From ivy-covered asylums to haunted dorm rooms with sealed doors, America’s college campuses have more ghost stories than frat parties. Whether you’re a paranormal junkie or just love a good scare, these seven campuses have legends that will make you keep one eye open during your next late-night study session.
1. Ohio University — Athens, Ohio
Ohio University isn’t just one of the oldest campuses in the U.S. It’s also one of the most haunted. The Ridges, a sprawling 19th-century asylum turned art museum, still gives visitors chills with its eerie hallways and ghostly legends. Students whisper about Wilson Hall’s mysterious Room 428, which was reportedly sealed off after repeated “unexplained activity.” If you ever find yourself on College Green after midnight… don’t look back. Learn more about the haunting here.
2. Gettysburg College — Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Located on the site of one of the bloodiest battles in American history, Gettysburg College’s Pennsylvania Hall once served as a Civil War hospital. Students and security guards have reported ghostly soldiers wandering the halls, and one infamous elevator story involves a “trip” to the basement that revealed a scene from 1863, complete with wounded soldiers. This is among other spooky stories at Gettysburg. History class doesn’t get more immersive than that.
3. Kenyon College — Gambier, Ohio
Kenyon’s Old Kenyon dormitory is straight out of a Gothic novel — and it has the ghost stories to match. After a tragic fire in 1949, students began reporting whispers, slamming doors, and flickering lights when no one was around. The surrounding woods, fog, and quiet Ohio nights only add to the unnerving vibe. Perfect backdrop for a late-night “study” session… if you dare.
4. Fordham University — Bronx, New York
At Fordham’s Rose Hill campus, you don’t need a ghost tour — the Gothic architecture does half the work. Finlay Hall was once a medical school morgue, and students say the spirits never quite checked out. Even creepier? Parts of The Exorcist were filmed here. Coincidence… or something darker?
5. Penn State University — State College, Pennsylvania
The Old Botany Building, across from Schwab Auditorium, is said to be home to Frances Atherton — the wife of the university’s fourth president — who still “checks in” from her second-floor window. Students have spotted her ghost staring toward her husband’s grave late at night. Add in the legend of Old Coaly, the campus mule whose braying still echoes through the quad, and you’ve got a full paranormal lineup.
6. University of Georgia — Athens, Georgia
Old College is one of the oldest university buildings in the South — and some say it’s never empty. The spirit of a Confederate soldier supposedly roams the halls, while the debating rooms of Demosthenian Hall echo with mysterious footsteps. Combine that with the eerie Southern Gothic vibe, and UGA becomes a campus straight out of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
7. University of Tampa — Tampa, Florida
With its minarets, arches, and gilded domes, Plant Hall looks more like a haunted palace than a lecture building. Once a luxury hotel in the Gilded Age, the building now hosts classes — and allegedly, a few spectral guests who never checked out. Students say you can hear faint piano music drifting through the halls late at night… and no, there’s no one in the music room.