An employee died after falling from the elevator shaft of the downtown library during maintenance. Students over the years have reported seeing him get on the elevator late at night and vanish before they get to a chance to catch him.
Even a ghostly cow moos in Woodburn, after a senior prank went wrong and lead the cow to its death in the clock tower.
Stories like these are what motivated Jason Burns, WVU professor and storyteller, to create the West Virginia Spectral Heritage Project.
The project was founded in 2006 and helps keep the history-rich ghost stories of the state alive.
But, West Virginian ghostly tales are nothing new.
"West Virginia has such a rich culture of storytelling because it sits in the very center of the Appalachian region. The culture has been under attack since we moved into these mountains, and interest in it wanes as it gets more and more devalued by mainstream society," Burns said. "My main goal with the heritage project is to record as many of West Virginia’s ghost and monster stories as I can before they disappear entirely."
Burns said it’s important to know that most ghost stories have a bigger purpose than to simply give listeners the creeps – they’re cautionary tales to teach life’s lessons.
"Within the stories, there is always some facet of history or culture that will still reach out and grab you, terrify you, and in the end let you go a better, and hopefully wiser, person. Ghost stories originally existed as tools for teaching – not as mere entertainment," he said. "Throughout West Virginia’s ghost stories, there are tales that teach us safety, honor, bravery, respect, love – all the basics of how to be a human being are in these tales."
Burns said storytellers like himself are helping to mend the reputation the region has acquired over the years and stomp out negative stereotypes.
"Critics of storytelling – or of anything Appalachian – are usually misinformed about the culture. For the most part, they have a basic ignorance of Appalachia that is fed by many negative stereotypes in media and popular culture. However, that ignorance is beginning to be overshadowed by a reevaluation of the value of the culture in music, literature and in the arts such as storytelling," he said.
"I am increasingly pleasantly surprised by the people who embrace the culture, seek it out and enjoy it."
But, sharing these ghostly tales isn’t just a hobby for Burns, who leads the Haunted WVU tour every Halloween and is a member of the West Virginia Storytellers Guild – it’s a way of life.
"I have improved immensely since I first began performing, and I hope to keep improving. Storytelling is a living, breathing art form that changes and evolves with each retelling of a tale, and the same goes for storytellers," he said. "For that small time performing, the story belongs to the storyteller and they fashion it in their image of what that story could be. The listener gains that story and passes it on as they tell it to someone else. It’s an evolution of the story that will continue until the story is no longer told."
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