Woman Walking in Corridor. Photo: Kristina Williamson (Getty).
With bullies, puberty and the general awkwardness of your teenage years making high school difficult enough, you’d think ghosts could cut America’s youth a little slack. On the other hand, if you have to live in constant fear anyways, why not have a legitimate, otherworldly reason to go along with it? While your personal belief in the paranormal certainly dictates the level of fear you feel towards specters and all things spooktacular, the following stories of high schools around the country said to be haunted will still send shivers down your spine.
The Scariest Haunted High Schools In America
El Paso High School (El Paso, Texas)
When it comes to the scariest school in America, El Paso High School has them all beat. Its ghost stories range from sealed off hallways full of mist and strange goo dripping from the ceiling to hidden classrooms beneath the building no one knew existed. However, nothing compares to the photo of the graduating class of 1985 above. While the woman in the center is certainly blurry, there is no doubt she is there. Or so you think. According to former students, there was no one standing there when the picture was taken, nor can the female in question be identified. Some believe the apparition to be a young girl who had taken her own life years before by jumping from a balcony connected to the misty hallway. Others have seen the very same ghostly figure jump from said balcony, disappearing before hitting the ground each time. Any way you slice it, El Paso High School takes spine-tingling to frightening new heights.
Lee Williams High School (Kingman, Arizona)
When your school sits atop a frontier town once involved in mining, railroading, and cattle driving back when Arizona was still considered a territory, you’re bound to come across a vengeful spirit or two. In fact, students of Lee Williams High School claim they’ve seen a man in a bowler hat roaming the halls quite frequently, as well as a a young girl who calls out at night that she wants to go out and play. Couple this with the usual flickering lights and motion detectors going off by themselves, and you’ve got yourself a good old-fashioned haunting. Furthermore, after renovations in 2010, part of the football field is now located directly on top of the old Pioneer Cemetery. That might explain why spectators have witnessed ghosts in prairie gowns and suits appear during graduation events on the field. The seven coffins unearthed during renovations might also play a role in the matter.
Cathedral High School (Los Angeles, California)
Facing your fears is considered the best way to overcome them, but Cathedral High School may take that advice a step too far. Embracing the fact that the premises were built on the remains of the Old Calvary Cemetery, headstones of the dead which have been dug up during renovations through the years are prominently displayed around the school football field. To add insult to injury, the school mascot is the Phantoms in honor of the land’s heritage. While students and teachers consider all of this to be a point of pride and rarely even entertain the notion that the school might be haunted, maintenance workers don’t share their sentiments. They claim that along with seeing and hearing the spirits of the once living, they literally feel their presence at night, often accompanied by cold spots throughout the property.
Pocatello High School (Pocatello, Idaho)
If you’re not one to be easily frightened by ghost stories, Pocatella High School might be right up your alley. That’s because along with numerous eyewitness accounts of spirits roaming the halls, whispering, or even hanging out in the rafters of the theater, there is now video evidence of a mysterious apparition lurking around and messing with the lights. Paranormal investigators have discovered that at least six deaths have occurred on the property, with one of the most disturbing involving a suicide pact in the late 1940s to early 1950s between two young girls. While only one actually went through with it — hanging herself from her locker — the strong scent of her perfume can still be detected in the halls from time to time. Even when her locker was removed, the smell remained.
Topeka High School (Topeka, Kansas)
By now it’s been well established that one way of preventing your school from being haunted by the undead is not building it in close proximity to a graveyard, let alone on top of one. Sure, when Topeka High School was constructed in the late 1890s, the graveyard was relocated (allegedly), but relocation is precisely how you disturb something. Now students and faculty must endure regular ghost sightings, the murmur of conversations between spirits, and other strange phenomenon when roaming the halls alone. Did we mention there are said to be underground tunnels beneath the school which lead to a hidden graveyard? Because that is definitely the creepiest part of all. Other city landmarks including Harrison Church and the Capital Building are said to be haunted, too.
C.E. Byrd High School (Shreveport, Louisiana)
Long thought to be haunted by the ghosts of both a young girl who drowned in the swimming pool in the 1930s and an ROTC sergeant who committed suicide in the 1960s, it was discovered last year that at least the latter was correct. Partially. While Shreveport’s own KTBS 3 news team was able to debunk the drowning victim rumors, they also managed to prove through some digging that Master Sgt. Will Stubblefield did kill himself on October, 17, 1962, albeit by accident. At least now students know whose cold spot they are walking through as Sgt. Stubblefield continues to haunt them with his presence.
Roy High School (Roy, Utah)
Roy High School is home to many ghosts, all of which appear to have their own specific quirks. For instance, the one known as Mable lurks around the auditorium backstage near a set of winding stairs. She’s not shy, though, as she tends to tinker with the lighting and move props around. Another auditorium ghost is said to wear a purple hat and try to convince students to follow her, but gives off a much too evil vibe to dare try. Others include a floating head ghost in the upper left balcony and another who roams the halls. It is believed that he died after being hit by a train walking to school. Students say they can feel him watching them if they are wandering around alone. And you thought school spirit was a good thing.
St. Charles East High School (St. Charles, Illinois)
Ghosts are scary enough as it is, but when they’re accompanied by a horrifyingly gruesome backstory, they become the fuel of nightmares. Enter St. Charles East High School, where it is rumored that the spirit of a former freshman girl haunts the halls. Said to have been playing her flute in the band room when a deranged janitor raped and murdered her, she was then cut into pieces and stuffed in various lockers. Since then, band students occasionally run across body parts in their lockers, only to have them disappear right in front of them. Others claim to hear the sounds of a faint flute being played when the room is quiet or when they are alone. Worst of all, many have had their flutes disappear mysteriously, while others notice signs that their instrument has been played while left at the school overnight.
Chopticon High School (Morganza, Maryland)
Speaking of spooks with stories to them, the following tale is certainly not one for the faint of heart. While working by herself at Chopticon High School during the summer of 1983, a teacher by the name of Mrs. Heater was attacked and brutally stabbed to death by Lester Broome, a maintenance worker at the school. He then dragged her body into the nearest bathroom on the second floor, eventually being caught and convicted of the murder. Ever since, students and faculty alike claim the former teacher haunts the hallways, specifically the bathroom where she was found dead. Most accounts of paranormal activity have simply involved the sound of high heels clicking through the halls or in the bathroom, but some witnesses have heard the footsteps walk right up to them. In any case, most visitors to the school, even those who aren’t aware of Mrs. Heater, feel a general sense of uneasiness when making the rounds.
Bristol Tennessee High School (Bristol, Tennessee)
Unlike most of the schools on this list, Bristol Tennessee High School is said to be inhabited by three specific ghosts. The most notable among them is a female known as Agnes, whose footsteps have been heard in the halls for years. She is even occasionally spotted wearing a white dress. While the stories of her death vary from drowning to hanging, another popular theory is that she was killed one night by the second apparition: a phantom train. The train emerges from the school gymnasium from time to time, violently shaking the hallways in the process. The final ghost is that of a former athlete who was run down by a car on his walk home from a game. Students have reportedly encountered him on multiple occasions in the school’s Field House.
