The Gates of Hell
October 28, 2009
The Gates of Hell are rumored to be on the campus of Kenyon College in Ohio. Or rather, one of the seven Gates. I’m not sure who gets to decide this, but apparently there are seven, and one of them is about an hour outside of Columbus.
Seems like alot of people I know are going to haunted houses this time of year. ’tis the season, I guess. I, for one, hate haunted houses. They’re usually really stupid. I’ve gone to a few, and it generally seems to consist of strobe lights and people in hockey masks. People pay for this? Anyhow, I remembered reading some books when I was younger about ghost stories in the state of Ohio. The book was called Haunted Ohio, and was really good. There’s a whole series. Go buy them. I figured I would look on the Internet to see if there were any genuine haunted houses/places to go that are close.
I found some interesting places. Did you know that there is a confederate cemetery in Columbus? That place has to be haunted. Absolutely. Then there is The Ohio Penitentiary. Also, I can’t understand how that place could possibly not be haunted. Read the link, it’s great. Built in 1834, housed the gallows then the electric chair. A fire that killed over 300 people. Unfortunately they tore it down to put Nationwide Arena and a parking garage there. Supposedly the arena is haunted now.
Athens is supposedly one of the most haunted cities in the country, even the world. Ohio University is possibly the most haunted college in existence. The most interesting one I saw says that the university has actually sealed off a dorm room in Wilson Hall because they deem it uninhabitable. Apparently, someone killed themselves in there, and they never left. I would love to verify this. That would be interesting. Maybe another time.
The place that really caught my attention was Kenyon College. Just the gothic revival architecture screams haunted, doesn’t it? Read the link, it’s great. There really is supposed to be a gateway to the underworld in Mather Hall. I decided to go today. Had the day off work, seemed fun. I wasn’t really planning on seeing any ghosts, but it sounded fun. Spoiler: I did not see any ghosts. Sorry. It was an interesting place though. The campus is absolutely beautiful. They built most of it so long ago there was no need to be “modern” in the buildings. The oldest building on campus burned down in 1949, killing 9 people of course, and they rebuilt it just the way it was. Awesome. There are definitely newer buildings, but they are very nicely done. Luckily, they seemed to have stayed away from whoever designed the OSU architecture school. I parked right next to the gate to campus, which is really referred to as the gates of hell. Look at the picture in the link. They are, in fact, super creepy.
I walked all the way down the middle path, which is just a wonderful walk. What a peaceful place, honestly. I walked past Mather hall, and poked my head inside. All I saw were people studying. No demons, no burning ring or anything of the sort. How disappointing. I walked past Old Kenyon, and heard no screaming. Just kids playing X-box. It is a very cool building though. If you block out the bikes and kids with iPods, it could be 1850. I visited their little cemetery. Very awkward to get to. It’s tucked behind a building with no path to it, as best I could tell.
I stepped into the chapel, which was the most creepy part of my trip. It is definitely gothic in nature. Old building, skinny doors. The stained glass windows are the best I have seen since I was in Prague. Wonder if they’re original? I walked into someone practicing the organ, so I didn’t walk around inside too much. It certainly set the mood appropriately though! Interesting note I read about the chapel somewhere. In my video, I am facing West. Most churches have the altar facing East. You’ll notice if you look to your left, the altar is facing north. This is highly unusual. There are churches all over the world that are built at odd angles to the surrounding streets so that they can have the church in the shape of a cross on an East-West line. It’s a very odd choice. Also, if you look at this layout on a map, it is an upside down cross. Spooky.
Overall, it was a good way to spend an afternoon. A late October drive through the Eastern or Souther Ohio countryside is always nice, though I think I missed the leaves being in full color by about a week or so. Do I think this place is haunted? Probably. I think if you stuck around a couple nights on campus looking for trouble you might find it. It seems pretty well documented this is a creepy place. I have never stepped foot in the Dayton Masonic Temple without being slightly spooked, especially after the initiation we had there for my fraternity. We all heard a ladies high-heeled footsteps, but everyone in the room which was about 200 feet across felt like they were right next to them. Really made the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Nothing like that happened at Kenyon, but I kinda feel like maybe you really need to go at night. It’s certainly possible it’s just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo though. A place as old as that always will have ghost stories I think. When you mix in those creepy gates it really seems inevitable. So anybody wanna go to OU with me? Maybe for a Phi Mu Alpha thing? I can quiz them on where they keep all their ghosts.
