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Babe Ruth, Boston Strangler may haunt dorms

Someone knocks on the door, but no one’s there. Buildings ‘ Grounds heads out to make a repair, but no one called in the request.

These stories are part of the haunted history of Boston University’s residences halls that also includes ghost tales of murder victims, suicides and a famous baseball player.

Shelton Hall residents said their dormitory has had weird occurrences on a regular basis, and some students said a ghost frequently haunts the building.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Eugene O’Neill, who lived and died in what is now Shelton, is rumored to have drunk himself to death in his fourth floor room. Students now living on the floor report that his presence is still there.

Director of Housing Marc Robillard said he also believes there may be ‘a little Eugene O’Neill left in that building.’ Robillard said Shelton’s 80-year history fuels many rumors.

‘If Shelton Hall could talk, I’m sure it would have a lot of stories to tell,’ Robillard said.

Although Shelton Hall Area Director Rebekah Freeman has never seen a ghost, she tries to avoid the fourth floor when she is in the building alone.

‘People say they hear weird noises,’ Freeman said. ‘I don’t like to go up there.’

Freeman said former summer housing coordinator Steve Weiss reported many strange occurrences this summer in Shelton.

‘There were rumors of B’G coming to fix things around the building without Steve putting in a request,’ Freeman said.

Freeman said Weiss shared stories of doors opening and toilets flushing with no one around and said he may have proof of the ghost.

‘There’s a picture floating around with, what some say, may be a ghost,’ Freeman said.

CAS sophomore Katharine Kerber, who lives on the fourth floor, said she has witnessed strange things there.

‘It’s just generally very eerie,’ Kerber said. ‘Lights are much darker on this floor then they are on others.’

Kerber said though she has never encountered a ghost, she has had other mysterious experiences.

‘I’ll hear a knock on the door, and no one will be there,’ Kerber said. ‘One time I heard someone knocking on the walls, but no one was in the next room.’

Kerber said she could feel the presence of someone else with her when she’s alone in her room, and the blinds sometimes move even when the window is closed.

Another setting for ghostly tales is Myles Standish Hall, which has a history of famous guests, said Myles Area Director Daryl Healea.

‘It has been rumored that Babe Ruth stayed here when playing the Red Sox,’ Healea said. ‘There are also vague references made about [Myles] in Arthur Miller’s ‘Death of a Salesman.”

According to College of Arts and Sciences senior Dan Fredholm, the connection to Arthur Miller and ‘Death of a Salesman’ is even eerier than first appears.

‘Arthur Miller based ‘Death of a Salesman’ on his uncle who killed himself on the ninth floor,’ of the building, Fredholm said.

Though Fredholm said he has not had any surreal experiences himself, he has heard plenty of odd stories.

‘Last year two girls living on the fifth floor came back to their room and their drawers were pulled out and chairs were moved around,’ Fredholm said.

The Boston Strangler made 515 Park Dr. famous in the 1960s when one of the last victims he killed lived in the building.

According to Robillard, some students now believe the murderer haunts their building.

‘Who knows if its truly haunted or not?’ Robillard said.

Although 515 Park Dr. housed only theology students at the time of the Strangler, a rather sinister university building code still remains: 666.

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