Most Famous OU Ghost

Finals week at the University of Oklahoma is approaching soon. Students from all different majors are stressed to the max, trying to make time to study for each class and complete end of semester projects. Abby, a senior at OU, has some projects she needs to finish up before she can (finally) graduate in a few weeks. Abby decides that it is best she should go to the Bizz to finish them up.

Abby packs her things up at her apartment, hops in her car, and heads to the library. When she arrives, she heads straight to the basement to grab some Starbucks. The café worker tells her, ‘Good luck on your work”, Abby gives her a sly smile back, knowing she needs all the luck she can get. Senioritis is kicking in strong for her. Once she has her coffee, she goes back upstairs to find a quiet place to work on her projects. Abby finds a desk and unpacks her bag. She starts to read the instructions for one of her assignments and realizes that she needs to check out a book for her project. Luckily, she chose to the library to do work at instead of elsewhere.

Abby has no idea how to find a book in the library. She thinks to herself “Should I try to find the book by myself, or do I ask for help?” She decides it is probably best to ask for help because the all of the books can be quite overwhelming. Abby approaches a library worker and asks, “Where can I find a book on animal therapy?” The library worker responds, “That will be up in the stacks, good luck.” Abby confusingly asks, “Why would I need luck?” The library worker laughs and says, “The ghost has been active up there today. Just kidding, I think”. Abby walks off and thinks, “I have been studying in this building for four years and have yet to encounter a ghost and today is not going to be the day I do.”

Abby heads up the stacks. The stacks have always made her feel uneasy due to the almost see through floors. You can see the shadows of the people above you walking, which freaks Abby out. Abby starts going through the books. “This is going to take me longer than I thought”, she quietly said to herself. The books are dusty, and the lighting is not so great in the stacks, so it is hard to tell what book is what. Abby starts to hear the floor creaking, but she swears she is on this floor alone. “Someone must have joined me when I was focused on trying to read the titles of these books” she thinks to herself. She is still having trouble with some of the titles so she decided to go ask the person who must have joined her on this floor.

Abby is walking around all the shelves and cannot find anyone. She knows someone has to be up here though because those creaking noises were too loud to be on any other floor. She makes one more lap around the shelves and suddenly she sees a shadow where she had originally been looking. Abby walks over there, but the shadow is gone. The temperature is noticeably cooler though now, which does not seem right as the air conditioning is not on. Abby says out loud, “I swear if this is what I am thinking it is, I am going to cry”. She is thinking that the library worker might be right, the ghost really might be active today.

Abby decides to just grab a book and head back to her study spot. She heads to the staircase when she notices the shadow again. Abby walks over to it and there is not a person there but yet the shadow stays. The temperature is cool, and Abby gets goosebumps all over. Abby has no idea what is going on. She starts to turn around when she feels something touch her. She knows she is alone, so she is scared. She hears a soft whisper in her ear, “I will always be here, but you get to leave, now go.” Abby is in absolute disbelief. What in the world just happened to her? She runs to the stairs and gets to her desk. Before she opens her book to start readings, she thinks to herself, “I am so ready to graduate.”

Author's Note:

I got my idea for this story by reading the book, “Campus Ghosts of Norman, Oklahoma." In this book, it tells many different ghost stories on the OU campus. This particular story was called “The Most Famous Ghost on Campus”. This specific story takes place at the Bizzell Library. I chose this story because pretty much every single OU student has been the Bizz at some point in their college career. I remember going to the stacks when I was a freshman and feeling completely creeped out. My comp 2 teacher had taken us up there and told us the story of the ghost who lived at the Bizz. Apparently, a student many years ago had fallen through the glass floor in the stacks. The student supposedly died from a broken neck. While people are not sure if this actually happened or not, you cannot disagree that the Bizz does not feel haunted in some areas. I have been going to the Bizz on a regular basis for the last four years and the amount of time I have gotten random chills is a lot. In the story I read, it says many students have reported feeling that there is a shadow watching them or even touching them. Whatever it is, is quite spooky! I hope that you have enjoyed my storybook and keep an eye out for the campus ghosts!

Bibliography:

Campus Ghosts of Norman Oklahoma, "The Most Famous Ghost on Campus.", Jeff Provine (2013)