The night is quiet–maybe a little too quiet. The hallway lights flicker, one by one, with only a dim glow remaining. A cold breeze slips through the cracks, brushing the back of your neck. You swear you hear footsteps behind you, but when you turn, no one is there. As a deep breath is taken, out of the corner of your eye, you can see–BOO!
Got you, right?
From whispers in the dark to shadowy figures appearing, October is a season filled with spooky ghost stories and paranormal experiences. Whether you’re a skeptic or a believer, these eerie tales have lingered on for generations leaving people to wonder about the truth.
For every made up ghost story that is told around the campfire, there are those who swear to have experienced something abnormal, but real before. Among a few are LSE students who have their own chilling encounters to share.
For LSE sophomore, Tanaytha Moo, the idea of paranormal activity has always been more of a curiosity than a strong belief.
“I feel like it’s real,” Moo said. “But I just acknowledge [that] it could be real. I’m not a full, total, crazy believer.”
Still, Moo’s one real encounter left him a bit shaken. When he was 7-years-old, just days after moving into a new home, he saw something that he couldn’t explain, but remembers to this day.
“I went to the backyard to see where my mom was, and from the stairs of the porch, I saw a figure pop its head out. It scared me,” Moo said.
He described this figure as “humanoidish,” pale and small, “like something from an old black and white camera.” It disappeared as soon as it appeared, ducking back down before Moo could react and run away.
To this day, Moo is unsure of what he saw.
“It could have been a regular creature,” Moo said. “But it’s hard to say, because nothing that size ever lived around there.”
Despite this scary experience, Moo said he wouldn’t mind having another paranormal experience.
“If I see something again, I can try to chase it down and see what it actually is,” Moo said.
Not only can you be a believer of the paranormal due to personal experiences, but also through the experiences of others.
Another LSE sophomore, Colten Hehn, doesn’t just believe in ghosts, but he grew up hearing about them from his mom.
“She’s a ghost hunter,” Hehn said. “About two years ago she went to Salem, Massachusetts, to look at the remains of the Salem Witch Trials. Apparently she saw ghost places and paranormal activity.”
Hehn’s mother had gone ghost hunting twice, including a visit to one of the old homes where the witch trials took place.
“She said she found two ghosts,” Hehn said.
While Hehn wasn’t there himself, hearing his mother’s stories changed how he viewed the paranormal.
“I definitely believe in ghosts [now],” Hehn said. “There’s a huge possibility they aren’t real, but we have proof that they are. Stuff happens that shouldn’t be happening, things people can’t explain.”
Now, Hehn hopes to experience something paranormal himself to confirm his beliefs.
“My moms going to take me ghost hunting when I turn 20,” Hehn said. “I’d love to see any kind of paranormal activity.”
Beyond the personal stories, Lincoln itself is home to plenty of legends and rumored hauntings. From century-old theaters to quiet parks, several locations are said to carry ghostly energy.
The most commonly mentioned haunted sites includes the Temple Building which is claimed to be haunted by a student who fell and supposedly died during a production of “Macbeth”, at Neihardt Hall in UNL, which was once an infirmary for ill students is rumored to have ghostly residents who linger (there’s even ghost tours every Halloween).
Other popular sites include the Capitol building where maintenance workers have reported seeing shadowy figures falling from the building and Antelope Park which has numerous cases of apparitions being reported in and around the area by passers by.
Despite these chilling tales and haunted locations, spooky experiences are not always interpreted the same way. Some approach these stories with skepticism, citing natural explanations such as shadows, creaking floors or simple mind tricks. Others remain open to the possibility of the unexplained, intrigued by the accounts they cannot easily dismiss.
For Moo, his experience still stuck in his mind, even without concrete evidence.
“I don’t think anyone would fully believe it. I’ve got no proof, just that one memory. But I think it really did happen,” Moo said.
Whether one approaches the paranormal with doubt or curiosity, the stories still linger. In a town filled with historic sites, darkened theaters and shadowy parks, the line between legend and reality can be hard to define. That uncertainty is part of what keeps these tales alive.
