Buzz
As a college student with a keen interest in the eerie and mysterious, I felt compelled to create this list of the top 10 most haunted colleges and universities across the United States. To those who attend night classes at these schools, my apologies in advance! Feel free to share your own spooky campus stories in the comments below. We’ll start with my current school…
10. Penn State University State College, PA
The tale of Betsy Aardsma, a student at the university in 1969, inspired this entire list. While researching for her English class, she was tragically stabbed to death in one of the book aisles at Pattee Library. Her murder remains unsolved to this day. Legend has it that her ghost roams the library late at night. One student, browsing the same aisle where Betsy was killed, reportedly woke up feeling as though she was being strangled, unable to call out to her roommate sleeping nearby. If that’s not chilling enough, Brumbaugh Hall is said to be haunted by the spirit of an ax murderer, especially on Halloween nights.
9. Bradford College Haverhill, MA
This now-defunct college is said to be home to several ghosts from its days as an active institution. Among the most well-known is the spirit of a young girl who was romantically involved with a priest at the school. After becoming pregnant, she either took her own life or was killed by the priest. Today, both her ghost and the priest’s are said to linger in the old Academy Building. Paranormal investigators have captured eerie voices, screams, and unexplained apparitions across the deserted campus.
8. University of Notre Dame
With a rich history like Notre Dame’s, it’s no wonder the campus has its fair share of ghostly tales. George Gipp, the iconic Notre Dame football star behind the famous “Win one for the Gipper” speech, is said to haunt the university. Known as a friendly spirit, he’s often spotted hovering near students, sometimes offering a gentle pat before disappearing when they turn around. While Gipp seems to watch over students, the Patawatami Indians who also haunt the grounds are far less welcoming. Columbus Hall, believed to be built on their burial site, is where ghostly warriors are seen riding horses up and down the stairs, as if guarding something hidden within.
7. University of Georgia Athens, GA
This historic university is no stranger to eerie tales, with stories ranging from Confederate soldiers to tragic deaths. The Phi Mu sorority house is said to be haunted by Anna Hamilton, a young woman who witnessed her boyfriend’s murder and his burial beneath the house’s front steps. Students have reportedly communicated with her through a Ouija board, and her sorrowful cries echo in the empty rooms. Another haunted spot is the Alpha Gamma Delta house, one of the oldest sororities on campus. It’s home to the ghost of Susie, a daughter of the founding family, who took her own life in the attic after being abandoned on her wedding day. Visitors and residents often claim to see a woman staring from the attic windows.
6. Montclair State University Upper Montclair, NJ
The Clove Road Apartments at Montclair State are particularly notorious. Much like Notre Dame, these apartments sit atop an ancient Indian burial ground—a decision that rarely ends well. Doors and windows slam shut and lock on their own, lights flicker unpredictably, and the building remains icy cold even with the heat turned up. Roommates often experience sudden waves of dread, and arguments break out without cause. A spectral figure in 19th-century attire has been seen looming over sleeping residents, disappearing only when they scream. Most chilling are the shadowy figures darting through the woods at night, believed to be the restless spirits of the displaced Native Americans. After dark, no one dares venture near the woods, fearing what might lurk there.
5. St. Joseph’s College
During the Civil War, this college served as a field hospital, a far cry from modern medical facilities. These hospitals were more akin to butcher shops, with amputations being the primary treatment for battlefield injuries. Tales abound of nurses hauling buckets filled with severed limbs from the surgery wards. The agonized screams of soldiers and, for the unfortunate, the lingering stench of the hospital still permeate the campus. Some students have even reported stumbling into fully apparitional hospitals late at night. Amidst this grim atmosphere, a benevolent spirit roams the grounds. Mother Seton, founder of the American Sisters of Charity, is often seen smiling at students and tending to the ghostly soldiers who remain eternally wounded.
4. Drew University Madison, NJ
It’s unexpected for a theological university and seminary to be brimming with ghostly activity, but Drew University has its share of spectral tales. A misty figure is said to haunt Asbury Hall, thought to be the spirit of a student who took his own life by hanging from the rafters. The campus is also haunted by Roxanna Mead Drew, the founder’s wife. During a fire at Mead Hall, named in her honor, firefighters responding to the blaze spotted a woman dressed in 19th-century clothing seemingly trapped inside. As they rushed to save her, the flames appeared to pass through her body before she vanished, leaving the firefighters stunned.
3. Ohio University Athens, Ohio
It’s no surprise that Ohio University is widely recognized as one of the most haunted places globally, with extensive documentation to prove it. The campus is teeming with ghostly activity, from spectral teachers conversing with students to unexplained voices echoing in sealed rooms and even an entire phantom basketball team. Nearly every building has its own ghostly resident, but Wilson Hall stands out as one of the most haunted structures in the U.S., even featured on the TV series “Scariest Places on Earth.” Legend has it that a female student died violently in room 428 while practicing satanic rituals. Though unverified, the room was permanently sealed after no student could endure living there. Voices echo through the halls, doors mysteriously lock and unlock, and ghostly figures roam the building. Adding to the eerie atmosphere, Wilson Hall sits at the center of a pentagram formed by five surrounding cemeteries. While rumors claim it was built atop an old mental hospital cemetery, this has been debunked.
2. University of Illinois Urbana, IL
One night, after a party, a sorority sister at Alpha Phi Omega Hall returned to her room late. As she climbed the stairs, she noticed a figure watching her from above. Upon closer inspection, she realized the figure was a man in a gray uniform with no face. Terrified, she alerted her friends, but a search of the building revealed nothing. Since then, the faceless man has been spotted across campus. Years earlier, in Crampton Hall, a student was found hanged in his closet, a victim of foul play with no perpetrator ever identified. In 2007, another student was discovered bound, naked, and hanging upside-down in his closet, alive but traumatized. That same night, several students awoke to find a man standing over them, only for him to vanish into their closets. His identity remains a mystery.
1. Cal State University Channel Islands (Camarillo, CA)
Building a university on the site of a former insane asylum, as Cal State did, is a recipe for paranormal activity. Since its opening in 2002, students have reported sightings of former asylum patients roaming the campus, halls, and nearby streets. Apparitions are seen entering rooms that turn out to be empty upon inspection. One spectral figure is often spotted dancing in a parking lot at night, only to vanish as it nears the streetlights. More unsettling are the aggressive spirits that hurl objects, knock students over, and vandalize locked classrooms, leaving an eerie atmosphere across the campus.
