As we grow older, Halloween morphs into a tradition much less about fear and much more about wearing less and less clothing. However, for many college students, it’s a chance during the year to embrace fear; whether that be by watching horror flicks on Wednesday night, reading an old vampire novel or exploring some of the more haunted areas around DU and Denver, Halloween can be an exciting night for those of us too old to trick-or-treat.
For students looking to dip their toes in the lake of “hauntings,” there are many fear-enticing places around Denver to explore.
DU’s own Mary Reed building is a good place to start.
Mary Reed donated a sizable sum of money to the University of Denver in 1931 to build a new library. Well endowed after her husband died, Mary Reed’s portrait hangs in the Renaissance Room, as apparently was her request before her death.
Custodial staff and students alike report hesitance to enter the building after dark and there have been multiple “sightings” of a ghostly apparition of a woman. It is supposed that Mary Reed is still lingering in the building.
If however, you’ve got more of a flare for the undead, Cheesman Park in Capitol Hill downtown Denver is commonly cited as one of the most haunted areas of the city and arguably of the United States.
According to legendsofamerica.com, the land where Cheesman park now sits was opened in 1853 as Park Hill Cemetery and later turned into a city park in 1907 as the surrounding area became prime real estate for new residents of Denver.
In the late 1800’s, the city of Denver was authorized to remove the bodies and convert the cemetery into a public park, giving families 90 days to remove the bodies of loved ones. As the story goes, roughly 5,000 bodies went unclaimed.
As if that weren’t enough, the man hired to move the bodies into a designated cemetery was caught hacking the bodies into smaller pieces in order to put multiple bodies into child-size coffins in order to make a larger profit.
In 1907, without having finished removing the bodies, and after filling in the holes from removed coffins with shrubs and dirt, Cheesman Park was finished.
Today, residents report feeling significant temperature drops, hearing strange noises and getting an uneasy feeling while in the park.
Lastly, Third Bridge: This is only for the truly hard core fear junkies and for those of you who aren’t afraid to mess with things paranormal.
According to StrangeUSA.com, the Third Bridge in Aurora is the site of multiple freaky happenings.
Just down from the site of the historic Sand Creek Massacre, wherein an estimated 70 to 160 Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians were massacred by the Colorado Territory Militia in 1864, Third Bridge was also the site of a car accident during the 90’s wherein several teenagers were killed.
Visitors report hearing drumming, seeing phantom cars and horses as well as noticing handprints along glass surfaces, particularly along the inside of vehicles.
So whether students are spending Halloween holed up in Driscoll studying for the impending doom of week eight, out drinking pumpkin juice or exploring the ghouls of Denver, be sure to get your earthly fix of the undead, paranormal and the unexplainable. Happy Halloween Pioneers.
