Published 2007-10-31T00:00:00Z”/>

Emanuella Orr

—-<em>Learn more about the haunted places on campus with our</em> <a href= “http://media.www.theorion.com/media/storage/paper889/news/2007/10/31/Multimedia/Flash.Presentation.Haunted.Places.On.Campus-3066886.shtml” target=”_blank”>Flash presentation</a>. <em>It will open in a new window</em>.—-

Every campus has its ghosts, which is part of what makes crossing the halls in the depth of night so exciting. It’s the hair-raising thrill of hearing a sound in the darkness or a glint of something out of the corner of the eye that keeps people gripping for ghost stories. Was it the ghost of Ichabod Crane or Nearly Headless Nick?

While Chico State isn’t as packed with phantoms as Hogwarts, it has its share of otherworldly patrons. Here are a few:

HAUNTING #1:During every dress rehearsal in Laxson Auditorium the actors keep an eye out for a special audience member: the Laxson ghost.

According to theater department legend, the Laxson ghost is a woman dressed in white who appears on the right balcony during dress rehearsal, said senior theater major Melissa Huston.

Ghosts are thought to haunt theaters because of the emotional release, Huston said.

Theaters are places where people feel intense emotions, and the theory goes that ghosts feed off the emotions audience member release while watching performances, said Ron Barker, technical production assistant at Laxson Auditorium.

The fear of ghosts has prompted theater houses around the world to keep “ghost lights,” Barker said. A ghost light is a lamp that is always kept on backstage, which serves the dual purpose of keeping ghosts away and making it so that someone walking into the empty theater wouldn’t walk into total darkness.

#1 is GHOST BUSTEDThere is no doubt an empty theater is a creepy place when it is dark and empty, Huston said. It’s easy to imagine things moving in the black abyss.

Although Huston has felt a “presence” in some of the theaters, she has never seen a ghost, she said.

Barker has been alone in Laxson Auditorium in the dark many times and has never seen a ghost or felt a “presence,” he said. He thinks ghost stories are a running joke among all theater departments, not just the ones in Chico.

“Everyone I’ve ever known who worked in a theater like Laxson has heard ghost rumors,” Barker said.

HAUNTING #2:Over the years there have been many legends associated with Butte Hall. One of the legends is that Butte Hall was built on top of a American Indian burial ground. Another legend is that the seventh floor is haunted, said Cameron Highfill, manager of the information center.

Some say the ghost of 12-year-old Polly Klaas haunts Butte Hall’s forensic lab – a high-profile murder victim from 1993 who was kidnapped by knifepoint from her house in Petaluma and was later strangled to death. Klaas’ body was brought to Chico State’s forensic lab, back when it was in Butte Hall, to determine the cause of death.

The first time Highfill heard stories about Butte Hall was during his freshman orientation, he said. Highfill stayed in the dorms his first year at Chico State, and dorm students often joked about sneaking into Butte Hall at night to find the ghost.

#2 is GHOST BUSTED