There exists no greater sign that the spooky season has arrived than the mass of wet, cool air and heaps of dreary clouds setting in over the city of Pittsburgh.
While some might venture to Kennywood’s Fright Night for a good scare, there are certainly some haunting places and occurrences you may encounter right here on Point Park’s campus. From proven, recorded “ghost” activity on campus to rumors about cursed dormitory floors, it’s all here.
On Point Park’s campus, there’s no doubt a vast variety of paranormal stories and occurrences which science simply cannot explain. Although many of these stories are deep rooted in history, the supernatural often seems to find its way to fill the gaps history cannot explain. Whether you choose to believe in the supernatural fragments or not is up to you.
Perhaps the most infamous haunted place of Point Park University is Lawrence Hall. Most, if not all the students who live and attend class there are aware of its ghost, the “Shuffler.”
This ghost got its token name from its apparent tendency to moving or shuffling around. Some of its activities also include opening and shutting doors or aimlessly moving objects. Although it is known to be a relatively friendly ghost, its presence can undoubtedly be off-putting.
And it is relatively well known that the Shuffler is the spirit of Supreme Court Justice Michael Musmanno.
Musmanno lived in suite 1625 when the building was still the Sherwyn Hotel. Musmanno remained in his suite even when the building was purchased by Point Park in 1967 and college students began to live there.
Just shortly after the building was purchased by Point Park, Musmanno passed away in his room in 1968. Since then, any of the paranormal occurrences, including misplaced objects, dark shadows down a long hallway or cold chills in the air, are all attributed to the Shuffler.
Another rumor persists among Thayer Hall residents that floor six is haunted.
Contrary to popular rumors, before being purchased by Point Park, Thayer Hall was previously home to classrooms, laboratories, and primarily – office spaces. Although this debunks the theory the building was formerly a “mental asylum,” this does not explain the oddity of the lack of elevator access on the sixth floor. There exists little historical documentation of any haunting or deaths on the building.
Despite this, rumors have continued to circulate throughout the school that the floor is haunted. Whatever paranormal energy may lurk through the sixth floor of Point Park’s Thayer Hall is unidentified – remaining a mystery to this day.
The Pittsburgh Playhouse, which is a state-of-the-art theater once stood in Oakland. In the early 1930s, the former Playhouse in Oakland was a German Social Club.
It is said that during this period, one night at the club, a woman came to check on her husband. There, she saw him fraternizing with another woman.
Supposedly, in a jealous rage, the woman shot him and the other woman dead and then turned the gun on herself.
The spirit, which is known as the Lady in White, can still be seen pacing back and forth along the balcony, crying out her husband’s name.
The second spirit which is said to have lived in the Playhouse is that of John Johns, a former actor.
The man had a heart attack while he was on stage and was taken back to his dressing room, where he died. Students and faculty could still see John Johns years after sitting in the audience – in his tuxedo and ready for another performance.
