One of our favorite neighborhood haunts, the pub Casey Moore's, was recently featured on www.azcentral.com as a possible location for ghosts, ghouls and freaky creaks.
At first we were skeptical. We've been there a hundred, no, a thousand times and haven't encountered a single orb, spook or spirit. Then we thought back to all the late nights in our newsroom and the hair on the back of our necks started to rise.
Any old building has the potential, in our "professional" opinion, to house a ghost or two.
Casey Moore's, obviously, wasn't always a bar, and it is one of many buildings in Tempe that has been around longer than even the crankiest ASU professors.
Even buildings on campus, such as Old Main and Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium, have been around for quite a while.
Factor in Stone Age buildings like Social Sciences and the Matthews Center, and our campus is practically ghost central for the Tempe area.
After reading about upstairs orbs and a dancing ghost in Casey Moore's, we remembered a legend or two about campus.
Our own Matthews Center is rumored to house a couple spirits, and a few former editors reported some spooky encounters and noises.
In 2002, a group of ghost chasers turned up some suspicious paranormal activity on campus. They found orbs and signs of ghosts in several buildings, including Old Main.
With Halloween this weekend, we've decided to present a mind-numbing, terrifying, horrifying, disturbing and entirely untrue ghost story from ASU's history ... or is it untrue?
In the fall of 1999, a group of three students were studying in the Social Sciences Building late at night. According to legend, the trio heard footsteps above them on the third floor and the distinct jingle of janitor's keys. The footsteps stopped just above the students' heads, and whoever was on the third floor that night never took another step.
Soon after the noises stopped, a flood of water erupted out of the third floor toilet and cascaded down through the roof onto the three students. The students drowned, and the mysterious walker on the third floor was never found.
An investigation revealed faulty pipes, old roofing materials and a generally rundown building. We'd like to believe the so-called "investigators" but we just can't be sure.
The legend hasn't died though. The roof still leaks, and the ceiling tiles will collapse from time to time. Facilities Management will tell you it's a simple maintenance problem. But if you sit in a quiet classroom on the second floor, just before you hear the students' screams, you'll hear footsteps and a jingle of janitor's keys.
So, whether you're a freshman wondering what that creak is above your head during your night class or a senior with a definite paranormal ASU experience, keep your eyes peeled this weekend.
We'd love to believe ghosts don't exist, at Casey Moore's or otherwise, but instead we'll just keep believing they are only a part of our imagination ... or are they?
