Cora McClain | Copy Editor

The spooky season might have passed, but something sinister seems afoot in Ackerman Hall. Though the elevators seem like a convenient way to get up and down from the residence halls on the upper floors, especially when living on the 4th floor, taking the stairs might be a better choice, and not just for your health.

Ask any student living in Ackerman, and they’ll tell you the elevators can do some pretty weird things, and a few swear these anomalies are caused by demon infestation, ghoulish haunting or a creepy presence. As for myself, a few events have led me to tend to choose a perilous four flights of stairs over equally perilous creepy elevator quirks.

Stepping into elevator 1 after grabbing some late-night tacos from Koyotes with fellow hall-mate Rylie Horrall, a freshman exploratory major, all was normal…until it wasn’t.

On our way up to the 4th Arbuthnot, the elevator stopped on the third floor, but the doors didn’t open. There was a still silence in the claustrophobia-inducing metal box as we looked to each other and thought that maybe someone had pushed the button on the third floor; but, as the seconds stretched on to a minute, we were worried that perhaps the elevator was stuck.

That was until suddenly the elevator began to descend. We both looked to each other with dumbstruck looks and frantically slammed our fobs and pressed the button for the fourth floor. Without hesitation, the elevator then switched gears as it reached the second floor, and we began ascending again, and proceeded to rush out of the elevator as soon as the gate opened. And thus, the elevator by the front desk was dubbed, “Demon Elevator” by Horrall.

However, it seems like the passengers of elevator 2 also undergo ghoulish activity as well. In passing, ther occupants of the fourth floor describe violent shaking when ascending, copious amounts of time taken for the elevator to land and the elevator beginning to descend before the gate closes. Even more chilling happenings have occured.

“I was on the fourth floor, going down to the first floor,” recalled staff member Chrys Weedon, “and all of a sudden it stopped at the third or second floor and the door opened. No one was there. It stayed open for longer than normal, and then it shut and we went back down.”

Later, after she had told me this story, Weedon texted me saying how after pressing the fourth floor button, “the door stayed open and the tone that’s played at every floor glitched…and kept playing the same tone like an alarm was blasting and then the doors closed and it beeped one more time and stopped.” She closed the statement saying, “def haunted.”

Whether you believe in ghosts or ghouls, there’s no denying that there is something strange going on in Ackerman’s elevators. However, take these stories with a grain of salt as they don’t occur every time the elevator goes up or down, carrying some stressed and overworked college students, who probably need a bit more sleep, but as off-chance anomalies. I will attest to the fact that the elevators of Ackerman are just as safe as any other elevator on campus, as the lighthearted jokes of the ‘Evil Elevators’ are akin to fun ghost stories to share with friends, and great motivators to stay healthy and take the stairs.

Contact the author at cmcclain17@wou.edu

Illustrations by Rachel Hetzel