October brings thrilling "haunted" houses and trails like Scarevania, but these Muncie locations and their spirit residents are present year round.
Bracken Library
Bracken Library is home to stressed and sleep-deprived students, but it’s also a haven for its fair share of ghosts.
Tragedy struck Bracken early on when two construction workers died during the process of its construction, according to the Orient, Ball State’s former yearbook.
Perhaps these are the shadows and voices nighttime custodian George Adams, 56, has encountered during his shift.
“Late at night you’ll think you see someone walk by the bookshelves and no one will be there,” he said.
Adams has numerous tales of hearing noises when he was sure he was cleaning alone.
“It always feels like someone is watching you,” he said.
One time, he and a female co-worker were waiting on what they thought was a female student in a restroom.
“We were trying to clean but we didn’t go in because we could hear that someone was in there. We waited and waited and when no one came out I sent her in, but there was no one in there,” he said.
Whether or not ghosts haunt the floors of Bracken, all employees can expect a visit from at least one unwelcome caller — bats. Adams said they frequently turn up in Bracken.
Elliott Hall
Coming back from war can be difficult, but for William Carl Shaumburg, it was unbearable. A severely disfigured face and the heartbreak of a recent break up tainted his return to Ball State after World War II.
He killed himself in Elliot Hall, according to “More Haunted Hoosier Trails: Folklore from Indiana's Spookiest Places” by Wanda Lou Willis.
Other books, including “Haunted Indiana: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Hoosier State,” have included his famous story.
Students have reported hearing what could be a table or a pair of feet being dragged across the floor, according to “Haunted Indiana.”
Elliott has gathered so much attention that paranormal investigator Jeff Davis visited the campus in 2005.
He called Ball State “very haunted” in his blog.
Although Elliott Hall has a reputation for its spirit-inhabited halls, apparently Schaumburg has been making himself scarce.
“I work desk staff at Elliott and nothing unusual happens," said freshman telecommunications major Madyson McGill. "The most that happens is that the radio sometimes has static that goes over it, but then nothing comes through."
Muncie Civic Theatre
The Muncie Civic Theatre, built in 1931, is a hidden gem within the city’s rich history, but some of its past guests have refused to comply with their final curtain call.
Chris Griffith, Muncie Civic Theatre business director, said that a team of paranormal investigators have actually visited the historical site in search of ghosts.
“It was like a television show when they were walking around with all of their equipment,” he said.
The scariest moment of their visit was when the investigators’ laser grid showed a figure walking toward them in the basement.
The theatre has some gruesome moments within its past as well, said Griffith.
“In 1935, a man hung himself upstairs after the his daughter died of the flu. At night one time I could hear skipping, like a little girl would, on the floor where he would have lived at the time,” he said.
The theatre’s ghosts may be walking around, but the employees take it in good spirits, assuming that their visitors are just that.
“We’re not scared, it’s just more or less kinda spooky sometimes,” Griffith said.
White Rabbit Books and Greek’s Pizzeria
The Village also has a spooky past, all starting at a grocery store.
Before White Rabbit Books and Greek’s Pizzeria came into being, a family named Beshara owned a grocery store that resided in the spot the two businesses occupy now.
Late one night, a butcher’s knife accidentally slipped, catching his femoral artery and causing his death, said White Rabbit owner Derek Edwards. He learned about the legend through Muncie residents during the early days of the bookstore.
The spirit is still lingering between his store and the pizza shop next door, he said.
Even though Edwards hasn’t experienced any unusual activity, he is aware of strange happenings going on at the store after hours.
“I let a friend study here after hours one night and he kept calling me, saying that the motion detector kept going off, even after he checked the entire store to see if anyone was there,” Edwards said with a laugh.
He then told his friend to shut the ceiling fan off in case dust was just being blown in front of the sensor. He even suggested taking the batteries out. The friend refused, however, scared that the sensor would continue to go off.
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