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Ghost In Residence

 

My first year of university, in 2002, I was placed in a residence that was built in the early 1900's and was first used as a nunnery before being used to house students. It's a beautiful old building, built with Roman-style squares and stained glass windows. It still had most of its original architecture and the rooms were now just put to different use.

My first creepy encounter was on my very first day. I used one of the bathrooms to try on my first year uniform. I immediately felt uncomfortable and knew that I had to get out of that room, although nothing had happened to cause this feeling. The first two weeks were punctuated with similar incidents. One day, as I was leaving my room, I heard hurried footsteps behind me and felt someone bump into me. I turned around to see who it was, only to find the entire square abandoned. Later that same week I came from the bathroom and saw a woman peeking from around a corner. She had long black hair and had a small build and I haven't seen her before. She was also wearing a long white nightgown, the kind girls today wouldn't be caught dead in. I wrote all of this off to lack of sleep because of initiation.

After our initiation, however, the seniors told us the legend. The building was linked to another one on campus by an underground tunnel. The other building was a monastery and the tunnel was only supposed to be used in emergencies. One of the nuns fell in love with one of the monks and they used to meet in the tunnel at night. The nun found out that she was pregnant. This knowledge, along with the guilt of having broken her vows, drove her to suicide. She hung herself in a confessional. The monk was so overwhelmed at her death that he committed suicide in the underground tunnel.

All varsity residences have their ghosts, right? Well, to those of you who are skeptic I offer the following as evidence. The bathroom where I had my first encounter was once the confessional where the nun had hung herself. The place where I heard the footsteps was in the area where she herself had lived. The place where I saw the woman in white was where the closed off entrance to the underground tunnel is still to be found.

I only lived there for a year, but as the year wore on, the worse the incidents became. There was often a knocking coming from out of my closet (while there's nothing on the other side of it), the feeling of being watched, more footsteps, electronic going crazy, strange whispers and even stranger dreams. It happened more than once that I was violently shaken awake at night, even though I was alone in a locked room. One night I was even "tucked-in" by the monk. The other girls would report seeing a little girl in the bathroom, or at least feeling someone else there. Some accounts were worse than others. Some girls claimed never to experience anything at all.

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Comments about this paranormal experience

The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, Dina, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

Frikkie (1 posts)
 
11 years ago (2012-10-01)
Hi I'm a 3dr year student in stellenbosch. I'm just curios what the name of the residence was where the haunting took place? Harmonie or Monica?
Opheliha (1 posts)
 
12 years ago (2011-12-05)
I lived in the same residence for four years and both me and my friends had experiences with the ghost. She seemed to appear to the girls when they were upset. I experienced her tugging on my blankets at night and one of my friends witnessed her sleeping next to her room mate.
Dina (2 stories) (3 posts)
 
13 years ago (2011-08-01)
Dear bacchaegrl,

I did not mean 'evidence' as in "this is what a ghost looks like. Deal with it". What I meant was "hey, guys! I'm not crazy! There must be something there!" And as I have stated previously, I not sure what that something is.
I also never claimed to be a ghost hunter, which might explain why I didn't run around with a camera or any other recording devices in my first year of varsity. If it's CONCRETE evidence you're looking for, you must truly be disappointed with this website, but to be fair, it is called yourghostSTORIES.com.
I have not been candid about the location of the residence, so if any ghost hunters want to investigate the place, they are free to do so.
bacchaegrl (506 posts)
-1
13 years ago (2011-05-23)
I'm not saying that I don't believe your story, but Elephante81 has a point, urban legends are everywhere, and it's easy to lose track of what's real and what isn't. Anyway, the real reason I'm commenting is because I think you may be mistaken in what constitutes as evidence. Evidence is made up of pictures, video, and audio recordings. Sightings with nothing to back them up are merely sightings. You very likely saw the events you described, I just wanted you to know that ghost hunters look for tangible evidence, not a story that corroborates itself.
Dina (2 stories) (3 posts)
 
13 years ago (2011-03-03)
I agree Elephante81. I have no doubt that the story has been romanticized a lot over the years. I don't think anyone really knows what's going on. The one thing that always bothered me was why everyone saw the little girl in the bathroom. It's clearly not part of the story.
Elephante81 (2 stories) (59 posts)
 
13 years ago (2011-03-02)
It's still very interesting and very scary. I'm not doubting the experience...it's just a very common urban legend. If you google this you'll see it's everywhere. I just think it could be some other entity. 😊
Nordic (44 posts)
+2
13 years ago (2011-02-17)
Hi Dina, thank you! Don't mind the Afrikaans at all.

Elephante81, it's because of the Catholic reference that I actually thought it must have happened at one of the two oldest traditionally English universities in South Africa. The university of Pretoria is a traditionally Afrikaans university, where most people aren't Catholic but Protestant, which makes the story even more interesting to me.

Take care 😁
zzsgranny (18 stories) (3329 posts) mod
+1
13 years ago (2011-02-16)
Dina: What I find most interesting about your account is the fact that you had experiences before you ever heard the story...

Good story, thank you for posting!. 😊 ❤
Javelina (4 stories) (3749 posts)
 
13 years ago (2011-02-16)
I love these old ghost stories that get passed down from one generation to the next. I like to believe they are true, especially when someone experiences the spirits from the past themselves. It's a sweet and sad tale, thank you for bringing it to us. 😊 ❤
illicit_ (4 posts)
 
13 years ago (2011-02-16)
Thats spooky but awesome! Very cliche, the whole tragedy of love lost & so on but ireally enjoyed reading it! Thanks for sharing, you experienced abit of history yourself LOL having being tucked in by the monk XD Maybe you reminded him of his lost love?
Elephante81 (2 stories) (59 posts)
 
13 years ago (2011-02-16)
Creepy story... However, this is a very common urban legend. Almost every Catholic University has the story of the nun and monk... Or the other variation of nun and priest with the nun getting pregnant and committing suicide.
This, however, does not mean you didn't encounter something paranormal. I highly doubt this was the nun you saw, but rather some other entity that has a part in the building's history maybe.
Dina (2 stories) (3 posts)
 
13 years ago (2011-02-16)
Hi Nordic,

No, it was at The University of Pretoria actually. I once came across the res listed as one of the most haunted places in Pretoria but couldn't find the site again. That's why I decided to share the story. If you are interested in more info (and don't mind the Afrikaans or the fanciful tone they use), you can check out http://www.up.ac.za/organizations/hostels/nerina/emily.html
Nordic (44 posts)
+1
13 years ago (2011-02-16)
Hi Dina, a very enjoyable read. I'm guessing that this happened at either UCT or Rhodes? Care to share? I've had my fair share of encounters at Stellenbosch's older student residences, so I find this really interesting. 😊
Ryno (5 posts)
 
13 years ago (2011-02-16)
Baie goeie storie, very creapy to. Take care... Does things still hapens to you?
Petersspirit (4 stories) (144 posts)
 
13 years ago (2011-02-15)
Hey Dina,

I much enjoyed reading your sharing! I know something about having the feeling of being watched myself. And of someone bumping into me that is not of our material world. In your case these were restless spirits, the nun and the priest... A very scary haunting!

Greetings,
Peter

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