A door creaks open when nobody’s there, a sudden warmth is felt of a presence that wasn’t there before, a silhouette of a bloody soldier appears in the corner of your eye for a split-second, and a statue of Rizal saunters when night comes. We all know stories like these, tales of terror passed on from generation to generation, legends of ghosts and creatures we discuss by the campfire or the faint flashlight during a sleepover. Told by our older brothers and sisters or cool cousins or teachers during uneventful classes or lolos and lolas older than some of the trees warning in earnest or in jest. But with every myth that withstands the test of time and is enjoyed by people for years to come albeit in a blurry memory rendition of what it originally was, there are ones that get forgotten. Nobody ever writes these down, but with this compilation the stories from faculty, staff, alumni, and students will be immortalized to some extent in the archives of Halangdon. Happy Halloween everyone.

The Faceless Man in A Suit

      “My brother said something that looked like Slenderman roamed the dorms and the woods”

–Meagan Bullecer, Student

In the dense woods of the campus on a hill, a tall pale man with no discernible features on what would’ve been his face other than a round paleness, resides amongst the trees. A black suit is what he is adorned with, and is seen by students in the corner of their eyes during the dark in the forested surroundings.  Most don’t interact, they see and flee, but if your luck runs out, a team captain speaking from experience says he is more than capable of being in front of you during a late night in the male dormitory.

SAFAD at 9:00PM

        “There’s an entity that pushes chairs and trash bins over in SAFAD”

–Niqui Belen, Alumnus

As the clock strikes 9 o’clock in the evening, when the students have left the SAFAD building, the sounds of clutter punctuates the silence throughout the studio floor. In the emptiness of the night comes something, a tall grayness, with no face nor reason, other than the trail of toppled chairs and trash bins in its wake.  

Is it a creature of mischief? Curiosity? Does it wish to instill fear in intrepid students who wish to stay at such an hour in the building? To this day it remains unclear. But one thing remains certain, it is always there, at that time of the night, at that particular place. Should you wish to witness it yourself, it is there waiting. 

A Door to Keep Ghosts Away

        “-I hurried out the door because she was following me but she couldn’t go out and that’s it.”

–Ralph Soreñz, Student

The room was PE11, he had classes from 6:00 to 7:30 at night and it was the last week of September, midterms were coming up.  He tried to ignore it at first, the girl clad in a white cloth with bright eyes, that’s why it took him a while to enter with his classmates.  What she was seeking he didn’t know, she just had a dark aura about her and at least for a fleeting moment he thought she’d disappeared.  He was seated in the front row when she put her face by the side of his classmate, only he could see but his classmate noted the heat on that side of her face, she was smiling.  He didn’t wanna notice her anymore but she was there up until dismissal, and when the bell rang he could see in the corner of his eye the girl following behind.  The door seemed to keep her inside.

Post-Mortem Library Visit

        “Someone told me about a student that died, and he came to the LRC the next day-”

–Samuel Mendez II, Student

I heard of a young student that died in the campus, how and where were not disclosed to me.  The school couldn’t begin to mourn, and the friends and staff hadn’t started grieving yet when the morning after, he entered the classroom.  He walked in and within a blink he was gone, the room ruptured into panic.  The guard caught sight of him in the halls of the LRC, and again he disappeared.  Something tethered him to the school, in life and death he toiled the places educating him, his soul continuing his studies in the halls of Talamban Campus.

“That Was Locked A Second Ago”

        “-and I went back because I forgot something and the door that was locked shut was open.”

–Ralph Soreñz, Student

The sun hadn’t gone yet, it was at its final dip into nighttime.  A floor above the SAFAD canteen and a classroom by the ramp leading to a toilet, an activity had just ended and he went to wash up.  The sink didn’t have soap, and next door was the storage room where soap usually is.  The janitors leave at 4:00PM and it was past 5 o’clock at that point, the door was locked and so he went back to the room.  No less than two steps out he comes back because he forgot something.  The door was wide open.

There’s A Reason There’s No Mirror in The Girl’s Bathroom in the Chapel

        “They said they kept seeing something-”

–Samuel Mendez II, Student

They tell me there isn’t a mirror by the sink of the women’s bathroom in the chapel.  Down by the staircase, the space above their sink stays empty, with bare square tiles where a mirror ought to be.  They tell me it hasn’t happened just once, ask the priests and the nuns and they’ll tell you like it’s gospel.  When fixing your hair, or washing your face, and the lack of a reflection bothers you, remember there was a time where you wouldn’t be the only one staring back. 

Bunzel’s Attic Suitor

        “Ask any faculty or staff and they’ll tell you to stay away from him-”

–Sievney Quidet, Alumnus and Faculty

It was a daily ritual.  It began with a notification, it was freshman year then in 2015 and a woman posted something on the Facebook group page of freshies.  It was about a man, they had met on the fifth floor of the Bunzel building and to her he was the man of her dreams.  There were sparks like fireworks and butterflies like a conservatory, it was the perfect meet-cute Cinderella story down to her not knowing Prince Charming’s name.  The public couldn’t answer who the mysterious handsome mister was, but they were hooked on the love story nonetheless and eagerly awaited every afternoon for the latest update of the charming gentleman on the top floor of the Engineering School.  Though it was weird how nobody could tell her who this guy was…  She asked a senior and he didn’t know who she was talking about, it’s as if this Mr. Right didn’t even exist at all.  Her last post was heartbroken, she said she hoped she was getting pranked because someone told her to stop going on the fifth floor, that she should stay away from that man especially.  She said there were real sparks, she never posted anything again.

Late Passings

        “—I heard a dead teacher haunted the Bunzel building.”

–Dave Keith Kuizon, Student

Several years ago, when only Bunzel and SMED were the buildings in TC, one student was due to flunk again. So, his professors gave him an assignment to do during the break to pass the course.

The student finished the assignment and went to TC at the dead of night to pass it. On the way, he saw the lights were on at the top window. So, he went up and knocked. The professor was there sitting on his desk, looking out the window. The student apologized for being late but the professor said nothing. He put the assignment on the desk and thanked the professor. Still no answer. The student apologized then left. On the out the guard asked who he submitted the assignment to. The student said the professor’s name. The guard paled and said that professor was killed that very morning. The student turned to the top window of the Bunzel building. The lights were off.