Creaking stairs, ghosts running through residence halls, haunted sorority houses, an equilateral triangle of cemeteries, and even a locked book that brings death to anyone who looks at its pages:  Welcome to Halloween in the second Salem, or as local students refer to it, just another Wednesday night at UW-Whitewater.

We’ve all heard the stories, but are there any grains of truth hidden in the ghostly tales? The rumors of a haunted Whitewater most likely sprouted from the Morris Pratt Institute, a school for spiritualism, which existed before UW-Whitewater was established. Even though the institute has been gone from the city for quite some time, students and community members alike continue to report mysterious happenings, especially around this time of year.

One of the most infamous stories is about a sinister book supposedly housed at the UW-Whitewater library. According to rumor, death would immediately come to anyone who looked at the pages of the book. In a 2009 Royal Purple article, University Archivist Karen Weston notes that she is asked about the book “once or twice yearly,” but that no such book exists. “No one in the library has ever been given a title, an author or publication information for this so-called book when patrons ask for it,” Weston said. “If such a book existed, we would expect that at least one of those pieces of information would be available.”

The next time you hear someone running through your res hall late at night when no one is around or see mysterious shadows looming around campus, you’ll have to decide for yourself: is it the haunted city itself, or just the haunting stories lingering in your mind?

Share your comments below! What stories do you have about Whitewater’s witches, ghosts, and other spiritual beings?