December 05, 2024

T Building Terror: A Ghost Story

December 05, 2024/ Guest User

Busting ghosts isn’t on everyone’s bucket list for school, but anything to get that ‘A’, right? For the students at Algonquin College, this is a real struggle they have to face when attending classes.

Specifically designated to the T building, there have been numerous reports of strange incidents that have been taking place. Thus, the culprit has been dubbed the T Building Terror.

While in coordination with various students and faculty members, it has been determined that the culprit of the following incidents is a creature from beyond the earthly plane. A being who constantly looks forward to causing mischief and mayhem. We don’t know who it is, but the thought of a riled-up spirit roaming the halls certainly leaves me shaking in my boots.

Thankfully, investigating such places is my specialty. And who knows, maybe what we find is even more interesting than anyone could have imagined?

Pranks of the Century

As for the problems that have been occurring recently, they all appear to be childish pranks done by this trickster of a ghost. Some of these pranks include students being tripped by an invisible force in the hallway, food being flung randomly, laces being tied together, and backpacks being stolen. Some individuals have even said they feel a cold draft run up their spines in the warmest rooms, but that might just be the anxiety of lurking exams.

On the more serious aspect of things, the fire alarm has been getting pulled regularly, causing an influx of panic within the students and faculty. Based on surveillance, the mischievous creature has a knack for it.

One student, who has requested to remain anonymous, has reported sightings of smoke coming through the vents in the third-floor bathrooms, which may be the trigger for the fire alarms. Perhaps it’s another display for attention from the Terror itself? Luckily, there are no signs of tampering around the area, but nobody can quite figure out how this is happening.

The Truth Emerges

While doing some digging on who this ghost may be, I stumbled across something interesting. In the old accident reports, I found numerous papers dating back to the early eighties. There was one student in particular whose name came up frequently. Keerie Michaels.

Many of the incidents reported with Keerie involved acts of bullying that were never dealt with. He would get tripped in the hallway, his things stolen, his laces tied together when he wasn’t looking, food flung at him… until one prank rivalled them all. The prank to end all pranks.

Keerie was in the third-floor men’s bathroom when this happened. He was by himself, and the bathroom started filling with smoke through the vents. When he tried to escape, the door was locked, and there was no other way out. Even as the fire alarms started blaring, Keerie was stuck. He died in that bathroom, only being found when the boys that bullied him finally opened the door again.

So now it’s Keerie’s ghost who roams the halls of T building, seeking revenge against the ones who wronged him.

Last Words

Unfortunately, due to these incidents and the seriousness of their nature, faculty of Algonquin College has put out a statement that they, “Do not want any more harm to come to their students,” and that, “they will be taking precautions to protect and ensure a safe learning environment”.

Thus, I leave you with a list of precautions to take when traversing the T building grounds that will assist you in avoiding any run-ins with a particular ghost.

Wear shoes without laces: this hinders the possibility of the laces being tied together.

Keep your backpack on you at all times so it cannot be stolen.

Avoid the third-floor bathrooms if you can, to ensure nobody ends up trapped inside.

And finally, the school is also taking precautions of their own for the more serious incidents, like having more security around T building, and making fire alarms harder to pull for nifty poltergeist fingers.

Anders Bourne is a creative person with a love of quiet places and his pets. He grew up in the small town of Chalk River, Ontario and went on to study Professional Writing at Algonquin College. He enjoys various arts, such as drawing, music, and writing—if you consider it an artform. He certainly does, and depicting the scary tales of the world, from the paranormal stories of ghosts and the otherworldly to the immoral creatures that lurk in the night, feasting on our fear.

November 21, 2024

A Letter to Lucille

November 21, 2024/ Guest User

Lucille,

If you haven’t realized, I struggled with my memory after you passed. What I can’t seem to forget is your twisted, mangled face that showed up at the end of my bed every night, reminding me of the fact that you’re not really with me anymore.

I remember it like it was yesterday, even if it was over two years ago by now. We were just sitting together, watching our show like we did every night. The Big Bang Theory. It was your favourite, no matter how many times you watched it on repeat. I didn’t care about how boring I thought it was; your laugh whenever they told some stupid joke or did something ridiculous made it worth it.

I haven’t been able to watch that show since that night. I can’t get the sound of your screaming out of my head. All while I stood there frozen with fear, unable to do anything except watch as your life was taken from me right before my very eyes. “A robbery gone wrong,” was how the news described it.

I drank myself to ruin after your funeral, wishing and praying upon some useless star that somehow, I was the crazy one. Guilt and grief clawed at my throat, making the vodka I swallowed burn more with every shot I took.

After so many blurry nights, so many empty bottles, I couldn’t think of anything besides you. I lost my friends, my job, and I’ll probably lose the home we built together next. But these walls felt cold without you lying in bed next to me.

Every night, whenever I went to sleep, the state your murderer left you in when he broke in and stole you from me haunted the back of my eyes. You haunted me in my dreams, and then you haunted me in the waking world too.

When I saw you for the first time, I couldn’t believe it. Despite how mangled and mutilated your face was, you were there, peering at me from the end of my bed. You didn’t say anything to me, and I didn’t say anything either. It didn’t matter if I could only see your head peeking out over the end of my bed, or the way your lithe fingers slid up to hold the footboard. It was you. Your nails were chipped and broken; covered in dirt and grime, like you had clawed your way out of the casket—out of the grave I buried you in. I thought, “maybe it’s just the alcohol again?” But no. You were there. Your long, dark hair was tattered, covered in mud and grease, but I knew it was you.

We only stared at each other, my heart thrumming violently in my ears with fear, and before I could realize it, you were gone again. Gone like the whisper of a ghost. I faintly remember my instinctive reaction: scrambling to reach for you. At least, that is what I willed myself to do. Yet, I stayed paralyzed to my bed, my own body and mind mocking me in the face of losing you once again.

Your soul was destined to not allow me to rest, even after your death. Or perhaps, it was I who did not allow you to rest?

Then you showed up again, and again, and again. The same thing happened every night. And eventually, my heart didn’t beat so hard against my chest. I wasn’t paralyzed with fear; rather, there was a comfort that flowed through my bones.

After seeing your face so many times, unmoving from the end of my bed, I knew you weren’t there to harm me. You were just watching over me, like we had promised each other in our vows. Your ghost wasn’t haunting me, you just wanted to show me you weren’t angry. That it wasn’t my fault.

Lucille, when you do eventually leave me again, when your presence no longer comforts my dreams, I think I’ll be okay this time. And when I finally join you in that casket buried six feet down, we’ll be together again, just the two of us.

To the stars and beyond, may we rest in peace.

October 27, 2024

The Haunted History: 3 Chilling Tales

October 27, 2024/ Guest User

Ghost stories and haunted places have always held a specific place within the vast love of horror and the paranormal for the curious. There are a few particular places that I have found to be wildly fascinating and evoke a serious sense of curiosity within. On top of that, many of these stories that end up documented are tragic and decrepit, but despite how gory and gruesome things get, I have the sole belief that it is important to remember the dead, no matter how they may appear to us. Thus, these are my top three favourite spooky places and some stories they have to tell.

The Tower of London

When it comes to ghosts and phantoms, the Tower of London reigns supreme as one of the most haunted places, at least in England, merely due to the volume of tragic events which have taken place on these grounds.

Back in the Middles Ages, the Tower of London was famously known for its grim history of public executions while the castle was used as a prison. One of the most famous individuals that were executed at the tower were Queen Anne Boleyn, who was beheaded on Tower Green following the accusations of adultery just three years after her marriage to Henry VIII. It is believed that a headless Anne and her procession of knights and ladies haunt the Green Tower, looming amongst the halls in the dead of night, following a dimly lit torch. Anne is just one of the headless women that have been reportedly seen. Among the executions at Green Tower, the beheading of Margaret Pole took place, improperly at that.

Eastern State Penitentiary

Among various rumours and stories that stem from the Eastern State Penitentiary, there are a few happenings that are frequently reported by visitors. One of the most notable instances happen to be within Cellblock 4, where visitors have reported intense negative feelings and even various sightings of unidentified movements.

This place in particular sparks interest in plenty of people largely due to the mass historic elements that has taken place within the torn and battered walls of the Eastern State Penitentiary. In fact, one of the most notable things the prison was known for was its unethical practices of reformation, which eventually ended up causing its closure. There is one incident in particular that stands out amongst the rest, and that belongs to the death of Mathias Maccumsey, who was subjected to the torture of the “iron gag” as punishment for speaking to the other inmates, which was disallowed as a means of “reform”.

The purpose of the gag is like any other, to prevent the individual from speaking. Unfortunately, the gag is highly suspected to have led to Mathias’ death, who was found dead in his cell merely an hour after being placed in the gag, which was place on the tongue and around the jaw. The chains attached to the gag connected to the ones on his wrists so that pressure was applied to his jaw and tongue with movement.

Photo by: Library company of Philadephia

The Island of The Dead Dolls

Although this island near Mexico City, Mexico is eerily spooky and chilling, the story behind it is rather tragic. These creepy dolls were placed around the island by a man named Don Julian Santana Barrera, who was the caretaker of the island.

The way the story goes is that Julian came across a little girl drowned in the river and was unable to save her life. To show respect to her, Julian hung the doll he found not far from where the little girl drowned on a tree. Unfortunately, his grief and guilt did not stop there, and Julian continued to collect hundreds of dolls, hanging them all across the island as a means to appease the spirit of the girl, who he believed was inhabiting the dolls. It is reported that Julian was found dead 50 years later by drowning mysteriously in the same spot that he found the little girl. Does it make you wonder if it was really an accident, or if there was something else at play that wanted attention?

Even to this day, visitors and occupants of the island have reported various sightings of movement from these dolls. That those with heads, or even just the hanging heads, will turn to watch passersby, and that the eyes will even blink. Despite Julian’s death in 2001, more dolls are still being added to this island, and perhaps they will be until the island becomes overrun with creepy dolls.

Sources:

https://sailingstonetravel.com/eastern-state-penitentiary/

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tower-of-London

https://great-castles.com/londonghost.html

https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/eastern-state-penitentiary/

https://isladelasmunecas.com/

Anders Bourne is a creative person with a love for quiet places and his pets. He grew up in the small town of Chalk River, Ontario and went on to study Professional Writing at Algonquin College. He enjoys various arts, such as drawing, music, and writing—if you consider it an artform. He certainly does, and depicting the scary tales of the world, from the paranormal stories of ghosts and the otherworldly to the immoral creatures that lurk in the night, feasting on our fear.

Paranormal experiences