By MacKenzie Brady
Student Life Editor
Every year, various Washington College clubs and organizations host free Hallow- een-themed events to celebrate the spooky holiday.
One of these organizations is WC’s History Society, who will be sponsoring ghost tours from Oct. 27-31, 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. There will be three tours a night, each lasting 15 to 20 minutes.
Those interested in taking the tour should plan to meet by George’s head in front of Hodson for either the 8 p.m., 8:39 p.m., or 9 p.m. tour slot.
“The Ghost Tours are based on news stories related to spooky happenings on or around campus that affected students,” senior and President of the History Society Mari Mullane said.
“The tours only travel around campus with stories being told by the buildings/areas they relate to most,” she said.
“The tour guide [a History Society member] will tell stories that we have researched at club meetings and have checked for accuracy,” junior and Vice President of the History Society Lauren Souder said.
Both Mullane and Souder’s favorite story on the tour is what they refer to as “The Whirlpool Story,” where a whirlpool drowned a former president’s secretary.
“We’d been looking for stories related to campus for hours last year when I suddenly found it in the America’s Historical Newspapers database,” Mullane said. “It’s a fun story that raises a lot of questions and sounds a bit fantastical, making it the perfect story for a ghost tour.”
“It sounds absolutely ridiculous, but we have definitive proof that it happened,” Souder said of the same story. “The ending is so open ended that it leads to many theories and questions, which makes for a great story.”
While all the stories they will be telling are true and focus on deaths or accidents that have happened on campus, the History Society will not share stories of events post 1950 out of re- spect for anyone who may have connections to any of the events and those families they may be speaking about.
“We are also adding new stories from last year, so even if someone has taken the tour before there will be new stories for them to hear,” Mullane said.
Another option for getting spooked is the annual Middle Hall Haunted House, which will take place on Nov. 2 from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
This year’s Haunted House will be on three floors, each with a different theme.
“Our themes this year are super exciting: a statue garden/Medusa type deal in the basement, a spider-themed floor, and a super spooky haunted birthday party,” sophomore and Vice President of Middle Hall Council Teddy Friedline said.
“My favorite part of the Haunted House is being a guide,” sophomore and President of the Middle Hall Council Emma Markus said. “It’s always so exciting to see how people respond to the different floors.”
The Middle Haunted House is not open to the public and is meant only for students.