Campus ghost walks reveal secrets of local haunts

Ghosts and goblins everywhere: Beware. Your stories are about to be told once more.\nFor two nights, stories of ghosts and IU legends will come alive as professors, staff and students from the IU Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology host the fifth annual ghost walk around the IU campus.\nThe guided walks will be at 7 p.m. today and Friday for $7. The Thursday walk will encompass the north campus, including fraternities, sororities, dorms and other places of interest. The Friday walk will include sites on the south side of campus, such as the Union, cemetery and Wells statue.\nLast year, the walks attracted more than 200 people.\nRuth Aten, administrative services coordinator for the department, said the weather has cooperated for past events. One year, she said, was very cold, but it did not seem to keep anyone away.\nAten, creator of the campus ghost walks, got the idea from her travels. Aten said she believes you can "learn a lot of the history through legends." Around this time of year, she would get many phone calls from fraternities and sororities asking for stories.\nIn 2001, Aten expected a small attendance, but even without advertising the walks, she found that more people were interested than she had thought. The first walk was just one night, but it has since grown to two, and the department is considering hosting the walks twice a year to fulfill interest. \nWhile declining to concede specifics about the stories on the walks, Aten said participants might experience surprises throughout the walk and "may come across a ghost along the way to tell a story."\nThis event raises money for the department for student organizations, which put on a conference every year with the money. The money also goes to classroom supplies and department needs.\nMost of the stories come from the folklore archives, maintenance staff and IDS stories, Aten said.\nSome IU students haven't heard of the ghost walks but said they do believe in ghosts. \n"I actually think my apartment is haunted," senior Sarah Baldwin said. \nBaldwin said her stove will turn off and on, and her roommate thinks she saw a figure, but Baldwin said she is more interested than scared and said the walk sounds like fun.\nSince IU's founding when the Seminary Building was erected in 1824, the University has developed its share of legends and stories. Unearthing the history of such legends and studying tragic events seems to be the department's forte.\nWhile the crowds have grown, so has the cast. Several professors lend their time to help create the event. Professor John Johnson plays death, and Professor Sandra Dolby plays a witch.\n"It's fun. It's a lot of work to try and pull this off," Aten said. "It's like the backstage of a theater production, students and faculty and staff coming together and dressing up. It's a nice break from the norm of the department."\nWhen asked if Aten believed in ghosts, she hesistated. \n"I can't prove that they don't exist; how about that?" Aten said. "That's all I can say. I think that we all want to sort of believe, you know?"\nA limited number of tickets can be reserved by calling 855-1027. Visit www.indiana.edu/~folklore/Ghost_walk.html for more information.