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Happy Halloween

In Focus

With haunted houses and ghost stories, pumpkins and candy corn, we’re wishing you a

Happy Halloween

Haunted Harvard

Massachusetts Hall

The ghost of Holbrook Smith, reportedly a member of the Class of 1914 though no record of him exists, haunted Massachusetts Hall until a former dean told him to leave.

Memorial Hall

Legend has it that ghosts stalk the basement of Memorial Hall. Spirits have also been seen looking out of the windows and walking on the lawns outside.

Apthorp House

Apthorp House, part of Adams House, is purportedly haunted by the ghosts of Revolutionary War soldiers, including General John Burgoyne.

Lowell House

Former Faculty Dean Elliott Perkins is said to still linger in Lowell House alongside the spirit of poet Amy Lowell.

Cabot Library

The ghost of Radcliffe alumna Margaret Coleman Waites, Class of 1905, is said to linger in the Cabot Library suite, which houses a collection of her books and antiques.

Tunnels

One of Harvard’s most mysterious spots, tunnels running underground throughout campus can reach over 100 degrees and some even have hidden entrances.

A host of ghosts

In these courses, undergraduate students learn about and craft tales of demons, monsters, and ghosts.

Explore “Haunted: Writing the Supernatural”

Explore “Supernatural Storytelling”


Strange but true

In 1848, Phineas Gage survived having a three-foot tamping iron blasted through his skull. Both his skull and the iron are housed at Harvard’s Countway Library.

This slime mold doesn’t have a brain but it performs many behaviors that we associate with thinking, like solving mazes, learning new things, and predicting events. Learn more.

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