Heartland View

Media Credit: Alex Raymond Old graves located at the Workman's Chapel contribute the unsettling atmosphere at the site.

Media Credit: Alex Raymond Workman's Chapel is a popular location for paranormal activity in northern Missouri.

Media Credit: Alex Raymond Sightings of a ghost known as "Slade" have occurred on several occasions at the Tau Kappa Epsilon house in Maryville, Mo.

Media Credit: Alex Raymond This room in the Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity house is where the spirit of a former fraternity brother has been spotted.

Media Credit: Alex Raymond Several stories of strange noises, items being moved, and lights being switched on and off originate from Roberta Hall on the Northwest Missouri State University campus.

Media Credit: Alex Raymond Senior Scott Bosley contemplates the unexplainable events that occurred where he is sitting.

The engine shut off and silence fell across the car as we sat under a tree at Maryville's infamous Workman's Chapel. The dark, glassless windows and scorched interior cast a sinister feel over the century old building. The eerie graveyard, told to be the roaming grounds of an old Civil War soldier, added to the mystical location.

So what are the myths surrounding this previous house of worship? Well, they go something like this… During the 18th century many people were hung on the tree next to the church.

The rumors say that if you park your car under this tree, you can hear the feet of these people tapping on the roof of the car. Many pictures have been taken revealing orbs of light that are not seen by the human eye as well as eye witness accounts of figures hanging in the trees and weird sounds coming from the church building.

So we decided to test these myths for ourselves. Alex Raymond and I set out for some demon hunting around Maryville, starting at the chapel. As we sat there under the tree listening and waiting, the only sound to be heard were insects creaking in the forest. No feet tapping on the roof, no orbs found in our pictures, nothing more than a creepy church house and an old cemetery.

While our ghost chase failed, stories continue to fly around the Northwest campus and Maryville about the many spirits that reside across the region. From Workman's Chapel to Roberta Hall, Maryville has become a popular place for ghost hunters.

Whether its professionals armed with cameras and scanners or just random university students minding their own business, there have been an increasing number of ghost sightings across the heartland.

Despite our failure at Workman's Chapel, our hunt was not over. We set out to find residents who had personal experiences across the Northwest campus.

Our campus search began at the Tau Kappa Epsilon house, where a former pledge, who died in the house, plays tricks on the fraternity members.

Resident Ian Denney, related stories of the ghost. He left the kitchen after cooking food and as he turned around the corner Ian saw a figure.

"There was this guy with short red hair and blood all over his face standing there and staring at me," Ian said as he recalled the encounter. "I looked away and turned back and he was gone."

A couple days later another resident saw another man with the same exact description.

Joe Macsioveccio, now a RA in Phillips Hall, lived in the TKE house during the 2006-2007 school year.

"He just picks people to screw with," Macsioveccio remarked. "For some reason the ghost really likes messing with me."

Macsioveccio continued to tell us stories of his experience with the ghost. One day during the summer he was sitting in his room typing a paper.

"The futon behind me began to shake and creak as if someone was getting onto it," Macsioveccio said. "I thought it was someone just screwing with me so I turned and said 'Oh, who's on top of there?"

There was nobody on top of the futon.

Throughout the year, small random things occurred in the house, such as TVs repeatedly turning on and off, touch lamps turning on when he left the room, and loud bangs coming from the attic and upstairs rooms. At the end of the year Macsioveccio was in the bathroom. He reached for the sink knob, but before he could grab it the knob turned itself and the water began to run.

"It was then that I knew for sure that there was a ghost messing with me," Macsioveccio said. "He's a nice ghost though, not a mean one. He just likes screwing with me because of my reactions to him."

After the TKE house our search continued at Roberta Hall. There are several myths surrounding the haunting of this sorority house including strange sounds and weird green lights coming from windows.

We talked to Scott Bosley who had a personal encounter with the ghost in Roberta a couple years ago. He was in the building visiting some friends when the objects in the room began to vibrate.

"The table was pulsating like a heartbeat. Then it traveled to the floor and the chair I was sitting on," Bosley said. "There was a real sense of an entity because as I walked around the room the pulsating would follow me."

Bosley and his friends went to the basement under the room to see if there were any machines or pipes that could've been causing the vibration. They couldn't find anything that could account for it.

So is there any truth to these stories? Are there really spirits that have returned from the grave to haunt and mess with people? Well that's up to you to decide whether these ghost stories and sightings are fact or fiction…

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