Sarah Nigbor

Boo! Waa haa haa haa. That’s my creepy witch laugh.

As I mentioned in last week’s column, Spooky Season is upon us. While children dressed as superheroes, ghosts and princesses will soon traipse through city streets in search of treats, I thought it would be fun to research some of western Wisconsin’s most haunted places. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, ghost stories are part of local folklore and history. While some tales may be embellished or completely made-up, others seem to ring true. Decide for yourself.

Caryville

The unincorporated community of Caryville, located in the town of Rock Creek in Dunn County, is “enveloped in a tapestry of dark history and haunted legends,” according to Wisconsin Frights. Sand Hill Cemetery is notorious for sightings of spectral children, hellhounds, and a demon named “Blackie.”

A spirit boy named David supposedly haunts Spring Brook Lutheran Church and Schoolhouse; he reportedly died of polio in 1957. A priest who allegedly hanged himself in the church’s belfry is also said to be in residence. I’ll admit, I’ve driven through Caryvill and whether or not the stories are true, it’s an eerie setting.

Nearby, the Meridean Boat Landing is apparently haunted by the spirit of a steamboat cook named Mary Dean, whose grave was swept away by the Chippewa River; she is rumored to drag unsuspecting boaters into the depths.

Asylum Hill

The former site of the Eau Claire Asylum and Poor Farm is now a park and wooded area, but spirits are said to still haunt the area. According to the book “Haunted Chippewa Valley” by Devon Bell, the asylum used to stand on a slope along the south side of Truax, between Old Orchard Road and County Farm Road. While there with a group of friends, they heard someone or something run up behind them and stop, but when they turned around, no one was there. The old cemetery is near a playground, which has many stones labeled as “unknown.”

Mabel Tainter Theater

The Mabel Tainter Theater in Menomonie is allegedly one of the most haunted places in the state. Built in 1889 by Mabel Tainter’s parents as a memorial (she died at age 19), the building is said to be home to three spirits. The Lady in White, who likes the marble staircase; The Lady in Grey; and Reverend Henry Doty Maxson, who helped the family build the memorial. Paranormal investigators claim Maxson’s study, which stands just as he left it, is the most haunted area. People have said they’ve seen him sitting in his box the night before opening night of a show.

Downstairs is home to The Spirit Room, where people have seen drawers fly across the room, mysterious figures dressed in Victorian clothing and heard children laughing. Some employees have become so frightened that they quit, according to an interview published with WQOW. Others have reported seeing strange lights in the windows, hearing chains rattling and seeing The Lady in White roam the hallways.

South Hall

Many stories have circulated over the years about spirits inhabiting South Hall on the UW-River Falls campus, especially when the History Club used to hold its haunted campus tours.

South Hall was built in 1874 and burned down in 1897. Rebuilt in 1898, it has been in continuous use ever since.

Student Voice newspaper staff members working in the building have reported all sorts of unexplained occurrences over the years. One editor in 1998 wrote about their experience on ghostsofamerica.com

“One Wednesday night as we were working on the paper, two of my staff were in the hallway outside our offices in 216 and noticed what they thought was a fellow section editor quietly walking up the stairs to the abandoned/locked-off third floor. They called her name, only to be shocked as the person they thought they were looking at on the stairs, answered their call from behind them. 

“The figure on the stairs then glided silently up the stairs and vanished. The next thing I knew my staff was screaming and running back into the office, saying they had just seen a ghost. We all investigated, walked up the darkened stairs to third floor, and checked the door. The floor was indeed padlocked (it was). The stairwells always felt as if you were sharing the space with something, the closed spaces in the building the same.
“That was the only sighting, but in my four years in that building, you heard and saw all kinds of things that never made sense. At night, late at night, you could hear what sounded like kids running and balls rolling on the floor past the office or above on the third floor.”

Willow River Elementary

The old high school in Hudson, now Willow River Elementary, was built in 1919 at the corner of St. Croix and Fourth streets. According to Historic Hudson, there have been many reports of spooky incidents at the school and on its grounds.

“People have reported the sound of footsteps crossing the stage in the old auditorium, a mysterious handprint near the ceiling in a bathroom, and the general sense that someone is staring at them,” a Facebook post says. “On the playground, there have also been reports of seeing children dressed in old fashioned clothes and being tagged by an unknown presence.

A few people have described seeing a young girl with long dark hair wearing a white gown. Some have speculated that this girl died in the basement. Past custodians working at night have seen cloaked children running around hallway corners. They have also heard unexplained laughter.”

Have you had any spooky experiences? I’d love to hear about them. Email me at sarah@piercecountyjournal.news