Whoooooo’s There?: The “Hauntings” of David Talbot Hall
在校园最东边是大卫·塔尔博特大厅. 从外面看，这是一栋相当普通的红砖建筑, rectangular in shape, 四面整齐地排列着统一的窗户. Inside, however, is a different story. The building is adorned with pillars, 大的旋转楼梯，甚至在一些房间华丽的枝形吊灯. 许多&移动商务的学生在塔尔博特的大厅里游荡, sat in its classrooms or climbed its stairs (which feels like running a marathon). It's old and historical and fascinating, but many of us can't deny that, 有时, 大卫塔尔博特大厅也会让人感觉有点毛骨悚然.
作为一名英语专业的研究生和前研究生助理教师, 我在大卫·塔尔博特大厅待了无数个小时. 我在作业期间上夜校，有时一直到晚上10点半或11点.m. On those late nights, when the sun was long set, the hallways nearly empty, 灯光昏暗的, 我有一种想尽快冲出门去的冲动.
I've always wondered: was my intuition telling me something about the old building? Or was it just a side effect of mixing an old building with my over-reactive imagination? I had heard whispers of possible ghosts, 甚至还有在老房子里进行超自然调查的故事, but it was all rumors through the grapevine. So this year, in the spirit of Halloween, I decided to research David Talbot Hall myself. 我想知道塔尔博特的"鬼魂出没"只是传说还是更多. And I must admit: what I learned undoubtedly sent a few delightful chills down my spine!
历史上
David Talbot Hall (or Talbot Hall, 正如它通常所说的那样，它并不总是我们许多人所知道的建筑. It was built almost a century ago, in the 1920s, and was originally the university's library. 这座两层楼的建筑藏有数万本书, and featured luxurious chandeliers, a tiny local history museum, and a reading room with a lofty ceiling and a skylight to let in plenty of sunlight.
During the early 30s and 40s, the reading room was used as a study space and also held dances and social gatherings for students. Multiple sources recounted an old story about how the janitors hated the dances because the students would scuff up the tile floors while dancing. 作为解决方案, 看门人在聚会前把蜡粉铺在地板上, and the students unknowingly did the work of buffing the floors as they danced.
20世纪50年代, as the university's book collection grew, the need for a larger, more modern building grew with it. 一座新图书馆(现在的维尔玛·K·沃特斯图书馆)于1959年建成, and the books were relocated. It was decided that the old library building would be renovated and called “The Hall of Languages,英语系将设在那里.
阅览室被分隔开，以建造更多的教室, forming a new middle story between the first and second floors (which is supposedly 为什么 no public bathrooms are on the second floor). Dr. 猎人海耶斯, 文学和语言系主任, 他说电梯大概是在这个时候安装的.
The building sat largely untouched for decades until 2017 when the first floor was significantly remodeled. 安装了LED灯来照亮空间, 墙壁(原本是深棕色的)被重新粉刷, the main office was expanded, and a new conference room was constructed. Along with these renovations, the building was renamed David Talbot Hall, honoring the university's first Black professor and his significant role in the history of A&移动商务.
The Building's Spooky Features
As an old building with such a rich history, 塔尔博特庄园有时让人觉得不可思议也就不足为奇了.
“Any building around 100 years old, 尤其是一个有着辉煌历史的人, could give people weird vibes,” Hayes speculated.
Many have described the structure as “creepy” or “spooky” because of its natural age and some of its odd and dated features. 例如, throughout the building, there are several tiny doors, about three feet tall and two feet wide, and no one seems to know exactly 为什么 they are there.
“我们一直称它们为‘霍比特人之门’,'” Hayes said laughing, 尽管这句话更可能与电梯有关.”
A dumbwaiter, Hayes explained, is a small elevator-like system operated by ropes and pulleys. He speculated that perhaps the original librarians used it to send books to the second floor instead of hauling heavy loads up and down the stairs.
Dr. Shannon Carter, 在塔尔博特学院当了20多年的英语教授, 说那扇小门并不是这栋楼里唯一的神秘之处.
“There's also a door in Room 202, 我发誓, 直到两年前我才看到那扇门, and I've been in that room so many times!” she exclaimed. “最奇怪的是，似乎没有人意识到那扇门在那里. 然后，几个月前，有人发现他们的钥匙可以打开那扇门! 那是一个装满旧电脑打孔卡之类东西的壁橱, old photo albums, 旧的答题卡, and other weird and curious things.”
这座建筑的另一个特色是电梯, 它们偶尔也会有自己的想法. 有时, when you step into the elevator and push the button for the floor you want to go, the doors will close halfway, then suddenly open again. 有时，它会把你带到与你要求的不同的楼层.
Carter shared that occasionally, when she works late at night, she brings her dog, 埃迪, to keep her company. 她暗示说，艾迪可能在电梯附近感觉到什么.
“他会下楼梯，但不会靠近电梯，”她说.
I'm inclined to agree with 埃迪. I've ridden the elevator thousands of times, watching the doors open and shut, 有时 on their own, without anyone pushing a single button. One night, I pressed the third-floor button. 但, rather than taking me directly there, the elevator stopped, 打开, and closed its doors on all three floors. 我立刻下了车，之后大部分时间都走楼梯.
的鬼魂
塔尔博特庄园有很多鬼故事和传说. 但 like many urban myths and legends, the story differs depending on who is telling it.
Carter reported that she had heard a story about a little boy who went through the “hobbit doors” and got stuck in the interior passage when he fell. 海斯说他听到一个男孩在屋顶上玩耍的故事. And still other accounts say that a young boy found a janitor's closet leading up to the top floor and crashed through the skylight. 不管你听到的是哪个版本, the story is essentially the same: a little boy (never named) fell to his death in Talbot Hall, and his spirit still lurks in the building.
“It's a great ghost story,” Hayes said. “Tragic origins, but I think it's one of those things that gets compounded over time. The story changes over generations, but as with all urban legends, something real often gets it started.”
但 is it just a story? In 2010, a paranormal investigation team called Paranormal 研究 and Investigations of North Texas (or PRINT) came to Talbot Hall armed with ghost-tracking gadgets and contraptions. 他们整晚都被锁在大楼里, according to their report, detected lots of ghostly activity, from shadowy figures to voices, 冷点, and even screams and pounding.
In the original news report of PRINT's case, 调查人员在发现了几个鬼魂后说, the activity eventually died down, and the ghost hunters decided to leave. 然而，海耶斯说，他的记忆却截然不同.
“Late at night, they flipped out and left!他笑着说. “I can understand it. It's a creepy building! 如果你曾经在晚上熄灯的时候上楼, 你知道，要找到电灯开关真是太疯狂了!”
There Must Be a Plausible Explanation!
For the more logical-minded, 对于塔尔博特庄园发生的怪事，存在着一些似是而非的解释.
对许多人来说，单是这座建筑的年代就足够解释了. 当然，一座有近百年历史的建筑会吱吱作响. 当然，电梯有时可能不工作. 当然，在100年的过程中可能会有一两个死亡.
更有趣的解释是老鼠. In 2008, the university tore down Mayo Hall, an old dorm building across the street from Talbot Hall (where the Welcome Center now stands). 梅奥大厅已经空了好几年，里面住着啮齿动物, 浣熊, 负鼠, 猫, and other animals. When Mayo Hall was demolished, those creatures required a new home and naturally migrated to the nearest building: David Talbot Hall.
回忆起这段时光，海斯不禁开怀大笑, especially when he said, “Probably the creepiest thing was when we had two 浣熊 fall through the ceiling and crash onto a graduate assistant's desk while she was sitting there!”
Much like the ghost stories, this event has become a legend in and of itself; I heard four different accounts of the falling 浣熊. 塔尔博特庄园的动物侵扰花了数年时间才得到控制, so Hayes speculates that perhaps what PRINT heard was not ghosts but rather nocturnal critters scurrying in the walls.
Although the building is no longer infested, animals occasionally find a way in. Just a few years ago, Hayes once heard a banging sound in the walls of his office and began to investigate.
“When I looked up at the A/C vent, I saw a little bit of a black wing sticking through the grate. I think it was a bird!”
Although, mysteriously, neither Hayes nor the maintenance employees ever found the creature.
The Mystery and the Magic
Hayes admitted that although he is a man of logic and reason, a part of him also has an open mind. 他笑着解释道:“我坚信要两面下注! 如果真有鬼魂，我不会去对抗他们吧. If they're here, I'd like to think we have a mutually agreeable relationship: we leave each other alone.”
Whether you believe David Talbot Hall is full of wandering spirits or just furry four-legged creatures, 很难否认:鬼故事和都市传说是迷人的. 很难不进一步深入了解，渴望了解那些令人毛骨悚然的细节!
大卫塔尔博特大厅是一座历史悠久的古老建筑. 而鬼魂，无论真实与否，都是那段历史的一部分. 他们给大楼和我们的校园一个有趣和独特的生活.
“有非常理性的方式来解释某些事情,” Hayes said with a smile, “but I like the mystery and the magic, 我希望有什么东西能在这里产生一点火花.”
不要错过我们十月份的惊悚故事系列的其他内容!
特色照片:20世纪30年代一个下雪天，大卫·塔尔博特大厅的外观, located in University Archives
