 "Photo: Osa Okundaye")
On a dark and windy night, you decide to take a stroll across campus. You pull your jacket on as you leave the dorm and head out into the darkness. You check your watch- midnight, and off in the distance you hear the ominous tone of the clock tower's bells. You pass the solemn statue of Sully and half-expect him to come to life on his pedestal. You could swear you saw a grimacing smile slither onto his bronze face. It's enough to cause you to speed up your step. As you amble aimlessly along, you find yourself being drawn toward a massive, stone building silhouetted against the overcast sky. You begin to recognize the elaborate stone and ironwork as you inch closer. Carved livestock skulls adorn the façade; iron bars guard the doorway. You are standing outside of the Animal Industries building.
You look around nervously; there is something spooky about this place. You've heard the rumors. Something about a horrendous death, animal carcasses, an elevator that was just too slow.
Raindrops begin to shower you, snapping your attention back to the crisp night. You try the front door and find it locked. You scout around the outside, looking for signs of life within. You test other doors but to no avail. Your mind begins to play tricks on you. You feel like you are being watched, followed, chased. Then you see it, one solitary light streaming from an ancient window. You rush to the nearest door and knock as loudly as you can, hoping someone inside will have the heart to come to your aid.
If you are lucky, and ask real nicely, Cynthia Wright, a junior environment geosciences major, just might let you in. I found her working diligently in the basement of this historic building just a few nights ago. She admitted to having heard about the mystic past of her workplace, but it didn't seem to daunt her. Although she had been alone in the very basement where the story takes place, she showed no fear. In fact, Wright claimed to have never had any supernatural experiences while working in the building. The only unusual thing that had happened to her was an unexplained power outage during a class she once had there.
"All the lights went out and everyone [blamed] the ghost," Wright said with a lighthearted tone.
For those who have never heard the story, the version often cited was last published in the A&M newsletter, "The Explorer," in 2008. According to that report, the victim was Roy Simms, former meat laboratory manager at Texas A&M. The Animal Industries building once housed a large locker in the basement where animal carcasses could be stored, dissected and examined by researchers.
One weekend in 1965, Simms was routinely cutting up meat and accidentally sliced into his thigh, severing his femoral artery. Understanding the lethal consequences of this mistake, he rushed to the outdated elevator. Unfortunately, the lift was well past its prime, and he bled out as the machine slowly ascended. It is claimed now doors will fly open and shut, footsteps and whistles can be heard in empty halls, and the elevator will run on its own all through the night.
Although I suspected the whole story to be embellished, I was able to locate the dilapidated elevator Simms was said to have taken to his demise. Of course it was not enough to simply see it and leave, I crawled in to get a better look at the most haunted place on campus. I was compelled to believe the story in that moment. As I sat there in awe of the evidence that supported the tale,the whole megalithic structure of the building sighed under the weight of the night. An inhuman whine, which I attributed to the wind in order to calm my nerves, reverberated through the hollow elevator shaft. I determined it was time to go.
Ghost stories are not judged on how factual they are, but on how convincing they can be. There is no record of Simms dying traumatically on campus, but having heard the legends of the haunted Animal Industries building for years, I've never been more compelled to believe them. If you get the chance and the night is right, venture into the basement and sit by the old elevator. Maybe you will add a chapter to this haunted history.
C.H. Nygard is a senior agricultural and leadership development major.
Be the first to comment on this article!