghost at Ohio State is the Lady of the Lake. On cold, wintry nights, she can sometimes be seen skating across the ice, warming her hands and wearing outdated clothing. Some reports say she wears white, while others say she wears pink, leading people to speculate that she might be the ghost of the pink party girl of Pomerene out taking a stroll. Others believe she might be the ghost of Dr. Clark’s disgruntled wife, but none have gotten close enough to see her face. ( Source )

The Oxley Poltergeist | Oxley Hall (102, C8)

There have been multiple reports over the years of a poltergeist in Oxley Hall. The first residence hall on campus, it was converted into a women's-only dorm in the 1930s and 40s. Tales began to circulate the hall of interactions with the poltergeist: Lights were flickering on and off, and doors would slam and unlock at random times. Some thought that the poltergeist was a spirit of a woman who was locked in the hall over winter break and found dead when people began returning to campus. Supposedly, third floor lights will turn on December 17, the day she is said to have died. The reports of the haunting were so frequent that parents complained and began forbidding their daughters from living there, and so Oxley was shut down as a residence hall. However, the building has since been torn down and renovated, so perhaps the poltergeist is no more. ( Source )

Sharpshooter Snook, or Dr. Snook and Theora Hix | Mack Hall (100, C6)

June, 1926. The weather that month was cool and dry. Theora Hix, age 21, was living in Mack Hall and doing stenography work for the College of Veterinary Medicine to pay for her room and board on campus. One evening, she accepted a ride home after work from a professor at the college—a married man named Dr. James Howard Snook, age 46, who, six years earlier, had been a member of the American pistol shooting team that took home Olympic gold. Three weeks after their meeting, the two became lovers. Dr. Snook rented a room at 24 Hubbard Avenue so that they could have their trysts in a more private place. Their relationship was defined by turbulence and antagonism and ultimately concluded with an allegedly heated argument in Dr. Snook’s vehicle on June 13, 1929. According to Snook, he struck Theora in the head with a hammer and dumped her out of the car; when he saw she was still alive, he used a pocket knife to cut her jugular vein, and then he went home to his wife. A couple of teenagers discovered her body, and authorities quickly located Dr. Snook. He was arrested and put on trial, which garnered national attention; onlookers would reportedly line up as early as 3 a.m. to get a seat in the courtroom. Snook was found guilty of murder and executed in late February, 1930. ( Source )

Dr. Death | Rhodes Hall (354, C5)

Ohio State’s brush with our very own Dr. Death began in 1983 when Michael Swango, fresh from medical school at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, secured a surgical internship at the then-named Ohio State University Medical Center (now known as the Wexner Medical Center). The internship was to be followed by a residency in neurosurgery. 

Swango began his residency working in Rhodes Hall. Almost immediately, patients who had previously been healthy began to die with disturbing frequency. Each time, Swango had been the intern on duty, and nurses recalled seeing him enter patients’ rooms at unscheduled times. A surviving patient told nurses that Swango had injected her with a mysterious substance right before she began having life-threatening seizures. One of the nurses also witnessed him injecting a patient with “medicine,” only to have the patient become mysteriously, violently ill later on. When the nurses brought their concerns to administrators, the lack of hard evidence caused their concerns to be dismissed. In 1984, the medical center began an investigation into Swango’s practices; he was cleared of all charges. 

Following the investigation, Swango was moved to the Doan Hall wing of the medical center, where more patients began dying mysteriously. Ultimately, his work was so messy and disordered that the hospital pulled his residency offer once the internship ended. Swango continued to work for hospitals both domestic and abroad until his bloody work was finally noticed and he was caught by law enforcement. Today, he is incarcerated in Florence, Colorado, where he is serving three consecutive life sentences. Officials estimate he may have been involved in the deaths of over 60 patients and colleagues. (Source:  Blind Eye  by James B. Stewart, printed by Simon and Schuster in 2012)

Cannibal on Campus | Morril Tower (272, F4)

Jeffrey Dahmer, otherwise known as the Milwaukee Cannibal, was sentenced to sixteen terms of life imprisonment in 1992 for the murders of men and boys throughout Wisconsin and Ohio. When he was eight, the Dahmer family settled in Bath, Ohio, where he attended Revere High School. The summer after his senior year of high school, when both of his parents had moved out of the house during a messy divorce, Dahmer committed his first murder. Two months later, he enrolled at Ohio State and moved into (most sources agree) Morril Tower—although his exact room number is unknown. Dahmer attended Ohio State for one quarter, but did very poorly on account of his rampant alcohol abuse, then dropped out. We all know what happened next. ( Source )

Supernatural Special Collection | Thompson Library (050, E6)

Olive Branch Jones served the University for forty-six years, working in various libraries across campus. She is best known for her work in Thompson Library, where she oversaw the accumulation of many special collection items, which are today stored in the lower levels of the library. There have been multiple sightings of the spirit of Olive Branch Jones in the basement, roaming the stacks of the special volumes she helped collect. ( Source )

The Body in Bricker | Bricker Hall (001, F6)

Herb Atkinson graduated from Ohio State in 1913. He went on to serve as a trustee for the next 23 years and passed away in 1952. Following Atkinson’s death, his wife saw to it that his will was fulfilled—he wanted his remains to be buried somewhere on Ohio State’s campus. In recognition of almost a quarter of a century of service to the university, Atkinson’s ashes were interned in Bricker Hall. His ashes now reside behind a nondescript plaque on the wall near the boardroom. Therefore, it is not a stretch to believe that Atkinson’s ghost might haunt Bricker. There have been reports of lights flickering on and off, and perhaps more substantially, some have even seen the ghost of Herb Atkinson milling around the building drinking punch. ( Source )

If you know of a story that deserves to be on this list, please email Avery Samuels at  [email protected] .

  • Washington State University
  • Go to wsu twitter
  • Go to wsu facebook
  • Go to wsu linkedin

Ghostly tales thrive but little verified

Lore and legend place ghosts and hauntings in a number of buildings across the WSU Pullman campus. But modern day corroboration of such eerie occurrences is as elusive as the spirits themselves.

“I’ve worked a couple years in Bryan, and there’s been nothing eerie,” says Bryan custodian Aaron McArthur . Sure, when the wind blows, the doors rattle and there’s clatter above the theater stage.

“When I first got here, the theater kind of creeped me out,” McArthur admits. “But every building has its weird noises.”

“I have no personal encounters with ghosts in the 10 years I have been at WSU,” says Sandra Lea Carlson , performing arts facilities coordinator. Among other duties, she orchestrates events held in the theater in Bryan Hall, the building most cited for inexplicable incidents in the various historical accounts consulted for this article.

“If you psych yourself up,” McArthur adds, “you can scare yourself with anything.”

Bryan most haunted? Over the years, Bryan seems to have scared many with much: The secluded clock tower and its resident owls (definitely a spooky bird); chimes that unaccountably ring in the middle of the night; a chair rocking by itself; doors that lock and unlock on their own; lights crashing down on stage in too-close proximity to actors; moaning and whistling sounds.

The lobby portrait of Enoch A. Bryan, WSU president 1893-1915, follows you with its eyes and sometimes seems to turn its head, says Lee Bannister , an electrical technician for Facilities Operations maintenance. The former president was known to relish telling a few ghost stories in his day, he died just one week after Halloween in 1941 and his funeral reportedly was held in Bryan Hall.

And then there are the basement “catacombs,” as they’re called in news accounts from a few decades back. Bannister calls the area the “dungeon,” but it’s really just a crawl space, he adds. The dirt floor, some of it mounded in small hills, can kind of look like graves, McArthur supposes.

“But I’ve spent hours working down there,” says Bannister, “and I’ve never experienced anything.”

No ghosts here Nor have six of the custodians consulted about Holland Library, which word of mouth reported might be haunted by Ernest O. Holland, who was president at WSU from 1916-1945.

Nor have any of the custodians at the reputedly haunted student dormitories — Regents, Streit, Orton and Stevens. Bob Tattershall , director of housing and conference services, had only heard that Stevens might entertain ghostly residents. But the Stevens custodian, Linda Drader-Schell , says she has yet to meet them.

That’s likely a good thing. The dorm legends are some of the most harrowing and recent reports of the tragedy and unalleviated sorrow that seem to spawn tales of hauntings.

While the Orton ghost, mentioned in just one account from 1999, is supposedly the rather benign Railroad Sam who just likes the dorm’s proximity to the train tracks, the others are reportedly the victims of dismal deaths.

In the 1970s in Regents, the story goes, a student hanged herself in her room. In the 1980s in Streit, a disgruntled boyfriend blew himself up; his ghost is said to wander the halls still looking for his love.

In 1971 in Stevens, a chunk of carpet was missing and a room was found blood-spattered. Sometime later, a student’s body was discovered rolled in the carpet at a location some miles from campus.

Steve Hansen , WSU police chief, says the Stevens crime did indeed occur. So did the sad incident of the incendiary boyfriend, although it was in nearby Perham Hall. The dorm’s fifth floor was destroyed and two police officers were injured, Hansen said.

However, he said, neither he nor his lieutenant recall any student in Regents hanging herself. Nonetheless, it has joined the factual incidents in generating ghost stories.

Buildings as explanations As has the tale related by Sue Heitstuman , library specialist, that the third floor of the Owen Science and Engineering Library might be haunted because it felt so cold and spooky compared to the rest of the building. But Lorena O’English , social sciences reference librarian, in following up found that when the science library was built the third floor got shorted on insulation — hence the drafty atmosphere.

Such building peculiarities likely are responsible for much haunting lore in Daggy Hall, as well, agree custodian Arron McMullen and theater instructor Ben Gonzales.

First, the building is unfinished — a third theater originally was planned, Gonzales says — so there are doors, stairs and halls that end abruptly or lead to nowhere. McMullen typically hears creaking when the heat and air turn on shortly after his 5 a.m. daily arrival. Gonzales says the systems that constitute a theater building — mechanical, hydraulic, electronic, ventilation, etc. — are bound to make strange noises and not always behave as expected.

Nonetheless, Gonzales adds, he has had some unsettling experiences.

“I’m very much a skeptic,” he says, recognizing that some of what he’s heard has occurred when he’s working backstage alone in Daggy in the wee hours of the morning and hasn’t slept for 18 hours.

But he can’t explain the sounds of running feet. And he’s mystified by the children’s voices that both he and the stage manager heard backstage in the Jones Theatre at 3:30 a.m.

“When you’re in this building late at night,” he says, “you definitely get a feeling you’re not the only person here.”

Thanks to Bob Smawley, retired director of University Relations and unofficial WSU historian, for contributing material. Thanks also to Lorena O’English, social sciences reference librarian, for her work as researcher and citizen reporter for this article.

orton hall haunted

Smithsonian National Zoo nutritionist to deliver Halver Lecture Feb. 27

Recent news.

orton hall haunted

Gen. James Mattis to receive inaugural Foley Distinguished Public Service Award

orton hall haunted

AI research supports health equity in rural Washington

Murrow college names news organizations to host inaugural murrow fellows.

orton hall haunted

Sustainability Task Force seeking community ideas

orton hall haunted

Grant supports research on cross-laminated timber

orton hall haunted

WSU program helps first‑gen graduate student pursue science to help community

Advertisement

Supported by

A Writer With Skin in the Game

The essayist Leslie Jamison has become known for her careful balancing acts of self-exposure.

  • Share full article

A close-up portrait of Leslie Jamison, who is wearing a green and black floral dress and earrings shaped like lemon wheels.

By Kate Dwyer

“If the self is a guesthouse, most of the rooms are full of ghosts,” Leslie Jamison said on a recent Monday afternoon in a Columbia University lecture hall. Ms. Jamison, wearing an ethereal blue maxi dress, stood before a projector screen showing 19th-century spirit photography. “Being haunted can be a state of abundance,” she said. “Living in the ghost hotel is a state of abundance. Memories are raw material.”

One does not check into a ghost hotel without taking inventory of its specters: “Who are you haunted by?” Ms. Jamison told her students to ask themselves. “What versions of yourself are you haunted by? What moments are you haunted by?”

Ms. Jamison’s graduate course is called “The Self” and addresses the challenges of writing in the first person. Each class tackles a different self that can come through in a work: There is the “loving self” in relationships; the “shameful self,” who reckons with pain; the “self at risk,” who is in peril; and, during class that Monday, the “haunted self,” who lives in the aftermath of disaster and must confront the past.

Ms. Jamison said she became acquainted with each of these while writing her new memoir, “ Splinters ,” which recounts the birth of her child and the end of her marriage. Her writing often includes intensely personal details — in “ The Empathy Exams ” she wrote about her excessive drinking and an abortion, and in “ The Recovering ” she shared an unvarnished account of her path to sobriety. But this is her first book drawn entirely from her own life, without the essayistic pivots between criticism and reportage that made her name in literary circles alongside writers like Maggie Nelson, Roxane Gay and Eula Biss.

“Part of what spoke to me in the form of ‘Splinters’ was this idea of accessing something different by staying so close to the body and lived experience,” Ms. Jamison, 40, said.

But her character on the page, she added, is a “partial, built thing.”

“Who I am in ‘Splinters,’ yes, is me — I lived all of those things,” she said. “But at the same time, I’m choosing what that narrator does and says and is on the page, and building her piece by piece.”

Her raw material is this: Ms. Jamison grew up in Los Angeles, and knew from a young age that she wanted to write even before she could physically do so, enlisting her two older brothers to write down the stories she told them. She left the West Coast to attend Harvard and then moved to Iowa City for an M.F.A. in fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop; from there, she pursued a Ph.D in English at Yale. But she says she completed her debut novel, “The Gin Closet,” while working as an innkeeper in her hometown — one of a handful of odd jobs she’s had, including baker, office temp, juice barista, Gap sales clerk and medical actor . Her breakout essay collection, “The Empathy Exams,” followed four years later.

That spring, at a writers’ work space near Union Square in Manhattan, she met the writer Charles Bock , who appears in “Splinters” as “C.” They got married just a few months later, and settled down in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn.

The marital troubles began after the birth of their daughter and the publication of “The Recovering” in 2018, she writes in the memoir, when she and Mr. Bock became emotionally distant. “Our home was a place in which I’d come to feel alone, and so — in retaliation, or from depletion — I made C feel alone, too,” she writes. “His barbed comments left me so frayed that I stopped trying to detect or soothe the hurt beneath them.”

After separating in 2019, she began to take notes for “Splinters” while living in a sublet next to a firehouse, where she felt the grief of rupture alongside a “sense of hope and deep love,” she said. She wanted to explore those seemingly contradictory feelings on the page.

In her memoir, Ms. Jamison breaks these life events into shards for the reader to piece together over the course of the book. By writing in short, intense vignettes, she said, “it felt like I broke open something in my language,” and discovered a new way of writing. “That’s always the feeling that I want.”

Less than an hour after Ms. Jamison’s daughter is born, on Page 9, a nurse takes the baby down the hall to receive treatment for jaundice. It takes another nurse’s words of comfort for Ms. Jamison to feel the tears on her cheeks. After a little while, Ms. Jamison writes, she wheels her IV pole down the hall to observe her daughter blue-lit under the nursery’s bilirubin lights.

Forty pages later, she reveals that during that “little while,” she had pulled out her laptop and continued fact-checking an essay on female rage from her hospital bed, “bleary with shame and pride.” Having finished copy edits just before her water broke, she had planned to continue working from the hospital.

“Why did it feel somehow like saying, ‘I got to work and I was glad to get to work’?” she asked. “Why does that threaten to invalidate the feeling of sadness that I narrate the first time?”

The revelations that arrive in “Splinters” are not the payoff; instead, Ms. Jamison sees the thrill of narrative as “dramatizing the process of getting there,” she said, and “getting to watch thought become suspicious of itself, but then still be hungry for some sort of meaning.”

Ms. Jamison arrived on the literary scene when the hybrid essay was becoming more popular in the wake of “ It Happened to Me ”-style confessional essays that populated blogs the decade before, often relying on writers to expose their deepest wounds for page views.

“There was a moment, sometime between 2008 and 2010, when a woman’s insides — her exploits, her eating habits, her feelings, her sex life — became a lucrative internet product,” Anne Helen Petersen wrote in a review of “How to Murder Your Life,” the 2017 memoir by Cat Marnell, a former beauty editor at xoJane, which became known for that form of personal writing.

In a workshop at the end of her M.F.A., Ms. Jamison said she had tried to write these self-lacerating essays. But she found them claustrophobic and felt they didn’t make room for the range of feelings she wanted to convey. Incorporating journalism and criticism made the personal essay feel more outward-looking, she said. Ms. Jamison set out to prove that “personal narrative doesn’t have to be as solipsistic as we think it is.”

That has earned her a devoted following. The rise of the hybrid essay “coincided with a rise in the creative nonfiction programs across the country,” said Jan Weissmiller, a poet and an owner of Prairie Lights Books in Iowa City, where Ms. Jamison drafted parts of “The Empathy Exams.” Ms. Weissmiller said that book “was formative for all those young people that were studying and starting to write that way.”

Ms. Jamison is one of 30 or so writers who Michael Taeckens, the former marketing director of Graywolf Press, said had “spawned legions of imitators” — or at least legions of young writers and students who want to learn the secrets of this genre-bending high-wire act.

Emmeline Clein, a former student of Ms. Jamison’s whose forthcoming book “Dead Weight” recounts her struggle with an eating disorder, said Ms. Jamison was the first writer she read who captured “a certain type of human void that manifests in emotional and mental distress,” and whose approach “is grounded in research but is very human and lived.”

Anika Jade Levy, the co-editor of Forever Magazine, marveled over Ms. Jamison’s “ability to intellectualize her own experiences without diluting their emotional resonances.” Madelaine Lucas, another former Columbia student, said Ms. Jamison’s 2014 essay “ Grand Unified Theory of Female Pain ” — about women who numb themselves to avoid seeming melodramatic — is “maybe not a battle cry, but something that spoke to a particular generation of women.”

This semester, all but three of the 60 students in Ms. Jamison’s course are women, many of them longtime Leslie-heads who applied to the program hoping to work with her.

Ms. Jamison’s life looks much different now than it does in the pages of “Splinters.” These days, she lives with a partner in Brooklyn and splits the week between what she calls “outward”-facing days teaching at Columbia and internet-free writing days at home, where she is working on a novel, a book about daydreaming and a version of her “Self” lectures to publish widely. Friday afternoons are reserved for time with her daughter, who is now in kindergarten.

Ms. Jamison said she tries to bring some of the vulnerability she uses in her books to her classroom to show students that she, too, has skin in the game. She talks openly about addiction, anorexia and unhealthy relationships. “People are just so much more ready and willing and eager to share parts of themselves because they already feel like they’re on this particular radio channel with you,” she said.

During a 10-minute break, she asked her students to respond to a writing prompt about “haunted sweetness.” When class resumed, students talked about learning to sew and embarking upon ill-advised affairs.

“To believe in writing from a first-person perspective is not just about believing in your own first person,” Ms. Jamison said later, during an interview in her tidy, bohemian office, where a colleague’s origami mobile hangs from a shelf. “It’s literally about believing in the richness of anybody’s subjectivity.”

She recounted how she had read a biography of the 19th-century mathematician Georg Cantor as a child, an attempt to impress one of her older brothers. One of Cantor’s great discoveries was that there were different types of infinities.

In writing creative nonfiction, she said, there’s one kind of infinity available in examining one’s life alongside the lives of others, something she hopes she manages to capture in her essays.

“Then there’s this other kind of infinity — that’s not a lesser infinity, it’s just a different infinity — that’s between zero and one,” she said, “when you’re hewing closer to your own experience.”

Back in the classroom, Ms. Jamison recounted an anecdote about an apple farmer who coined the term “ghost apples” to describe the icy formations he noticed growing in his orchard. During a cold snap in Michigan, the farmer realized that his apples had turned to mush and escaped their icy shells, leaving behind perfect crystalline forms.

“When I think of writing the moments that haunt me, I think of these ghost apples,” Ms. Jamison said. “How to let the excess drop away, the mush and skin of what happened but isn’t necessary to the telling.”

Explore More in Books

Want to know about the best books to read and the latest news start here..

In her new memoir, “Splinters,” the essayist Leslie Jamison  recounts the birth of her child  and the end of her marriage.

The Oscar-nominated film “Poor Things” is based on a 1992 book by Alasdair Gray. Beloved by writers, it was never widely read  but is now ripe for reconsideration.

Even in countries where homophobia is pervasive and same-sex relationships are illegal, queer African writers are pushing boundaries , finding an audience and winning awards.

In Lucy Sante’s new memoir, “I Heard Her Call My Name,” the author reflects on her life and embarking on a gender transition  in her late 60s.

Do you want to be a better reader?   Here’s some helpful advice to show you how to get the most out of your literary endeavor .

Each week, top authors and critics join the Book Review’s podcast to talk about the latest news in the literary world. Listen here .

TOI logo

  • Sports News
  • Watch: Randy Orton appears injured during men's Elimination Chamber match

Watch: Randy Orton appears injured during men's Elimination Chamber match

Watch: Randy Orton appears injured during men's Elimination Chamber match

About the Author

Visual stories.

orton hall haunted

Strange Glow Over Moscow Skies Triggers Panic as Explosions Reported

B right flashes lit up the night sky in southern Moscow in the early hours of Thursday morning, new footage appears to show, following reports of an explosion at an electrical substation on the outskirts of the city.

Video snippets circulating on Russian-language Telegram channels show a series of flashes on the horizon of a cloudy night sky, momentarily turning the sky a number of different colors. In a clip shared by Russian outlet MSK1.ru, smoke can be seen rising from a building during the flashes lighting up the scene.

Newsweek was unable to independently verify the details of the video clips, including when and where it was filmed. The Russian Ministry of Emergency situations has been contacted via email.

Several Russian Telegram accounts said early on Thursday that residents of southern Moscow reported an explosion and a fire breaking out at an electrical substation in the Leninsky district, southeast of central Moscow.

Local authorities in the Leninsky district told Russian outlet RBC that the explosion had happened in the village of Molokovo. "All vital facilities are operating as normal," Leninsky district officials told the outlet.

The incident at the substation in Molokovo took place just before 2 a.m. local time, MSK1.ru reported.

Messages published by the ASTRA Telegram account, run by independent Russian journalists, appear to show residents close to the substation panicking as they question the bright flashes in the sky. One local resident describes seeing the bright light before losing access to electricity, with another calling the incident a "nightmare."

More than 10 villages and towns in the southeast of Moscow lost access to electricity, the ASTRA Telegram account also reported. The town of Lytkarino to the southeast of Moscow, lost electricity, wrote the eastern European-based independent outlet, Meduza.

Outages were reported in the southern Domodedovo area of the city, according to another Russian outlet, as well as power failures in western Moscow. Electricity was then restored to the areas, the Strana.ua outlet reported.

The cause of the reported explosion is not known. A Telegram account aggregating news for the Lytkarino area described the incident as "an ordinary accident at a substation."

The MSK1.ru outlet quoted a local resident who speculated that a drone may have been responsible for the explosion, but no other Russian source reported this as a possible cause.

Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Moscow with long-range aerial drones in recent months, including a dramatic wave of strikes in late May.

On Sunday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the region's air defense systems had intercepted an aerial drone over the city of Elektrostal, to the east of Moscow. No damage or casualties were reported, he said.

The previous day, Russian air defenses detected and shot down another drone flying over the Bogorodsky district, northeast of central Moscow, Sobyanin said.

There is currently no evidence that an aerial drone was responsible for the reported overnight explosion at the electrical substation in southern Moscow.

Related Articles

  • Russian Soldier Bashes Drone With Shovel After Detonation Failure: Video
  • Russia Headed for Disappointment in Battles Along Dnieper River: UK
  • Ukraine's Military Receives Good News From Multiple NATO Allies

Start your unlimited Newsweek trial

Stills from footage circulating on Telegram early on Thursday morning. Bright flashes lit up the night sky in southern Moscow, new footage appears to show, following reports of an explosion at an electrical substation on the outskirts of the city.

Electrostal History and Art Museum

orton hall haunted

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Andrey M

Electrostal History and Art Museum - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

Find deals for any season

From cozy bed & breakfasts to luxury hotels

Fly away to your dream vacation

Get instant discounts

Get inspiration for your next trip more, 5 of the best hotels in los angeles.

From Hollywood to Beverly Hills discover 5 of the best hotels in Los Angeles for your stay

The 6 best Orlando hotels for families

Destinations Bookers love

Save time, save money.

Error: Please enter a valid email address.

Error: Oops! An error has occurred.

Thanks! We've sent you an email so you can confirm your subscription

List your property

  • Mobile version
  • Your account
  • Make changes online to your booking
  • Customer Service Help
  • Booking.com for Business
  • Places of interest
  • Guest houses
  • Unique places to stay
  • All destinations
  • All flight destinations
  • All car rental locations
  • All vacation destinations
  • Discover monthly stays
  • Unpacked: Travel articles
  • Seasonal and holiday deals
  • Traveller Review Awards
  • Flight finder
  • Restaurant reservations
  • Booking.com for Travel Agents
  • Coronavirus (COVID-19) FAQs
  • About Booking.com
  • Partner help
  • Sustainability
  • Press Center
  • Safety Resource Center
  • Investor relations
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Partner dispute
  • How We Work
  • Privacy & cookie statement
  • MSA statement
  • Corporate contact
  • Content guidelines and reporting

Booking.com is part of Booking Holdings Inc., the world leader in online travel and related services.

Verified reviews from real guests.

We have more than 70 million property reviews, all from real, verified guests .

How does it work?

It starts with a booking.

The only way to leave a review is to first make a booking. That's how we know our reviews come from real guests who have stayed at the property.

Followed by a trip

When guests stay at the property, they check out how quiet the room is, how friendly the staff is, and more.

And finally, a review

After their trip, guests tell us about their stay. We check for naughty words and verify the authenticity of all guest reviews before adding them to our site.

If you booked through us and want to leave a review, please sign in first.

Check-in date

Check-out date

orton hall haunted

IMAGES

  1. Orton Hall

    orton hall haunted

  2. The eight haunted places in Cambridgeshire you can spend the night

    orton hall haunted

  3. VIDEO: Ohio State’s “haunted” Orton Hall

    orton hall haunted

  4. Orton Hall with Tvs Most Haunted, Orton Hall Hotel & Spa, Peterborough

    orton hall haunted

  5. The Haunted History of Columbus and OSU

    orton hall haunted

  6. Orton Hall

    orton hall haunted

COMMENTS

  1. Campus Legends and Ghost Stories

    Campus Legends and Ghost Stories Railroad Sam of Orton Hall Orton Hall The ghost in Orton supposedly resides on the 12th floor. His name is Railroad Sam, because he appears when the trains go through Pullman. He watches the trains from the windows of Orton Hall and has been spotted several times.

  2. Ghost stories reveal WSU's haunted history

    Stevens Hall, supposedly haunted by a ghostly Black Cat, Nov. 2nd. SHANA HUANG November 2, 2022 Trigger warning: This article contains graphic information in relation to death As a chilly breeze brushes the shoulders of students walking around campus, some might pause to wonder whether it is simply the cool autumn air or something more frightful.

  3. Now's The Time To Explore The Most Haunted Places In Columbus

    When it comes to haunted history, the Ohio Statehouse is a star player. Built on the grounds of a former Civil War hospital using prison labor, it boasts an impressive roster of resident spirits. From Civil War soldiers to weeping apparitions in grey, this place has it all. The most famous ghost?

  4. 12th floor horror, Orton hall turns haunted

    Pullman and Moscow residents can have spook-filled night while giving back to the community they live in. Orton Residence Hall on the south side of campus will host its annual haunted house with a twist. From 8 p.m. to midnight today and tomorrow, Orton's 12th floor will be turned into an "Insanitarium." "Haunted houses often...

  5. Is Ohio State's campus haunted?

    Named for Edward Orton, the university's first president from 1873 to 1881, Orton Hall is one of the oldest buildings on campus. Orton is believed to haunt the building. Before bells were placed ...

  6. Menu Icon

    22 min NR Documentary With Karl in the cellar, Stuart takes on two haunted rooms on the upper floors and gets an insight to spirits that inhabit the dark corners. Season 6 S06:E09 - ORTON HALL PT1 The first investigation at Orton Hall sees Karl entering the haunted cellar. It doesn't take long for whatever lurks in the shadow to make itself known.

  7. Orton's Haunted Hall Opens Friday Night at WSU

    The annual Orton Haunted Hall starts Friday night at Washington State University. Admission is a dollar or a non-perishable food item. Orton's Haunted Hall is from 8:00 to midnight Friday and Saturday night.

  8. Orton Haunted Hall 20th Anniversary [Oct. 28 & 29 from 8 p.m.

    Every year since 1996, Orton Hall has hosted Haunted Hall. This year's theme is "Welcome to the Asylum." Though the event is free, there is a suggested donation of $1 or canned foot items. All Process will go to the on-campus TRIO Support Student […] WSU Cougar Head Logo Washington State University Give Apply Locations My WSU Give Apply

  9. ORTON HALL PT1

    MLS Season Pass Search Apple TV+ MLS Season Pass Search ORTON HALL PT1 Reality 29 min Tubi TV Available on Tubi TV S6 E105: The first investigation at Orton Hall sees Karl entering the haunted cellar. It doesn't take long for whatever lurks in the shadow to make itself known. Reality 29 min Tubi TV Information Run Time 29 min

  10. The eight haunted places in Cambridgeshire you can spend the night

    Orton Hall Hotel and Spa was at one point the seat of the Marquess of Huntly, George Gordon, and yes thats' Gordon as in the gin brand. The majority of the mansion dates to around the 1700s, with ...

  11. Orton's Haunted Hall

    Orton's Haunted Hall Welcome to Orton's annual Haunted Hall event! This year's theme is "It and all their friends." After checking in and paying/donating your entry fee of $1 or a non-perishable food item in Orton's lobby, you will be put into groups and sent up to Orton's 12th floor to lead Georgie out of Pennywise's lair.

  12. Orton's Haunted Hall: IT and All Their Friends

    Welcome to Orton's annual Haunted Hall event! This year's theme is "It and all their friends." After checking in and paying/donating your entry fee of $1 or a non-perishable food item in Orton's lobby, you will be put into groups and sent up to Orton's 12th floor to lead Georgie out of Pennywise's lair.

  13. ORTON HALL PT1

    The first investigation at Orton Hall sees Karl entering the haunted cellar. It doesn't take long for whatever lurks in the shadow to make itself know…

  14. Campus Legends, Horrors and Lore

    Dr. Orton and the Caveman | (060, D6) On the south edge of the Oval sits the gloomy Orton Hall, whose bell tower chimes every fifteen minutes as it oversees the goings-on around campus. It's a well-known piece of architecture; an example of the Ricardian Romanesque style, it is the second oldest building at Ohio State, behind Hayes Hall.

  15. Ghostly tales thrive but little verified

    Nor have six of the custodians consulted about Holland Library, which word of mouth reported might be haunted by Ernest O. Holland, who was president at WSU from 1916-1945. Nor have any of the custodians at the reputedly haunted student dormitories — Regents, Streit, Orton and Stevens.

  16. Leslie Jamison's Memoir 'Splinters' Is a Balancing Act of Self-Exposure

    "Being haunted can be a state of abundance," she said. "Living in the ghost hotel is a state of abundance. ... Ms. Jamison writes, she wheels her IV pole down the hall to observe her ...

  17. WWE Elimination Chamber 2024 Results As Drew McIntyre Wins

    While unfortunate, the best thing that happened to Drew McIntyre was CM Punk's injury. WWE wasted no time pushing McIntyre in Punk's place, t-shirt and all. McIntyre's reimagining of Bret ...

  18. Orton Haunted Hall 2015 Volunteers

    This group is for the organizers and volunteers for Orton Haunted Hall 2015.

  19. Any experiences with Railroad Sam of Orton hall or any other ...

    Any experiences with Railroad Sam of Orton hall or any other spooky stories? I heard WSU is pretty well known in haunted campuses and I'm curious! If there are many ghost stories, or of the sort, they haven't made it to my ear. You'll be fine. I never saw railroad sam, but one of my friends moved out of stevens hall because she lived in the ...

  20. Randy Orton Injured During Men's Elimination Chamber Match

    Randy Orton appeared to suffer an injury during the Men's Elimination Chamber match in Perth, Australia. The intense contest featured formidable opponents Logan Paul, Kevin Owens, Bobby Lashley ...

  21. Strange Glow Over Moscow Skies Triggers Panic as Explosions Reported

    One local resident on the outskirts of the capital described the loss of electricity in the south of the city as a "nightmare."

  22. Watch Most Haunted S06:E09

    The first investigation at Orton Hall sees Karl entering the haunted cellar. It doesn't take long for whatever lurks in the shadow to make itself known. S06:E10 - ORTON HALL PT2. With Karl in the cellar, Stuart takes on two haunted rooms on the upper floors and gets an insight to spirits that inhabit the dark corners.

  23. The Haunting of Ollerton Hall

    Haslam states that the hall is haunted by Thomas Markham also known as Colonel Markham. Colonel Markham died in the battle of Gainsborough and there is many stories surrounding his death. It is thought that his body would have been brought back to the hall as traditionally this is what would have been done.

  24. Elektrostal

    Elektrostal, city, Moscow oblast (province), western Russia.It lies 36 miles (58 km) east of Moscow city. The name, meaning "electric steel," derives from the high-quality-steel industry established there soon after the October Revolution in 1917. During World War II, parts of the heavy-machine-building industry were relocated there from Ukraine, and Elektrostal is now a centre for the ...

  25. Electrostal History and Art Museum

    Wat Buddharangsi Buddhist Temple Gros Islet Street Party California State Railroad Museum Thomas Point Beach Tanglewood Fountain Las Americas Cle Houston Reserva Bosque Nuboso Santa Elena Catty Shack Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary Mr. Swindle's Peculiarium Private Appian Way (Appia Antica) Tour in Rome by Golf Cart HaLong Bay 2D1N with Dragon Crown Cruise -All Inclusive,Transfer Sonoran Desert Jeep ...

  26. The 10 best hotels near Triumph Sport Hall in Moscow, Russia

    Find hotels near Triumph Sport Hall, Russia online. Good availability and great rates. Book online, pay at the hotel. No reservation costs.