Ghost Stories

CSB and SJU Ghost Stories: A Chronological Bibliography

Interest in CSB and/or SJU ghost stories is ongoing for both campuses, and many stories have been promulgated over the years.  This list documents what has been published in various sources on the topic, in chronological order, oldest to newest.

“Stella Maris Chapel” [source unknown, about the 1872 drowning of Frater Anselm Bartholmy], undated pdf, 1 page. (Available in the SJU Archives.)

“Brother Leo Martin,” Scriptorium, June 1956, p. 49-50.

Maher, Don. “The Ghosts of Collegeville,” The Record, November 22, 1968, p. 6.

Maher, Don. “The Ghosts of Collegeville,” The Record, November 19, 1971, p. 1 & 4.

Perrier Kate. “’Johnnie Ghost’ tale still haunts St. John’s campus,” St. Cloud Times, June 30, 1975, p. 25. (Available in the SJU Archives.)

Hurd, Ed. “SJU ghost stories to air on television,” The Record, October 22, 1976, p. 7.

Gilbert, Helen. “The Crack in The Abbey Floor: Laboratory Analysis of a Legend,” Indiana Folklore vol 8 (1-2), 1977, p. 61-78. (Available in the SJU Archives.)

Harrison, Julie. “Legends surround deserted Chapel,” The Record, September 18, 1986, p. 6-7.

Dubois, John. “St. John’s ghost tales still very much alive,” St. Cloud Times, October 29, 1989, p. 1C. (Available in the SJU Archives.)

Britz, Kevin. “Stearns County’s Historic Spirits,” Crossings, October-November 1989, p. 2-3. (Available in the SJU Archives.)

McCargar, Terri. “Ghost legends haunt St. John’s,” The Record, November 21, 1990, p. 5-6.

Garbe, Elaine. “Things that go bump in the night and day,” The Independent, October 19, 1995 p. 9 & 12.

Adler, Erin. “Stella Maris chapel legend continues to spook and intrigue CSB/SJU students,” The Record, September 2, 1999, p. 6.

Lindblad, Owen. “Island chapel survives fires,” St. Cloud Times, September 27, 1999, p. 3B. (Available in the SJU Archives.)

Fahey, Suzanne, Molly Hayes, Sara Miller, and Erin Adler. “Ghost Stories of the St. Ben’s/St. John’s,” The Record, October 28, 1999, p. 10-11.

Price, Anne. “Are you scared yet?” The Record, October 26, 2000, p. 8-9.

Streff, Amber. “Do you hear the chapel bell?,” The Record, October 25, 2001, p. 4.

Streff, Amber. “Misery in the Main,” The Record, October 25, 2001, p. 4.

Seifert, Michael, John Jantzer, Lue Moua, Angela VanDenHemel, Jake Marolt, JaNae Alterpeter, Greg Kaiser, Justin Plein, Jason Primus. “Ghost Stories: Real or Make Believe?” [student research paper], 2003, p. 1-9.  (Available in the SJU Archives.)

Sattler, Maggie. “Mystery at the Main,” The Record, October 28, 2004, p. 3 & 8.

Theodotou, Justin. “Tales Haunts Campus,” The Record, April 6, 2006, p. 4.

Bowen, Amy. “Spook Factor,” St. Cloud Times, October 31, 2007, p. 1C. (Available in the SJU Archives.)

Acham, Serah. “CSB/SJU haunted,” The Record, October 31, 2008, p. 4.

“Ghosts in the Joe O’Connell Home?” Annotated notes from a conversation with Jody O’Connell, September 1, 2009. (Available in the SJU Archives.)

Stubblefield, Amy. “Spook-tacular ghost stories,” The Record, October 30, 2009, p. 5.

Seeb, Hannah. “Campus Myth Halloween Stories,” The Record, October 26, 2012, p. 5.

Ober, Sarah. “Haunted,” The Record, October 31, 2014, p. 4.

“The Stella Maris Chapel– The rest of the story,” Newsleader, April 8, 2015, p. 1-2. (Available in the SJU Archives.)

Schultz, Jake, Fretchen Brown, Michael Swearingen, and Nicole Koonce. “A ghostly tradition,” The Record, October 30, 2015, p. 10.

Haeg, Steph. “Hauntings of the Past: are the campus ghost stories true?” The Record, October 27, 2017, p. 6.

“The Hauntings of CSB/SJU,” The Record, October 26, 2018, p. 7.

Kahlhamer, Amelia. “Paranormal activity surfaces at SJU Campus,” The Record, October 30, 2020, p. 6. 

Text drafted by Nate Wright, SJU ’23