Mysterious Ghost Rumors at Urbana High School

Most students at Urbana High School have heard the rumors of the haunted tower; the story of the mysterious fourth floor where a ghost supposedly lives. A floor closed off to the students since the eighty’s. The mystery of the tower has always intrigued students at UHS, and I have now been given a chance to learn the history of our ghost, and even to take a look around on our haunted fourth floor.

Almost every school has its ghost story, but here at UHS the story of the ghost in the tower has gained popularity, even outside of town. Our haunted tower story has even made the online list of “The Top Ten Haunted Schools in Illinois,” coming in at number three.

Two classrooms once existed in the tower, a music room and an art room. There is a flight of stairs on the third floor leading to the former classrooms, but a locked door now keeps students from wandering up them – or perhaps to keep anything from wandering down.

The tower was blocked off in the eighty’s due to renovations, but students and staff at UHS have insisted that the real reason for blocking the towers is a tragic love affair between a student and teacher, resulting in the teacher hanging herself in the fire escape.

Since that time, strange occurrences have been reported around the building. One story is that the door to the tower was discovered to be unlocked for no apparent reason, and it was unknown who was up there.

The police were called, but were hesitant about entering after hearing strange tapping sounds in the former classrooms. It is unclear if there is any truth behind this event or if it is merely a wild story to frighten students.

Another reason the tower is claimed to be haunted is unexplained paint peeling. No matter how many times the walls in the room are re-painted, the paint soon begins to peel off again. This is probably due to all of the air conditioning equipment that is now located in the tower, which can cause the room to get extremely humid.

English Teacher Erin Ludwick also has a story involving peeling paint. In one of her former classrooms, she began to notice paint peeling on the wall, near the ceiling. As the paint continued to peel over time, she couldn’t help but notice that it seemed to spell the word “help.”
“I asked my students, ‘what does that paint look like to you?’ They said it looked like the word help, so I knew it wasn’t just me,” said Ludwick. She went on to tell that the walls were repainted to cover it up, but after a short period of time, the paint began to peel in the same spot, again revealing the word “help.”

Gregory Chew was the drama teacher at UHS for years. He is a reliable source for tales about the tower, since he once taught a class up there. “I happen to be a skeptic of the first order, so I’m not among those who think ghosts have ever haunted UHS, or anywhere else outside of the movies. However, I also love a good story and I’m not above keeping it alive for others,” said Chew.
He says his old classroom came with a closet, in which was a strange little window. One afternoon, he heard a buzzing noise coming from the closet, where the costumes are stored. When he went back to see what it was, he saw a large number of flies drawn to the window, buzzing loudly. “That didn’t mean anything supernatural to me until I saw the classic movie Amityville Horror,” said Chew.
Amityville Horror is a film about a haunted house, released in 1979. There is a scene where a priest is trying to rid the house of any spirits, and suddenly flies buzz all around him, and cling to the windows.

Chew recalled another incident involving a mysterious figure wearing a top hat. “I’ve heard stories of custodians who wouldn’t come to work after seeing a tall figure with a top hat and a cigar walk down the hallway late one night toward the Iowa Street doors past the vending machines on the first floor. When the custodian followed him, he had disappeared,” said Chew.
He went on to explain that theaters have always had a history of being haunted. Stage superstitions often involve paranormal activity. The theater is having its 100th anniversary very soon, and everyone knows the older something gets, the more haunted it becomes. “I’m sure there may be a few spirits hanging about in there. Keep an eye out for them when the auditorium re-opens next year,” said Chew.

After learning about the history of our ghost, and the history of our school, I spoke with a man who’s all about history. Michael Pollock is a history teacher here at UHS, and loves a good ghost story. He says he does not deny the presence of ghosts our spirits in our school. “No one’s proved there is a ghost, no one’s proved there isn’t one. I like to keep an open mind,” said Pollock.

Pollock seemed very unafraid of spirits and ghosts; in fact, he is intrigued by them. So intrigued, that he has been up to the tower to take a look himself. He said he saw nothing unusually up there, except mysterious stains on the wall, which are rumored to be bloodstains. He also has seen the rumored paint peeling in the room. To his disappointment, he hasn’t gotten a chance to meet the ghost. “I’ve never been acquainted with a spirit in this building, but I look forward to the day when I see one.”
He still seemed very confident that he wouldn’t be frightened by the ghost if he ever comes across it. “If there are ghosts, I wouldn’t think for a minute that they’re all bad, or out to harm us,” said Pollock. He told me that after the renovations on the auditorium are complete, he may get to take me up to the tower to have a look around.

The story of the ghost has been with the high school for many years, and continues to live on today. No one can really be sure how much truth is behind the stories, but some instances are still left unexplained. The mystery of the ghost is very intriguing, and I know every time I am on the third floor, I will be dying to know what is happening just one floor above me.

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patrick.shea

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