A Haunted Love Story and Life Lost

PLYMOUTH - With 135 years under Plymouth State's belt there are bound to be many stories to be told; Robert Frost's time on campus, the history of the school, and the ghost stories. Yes, the ghost stories!

But what lures a person into the stories of the supernatural? Maybe it's the history, perhaps it's the thrill, it could be the idea of cuddling up with a blanket and some hot cocoa and feeling scared but safe. No matter what it is, Halloween is the perfect time to visit the past of a place so familiar.

The hauntings of Plymouth are prevalent and exciting. Students come to campus with slight knowledge of Plymouth's past but soon become pros of stories so often told.

Each residence hall seems to have its ghoulish mascot that causes bumps in the night and mysterious mayhem. But why do these mascots stick around for so long? The premise is that a ghost is a spirit of a person who died a tragic, untimely death and has unresolved business on Earth.

In case you didn't know here's the story. Plymouth started out as an all girls' school, so naturally all the girls had to wear skirts. Because the winters are cold in Plymouth a tunnel system was built to connect Rounds, Memorial, Mary Lyon, Blair, and Hall.

And this is where Mary Lyon and the Blair spirit are said to be killed. The two were lovers and were supposedly meeting late one night after curfew when the tunnel collapsed and killed them. Tragic, I know.

So why is Mary Lyon a vengeful spirit? Perhaps because her life was so short and she was separated from her lover. The truth is that Mary Lyon haunts the tunnels, but the possibility is there that she ventures up to the residence hall every now and then. Her haunting is said to be so powerful that it literally drives people out of the basement of Mary Lyon, it's a cold unforgettable feeling that only those who have truly felt it can not speak of it.

Junior, Katy Cohn, a resident in Hall Hall, was once told of the sound of balls hitting the floor, "I live on the other side-luckily."

Hall was not built all at once. It was expanded upon; Cohn lives on the newer side. The incident that haunts the building happened in the original half of the building.

A boy was fed up with his life and hung himself on a beam in the attic. Hanging upon the beam now is a punching bag that sways despite the lack of human contact. It has been reported on three separate occasions that students have seen the figure of the boy wearing jeans with a flannel shirt, floating along the floors of Hall.

No matter how many times the stories are passed on they tend to stay the same, giving them consistency and supplying validity. So when you're creeping around campus in your Halloween costume this weekend be sure to keep in eye on the attic windows of Hall, and listen to the ground below you for the whimpering of love lost.