University of Virginia

Thomas Jefferson's "academical village," founded in 1819 and designed to embody the ideals of the Enlightenment. Edgar Allan Poe attended briefly in 1826.

Founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 and designed around his vision of an "academical village," the University of Virginia has accumulated two centuries of tragedy, mystery, and spectral encounters. Jefferson modeled the iconic Rotunda after Rome's Pantheon, and his spirit is said to have never truly left the grounds he considered his greatest achievement—he requested "Father of the University of Virginia" be inscribed on his tombstone above even his authorship of the Declaration of Independence. Visitors and staff report footsteps echoing through the empty Dome Room late at night, and an eerie presence lingers near the Rotunda steps.

The most haunted building on campus is Alderman Library, home to three documented spirits. The primary ghost is Dr. Bennett Wood Green, a Confederate surgeon who died in 1913 and whose beloved medical book collection was donated to UVA. When the books were moved from the Rotunda to the newly constructed Alderman Library in the late 1930s, Green's spirit reportedly followed. Staff and students working late describe unexplained footsteps echoing through the stacks, cold drafts, the sensation of being watched, whispers, and books that seem to move on their own. One Rotunda alley still bears Green's name. The library's published statistics officially list "Ghosts reported: 2."

The second Alderman spirit haunts the Garnett Room, which houses a collection donated by the family of Muscoe Russell Hunter Garnett. This ghost is believed to be a physician who frequently visited the Garnett family's Fredericksburg home. When the estate was abandoned after the Civil War, the book collection remained mysteriously immaculate despite years of vacancy. The third entity manifested to library staff member Will Wyatt during an early morning shift in 2015. While opening the building and turning on lights in the stacks, Wyatt encountered "a short, older woman with long fluffy white hair" who appeared from the stacks and said: "It's very quiet up here. This would be a great place to murder somebody." Given staff-only access protocols, Wyatt concluded he had seen a ghost.

Room 13 on the West Range is one of UVA's most famous haunted spots, preserved as a shrine to Edgar Allan Poe. The master of the macabre studied at UVA from February to December 1826, focusing on ancient and modern languages. Deep in debt from gambling and lacking financial support from his foster father John Allan, Poe departed on December 15, 1826. According to the Raven Society, Poe is believed to have etched a cryptic message on one of the windowpanes before leaving: "O Thou timid one, do not let thy Form slumber within these Unhallowed walls, For herein lies The ghost of an awful crime." While the inscription's authenticity is debated, visitors report cold drafts and soft whispers in the room. A Latin plaque above the door reads: "A small room for a giant poet." The Raven Society, founded in 1904, conducts secretive midnight initiations here, with members reading Poe's works and signing a ledger with a quill pen. The room contains Poe's childhood bed from the Allan family home, leather-bound collections of his works, and a taxidermied raven perched on the windowsill.

Pavilion VI, known as the "Romance Pavilion," harbors at least two spirits. The most famous legend involves a professor who died in his quarters in the mid-1800s. His wife, devastated at the prospect of losing their home, propped her husband's corpse in a rocking chair by the window to make him appear alive. She allegedly changed his clothes daily until the deception was discovered. Her weeping is still heard at night. A second tale speaks of a professor's daughter who fell in love with a student her parents deemed unsuitable. Forced to separate from her beloved, she reportedly died of a broken heart, and her spirit lingers within the pavilion. The nickname "Romance Pavilion" actually derives from the Romance languages taught there for many years.

In Pavilion X, where history professor Edward Younger lived with his wife from 1946 to 1974, guests have witnessed a ghostly figure in period clothing. One evening, Younger's mother-in-law came to visit and took a first-floor room. She awoke screaming in the middle of the night when she saw a man in colonial-era attire staring down at her. Soon after, a visiting history professor who stayed in the same room saw the identical apparition.

Old Cabell Hall, constructed after the devastating 1895 Rotunda fire, is haunted by at least two spirits. The "perfume ghost" manifests as a sudden, strong scent of women's perfume that permeates a music department cubicle room, prompting people to stand and look for someone who isn't there. The more troublesome entity is "Mean Jean"—a former housekeeper who was found dead in her work uniform while waiting for her ride to the building. Known for disliking students messing up "her" building, Mean Jean's spirit slams doors, turns off lights, and produces unexplained laughter. Joel Jacobus, director of music production since 2004, has experienced lights going off while alone closing the building. Employees have been locked in a basement utility room called "The Cave" with the lights suddenly extinguished. A door in the west loge opens by itself during performances—electricians found no mechanical cause.

The University Cemetery at the corner of Alderman and McCormick roads holds a particularly dark history. A typhoid epidemic in 1828 claimed the first victims, including Henry William Tucker and student John Temple. But the cemetery soon became infamous as a target for body snatchers. Virginia did not legalize cadaver procurement for medical schools until 1884, so a black market flourished. Medical students themselves raided graveyards for "subjects," borrowing the University's horse and wagon for "anatomical excursions." In 1834, medical student A.F.E. Robertson was shot in the back during a grave raid but survived. The victims were disproportionately enslaved people and free African Americans buried on the north side of the cemetery. Families began holding mock funerals—burying logs or rocks wrapped in shrouds in daylight, then returning secretly at night to inter their loved ones. Jefferson had designed an Anatomical Theatre in 1825 with a basement charnel for storing cadavers. "Stiff Hall" behind Peabody Hall processed bodies until 1929. In 1997, archaeologists uncovered bone fragments along McCormick Road believed to be discarded remains of a dissected cadaver—an 18-24 year old whose spirit may never rest. Some believe the restless dead from this era of desecration still wander the grounds.

Students have also reported seeing a Civil War surgeon in blood-stained surgical attire wandering campus. With its 200-year history encompassing typhoid epidemics, Civil War trauma, grave robbing, and generations of young lives tragically cut short, the University of Virginia has earned its place among America's ten most haunted college campuses.