Happy Halloween!A few items from the room in the War College that the faculty won't go in after dark

This has nothing to do with politics, but it's in the spirit of Halloween.

I think I might have admitted when I first started this weblog, if there's one thing I enjoy besides politics, it's "true" ghost stories. At least, they are as true as the reader cares to allow them to be.

Along those lines, I think those shows where they get a team of people out ghost hunting are an absolute hoot. The Scariest Places on Earth, Ghost Hunters and my personal favorite, Most Haunted (on the travel channel) all provide me with a worthwhile couple of hours of entertainment weekly for what little television I watch.

Ghostly figures, objects moving inexplicably, things that go bump in the night, a distinct lack of hollywood actors, and a bunch of goofy people running in terror. What more do you need in television? They're generally pretty safe to watch with the kids, and it's hard to get bored with them because you never know what's going to happen next.

Ghost stories have been in human folklore for as long as humans have been around. It's rooted in our spirituality of believing in our spirits continuing after death. You have as many stories of people reaching out to a loved one who has passed away as you do stories of angry voices of people being instructed to "GET OUT" of a house. And those stories aren't going away anytime soon. So we might as well sit back and enjoy the tales.

In the spirit of these true ghost stories - if you're bored tonight, here's a few places in South Dakota where people have reported ghostly happenings. Most are private property, but there are a few where you can wander and check it out for yourself. (From the Shadowlands):

Belle Fourche - Belle Fourche High School - When an old Janitor was fixing the light in the gym he fell from the top and died and has haunting the school ever since. Kids see shadows all the time at night. The light that he was fixing flickers on and off in the gym.

Brookings - South Dakota State University - Doner Auditorium - A man that was a janitor in 1919, fell out of an alcove above the stage where an organ was located. The organ would randomly play for two years following his death until it was dismantled and scrapped. He causes a lot of electrical and technical problems if a specific prop is moved from the prop room, and also he's been seen as recently as 10/20/01... He doesn't seem to be lost, an authentic haunting, as he will react to words and waving. He's a wonderful spirit, but likes to cause trouble.

Custer - BH Playhouse Costume Room - is said to be haunted by a girl whos father was a miner there be fore it became the play house.? And that the girl haunts the costume room because that?s the room she stayed in.? Some times the costume people will leave the room one night with every thing put away and the next morning on the table will be a costume laid out perfectly.? They say that its the girl who laid it there.

Deadwood - Bullock Hotel - Its haunted by the sheriff of Deadwood and its namesake Seth Bullock. Seth was sheriff in the 1800's.

Deadwood - Green Door Brothel - unexplained footsteps are heard here.

Deadwood - Mount Mariah Cemetery - Such notorious characters as Wild Bill Hickock, Calamity Jane, Potato Creek Johnny and also Seth Bullock, mentioned in a former story, have been laid to rest here. Very mysterious presences and a feeling of being watched are felt here upon every visit.

Deadwood - The Bullock Hotel - It is now a hotel and casino, and many people believe the place to be haunted by the owner from the eighteen hundreds, Seth Bullock. Film crews have been to the Hotel in hopes of getting shots,

Eagle Butte - City Park - Late at night if you walk by you can hear the voice of a woman. A woman died behind the baseball field fence she was found frozen. You can here her moaning and scream's. There have been sighting of her late at night people see her walking around sometimes.

Ellsworth - Air Force Base - Missile site - The spirit of a pilot killed in a helicopter crash in the mid 1980's can be seen and heard upon entering the control room of the missile silo nearest to where his helicopter crashed. Before entering the control room, music is heard as if coming from a radio-there is no one in the room.
(I have a friend who was in the A.F. who claims to have heard the music personally -pp)

Firesteel - The Coal Mines - Back in the 1930's firesteel was a booming town after the discovery of coal. One day when all the miners were hard at work an explosion killed about 100 miners and to this day they say that if you get too close to the mines you can hear the voices of the miners hard at work. the town of firesteel was once a large and prosperous city but is now doomed as the people are driven away by the ghosts that haunt the old mines.

Flandreau - Flandreau Indian School - The Little Girl - Some time ago a little girl died in that school. Some say that she likes to play with you. She will tickle your feet at night when you are sleeping. If you take a shower on the girls side the little girl will mess with the curtain while you take a shower.

Fort Pierre - Old graveyard near Verendrye monument - Reports of voices and whispering is said to have taken place here. a lot of strange activity. eerie light and reflections.

Fort Sisseton - Fort Sisseton was never attacked, but still many died living there. There have been people who have seen strange lights when nobody else was there.

Fort Thompson - Crow Creek High School - Apparitions of priests and nuns are seen in the halls.

Garretson - Fire Department - One day a boy was skating and he tried to do a backside board slide and fell and cracked open his skull on the ground and died. (wear a helmet) he has been seen ever since still trying to do the same trick

Gregory - IOOF Cemetery - A lone man seems to wander the cemetery and surrounding gravel road searching for something. He is white haired and seems to be lost. On return to see if the gentleman needs help, he disappears.

Gregory - Gregory cemetery - there has been spotted light orbs or what seems to be ghosts wandering around the cemetery and have scared away visitors.

Hill City - 1880 Train - This now tourist attraction, still uses authentic engines and cars from the 1800's. Many abandoned train cars still sit on the train yard, and many strange occurrences have been reported of them. The Highliner Eatery, which sits on the train yard, is an authentic dining car, and one employee reported seeing a strange man in a brown suit standing in the back. Seconds later, he had disappeared.

Hill City - Alpine Inn - Second floor is said to be haunted. Lights have gone out unexpectedly, and voices can be heard as well as footsteps.

Hill City - Hill City High School - Apparitions appear, Voices heard by janitor. Ghostly teenager seen jumping off high school on anniversary of death.

Hill City - Mount Rushmore Brewing Company - This building was the first funeral home in Hill City, and the crematory can still be seen in the basement. Employees at this now restaurant highly dislike going up to the third floor to sweep late at night, as many strange noises can be heard. One waitress told the story of cleaning upstairs by herself one night. She heard the pool balls on the pool table being broke, and when she turned around, she could still see the balls moving, but no one was upstairs with her.

Hill City - O'Brian's Pub - a poltergeist, silverware thrown around there.

Hot Springs - Villa Theresa Guest House - This historic inn has a very colorful past. The scent of perfume lingers around the upstairs dormer rooms. Visions have been seen at the main staircase. The spirit of a girl by the name of Giselle happily roams the household. A very inviting and non-threatening mystery.

Isabel - Burress Feeds - Late at night you could see a girl age (11-13) they said she died of smallpox in the early 1900's now she haunts the old Burress Feeds store and you could hear her screaming at night and sometimes you could hear her calling for her mom.

Isabel - Isabel School - There was this boy, who suffocated in the janitor room. Every time the janitors go in there they usually see him or hear him.

Isabel - Post Office - Lately people been seeing strange figures in the windows. One time someone went to the post office at night and was checking their mail when they happened to look into the window, and in the reflection of the window they saw someone standing behind them just staring at them. By the time they turned around to look and see who it was, it was gone. They got really frightened and tried to leave but the door was locked. They tried everything to get out but nothing worked so they had to stay in there until the next morning. Now that person is in the hospital, tramatized.

Isabel - The streets - People always said there was a strange light coming from the old white house by the rodeo grounds that is abandoned now but they said when you walk by it at night the light would chase you to the main street and lots of people saw it.

Keystone - children's park - The old children's park next to the creek across from the trailer park is haunted. If you listen carefully you can hear children playing and laughing. Their is a water pump there that is always shut off but when you walk by it it turns on; just enough to trickle all by itself. Also you encounter many shadow people there.

Keystone - old cemetery - The old cemetery overlooking Mt. Rushmore is a burial for many of the mine workers and people who died working on Mt. Rushmore. If you bring a video camera you can catch faces in the video camera and white figures hanging from the trees even though you can't see them with the naked eye.

Little Eagle - Little Oak Road - People driving on the road late at night claim to see a man about 6 foot high dancing on the road and jumping really high into the air. They say that when they get close to the spirit it looks at them and it has red eyes then vanishes. There are also other ghosts that haunt the road. A section of the road was built over a cemetery henceforth the ghosts.?

McLaughlin - Town - The entire town seems to be haunted; the roads have a different story to tell about them, at least 40 years ago, a man was driving on the road and he got into a car wreck. The man was decapitated, and they found his head in a cow-drinking pond, to this very day, it is said that the man is looking for his head. numerous houses are haunted here

McLaughlin - Jackpot Bingo Hall - One witness that used to work at the bingo hall she is always in the store, and she always hears a little baby crying but then she looks in every lane to see if anybody is there but there wasn't. It was just her in the bingo hall while everybody are in their offices and outside smoking a cigarette. The bingo is built on a cemetery and you can see a lot of things moving around. Especially chairs, papers, and tables. She says she quit because of the phenomena.

McLaughlin - Major James McLaughlin house - is haunted as well, by the ghosts of The major and his guests.

McLaughlin - McLaughlin High School - The There was a janitor who was killed slipping on the floor of the swimming pool area. At night you can hear whistling and sometimes you can see the janitor mopping the hallways. There is also another ghost that haunts the gym. He used to be a phs ed. coach and died, but when the lights are out you can hear basketballs bouncing and sometimes they can hit you Ar near you

McLaughlin - McLaughlin Middle School - is haunted, by the ghost of a dead janitor.

Midland - Old Town Bank - An old bank, now part of a museum, has been known to be haunted. Voices and footsteps have been heard many of times. Bare footprints have been seen in the dust.

Mission - "Rock Hill" - This is located on a stretch of gravel road 1 mile north of Mission, This dirt road is believed to be haunted by the spirits of dead Indian women and children who were running for their lives and were slain by pioneers. To this day, it is said that you can see the ghosts and hear their screams and warnings.

Mitchell - Dakota Wesleyan University - Graham Hall - Years ago a fire started, one male student jumped to his death and has since haunted Graham Hall.

Mitchel - Mason Church - A woman told me that she heard a woman crying upstairs, so she went to the room that the cries were coming from. The moment that she turned on the lights the sound stopped. Another person told me is told of a baby crying, this was also upstairs in the old building. A skeleton hangs in the closet next to the room where the cries of the baby and woman were heard.

Mobridge - elementary - In 1996 a janitor died after having a big crash down the stairs. There have been doors slamming in the boy?s bathroom.

Pierre - LaFramboise Island - Obvious orbs in pictures. noticeable temprature changes. Strange noises on trails. Get strong fluctuation readings on emf detector. Investigators claim to have gotten orbs on video.

Pine Ridge - Pine Ridge High School/Old Auditorium - An old woman was seen by Security Guards in one of the classrooms. When they went to check in the room, nobody was there. In the old Auditorium, a boy had an heart attack in the 1950's. He was alone when it happened so, he wasn't found until later. He now haunts the place.

Pine Ridge Reservation - Old hospital - At the sight of the old hospital housing there is said to be ghosts of little children. They run around the streets and go into the basements of the houses and bother the residents. When the hospital was being used(we now have a new one)janitors who cleaned the morgue area heard voices and were screamed at by spirits.

Pine Ridge - Wolf Creek school - there is this little girl that goes around the hall of wolf creek school. And the janitors see her and they say she has no face

Old Agency - Agency Village - witnesses say they seen sighting of LITTLE GREEN MEN and BIGFOOT.A man and his son were hunting in some hills in agency Village.the mans wife was waiting for them for 2 days but they never came back.People say they were killed by bigfoot and heard loud screams of a kid and a man.now When people go hunting in the hills they say a man and the kid are haunting the hills.

Rapid City - Alex Johnson Hotel - Built in the 1920's, the Hotel is said to be haunted by many ghosts including the original owner. Employees tell of noises, items moving, and a woman seen on the eighth floor. Guests have told of strange happenings especially on the eighth floor, pianos playing themselves, crying in a room that a woman supposedly jumped out of the window on her wedding night.

Rapid City - Ellsworth Air Force Base - moving objects and shadowy figures are observed here.

Rapid City - Hooky Jacks/Phatty McGees Restaurant and Bar - Hooky's is the oldest building in Rapid City, built in the late 1800's. There have been reports of noises -?people talking, footsteps, and chairs moving around all when no one is there. Bartenders report of seeing people walk by only to find that there is no one around, also things that are pushed very far back from a ledge mysteriously fall.

Rapid City - Old Rapid City High School - now Dakota Junior High - The heater room said to be haunted by football coach and team that had died years ago in a plane crash. - Update: The story is in 1968 or 69, on St. Patrick's Day, the cheerleading squad and their coaches were killed in a plane crash at Rapid City Regional Airport while returning from the state AA's boys basketball tournament in Sioux Falls. It was a private plane owned by one of the cheerleader's father. Now there is an award given out at the state basketball tournaments every year to the cheerleading squad with the best spirit, called the Spirit of Six Award and is in honor of the 6 cheerleaders who were killed in the crash. It is the Third Floor Gym of the school, which is supposedly haunted because that is where they use.

Rapid City - Sioux San Hospital - Sioux San was a boarding school, many many years ago for Native American children and a sanitarium for TB patients many years later. It is now an out patient hospital. It is said the voices and crying and apparitions of children haunt the third floor. These sightings have been seen by numerous night guards, who have quit because of the ghosts. There is numerous little graves on the grounds, of children, who still need to go home to their families.

Rapid City - Stevens High School - the storage room is haunted by a ghost called "sparky".

Rapid City - The Hotel Alex Johnson - This hotel is supposedly haunted by the ghost of a former hotel manager who leapt to her death from the roof in the 1930's. A ghost who stands at the foot of the room?s bed at night haunts one of the rooms. Several hotel workers have reported poltergeist activity on the hotel's top floor. This floor is currently used for storage, and workers have heard furniture moving around and lights flickering on and off. One employee reported having a chair thrown down the stairwell at him from the top floor doorway when there was no one on the floor at the time. Several employees have quit because of the apparitions.

Roscoe - Edmunds Central High School - There have been weird sightings reported from teachers at EC high school. One included a door opening on it's own. Another one was one time a whole room was messed up, and knows one had broken in, because the door was still locked, and at night teachers have heard footsteps walking up and down the stairs. They think the janitor Harold haunts the school, he was a previous janitor.

Sioux Falls - Actors Studio - The Actors Studio is located next door to The Community Playhouse. A man thought to be killed when the studio was Rainbow Bar and Grill haunts it. He was supposedly dancing with a woman whose husband was in the war. He came back and saw them together. In a fit of rage, the solider killed him. The victim's ghost now wanders the studio whistling Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Sioux Falls - Gitchie Manitou State Preserve - Incredible place historically. Occupied by the Oneota American Indians in the late 1600's and later the Yankton Sioux American Indians until the early 1900's, this continual American Indian occupation was a ceremonial place covered in large boulders that were thought to have healing properties.? Large boulders survive to this day with the "dimples" in the rock caused from the American Indian's tapping instruments into the rock and then grinding the chips of the boulder into powder to me mixed with other herbs and grasses as medicine. At one time it was believed that in excess of 10,000 American Indians occupied this site. Some excavations have discovered human projectile points dating back over 8500 years old.

Sioux Falls - The Judge Amidon Monument" - Tall stone monument that overlooks Sioux Falls north side near the cemetery is the place where a South Dakota farmer / judge Mr. Amidon was killed by American Indians in an uprising as he plowed his field.? His 14 -year-old son was sh`t to death with arrows through his chest as he tried to help his father as well.? The monument is dedicated in their honor.? Strange feelings of being watched are found here as well as occasional orb lights.? It's not known due to the very close proximity to the cemetery very close by if the spirits are from there or the judge and his son.

Sioux Falls - Sioux Falls Community Playhouse - The Community Playhouse is haunted by a ghost named Larry. He was a former janitor who hanged himself in the rafters. Witnesses claim that Larry turns sinks on and flushes toilets. People have also reported hearing his ghostly footsteps in the night.

Sioux Falls - Washington pavilion - the old Washington high school building. a construction worker fell to his death in an elevator shaft while remodeling the building into the pavilion. footsteps are heard and a feeling of being watched.

Spearfish - Black Hills State University - The Wenonah Cook dorm - The dorm is an all male dorm and students on that floor swear that you can hear her screams, and sometimes smell the smell of a rotting corpse.

Vermillion/Meckling - GPR Stops House - This house has been long abandoned, strange noises from the top floor have been heard, and a girl who went in was hit on the chest, resulting in a bruise in the shape of a perfect triangle. Some think that it may be the ghost of a school superintendent who hung himself when the Meckling school was dissolved.

Wakpala - Old School - It is to be said that you can hear basketball and people running up and down the old court. Also you can hear little kids playing in the classrooms. And sometimes in the gym. Also the boiler room you get a strange feeling like someone is behind you watching?you until you leave the room.

Wall - Wall High School - There is sometimes footsteps heard from the roof (which is three stories up and has no stairwell leading to it). Then the footsteps stop and a soft thud is heard. This happens every year at 11:30 at night on December the twenty forth. Some call it the Santa Claus Ghost. But others believe that it was a principal that died in a freak electrical fire and was burned to death in 1930.

Yankton - Mount Marty College - Anything from showers turning on and off, the water fountains run by themselves, footsteps, and shadows. It's said that a worker fell to his death during construction and he may be the probable suspect, but some people think otherwise.

Yankton - Mount Marty College - Corbey - Rumors also include the haunting of the Corbey (female dorm) elevator by a girl who just up and left one day, never to be seen again ? There isn?t any significant confirmation of this. But some residents get very uncomfortable around areas that could be considered "paranormal".

Yankton - Mount Marty College - old gym/stage - is said to be haunted by an old music teacher who was a sister at the convent (the music hall is just above the old area, and she is said to inhabit the costume room).

Yankton - Mount Marty College - Whitby Hall - Room 200 - is said to have been haunted, and due to this, until the past two years, was vacant. Light never touches the door, no matter what lights are on, and even during the day, light barely makes it into the window to hit the door. There has been other sightings on the floor - a figure walking across a resident?s room near the door ? they were the only one in the room, and the door was closed. All i could see was the pants, they seemed to be a gray polyester. Other rooms have seen figures in hard hats and blue suits. When they rolled over to get up and talk to them, the figure was gone, and when they checked the door, they realized it was still locked - the doors at that time would unlock if you closed them while they were locked. They have also seen a white figure in a corner - non-descript, just standing there.

Some of those tales are scarier than a Ron Volesky Gubernatorial Candidacy!

I've heard some tales that aren't on this list, such as the haunted dorm room in Binniwies Hall in Brookings where a student ended his life, and others.

The undisputed champion in collecting South Dakota ghostly folklore is Ken Stewart up at the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. He's the gentleman who puts on the Haunted South Dakota program a couple times a year at the CHC with Sioux Falls Psychic Donna O'Dea.

Ken has related a few spine tingling tales to me of local folklore on hauntings which really make one slow down and look as they drive by these seemingly innocent homes. I've heard his program is one of their best - usually standing room only for South Dakotans to hear about the things that go bump in the night.

Enjoy your Halloween, and leave the porch light on. You never know what will be out there tonight.

(Halloween update) I see Doug at Dakota today is commenting he doesn't believe in ghosts, and he doesn't believe in the ghostly happenings as described above. I would mention that encouraging it is not the intent of the post. It's just a little fun on a particularly cold and dark Halloween.

And Halloween in Pierre will be a lot darker and scarier as soon as soon as the Gov's finish the game. It's not particularly eerie to hear "It's the 4th quarter" over loud speakers from across town.