In the spirit of Halloween, we have tried to think of some activities to get us into the mood for such a spooky holiday. We thought of traditional activities like trick-or-treating, visiting haunted houses, and decorating, but soon realized that there was a much cheaper option right under our noses. We decided to visit the scariest places on Goshen College’s campus and publish a list for any of our readers that might be interested in doing the same. Warning: this list is not for the faint of heart.

Visual Arts Building: Rumor has it that this site has a ghost — scary, we know. With this building being one of the oldest on campus, it’s a given that this would be a spooky spot. At night, when we did our research, there happens to be a welcoming face at the keycard entrance that is definitely frightening.

Union Building: Some of the scariest storage spaces and stairwells can be found in this building. You take one wrong turn, and suddenly you’re walking into a poorly lit dead end with no apparent way out.

Wyse 215: This classroom is one that nursing students know well, but we didn’t know about until our research. For those not as familiar with the space, it is filled with mannequins that are used in labs for the nursing program. When you walk in, it seems like they’re all staring, which can get pretty freaky. It’s so unsettling, but the scariest part about this room is that it can be reserved for meetings.

Campus Laundry Rooms: We’ve seen things. Horrible things. These sites should be covered on campus tours to let prospective students know how scary college can really be. I don’t think we need to go into much more detail.

Music Center Lobby: You may be wondering, “Why is this spot so scary? It’s very well-lit, and a pretty new building on campus.” The problem isn’t the building. When you walk through the Music Center, the directors of ensembles will try and recruit you to get involved with music faster than a cult leader could get anyone to join any cult (though it also could be argued that all the ensembles are cults, we digress). We know that everyone experienced Scott’s recruitment at the opening convocation, but trust that we’ve seen worse. The directors also seem to know exactly when outsiders walk in, and have no shame asking what musical ability people possess. 

Science Hall 316: This is a room that even we are too afraid to go into. We’ve heard too many stories of students who have left in extreme distress. It’s hard to know what can be found within the walls of this room, and we hope to never find out.

Diego Torres and Wes Beck’s Room: Wow, this room is so scary. Every person that has made it out alive seems to have had life-altering experiences. We were so scared, we had to go in with protection: a trusty pickaxe found on the mantel at Howell House, left there for accessibility for that room specifically. We honestly took the bullet for everyone on this one, because we are forever changed and hope to never have to go back.

We thank you for taking the time to read about GC’s scariest locations, and we hope that this provides some ideas for this upcoming weekend. If you happen to visit the sites listed, let us know! We would love to hear from anyone who has the guts to get to each of the sites.