Ghost of Lambda Chi Alpha? PHOTO CREDIT: uri.edu
Disclaimer: This adaptation is meant to be spooky and fun and not scare the Lambda Chi Alpha brothers or anyone else. Also, this legend may or may not be true.
Continuing on with our spooky series, we will turn to the University of Rhode Island. Specifically, Greek Life. Did you not know that there are ghosts that haunt some Greek houses at URI? Since Halloween is only 3 weeks away, let’s dig into one of them.
In the 1800s, at 29 Old North Road, which is the current address of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity house, there lived a family of three. There was a governor, his wife and their daughter Abigail. The family rented the house during the summer to be nearer to the South County beaches.
One day, Abigail was walking down the stairs to breakfast. Knowing that the stairs were creaky and needed to be renovated, she walked down slowly, but it wasn’t slow enough. On the fourth step down, she fell straight through, hitting the basement floor. Hearing the crack, her parents ran down the newly finished basement stairwell. When they opened the door, they found their only child dead on the ground drenched in blood.
Her ghostly presence still lingers today. Some residents say that “HELP” has been printed on the stairwell wall and no matter how many times it’s been painted over, it still bleeds through.
Also, there have been recurring noises around the house. There have been accounts of sounds in the attic of people playing pool and ping pong balls bouncing and no one would be there. Doors would rattle as if somebody was trying to get out.
There have also been issues with students and visitors’ electronic devices. One woman was at a tour of the house when she noticed that her phone battery had died. Then a few moments later, a text message came in and her phone was fully charged again. Another resident said that he turned his iPod off and put it in the desk drawer. Suddenly, it started playing music in the drawer.
A similar incident occurred where one brother of Lambda Chi Alpha was in the basement and saw no bars of service. All of a sudden, an unknown call came in with the voice of an elderly woman, which gave him goosebumps. She said, “Mama, I’m here!”
Lastly, room seven seems to be the most haunted space of all. Reports have said that an apparition of a white moving figure; most likely a woman, appeared at night and one of the residents had the covers pulled off of him. The bathroom was suddenly steamy and “welcome” was written on the mirror.
Whether these accounts are true or not or have a reasonable explanation, they are definitely unusual. You can think what you want, as these accounts were made around 2006, her presence may have left. Plus, the house itself is old as it was built in 1909, and needs constant repairs
To find out more, watch “Frighternity,” Season Eight, Episode Seven of Ghost Hunters on Discovery+ where two people search the house for Abigail to help both the brothers and her.