December 04, 2024

The Haunted Washroom of Building B: Algonquin's Toilet Ghost

December 04, 2024/ peyden mongrain

Alongquin College's Building B hallway with white cement walls and a brown tiled floor. — Photo by Miss g.

On the first floor of building B, down the hallway from room WB156, there’s a women’s washroom. The fluorescent lights are dim inside and sometimes they flicker on and off. Most, if it can be helped, usually avoid using this bathroom, insisting that it gives off a creepy vibe.

I was talking with my friend before class one day about it, confused as to why no one would step foot inside despite it seeming like a very normal washroom. She told me that a few years ago, there was a student named Delilah Morin who was in the last semester of her program. She was set to graduate with the rest of her peers, and she’d be doing the honours of the commencement speech.

However, Delilah had been getting bullied often by a group of girls since she’d started attending Algonquin. They’d whisper things as she walked past, trip her when she was rushing to class, and belittle her achievements. Amongst other things, it started getting to a point where Delilah was afraid of walking onto campus.

One day, a few weeks before graduation, Delilah excused herself from class and headed to the washroom. The group of girls followed her inside. My friend said no one knows exactly what happened, but Delilah never ending up walking out again. It was speculated the girls had drowned her as it was one student who found her in the last stall, hair drenched with toilet water. Once paramedics were called and the body had been taken away, the coroner ruled her death as accidental drowning.

Ever since that day, students and faculty alike avoid using it. Those who have the guile say the air feels thick inside, like breathing through a towel pressed to your mouth. Others have reported that stall doors creak open, faucets turn on and off, and never stop dripping, and most of all, the last stall locks automatically once you step inside and you have to crawl underneath the gap between the floor and the door to get out.

Intrigued, I decided to do a little more digging, and this is what I could find. While the college is closed at night, two students were dared to enter this specific bathroom by their friends. Too stubborn to decline, they ventured inside. When they came out again, roughly five minutes later, they were pale as ghosts and twice as silent. It took an hour for them to open up about what happened.

Washroom stall that has a dirty cement floor and beige walls, with a white toilet and toilet paper dispenser. — Photo by Ashley Fraser/POSTMEDIA

One of them said as soon as they walked inside, the lights flickered off and refused to come back on. Still, they pressed on and didn’t think much of it, using their phone flashlights as a solution. The other student described the feeling of being watched, like the walls were glaring at them. Either of them didn’t dare approach the last stall. When they turned to leave, one of them caught a small glimpse of a face peeking over last stall through the mirror. Too freaked out to investigate (that was probably the right idea), the two students bolted.

Now, there’s a lot of debate whether or not this story is actually true. Many want to believe the ghost of Delilah Morin haunts the washroom, while others think those two students lied for fun. But since I personally believe it to be true, I wanted to mention that this wouldn’t be the first haunting in a bathroom.

In Korean mythology, Cheuksin is a toilet goddess who waits until you’re vulnerable before wrapping her long hair around your neck, strangling you to death. In a Japanese urban legend, a young girl, Hanako-san, haunts a toilet. Supposedly, you can summon her by knocking three times while saying, “Hanako-san, are you there?” and she will answer before grabbing you and dragging you down the toilet. As for a more lighthearted tale, Harry Potter’s, Moaning Myrtle, is a young ghost named Myrtle Warren, and she haunts the girl’s bathroom on the second floor at Hogwarts.

While Delilah isn’t Cheuksin, or Hanako-san, or the harmless Moaning Myrtle, her story is widespread across Algonquin College because of the uncertainty surrounding her case. Did she actually accidentally drown, or did her death have something to do with the group of girls who followed her inside? Is she really haunting the last stall, or is it just a faulty lock?

Unfortunately, I’m too afraid to find out. I’ll gladly walk an extra minute or so to a different washroom if it means staying out of that one.

Peyden Mongrain has been a lover of the eerie and paranormal ever since she was young. She was born and raised in northern Ontario, but is currently enrolled in the Professional Writing program at Algonquin College in Ottawa. Her favourite thing to do is listen to scary stories either on Youtube, or reading them on Reddit. It doesn’t matter if they’re true or not because she just likes being afraid. She’s heard more than a few good scary stories and would be happy to tell them if asked.

November 17, 2024

Waverly Hills Sanatorium: Kentucky's Haunting Legacy

November 17, 2024/ peyden mongrain

First a schoolhouse to teach the young, next a sanatorium housing patients who were fighting against the deadly disease tuberculosis, Waverly Hills Sanitorium in Louisville, Kentucky, was dubbed one of the most haunted places in America. The sanatorium was first opened in 1910 as a small, one-story building, housing a little over forty patients. But with the increase in the tuberculosis epidemic, it went under renovations to expand its walls. In 1926, it officially reopened as a five-story facility with over 100 different rooms. The addition allowed over 400 patients to move in.

Due to the diseases highly contagious nature, the sanatorium was built on top of a secluded hill for quarantine reasons, but also so the patients could be at peace and have lots of fresh air, which, at the time, was believed to relieve symptoms. While the patients were treated with the upmost care, it was rumoured that, according to the owner, Tina Mattingly, doctors used electroshock therapy on those whose tuberculosis had spread to the brain.

The number of deaths within its walls sparks controversy as some estimate the number to be 3,000 to 6,000, while others believe the number to be much higher, approximately 60,000 to 63,000. Although, no one can know for sure since there are no longer any patient records available.

The sanatorium was officially closed in 1961 after medical treatment for the lung disease became widespread around the country and there were less patients being admitted.

The Body Chute

One of the more infamous parts of the sanatorium is a 500 ft. underground tunnel that leads all the way down the hill. It’s referred to as the “death tunnel” or the “body chute” as it originally was designed to transport deceased patients discreetly. This was done to maintain a sense of peace and morale to the living patients.

Although, it has also been said that the tunnel had a much more lighthearted history, only used to carry transported good into the facility. The tunnel would’ve been used this way to ensure quarantine from the outside world.

Timmy the Ghost

On the third floor, people have reported seeing a young, spectral boy who loves to play ball. He has come to be known as Timmy. Visitors of the sanatorium are encouraged to bring their own ball to play with him. It’s said if you were to throw it down the hallway, it would come back, like a ghostly game of catch.

One instance of this is showcased on the popular Youtube channel, BuzzFeed Unsolved, where Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej explore Waverly Hills. After throwing the ball down the dark hallway, Ryan and Shane go to retrieve the ball only to find it sitting directly under the graffitied name “Ryan”.

Whether it be a coincidence or something more sinister, we’ll never know for sure.

The Elevator Shaft

Also on the third floor, people have reported seeing a homeless man and his dog wandering the halls. When the sanatorium sat in disuse, the homeless man was said to have squatted here, but unfortunately passed away when he and his dog fell down the elevator shaft. Some say it was an accident, but others speculate he’d been pushed.

While I cannot find any actual reports of the death of these two other than what has been said by the owner, Mattingly, it’s still a highlighted component of the mystery surrounding the sanatorium.

Room 502

Another infamous part of the sanatorium is room 502 on the top floor. It’s deemed as one of the more “active” rooms when relating to ghost activity. The room seemingly has an off-putting vibe once you step inside, and people often report hearing voices and seeing shadowy figures out of the corner of their eye.

The room gained its reputation after the story of a nurse, Mary Hillenburg, committed suicide by hanging herself on a light fixture in 1928. No one knows why, but it’s believed that she was pregnant out of wedlock from a doctor at the sanatorium. In 1932, the room had also seen yet another death, where an unnamed nurse apparently jumped from roof. Like the homeless man and his dog, it was suggested that the nurse could have been maliciously pushed instead.

There is also a rumour that a young boy who was a patient there fell off the roof, but it may just be the ghost stories entangling. It could have been a young boy who fell, or it could have been the unknown nurse who jumped. Or perhaps it was both.

While some rooms are said to be more active than others, most visitors have noted that the entire sanatorium seems to hold a dark atmosphere. Encounters range from phantom footsteps that follow wherever you go, disembodied voices, and figures appearing in windows.

As of today, Waverly Hills Sanatorium offers historical, paranormal, public, and private tours as well as special events for funding reasons. All I know is I will never willingly step inside.

October 16, 2024

The Goatman: A Lurker in the Woods

October 16, 2024/ peyden mongrain

With stories all across North America, from Texas, the United States to Ontario, Canada, the urban legend of the Goatman is one that dates thousands of years ago. Way back when, he would’ve been considered a Satyr, a male creature that is half-goat, half-man, with an insatiable taste for women. Now, however, he’s seen as a figure of horror. Depicted as a large and beastly, humanoid figure with the goat-like features, he is said to lurk in the forests and prey on unsuspecting campers that have crossed onto his territory.

Since there are many popular stories of his origin, from Old Alton Bridge in Texas in the 1930s, to the Goatman that haunts Prince George’s County, to sightings all over Maryland and Virginia, it’s hard to track down where he seemingly came from. The legend has been spun countless times, each a different story with its own special twist. Some say he means no harm, while others depict him as a vengeful spirit who drags off those who dare impose on his land.

Witnesses of these stories seemingly reported hearing strange sounds around their tent at night, glowing red eyes staring at them from far off into the woods, and most notably, how quiet the forest would get. No crickets, or birds, or wind, just the sound of hooves clopping in the distance that slowly grew closer. They would all feel the same sense of dread, an underlying fear that they were in the wrong place. Supposedly, the Goatman also had the ability to lure people into the woods by mimicking human voices, but I’m not sure if I believe that notion.

I grew up with this legend and, to me, the Goatman seemed plausible because of a lesser-known story that happened here, in Ontario, Canada, and has personally happened to an old supervisor of mine up by Elliot Lake.

A few summers ago, on a camping trip, we were all gathered around the campfire about to call it a night and settle into our tents when one of our supervisors stepped forward. He asked if we wanted to hear a scary story. We, of course, said yes because who doesn’t like telling ghost stories around a campfire?

He started off by telling how him and his buddies back in 2017 went on a three-day camping trip to end off the summer. They drank, fished, swam, and ate copious amounts beef jerky. But then it got dark. So, they settled in for the night around the campfire much like we did and began telling their own stories. None of them had heard the forest grow quiet because, in my supervisors’ words, they were yelling around and being idiots. They hadn’t even noticed that someone else had joined them by the fire.

A few more drinks later, my supervisor turned to one of his friends only to realize he wasn’t standing beside his friend anymore, it was a man he’d never seen before. Tall and lanky with a weird look in his eyes, my supervisor described. He didn’t think much of it because there were other campsites around with people who were also camping in the area. He asked who he was and if he wanted a drink, and this caught the attention of his friends. They all began questioning him because they didn’t understand how they hadn’t notice him before, but the man said nothing at first and just stared.

My supervisor’s face had turned pale when he explained what happened next. He said when the man opened his mouth, it sounded like it was supposed to be human, but something felt off. It was quiet for a moment before one of his friends suddenly shrieked, “What the hell’s wrong with his legs?” And that’s when the man took off into the forest quickly. One second, he was there and the next, he was gone in a direction where no other campsites were situated.

They returned to their tents after that, chalking it up to a weird man creeping on campers, but my supervisor said he’d never forget the faint sound of hooves thudding around outside his tent.

Whether the story’s real or not, I still get a small shiver up my spine when I saw how disturbed my supervisor seemed when recounting it. And whether the legend remains real or not, I do not want to find out.

Sources:

https://boundarystones.weta.org/2023/10/27/goatman-prince-georges-county

https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/goatman-denton-old-alton-bridge-texas-cryptids-lynching/#:~:text=The%20lore%20says%20that%20as,never%20does%2C%E2%80%9D%20Treat%20explains.

https://web.pdx.edu/~tdehart/Madam%20Mythos/Countries/Med/Profiles/Satyr/satyr.html#:~:text=%22Satyrs%20were%20male%20creatures%20who,known%20as%20Maenads%20or%20Bacchantes).