It’s 2:34 a.m. and the sound of slight tapping awakes Lauren from an uneasy sleep that has consumed her since 9 p.m. Lauren is sick with a fever and has been having night sweats all night. She gets out of bed to get a glass of water, and to further inspect the mysterious sound that has been driving her crazy for hours. While walking into the kitchen on the big side of the Phi Sigma Sigma house, Lauren realizes that the percussion of footsteps she is hearing is not just her own. She stops subtly to hear the continuation of the footstep’s just a few feet ahead of her. Panicked and scared, Lauren screams.
This is not the first time a spooky occurrence has fright stricken the sisters of Phi Sigma sorority. For years, the ladies have noticed interesting paranormal activity throughout the blue house located at 351/353 Lightstreet Road, Bloomsburg, Pa. Sisters including senior, Lauren Pliss have been noticing the paranormal, and dealing with it on a daily basis this semester, and many prior to it. Starting with the first group of sorority girls to move into the house in 2006. Incidents of spooky occurrences have frightened the young ladies to a point of researching the topic of ghost haunting.
Four years ago, with a little help from a Quija board, the sisters of Phi Sigma researched the history of the house and successfully found that the big blue castle on Lightstreet once housed a woman named Maggie who took her own life. Although the online obituary no longer exists to the public, the older sisters of the sorority somewhat vaguely recall the details of the article including the fact that Maggie’s daughter had died previous to her own death in 1934. Phi Sigma junior Alyssa Whinna comments, “When I was a freshman the older girls would tell us stories about their paranormal run-ins with the ghosts to scare us younger girls that were moving into the house, but since then activity has died down to only a few shadows at night and TV’s turning on by themselves,” Whinna continues, “This is my second year living in the house, and I don’t mind Maggie at all, I actually think its kind of fun to get scared every once in a while.” In previous years there have been reports of violent bed shaking, sounds of laughter, and the feeling of being pinned down to beds all coming from the house. However, since then incidents such as cameras taking photos by themselves, pictures falling off of walls, and strange noises have been the only reports of activity.
Residents of Bloomsburg as well as the students at the university have been curious of the specifics of the hunting’s for years. Phi Sigma sister Alexis Prychodko notes, “I often get people coming up to me with interest in our house and asking about the rumors of our ghost when I wear letters. So many people see our house and hear the rumors but no one ever stops in to see for themselves.” Recently the Greek organization has discussed opening the house up for others to experience a haunt of their own, but further details of the event have not yet been planned.
Not only has the house gotten local attention in the past years, but paranormal groups, such as “Paranormal State” as seen on A&E have also contacted the house in hopes of looking further into its activity. The house has gotten attention on multiple websites and word of Maggie and her strange misdoings continue to keep interest in the sorority. Every so often, the girls bring out the Quija board and ask Maggie questions that continue to go unanswered. Apart from laughter and stories to tell, the girls get little more than a fun experience and something to do on a boring Tuesday during these so-called “séance’s.” The haunts continue but the girls don’t mind and only choose to look further into their paranormal beloved house.
Written by: Lindsey Ulmer
