Halloween at Kenyon, one of the most haunted institutions in the United States, is bound to be spooky. However, Kenyon students and faculty have established a variety of traditions to celebrate this scary-yet-special day throughout the years.  

Everyone is familiar with Kenyon’s Gates of Hell, but what about its creepy and controversial past? A 2017 Collegian article explains that in the early ’80s, a psychic on Phil Donahue’s talk show (an article from Kenyon’s Alumni Bulletin suggests it may actually have been the writer Anthony Burgess) claimed that Kenyon’s very own College Gates were the true entrance to Hell. This proved to be a large misunderstanding, however, as the psychic actually said that the entrance to hell was in Columbus suburb Gahanna, stemming from Gehenna, the Hebrew word for hell, which people confused with Gambier. Even more, Kenyon requested a videotape of the talk show episode and in it there was no mention of the College. A 1993 Collegian article discusses this rumor further: “Some students, defying Kenyon lore, stood at the Gates of Hell at midnight on Halloween. These curious few were anxious to see if anything would actually happen to them. Others crowded around to watch them ‘become possessed by demons.’ Rumor has it that if a student stands at the Gates as the Kenyon clock tolls midnight, their soul will become possessed by a demon from Hell for all eternity.” There is only one way to find out if this theory still holds true…

The same article highlights a lost tradition among first-year students at Kenyon: dorm trick-or-treating. Over time, “There was no trick-or-treating in the first-year student dorms … The argument for its [abolition] was that not enough students were taking part in it and that resident advisors were forced to spend the night in their rooms with bins of candy.” Who wouldn’t love spending their Halloween night strolling down McBride’s winding hallways?

Halloween is also the perfect time to share spooky stories, and there is no doubt that Kenyon has a fascinating haunted history. From the eerie crows peering down at you from the treetops as you walk back to your dorm to the goosebumps you get when entering the Caples elevator, Kenyon is rumored to be a host of horror-filled sights.  A Collegian article from 1994 written by former Associate Professor of English Timothy Baker Shutt shares a variety of old ghost stories, one originating with the 1949 Old Kenyon fire: “[A student] lived, of course, near where the fire started, and he told me of strange apparitions which manifested themselves at night — ghostly figures calm, indeed exultant, despite their suffering. …When they appeared on the top floor, they were visible only from the knee up. … He went to consult the archives, where he soon learned of the altered floor levels. … The ghosts returned not to the present building, but to the building as it once was.”

Halloween traditions at Kenyon have undergone many changes throughout the decades, such as the loss of first-year dorm trick-or-treating and disappearing spooky stories. Yet one thing is clear: The spirit of Halloween still remains.