Hey boos, it’s Halloween time!! (lol get it? Pun courtesy of Audrey Carroll). Welcome to the weirdest time of the year, in my opinion. Halloween kind of stresses me out, but I like it at the same time. Kind of.

Halloween freaks me out solely because of one thing: ghosts. I do not trust them, real or not. Ghosts are sketchy little beings that have no business freaking me out.

I have had a lot of experience with ghosts, particularly with Audrey. Her house is haunted by a man named Jimmy who wears 1930s attire (we found this out while investigating her house in seventh grade, don’t judge).

There was also a time I was at senior Meghan Brownlee’s house, and I had to pee, so I went to the bathroom which is located across a little hall from her basement door. Her basement doubles as a garage, and her family wasn’t home. After I came out of the bathroom, I walked into the kitchen and heard footsteps coming up the basement stairs. I thought, “Oh that’s just Meghan’s sister coming home.” I walked into the living room and waited for Meghan’s sister to walk in. No one came in, and no one was walking up the stairs. I am convinced her house is possessed by demons.

There was also one time I was at the Wornall House on one of their ghost tours with my dad. We wanted to check out the tour because John Wornall is my great-great-great grandfather, so we thought the ghosts were a load of poop. Anyway, we take the tour, and halfway through, we start smelling a strange smell. We smelled cherry pipe smoke, which was weird because there’s no smoking allowed. Turns out that’s a regular thing that happens there. I guess the ghosts like smoking cigars.

BREAKING NEWS: I just had the most terrifying experience of my life. It is publication night, October 26, 2015. I am in the third floor bathroom with Audrey, and I am whistling The Shining theme song. Suddenly, I catch a glimpse of a tiny person in black scuttling down the hallway in the reflection of the mirror. I drew in a deep gasp, and collapsed to the floor, trying my hardest not to scream/cry/have a stroke. The little person dressed in black was just part of the cleaning crew, it wasn’t a ghost, but I thought you guys would enjoy that story.

So, going back on that breaking news thing, I’m pretty kind of sure that STA is haunted. I mean, these particular buildings have been around for over 100 years. There’s gotta be a ghost roaming around here somewhere. I don’t know if you guys have ever experienced this, but if you wander around STA at night unsupervised (I apologize, Administration) and everything is pitch black and dark, you get a very uneasy feeling. Not even kidding, I was so overwhelmed with fear that I almost passed out when I was wandering around once. That was probably me just psyching myself out, but it was still scary.

My dear friend Leeny O’Boyle has a story about STA’s ghosts as well.

“Freshman year I was wandering around the fourth floor,” O’Boyle said. “I walked by a room and I heard somebody laugh. I hid because I thought it was a teacher, then after a while no one came out of the room. I peaked in the room and it turns out no one was there.”

See my point? That is freaky.

Another reason STA is haunted is because there is a ghost in the Commons. I was walking down there by myself one day after school to get my backpack after cross country practice. I saw someone trying to open the door by the elevator, and I quickly walked by because I didn’t want to acknowledge a random person there or make eye contact. I heard the door open after I was walking back to the staircase after getting my stuff. I saw the door shut, but I didn’t see anybody in the hallway or outside.

Anyways, I was going to write this blog about my upcoming ouija board experience, but we’re Catholic so I don’t think administration will like it (don’t worry Jesus, I’m packing a rosary).