Author: Fiona Broome

Bradford College, Bradford, Massachusetts – 11 March 2000

Tupelo West, and the conclusion of the ghost hunt

At this point, I was on auto-pilot, but didn’t realize it. The encounter at Denworth Theatre had taken a lot out of me.

We entered Tupelo West, but it felt entirely clear of spectral energy. However, I was fairly numb as I recovered from Denworth.

The hauntings at Tupelo West were supposed to be strongest in the basement, but we couldn’t find any way to get downstairs. The elevators only went up from the first floor. Along the wall of the stairway, we could see down to the basement, but the stairs leading down were behind a locked maintenance door.

We asked a few students, but no one knew any other way to the basement.

DISINTERESTED STUDENTS

Unlike the Academy building, the students in this dorm seemed entirely disinterested in ghosts and didn’t show us haunted rooms.

We stood around and chatted for a few minutes. I was still unwinding from the Denworth experience, and mostly babbling to release the energy.

After about 15 or 20 minutes, I knew that I would not be able to perceive lesser manifestations for quite awhile, and I certainly didn’t want to encounter anything so dramatic as the theatre ghost.

And, the students seemed annoyed with us. They weren’t rude, but they were clearly eager for us to leave.

It also occurred to me that there was a lot of snow piling up on the ground, it was getting dark outside, and I had a half hour drive on messy roads back to my house. Also, I still felt green with nausea after the Denworth encounter. I wanted to go home.

LEAVING BRADFORD

We left Tupelo West, and walked past Tupelo Pond. A couple of us noticed a startling, sickly-sweet odor–stronger than what we’d noticed earlier–but we were too tired to investigate. We picked up the identification items which we’d left at the campus security office, and drove home through sleet and snow.

Ann joined James and me at our house, with some of her Gilson photos, and we chatted about the Bradford events. I learned more about Ann’s experiences and James’, which confirmed things that I’d noticed, but hadn’t mentioned.

On one hand, I’d like to go back to Bradford College and re-examine some of the settings where we’d encountered residual energy and the ghost at Denworth. On the other hand, I’m not certain why I’d want to do this. It’s not the happiest of hauntings.

INVESTIGATION SUMMARY

My summary of the experience: The Academy building has the widest range of manifestations, all of which seem to be residual energy. Some of it is disturbing, but mostly it’s fairly harmless.

Denworth is profoundly haunted by at least one ghost. No doubt, there is residual energy there as well, but it is vastly overshadowed by the ghost of a young girl and her doll.

The girl in Denworth is usually playful, according to first-person accounts. However, she becomes enraged if anyone talks about her on campus.

I’d forgotten that, and that may explain the troubled ghost that we encountered. We had been talking about her from the moment we perceived spectral energy.

There may be other, lesser ghosts on campus. From the range of reports, there probably are.

However, the Denworth ghost is easily the most significant spirit at the college.

This is from a series of articles about Bradford College’s ghosts

On the path to Tupelo West, passing by Tupelo Pond

I was still nauseous as we walked through the rapidly-falling snowflakes towards Tupelo West.

Since I had not expected any serious manifestations, I had completely forgotten that the ghost hated to be talked about on campus. Jane, whom we met at Tupelo West, reminded me of the ghost’s aversion to gossip. I can only repeat that I had not expected any serious manifestations, and took the ghost hunt far too lightly until it was too late.

As we walked to Tupelo West, I tried to recover my self-control, and also get my stomach to settle. I was only slightly aware of the surroundings.

AN EARLIER WARNING

Moments before we left for Bradford, something odd had happened at my home. I didn’t realize that it was a warning of what was ahead.

Alan had arrived at our house and we chatted for a few moments as we prepared to leave for Bradford.

I was in the living room and noticed a stench like rotting potatoes. I knew that there were no potatoes in the kitchen. It occurred to me that the smell might be coming from a philodendron I’d repotted in a closed container. I’d liberally filled the bottom with charcoal and gravel, so there was no reason for the odor. However, it was the only explanation for this truly awful smell.

I took the pot out to the kitchen, to see if I could banish the stench. I figured to repot the plant when we returned home.

I expected the putrid odor came from an over-watered plant with no drainage. Instead, the soil was bone dry.

I thought, “Okay, maybe it’s dry on top, and there’s stagnant water in the bottom.” So I put the pot in the kitchen sink, turned on the water, and braced myself for an awful odor.

Nothing happened. Even saturated with water, the soil and the plant smelled fine.

Back in the living room, I could still smell the potato odor, but it seemed to be fading quickly.

I didn’t think about it again, until we were on our way past Tupelo Pond.

THE ODOR RETURNS

When we were walking, I was not aware that we were next to the legendary Tupelo Pond. For some reason, I’d envisioned some large, reservoir-type pond, with some cat-o-nine-tails surrounding it, creating a vast pastoral scene.

The pond is quite small. The odor around it, as I walked past it, was stomach-turning, made worse by my literal “gut reaction” to the ghost at the theatre building.

It was the exact same putrid odor I’d sensed in my house, before we left for Bradford. I describe it as “rotting potatoes,” but others referred to it as stagnant swampwater, marsh smell, and so on.

I didn’t remember this earlier incident until after we’d returned home and discussed the Bradford ghosts.

We concluded our ghost hunt at Tupelo West