35: Lecture Halls After Dark: The Most Haunted Universities

In this episode of Let’s Talk Spooky, we explore some of the most haunted universities in North America and the UK — from abandoned asylum buildings and Gothic towers to medieval cathedral ruins and anatomy theatres linked to real historical crimes.

These aren’t urban legends pulled out of thin air. Many of these campuses are built on documented history involving:

• Former psychiatric institutions
• Grave robbing
• The Burke and Hare murders
• Public dissections
• Religious executions
• Phantom monks and ghostly figures

📚 Sources

Ohio University & The Ridges

• Ohio University. The Ridges History.⁠https://www.ohio.edu/ridges/history⁠
• Ohio History Connection. Athens Lunatic Asylum Overview.

University of Toronto

• Richardson, D., Careless, J.M.S., & Craig, G.M. (1990). A Not Unsightly Building: University College and Its History. Mosaic Press.

Queen’s University

• Queen’s University Archives. Grant Hall History.⁠https://www.queensu.ca/archives/⁠

University of St Andrews

• University of St Andrews. History of the University.⁠https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/about/history/⁠
• Historic Environment Scotland. St Andrews Cathedral.⁠https://www.historicenvironment.scot/⁠

University of Edinburgh

• University of Edinburgh. History of the University.⁠https://www.ed.ac.uk/about/history⁠
• Rosner, L. (2009). The Anatomy Murders: The True and Spectacular History of Edinburgh’s Notorious Burke and Hare.
• Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. Surgeons’ Hall Museums – Burke & Hare Collection.⁠https://museum.rcsed.ac.uk/⁠