Ghosts‌ ‌on‌ ‌every‌ ‌street‌ ‌

Samantha Grieb, Website Manager

With Halloween approaching us this weekend, and the spooky decorations on every street, the streets of Bellefonte have become heavy with trepidation. With Bellefonte being an older town, the history of the town is plagued with poltergeists, ghouls, and everything in between.

 Popular websites such as Ghosts of America offer platforms for people to share their own ominous experiences with ghosts throughout towns around the country. The residents of Bellefonte don’t have to look too far to hear bone-chilling tales.  Bellefonte has numerous reports of ghost activities, ranging from apparitions, to slamming doors, to shaking door knobs, and more. 

“I used to live on S. Allegheny street with my parents. We have seen a lot of strange things in this house. One day while my mother, brother, and his wife were playing poker in the kitchen, the basement door handle started twisting back and forth until the door flung open with a cool breeze blowing past them and the bathroom door slammed shut and the sink turned on by itself,” one user wrote.

Bellefonte is home to many ghosts, often just making quick appearances to give a spook. 

“I freaked out when I ran over a lady with my car. It was beside the cemetery on Bishop Street in Bellefonte. She was dressed in Victorian garb: a long, flowing, cloak, with a hood over her head, and dark boots laced up high. But I felt no bump like you would if you were to hit something. And when I looked in my rearview mirror, she stood there watching me,” another user mentioned.

Even Bellefonte’s own teachers have taken up this fascination with poltergeists. Social Studies teacher Mr. Matt Maris is infamously known for telling the stories in his classes.

The intersection of S. Penn Street and E. Cherry Lane by Jim’s Italian Restaurant is claimed to be haunted. The story is about a man named James Monks who murdered another man near Howard, PA. Monks was captured and sentenced to death at the Bellefonte Courthouse. From the Bellefonte jail, he was marched over to the gallows at this location by Jims on January 23, 1819. On the way to the gallows, an old veteran played the ‘Dead March’ on his fife – this is a creepy song. Monks was hanged and it is said that if you listen closely, his ghost can still be heard swinging from the gallows,” Mr. Maris said.

With sightings all over Bellefonte, every street has a history and chance of being haunted. So when you’re walking around this Halloween night, make sure you watch your back and keep your eyes open…or else they might see you first.