Christina Villarruel

My sophomore year I was residing in Wilder on the 4th floor. Rumours abounded that the 4th floor (the one I was residing on) was haunted by a former student who had hung herself. These rumours were only fuelled further by the college's decision to close off the bedroom in question (even though we were in an overcrowded housing crunch). This closed-off room (where the girl was said to have hung herself) was next to one of the two stairwells. My room was on the opposite side of the hall by the other stairwell. No one ever had problems on my stairwell side. The other side, however, was known for feeling very cold and giving a creepy feeling. I avoided it as a general rule. One day, my friend Penny came over to visit. I warned her to not use the other stairwell but she scoffed at the idea of ghosts. So, I was coerced into showing her the closed off room while Penny taunted any ghosts in the area asking for a sign. To our surprise and fright, the door banged outward toward us several times. Each hard thump sounded like a human fist banging from the other side of the door toward us. I had lived in older homes my entire life. I am used to certain typical sounds; creeks from the wood floor, the wind whistling in the windows, the way a door may rattle due to differences in air pressure and drafts. From having the identical room on the opposite stairwell, I was also familiar with the types of sounds a corner room by the stairwell made. This was NOT one of those sounds. Obviously, we left as quick as we could and Penny didn't taunt ghosts anymore.

[October 08, 2008]