Chillystories

Shelton Hall is one of Boston University's oldest converted dormitories. One of its most famous former residences is the famous playwright Eugene O'Neal. During the time when the building was a Sheraton Hotel, O'Neal lived on the fourth floor in what is now room 401. In honor of this great playwright, who wrote the famous play "Streetcar Named Desire," the current Boston University dormitory floor is designated as the writer's floor. Although I wasn't a writer when I was an undergrad at BU, I somehow managed to get a room on that floor on the opposite side of the building.

Eugene O'Neal died in room 401 during the 1950's. Since his death, many residents of the building have reported seeing him clearly walking down the hallway near his room. These sightings occurred even after the former Sheraton building was converted into a dormitory following Boston University's purchase of the building in the 1970's.

When I lived on the fourth floor during my sophomore year at Boston University, I would often return home late at night and glance down the hallways to see if I could get a glimpse of Mr. O'Neal's elusive ghost. Gladly, I never saw it and knew that nobody else had seen him either in the year that I lived on that floor. (My roommate and I did experience something strange one night, but this will be the next story called entitled "Shelton Room 409”).

However, I was good friends with one of the guys who lived in room 401 that year. Everyone always asked him about it and whether he felt strange about living in the very room where Eugene O'Neal died. He said that he never thought about it but the girl who lived directly below that room (room 301) had something to say about that…

I was also friends with the girl who lived downstairs from Eugene O'Neal's former room, and she told me once that every once in a while she would hear something funny in the room above her. We all knew that our friend in 401 usually went to bed early. The girl who lived below said that in the middle of the night, when 401 would definitely be asleep, she could hear somebody jumping up and down on the floor.

To her, it sounded like someone doing jumping jacks. For all she knew, our friend upstairs in 401 might have been up doing calisthenics but when we asked him about it he said he would never do something like that. Especially in the middle of the night.

I'm not sure if Eugene O'Neal was a big fan of late night jumping jacks, but that's what it sounded like to the girl downstairs…