By Sam Cole
It’s spooky season and although Dominican is already known for its creepy tales and Hogwarts aesthetic, ghost stories always run rampant in October. It seems like everyone and their mom has had a haunting experience or two during their time at this school. True or not, people love to hear one’s paranormal accounts. One true and classic tale comes from the unfortunate demise of Peter Ferrari.
Pete was an engine room assistant in 1929 and while on duty, he accidently electrocuted himself in the cafeteria kitchen after touching a live wire on Halloween (curious, I know). He died instantly. Now, it is sad and unsettling knowing that someone met their untimely end in the same place we all like to eat our meals, but I think the scariest thing about this story is that it’s been almost 100 years and the dining food is still ghoulishly disgusting.
I digress however, and after hearing this story I decided it would be interesting to take it upon myself to do my own ghost hunting. I’d already seen the film “Ghostbusters,” so I was pretty sure I knew exactly what to do when it came to interacting with spirits at this point. Although my expertise seemed enough, I decided to explore the internet to find out more information on how to track down ghosts.
After reading forums, listening to firsthand experiences and watching way too many videos about conjuring up the dead, I came across a site called Ghosts and Gravestones. They had a step by step guide on how to conduct your own ghost hunting expedition.
The first step to talking to your very own Casper the friendly ghost is to be prepared. I knew exactly what this meant, so I spent all night watching the show Ghost Adventures and reading the book Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. After being sufficiently spooked, I felt I had collected enough information for my mission, and I decided I needed tools and equipment. My ghost hunting essentials included: pen, paper, camera, flashlight and my running shoes, just in case I had to high tail it out of somewhere screaming from a spirit that wasn’t too fond of my disturbance.
The next step was to do your research. I asked around and found some people who had experienced their own encounters with other worldly beings. Libby Zoppa, a sophomore at Dominican, stated, “There have been nights where I would wake up in the morning with bruises on my arms, even though nothing had happened to cause them. This has happened to a lot of girls in the school, to be honest.” She then went on to tell me her own experience with ghost hunting.
“We were outside Power when a red light kept following us. We had no idea what it was, and I even got a video of it.” I looked at the video and it indeed was creepy. Either Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer was way off course, or some spooky mumbo jumbo surrounded this campus.
I contacted Dr. Scott Kreher in the department of biological sciences to see if I could get access to the morgue on the second floor of Parmer, his response: “I am not sure it would be possible or a good idea to access the morgue.”
Why wouldn’t it be a good idea? Is it possible that the school is hiding its celestial entities from us? Or do faculty just not want some ignorant sleuth roaming around its expensive and delicate science lab? It’s hard to determine which is more likely, but this wasn’t going to stop me from getting to the truth.
The next step was finding a ghost hunting partner. You never know what dangerous demons you may encounter, so it’s much safer to not be alone. I brought along my friend Seth Hoffman as he is trustworthy, brave and more importantly strong enough to carry me back to my room if I pass out from fear. He also works with campus safety, so it would be nice to have someone who knows his way around the school.
We visited many places such as the third floor in Fine Arts and the church in Lewis, but the one place we were looking forward to visiting was the Martin Recital Hall, we had heard many stories from there. There have been accounts of laughter coming from the room, while nobody is inside. Some theater students claimed they returned one morning to find everything inside had been ransacked, but the doors were locked all night.
When we arrived, we opened the door, only to hear one slam right behind us. I wasn’t able to see it happen, but Seth claimed he watched the door shut as if someone had pulled it from the other side. After catching our breath and making sure our pants were clean, we looked outside to find nothing but darkness. Perhaps it was a draft as it was a windy night, but the door was very heavy and closed at a slow rate when released. We didn’t want to stay long after that, so we did a little more Scooby-Doo investigating and split.
The last step is recuperating and organizing all the data you find. In the end I found new tales to discuss, new areas to explore and brand-new understanding of what it’s like to be scared out of my wits. Out of all the places I visited, only the Martin Recital Hall gave me any inclination that Dominican may be haunted.
If you aren’t afraid of ghosts or are just daring, go out and do some investigating of your own. Just follow the steps provided in this and you’ll be on your way to becoming a professional ghost hunter.
scole@my.dom.edu
