It’s nearly Halloween, and to celebrate the holiday we’ve put together this compilation of chilling stories about UVA Library covering supposed spirits in the stacks, creepy items found in Special Collections, and recommended horror reading from two of our librarians. Stop by one of our six locations to check out a book, pick up a specialized sticker, or perhaps hunt for a ghost.
The spirits of Shannon
Earlier this fall, writer Sarah Lindenfeld Hall interviewed Will Wyatt, a Public Service Manager in Shannon Library, for a longform story titled “School Spirits” in Virginia Magazine:
In 2015, Will Wyatt was a student working at the library, arriving 15 minutes before it opened on a Sunday. His tasks included walking through the dark Stacks to turn the lights on.
As he went about his business on the top floor, a woman with long, flowing, white hair popped around the corner of the Stacks. “She looks at me and says, ‘This would be a great place to murder somebody,’ and gives me this devilish smile and starts cackling,” Wyatt remembers. “And I’m just like, ‘Uh,’ and I start going faster, flipping the lights on, and she goes back into the darkness of the Stacks.”
The library had been locked overnight, but Wyatt thought maybe the woman had somehow gotten inside. But he found no evidence of her. “The desk was positioned right in front of that door, and we never saw this person leave, so that’s what made me start to think that this might have not been a person,” Wyatt says.
For more about Wyatt’s encounter (and additional ghost stories from UVA) check out Alice Berry’s 2023 UVA Today article “Ghouls on Grounds,” which also mentions two other possible apparitions in the main library, including the ghost of Dr. Bennett Wood Green, a confederate surgeon and book collector. This piece from the history podcast “Backstory” details an alleged sighting of Green’s ghost by Karin Wittenborg, University Librarian from 1993 to 2014. “According to Wittenborg, the ghost was a short man, with a long gray beard, and was completely benevolent.”
Creepy archives and a haunted music library
There are scares to be found in library locations beyond Shannon; in 2023 Berry interviewed Special Collections librarians to uncover the “six creepiest things at UVA.” Archived items include a miniature vampire hunting kit stocked with silver stakes, a vial of holy water, a cross, a mirror, and garlic; a piece of glass from Edgar Allan Poe’s room on the Range, etched with a poem he allegedly wrote; and a funeral director’s burial record book documenting the more than 1,200 bodies he buried in Wytheville in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
And in 2021, Anne Bromley wrote for UVA Today about strange happenings in Old Cabell Hall, which houses the Music Library:
Some who’ve worked there for more than a decade have encountered what seem to be the antics of an angry ghost, “Mean Jean.” A hard-working housekeeper, she apparently disliked people, especially students, messing up “her” building. The story goes that she was found dead, dressed in her uniform, waiting for a ride to come to work. So some think it’s as if she still comes to work at Old Cabell Hall. … They attribute doors slamming, lights going off and laughter heard to Mean Jean.
Spooky reading recommendations and a Gothic book club
Finally, UVA Today recently asked Librarian for English Sherri Brown and Librarian for Music & the Performing Arts Amy Hunsaker for spooky reading recommendations to “get you in the mood for the season.” The librarians’ picks include “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” by Shirley Jackson, “You Like It Darker” by Stephen King, and “Mexican Gothic” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
Beginning in January, Brown and Hunsaker will host “Four Centuries of Women’s Gothic,” a year-long reading challenge sponsored by the UVA Library. “We’ll begin with Clara Reeve’s ‘The Old English Baron’ (1777) and work our way through time up to women’s Gothic of the 21st century. Each month we’ll read either one novel or a few short stories by one author,” the librarians said. Join their Facebook group to find out more, sign up for their monthly newsletter, and participate in discussions. A kick-off event will be held in person in early 2025.