It’s exactly 7:27 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 22, and surrounded by the pitter-patter of rain and the weird sound of my boots as I walk on muddy grass, I was suddenly standing in front of Ellis Hall. 

After staring at the front door for 30 seconds, I gathered the courage, took my card out, scanned it, and the door clicked open. My heart was now beating faster than ever. 

Although I had been on campus for a month now, this was my first time in Ellis.  

I got to know about the haunting stories of Ellis even before I departed my home country. Surprisingly, I was never bothered because I didn’t have to go there. Why should I worry about what goes on? 

Yet, on the gloomiest night when pretty much everyone was in their dorms, I decided to go have a look around. 

When I first chose to write about the Ellis ghost, I was pretty excited. It was only later that I realized that this probably wasn’t the easiest topic to write on. But I casually discussed it with a friend and he pushed me to go for it. 

So, here I was in Ellis, at the worst time of the day. 

Once I went inside, a feeling of warmth and homeyness dawned upon me. All of a sudden, I didn’t feel scared at all — exactly the opposite of what I had imagined. 

And nearly everyone had an interesting story to reveal.  

Regina Cerasulo, a freshman resident of the hall, said she hears knocking on her door when nobody is outside, but that she is far from scared of the noises.

“I hear random noises, but it’s fun,” she said. “I sometimes talk to them and tell them to come in ‘cause I don’t want them to not like me.”

Another student who lives in Ellis, freshman Elizabeth Maxey, also said she’s heard strange sounds in the hall. 

“I hear sounds in the bathroom, of someone opening the door but then no one did. (Or) the toilet flushing next to me, but nobody is in there,” Maxey said.

Molly Johnston, a junior community advisor in Ellis who lives on the second floor, also had a lot to share. 

She has experienced paranormal phenomena from time to time such as strange noises, weird clicking, and the misplacing of things for weeks only to suddenly find them. 

“I (was) sitting on my bed and the bed sunk in beside me as if a cat or a dog jumped on (it) — and nothing was there. That freaked me out,” Johnston said. 

Johnston also recalled losing a magnet from her fridge for a week and ultimately finding it in the lobby of the building when a fire alarm went off. 

 “At that time, I was like, yup. It is haunted. Confirmed,” she said. 

These incidents must make some think that, yes, Ellis truly has something otherworldly. 

But community advisor, Nate Warrington, thinks doors popping open, toilets flushing and the mysterious noises are because the building is too old.

The enthralling part is that the people experiencing the presence of something out of place clearly don’t want to leave Ellis — and haven’t even thought about it. They love Ellis and call it home. 

“I think it is a friendly ghost if there is any,” Johnston said. “I don’t want to (leave). Actually, I like it. It’s almost a comforting thing that something is there.”