I attend St. Olaf College, in Northfield, MN. Being very Lutheran and very Norwegian, the St. Olaf community doesn't tend to share the stories of the paranormal activity that happens here. There are three very old dorms on campus, which all have had their share of ghost stories. Here are a few stories of our ghosts...

1) The kid with the red hat

Thorson Hall, which is one of the oldest existing dorms on campus, is known to be inhabited by a ghost of a child, about the age of 10, who wears a red hat. He doesn't make any noise or move things around. He just appears every once in a while--he is a good kid in that regard.

One day, about three years ago, a biology student was studying animal activity in the woods behind Thorson Hall, when a 10 year old boy in a red hat walked up behind him--not making a noise. The student turned around, not knowing he was there. Startled at first, he jumped back (I suppose I would do the same), but was eased by the child's smile and quiet demeanor. The student, thinking the child was real, said, "Hi," but received no response. The little boy sudenly turned around and ran straight towards the dorm. Just about the time the student thought the kid would run into the outside wall of the building, the child vanished.

Thinking it was an odd experience, the student told the Thorson Hall director about it. At that time, the director told him about the ghost that lives on first floor, who takes the shape of a 10 year old boy who wears a red hat. The student thought the director was making a joke until he told others about it, who knew the same story.

2) Agnes Melby

Melby Hall is another of the three existing original dorms. Two years ago was the 100th birtday (I believe it was 100) of Agnes Melby, the woman that Melby Hall is named for. For a while prior to her birthday, students in this dorm noted many paranormal activities such as moving items, etc. These were all attributed to the ghost of Agnes Melby. There is more of a story here, but I don't know this one too well.

3) The woman in Hillboe

The last old dorm on campus, Hillboe Hall, is the most interesting of haunted dorms at St. Olaf. Well before I came here, stories of one room in particular make this dorm notorious.

Years ago there was a woman living in a single in Hillboe Hall. For the first couple weeks, things seemed to be fine for her. But after a while, her neighbors complained of screaming coming from her room at night. The college, which tries to cover up everything, disregarded it. The woman stopped going to classes, and eventually stopped leaving her room. She locked herself in her room for days on end. One day, after a night full of screaming, she jumped out of her window, killing herself. When the room was searched, the police found notes written by the woman saying that there was a woman's voice coming from seemingly nowhere that told her to kill herself. The notes also said that the woman's voice told her of her own pain, which drove the student insane.

The room was locked up for a couple years. St. Olaf didn't want the students to be subjected to the reminder of this room by someone living in it--not that they admited to paranormal acts, but they passed it off as schizophrenia. A few years later, however, they re-opened it. A new female student moved in.

The first couple weeks, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. One night, a few weeks into first semester, her neighbors complained of noises in her room. Again, the woman locked herself in her room, not letting anyone else in. She stopped going to classes, and cut-off all communication outside her room. A few days later, police got a search warrent for her room and broke in, finding her dead on the floor (I forget how she died, I think she overdosed on sleeping pills). Again, the police found her notes saying what she heard. This time, there were two women's voices. One told her about her torment of losing someone she loved, so she hanged herself in her room. The other voice told her about hearing a voice in her room that told her about losing someone she loved, which drove her insane and, therefore, jumped out the window.

That room has been locked since that day.

There are a couple other ghost stories, but that is enough for now.