From: Matt Konerth (mkonerth@hotmail.com)
To: obiwan@ghosts.org
Date: June 10, 2001
Subject: Fraternity Haunting
Location: Cincinatti, OH, USA
Dear Obiwan,
I have really enjoyed your site and the stories published on it. Since there are no "Fraternity or Sorority Hauntings" published, I figure I can contribute with this little short description of our house. These are all true by the way.
Well, here it is....
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First off, I will give you a little background information about the house. I won't mention the name of our fraternity, but the house is located in Cincinnati around the campus of the University of Cincinnati. The house was built in the 1890's for a certain prominant political figure, George Barnsdale Cox. He also led a gambling and prostitution ring, using the house as a base. The third floor was used in secret so in case the police came to investigate. It used to be accessible only through a secret door. There is also a secret passageway that leads from our president's room, out to the front door. Sometime during the house's brief history of prostitution and gambling, two prostitutes were murdered and buried in one of the walls. (The bodies have since been removed)
Now to the hauntings.... There have been many true stories passed down since the house was bought by our local chapter in 1949. The first story that I can think of is the actual police report. On of the neighbors was walking his dog down the street, when apparently he saw a ghostly figure (wearing clothing from the victorian era) pointing a pistol out the third story window.
Another strange occurance around the house, is the third floor area. In this area, during a certain time in the summer, there is a stench of rotting flesh throughout the hallway of the third floor. I haven't been in the hall way during this time, but many people (girls included) can attest to this phenomina. This is said to have come from the rotting corpses of the dead prostitutes.
A friend and current roomate of mine had a strange experience when he was going through "hell week". During this week all of the pledges slept on the cold floor in the basement. One night, my friend had a nightmare that he was being dragged across the floor by a ghostly figure. In the nightmare his friend at the time was trying to hold onto him. When he woke up he was several feet away from the original place he had fallen asleep. Also, his friend who was in the dream and was there sleeping with the group of pledges, apparently had the same dream. The door into the room was locked on the outside to prevent any active members from bothering the pledges.
Other creepy things have happened, like guys being grabbed in the middle of the night by a shadowy figure, things mysteriously falling off shelves, and a grandfather clock, broken for years, mysteriously turning on. Most everyone that has been in the house has had a weird experience. I myself always feel a bit uncomfortable going over to the house.
Well, there are a couple of the many strange occuraces in that house. I was going to try and keep this short, but it seems to have run a little longer. Hopefully, you enjoyed these true tales.