If These Walls Could Talk

A faded red book, “Southern Illinois University:A Pictorial History,” tells the history of the campus through a series of black and white photographs of distinguished, brick buildings.

By day, there is nothing frightening about the familiar buildings of SIUC. But at night, there is a certain eeriness to the walls of these structures, some of which have been standing since the late 1800s.

There is nothing black and white about the story of the University the pages of this book does not tell.

The light colors of the walls in these buildings whisper dark secrets only told to those who wander the University’s halls at night.

While the majority of the stories he knows occurred in places in town such as the infamous Hundley House, according to Scott Thorne, “a spirit historian,” the SIUC campus is not without its stories.

“I heard a story about Wheeler Hall once from a student,” said Thorne, who collects his stories secondhand and from local publications. “Apparently, the student’s mother had been working late, and, all the sudden, was attacked by a poltergeist that began throwing chairs at her. Needless to say, she got out of there very quickly.”

Unfortunately for those easily frightened, the ghost that allegedly terrorized Wheeler Hall is not the only one that resides on campus.

Yet Another Student Lost in Faner (subhead)

According to sources, the complex building that consistently confuses the student population is home to a number of lost wandering students, one of them a lost soul.

The spirit is apparently a mysterious young woman that some have seen lurking the halls of the building. They watch as she enters various classrooms, but when they venture into the room to speak to her, she’s gone.

“I heard the legend when I first got here,” said Durell Brinker of St. Louis, and a custodian in the building for the past five years. “It’s supposed to be some girl that fell out of the window when they were building it. She’s supposed to be looking for her backpack or something.

“I asked people about that who have worked here awhile and they said that isn’t true. I’ve never seen anything though. I think it’s just a myth.”

Although an employee, Tori Vass, said she has never witnessed the female spirit, she does not doubt the ghost exists.

“She’s probably a lost soul that hasn’t had the chance to cross from purgatory yet,” said Vass, a freshman in business management from Chicago. “I hear strange things at night sometimes, like doors closing and footsteps when I know no one else is on the floor.”

The Most Dedicated Worker On Campus (subhead)

The administrative building contains the office of some of the University’s hardest working employees. But even the amount of time the chancellor puts in is secondary to an employee of the University in the late 1960s.

She is said to have died of a heart attack while on the job, but still performs her duties, continuing to work well after the time she should have “clocked out.”

“I’m here by myself all the time at night,” said Grace Muhammad, a graduate assistant for supplemental instruction from Chicago. Muhammad shivered slightly after hearing the legend, but still maintained a smile. “I’ve never seen anything while I was here, but I believe there are things beyond what we see.”

Although not the most terrifying of the University’s horror stories, the “ghost light,” also known as “Henry” in Shyrock is the most well known.

The story is simply that of an insubordinate safety light. When workers in the building turn the switch on, the light goes off. When the switch is turned off, the light comes on.

“We call the light Henry,” said Jessir Carson, a senior in Spanish from Collinsville. “That was the name of the person the building is dedicated to. He died in his office and people say he haunts the building.

“They say you can see someone standing on stage, like a ‘Phantom of the Opera’ kind of thing.

Many individuals have taken the stage of Shryock Auditorium since its introduction in 1918.

The 26th U.S. president, William Howard Taft, gave the first lecture in the shadowy theater. But the appearance of SIUC’s fifth president, Henry William Shryock, is even more illuminating years after his death.

The legends do not end there.

There have been reports of missing items, mysterious closing doors and unexplainable footsteps in other campus buildings such as the Student Center and Arena.

“It’s amazing how many stories you hear,” said Thorne, who conducts a “Spirit Walk” every year, touring the haunted spots in Carbondale. “I guess they just have unfinished business, or, like the guy in the ‘Sixth Sense,’ they don’t know they’re dead yet.

“People like hearing these stories for the same reason they like horror movies so much. Also, we’re not certain what’s going to happen to us after life, and, basically, we like to be scared.”

The common consensus of most SIUC students and faculty is:If these walls could talk, they would say absolutely nothing.

But then again, they might just be waiting for the right time to speak out.

Reporter Jessica Yorama can be reached [email protected]