It is finally October, or as many people like to refer to it, Halloween month. I don’t know about many of you, but this has to be my favorite month. Not only because of the fall season, football and hot apple cider, but also because of Halloween and everything it encompasses.
Halloween has always been my personal favorite holiday, and since my dad shares this love, it has always been celebrated by my family to the fullest. With a love for all things spooky, it was only fitting that I joined the Ghost Hunting Team (now Paranormal Society) when I first came to the University of Rhode Island.
While you must approach this topic of ghosts, spirits, and things that go bump in the night carefully, I’ve had my share of experiences throughout my years with the club that are unexplainable, and make me believe that there is something else out there with us. For this lovely month of October, each week I will be sharing these stories with you so you can get a glimpse of what might be lurking next to you while you’re sitting in class.
Disclaimer: All of these stories have actually happened to either myself or other members of the group. Building names have been removed to prevent trespassing, as well as other security measures. URIPS is always legally allowed into all of these buildings thanks to our amazing friends at the campus police department, and those who work in the buildings.
First semester freshman year was my first experience with URIPS. I was lucky enough to join before an investigation took place, and my first week in the club I was thrown head first into seeing what it was all about. My first investigation was in an older building on the quadrangle. I remember the club splitting up into groups as we always do, and being put in a group with four others. Being new, I didn’t really know any of them, and I was nervous on top of it. Who wouldn’t be, going into a deserted building late at night to ghost hunt? However, my group turned out to be pretty strong, so it was fun.
My group was set to investigate the basement, so we trudged downstairs and decided our plan of action was going to be to split up; two of us were going to take one side and the other three the other side. Myself and two veteran members of the club made our way down the hallway and started to do an Electronic Voice Phenomenon, or EVP, session. This is where we ask questions to the darkness and see if we can get any replies.
Now, a lot of times you cannot hear things that happened and when you go back to listen to the recording, you hear something unexplainable. That wasn’t the case. The two boys and I were doing an EVP and talking, when out of nowhere we heard a scream. Not a drunken college student scream, a scream of someone in pain and scared. So naturally, I freaked out and ran out the basement door to see if there was anyone near the building that could’ve made that noise.
There wasn’t. I yelled to see if anyone was around. There still wasn’t anyone.
We checked if the other members of our group at the other end of the hallway heard it.
They didn’t.
It was fully recorded and stands as one unexplainable but amazing piece of evidence we have to this day. But the freaky part? A year prior, a group of girls in the club were in the basement of the same building. They weren’t recording but they heard a very similar scream. We were just the lucky group to catch it on recording. How’s that for my first time ghost hunting?