Hunting for stories of OPRF’s ghosts is nearly as difficult as ghost hunting itself, as these stories hide in the shadows and often jump out at those who never sought them in the first place. Rumors about paranormal activity are passed among students–whispers about a haunted water fountain or a second floor hallway to avoid at night–yet it can be difficult to distinguish rumor from urban legend…and urban legend from the truth.
After hours spent scouring the internet and attempts to interview staff members who refused to tell their stories, I had only one lead: a 2012 Wednesday Journal article. Of a supposed OPRF “phantom,” the article said “(OPRF) security cameras captured a ‘wooshing’ sound.” The article also cites “rumors of a Huskie Hulk.”
But just as I thought I had reached a dead end, my friend knew what I should do: “Reach out to Mr. Ganschow!”
After attending OPRF as a student and working at the school for 24 years, English teacher and Tabula supervisor Daniel Ganschow has become keeper of OPRF’s seven legendary ghost stories and was the only source willing to share the lore.
“The only folks that have knowledge of these stories have either retired, work elsewhere, or don’t want to talk about them,” he said in an email.
When Ganschow began working at OPRF, he had the opportunity to see some of the more mysterious parts of the school he had heard about as a student. “I’d heard crazy stories about tunnels here and there, secret walls, and secret stairwells,” said Ganschow. The hunt soon went beyond the physical and to the paranormal.
“I grew up with ghost stories,” said Ganschow. “I love the story, I love the oral tradition.”
Ganschow found an OPRF IT specialist who led a double life as a folklorist ghost hunter. The source told Ganschow about seven different ghost stories, but said Ganschow would have to seek the stories himself. “I’ll tell you who to talk to and you can talk to them and come back to me” the IT specialist directed Ganschow.
And so the English teacher began his quest.
The first story Ganschow told was the “story of the drinking fountain on the fourth floor.”
While wandering the school one chilly fall evening, a couple reportedly witnessed a girl in an “older period” dress drinking from the water fountain. As they walked up the stairs to the fourth floor, the two saw the hemline of the girl’s dress floating a few inches above the floor with no feet touching the floor.
Another paranormal occurrence is said to have happened in the old third floor library. After school one day, three employees apparently heard the “blood-curdling screams” of two girls. One employee ran to get help, while the other two remained in the library, where they supposedly saw the girls run up to and pound on a set of doors before disappearing into a cloud of black smoke.
Other hauntings include a woman who runs around the second floor and an old jukebox that played songs after being unplugged. Additional paranormal activity was reported in the culinary arts room, before the situation was handled with holy water.
Word count limits and fact checking can take away from the mysterious and absurdly entertaining nature of ghost stories. For more detailed versions of these stories, you will have to ask somebody who had Ganschow as a teacher. Ganschow tells the stories to his students during the 31 days of October, encouraging students to think about oral tradition.
“We pass on stories,” said Ganschow, comparing the OPRF ghost stories to Greek mythology. “We love to hear stories…With Greek mythology, it was never meant to be written down. It was meant to be sung and then told generation after generation.”
