THE STORY
Reported Haunting
St. Bonaventure University near Olean, New York, features extensive campus lore centered around its historic residence, Devereux Hall. The building's vacant fifth floor was allegedly sealed off following a student-led Black Mass in the 1960s that required a formal friar exorcism. Today, residents on lower floors report hearing the phantom "runners"—believed to be the ghostly echoes of late friars or a jogging phantom—sprinting down empty hallways at night. Other active campus landmarks include De La Roche Hall, where a student who perished in a historic fire mysteriously flicks on the third-floor lights to finish his homework.
St. Bonaventure University has more than its share of campus ghosts. Francis Hall, once called Christ the King Seminary, is said to be haunted by the spirits of deceased monks. Devereux Hall is famous for stories of its Black Mass. Legend has it that in the 1960s, the students gathered to conjure a spirit. They were interrupted by a staff member who put a stop to it, but folks still say the Black Mass brought evil spirits to the building. Also, WWI veteran Willie Cooper’s ghost is said to walk Devereux’s back wing where a war memorial once stood, and a ghostly friar jogs up and down the hallways at night. At De La Roche Hall, the ghost of a student killed in a fire is said to turn on the lights late at night on the third floor. Legend has it that he was trying to finish a paper when the fire broke out, and his ghost is attempting to finish his work.