Folklore ghost walk takes students past IU spooks

The spirit of a girl has been seen at Read Center. Lights have gone off at La Casa. Screams have been heard at the Career Development Center. \nNobody can confirm if they're true, but a select number of academic buildings, residence halls and green spaces on campus are reportedly home to ghosts. \nTo tell the histories of these stories, just four days before Halloween, the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology will hold its annual campus ghost walk tonight, beginning at McNutt Quad and ending at the Career Development Center on North Jordan Avenue. Another walk, starting at the Department of Folklore at 504 N. Fess Ave. and covering the south end of campus, will be held Friday evening. \n"People are curious about the stories from the area," said Rhonda Dass, an organizer of the event and graduate student in the department. "It's nice to know those little tidbits about the school you attend or your own community."\nThe guided walk, now in its fifth year, takes participants around campus, mixing in ghost stories and folklore legends at appropriate stops along the way. \nAt the Career Development Center, Director Patrick Donahue will describe the spooky details of the building's 100-year history, which previously served as a fraternity and even earlier, a private doctor's residence.\nQuoting legends, Donahue said a contractor at the turn of the century is rumored to have shot himself in the basement of the house after realizing the debts associated with construction. Another legend describes the death of a 17-year-old girl who supposedly died after receiving an illegal abortion from her doctor. The doctor was put in jail and is said to have hanged himself in the stairwell of the building after receiving bond. \nDonahue said in the past staff members have heard the cry of a nonexistent baby and have felt a cold hand touch their backs as they climbed the stairs. Both events were attributed to the deaths in the house. \n"We don't believe in them but we are certainly cautious in our beliefs, especially around the time of Halloween," he said. \nAt the La Casa Latino Cultural Center, staffers have reportedly seen a woman turn on lights after the building was closed for the night and have heard a typewriter move, even when it was unplugged. \nLillian Casillas, director of the center, said some staffers are afraid of the mysterious woman, while others hope to see her. \n"I have people who want to see her because they're curious," she said. "Whether she's real or not, I don't know, but she is a part of the history of La Casa." \nDass said one of the more famous ghosts, a woman in a yellow dress, is said to have been killed by her boyfriend near Read Center, where her spirit has remained ever since. \nShe said there's no way to prove if the stories are true, but that's what makes them interesting.\n"It's an incredible amount of knowledge passed on about the area through these stories," she said. "And most of all, it's really fun"