Matthew Hazlett/ The Towerlight

The haunting of Auburn House

If you’re an athlete, you may have visited the Auburn House once or twice. Located near the Towson Center, the large, white house was built in the 1800s. It was originally owned by Sheppard Pratt but was bought by the University in the 1970s. Legend has it that Martha was a maid in the house during the 1800s. One night there was a fire, and the only person caught inside was Martha, who burned to death. Now, her white, ghostly figure haunts the place.

“I know that people have said that they’ve seen a figure dressed in white or something along those lines,” Felicity Knox, a library associate to the archives, said.

After the University acquired the house during the 1970s they even built a pub in the basement in Martha’s honor called, “Martha’s Pub.”

However legends may be deceiving, Knox said. After she researched the archives of the Baltimore Sun, she found that there is no record of a woman being trapped in a fire at the Auburn House.

“I think if a maid had been tragically burned in a fire the Sun would have absolutely capitalized on that and said, ‘Horrific Fire Claims Innocent Life.’ So I am very suspicious about the idea that a maid named Martha was burned in a fire in the 1800s.”

Whether you believe the story or not, Martha’s legend will continue to exist along with the Auburn House.

Creatures of the night in Towson Run

Screams, thumps, and bumps can be heard through the walls of the Towson Run Apartments on any day, but as the cold air seeps in through the windows, things have begun to get creepier. If the creaking and squeaking has been keeping you up all night, you’re probably not the only one affected by the Towson Run night creatures. The sound of glass bottles breaking that echoes through the dark halls at night would scare some students, but many aren’t scared. Junior theatre design major Melissa Mawyer said she doesn’t believe in ghosts, but has heard some interesting things in her apartment. “I’ve heard weird clicking noises in the kitchen sometimes and I kind of get freaked out but I convince myself that it’s nothing,” Mawyer said. “But I’ve heard that other people have had some weird encounters.”

Matthew Hazlett/ The Towerlight

The ghost of Residence Tower

If you’ve ever been inside the Residence Tower on a windy day, you may have heard the ‘wooshing’ of the Res Tower ghost. His almighty gusts of wind are his attempt at pushing over the tower, according to legend. “I was in Res Tower once my freshman year,” senior psychology major Cole Brodsky said. “I think I remember faintly someone telling me that the building was haunted.” Besides sending the tower toppling to its grave, the Res Tower ghost is known to send gusts of wind into Quad hallways with no windows. Legend has it the ghost of Residence Tower is one of the most mysterious ghosts on campus. Only appearing when the weather is just right and the students are just scared enough to be affected by his howls.

Glentostrophic

When asked about eating at the Glen, many Towson students say they just don’t. “I don’t like the food,” freshman business administration major Brett Gleiche said. “The food quality is just bad.” Complaints like Gleiche’s can be heard across campus quite frequently, always referring to the Glen Dining Hall. But why is it that this one specific dining hall has received such a bad rep? Well, a monster has to eat.  Legend has it that a monster roams the basement of the Glen Dining Hall, sometimes making ominous groans that send chills through residents of the Towers walking home on blustery nights. The monster resides underneath the kitchens of the Glen, giving it the opportunity to make all the delicious dining hall food not so delicious anymore. The monster makes the food as unappetizing as possible—the less the students eat, the more it can feast on while you’re curled up in bed, unaware of its nightly shenanigans.

Fright nights of the Glen Woods

As fall sets in upon Towson’s campus, the crunch of leaves and the snap of a twig can be heard as students walk by the Glen Woods. During the day this may not seem so intimidating, as students can be seen taking a stroll, studying, or even practicing dance in the woods’ relaxing environment. The atmosphere changes, though, when night shrouds the trees in darkness. Reports of an unidentified figure have recently surfaced, begging the question—is something supernatural terrorizing students in the Glen Woods? Towson freshman Dan Baker once ventured into the Glen Woods at night, and lived to tell the story.

“I was there one time and it was really creepy,” Baker, an elementary education major, said, “I saw something and I don’t know what it was.” To this day, Baker said he is haunted by the mysterious figure, as he still has no clue what it could be. Towson students should take heed of Baker’s story, especially as Halloween approaches. Be wary of the Glen Woods and keep an eye out for its spooky new occupant.

Matthew Hazlett/ The Towerlight

The Glen’s creepy cottage

If you’ve ever taken a walk in the Glen Woods, you may have noticed the stone structures, including a small cottage that can be found in the woods just below Smith Hall. Students walk past the cottage frequently, unaware of the legend that haunts the spider-web laden building.

“[The structures] are a little bit creepy,” Colin Quigley, a freshman undecided major, said. Quigley said he believes that the structure could be haunted. “I’ve seen some sketchy things,” he said.

The cottage was built as part of Stella Brown’s dream to preserve the habitat of the Glen Woods as a place for students to meet and appreciate nature. The Glen Woods structures were built during the depression to provide work for those who needed it. Now, if you stand in the woods, an eerie silence falls over the 12 wooded acres and abandoned buildings. But if you look hard enough, you can imagine the workers constructing the cottage, stone by stone, working hard to earn money for food. Visiting the cottage on a weekend, when it is empty and no one ventures into the woods to enjoy the crisp fall weather, you might just be able to make out Stella Brown, still hoping for students to visit the meeting place and fulfill her dream from so long ago.

A Scarborough story

Underneath Scarborough and Prettyman Halls runs a tunnel. Originally created as a fallout shelter, the tunnel is now haunted by a ghost, who occasionally decides to re-visit the old side of campus.

The ghost, whose gender still is unidentified, most recently made an appearance last semester.

“I know that there was a girl on the third floor who was taking a nap, and she swore that she heard my friend, who lived on the second floor of Scarborough, yelling in her ear,” sophomore Kyle Wert said, who has lived in Scarborough for two years. “When she woke up, my friend was just on the floor below her in his room.”

Wert also said the ghost would play pranks on him last year, and he would always come back to find his refrigerator unplugged when he would leave for a long time.

“The freezer would always melt, and there’d be water all over the floor, it happened all the time,” he said.

Sophomore Kevin Shaughnessy, who has also lived in Scarborough for two years, said the ghost enjoyed playing mind games on everyone on the second floor last year.

“Sometimes, I’d wake up at 2 a.m. and I would hear this knocking sound like someone was at my door, but no one would be there, and then sometimes it would sound like the knocking was coming from the third floor,” Shaughnessy said.

Matthew Hazlett/ The Towerlight

Zombies of residence hall basements

In spring 2010, there was a Swine Flu outbreak. Anyone who fell victim was sent to live in the basements of the residence halls so as not to spread germs. Legend has it this is where the zombies of residence halls all began. Freshman pre-med major Jessie Whalen said she believes her residence hall is still haunted.

“I swear my room, 701 Tower A, is haunted. My TV turns off, my lights shut off, the bathroom door randomly shuts,” she said.

Could this be the zombies of the residence halls? Do they wake up from their dungeons and haunt the hallways, scaring students and resident assistants alike? Were these the same zombies that were unleashed during  ‘Survive Towson’?

– Sarah Becker, Megan Flannery, Daryllee Hale and Jonathan Munshaw contributed to this article