Happy haunting
An incomplete church now
used for storage is
haunted by‘strange
fungoid beings’
Arwen Ungar
Freelance Reporter
“Remember,” Bill Smee said in a
barely audible whisper. “Injury to
the body is not always the worst
that can happen.”
Smee, who has worked on cam
pus for many years, is making his
way through an old, abandoned
church. Rumor has it the old
church, located at 1745 E. 17th
Ave.,is haunted.
“See that orange stuff, oozing
out of the boarded-up window on
the second floor?” Smee asks con
spiratorially. “H.P. Lovecraft often
refers to ‘strange fungoid beings’ in
his writings and ‘corrupted
churches’ as well,” Smee said,
pointing to the orange fungus.
Construction on the church be
gan in the 1920s and was allegedly
halted due to the Depression. The
bell tower was never finished, and
a section of the second floor re
mains inaccessible. But, Smee says
the congregation had enough mon
ey to build a completely different
church in another part of Eugene.
Then, why was construction halt
ed? Smee believes it was because
spirits haunted the church.
University housing acquired the
church 25 years after it was aban
doned and now uses for storage, al
though spirits may still lurk within.
“The west side of the church is
very worn,” Smee says pointing to
the chipping paint falling from the
wall of the church “To the Egyptians,
the west is the direction of death.”
“Notice how it’s colder inside than
out?” he asks, referring to an icy
breeze that chills the air and bones
as one ventures into the house.
“The difference is even more
pronounced in the summer. It’s
called otherworldly presences.”
Smee warns that the second floor
is a “center of activity,” and is mosdy
shunned. The floor is in a state of de
Danielle Hickey Emerald
The unfinished bell tower is said to be where most of the haunting activity takes
place within this abandoned church. To this day the tower is inaccessible.
cay and creaks with every step.
Trash is piled high and the floor is
spotted with bum marks.
Birds flutter frantically some
where overhead.
“Hear that? Sometimes what
we think are mere birds are really
psychopomps — entities that
conduct the souls of the newly de
ceased to the afterlife,” Smee
says. He nervously adds it is not
good to expose oneself to such in
fluences for too long.
The haunted church doesn’t
scare everyone in the neighbor
hood, however.
“Looks like an old building to
me, it could use a new paint job
though,” said Ben Strawn, who fre
quents the building next door.
Paul Laurei, who has lived in the
neighborhood for three years, says
he has had supernatural experi
ences, although he doubts that any
of them are because of the church
that frightfully faces his home.
The question remains — is the
old church really haunted by spir
its or just in need of renovations?
Arwen Ungar is a freelance writer
for the Emerald.
rer: m
Jeremy Forrest Emerald
A vampire-like creature hides in the corn waiting to scare unsuspecting people. The maze is a hit for all ages.
Corn
continued from page 3B
to get out.”
Lone Pine Farms is located at
91909 River Road outside of June
tion City. The maze is open and
haunted every night from 7:30 p.m.
to 10 p.m. today through Thursday.
The cost is $8 for adults and $6 for
children. People can also visit the
maze from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today
through Thursday, when it’s not
teeming with gremlins and goblins,
and it costs $6 for adults and $4 for
children. For more information,
call Lone Pine Farms at 688-4389.
Chelsea Duncan is a freelance writer
for the Emerald.
“I know what you wore
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