Fridav. October 30,1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section C • Page 9
Wandering the Web
Ghosts, goblins, witches and werewolves may be stalking the city of Lawrence this weekend. For those without a costume to wear or any candy to enjoy, check out these spooky Halloween Web sites for a little haunted fun.
http://www.urbanlegends.com
Ever thought that an urban legend could happen at the University of Kansas? This week, the University experienced the spread of one familiar urban legend: sorority stalking. If interested in learning more about this legend, or any others, check out this site.
http://www.halloween.com
Vampires, ghosts, witches and cemeteries are some of the topics you can learn more about at this creepy Web site. Take a trip through the haunted graveyard. The creators of the site mention that you may not come out alive.
http://www.trickortreat.com
Want to send a friend a Halloween greeting? How about some ooey, gooey holiday cookies? All that and more is available at this site.
CONCERT CALENDAR
Toniight
Kings, Frantic Flattops
Borders: Mark T. Gottschall
Bottleneck: The Mighty Blue
HiJinx Lounge: Split Lip Rayfield, Mike
Lounge: Split Lip Rayfield, Mike
Jazzhaus: Greg Piccolo and Heavy Juice
Tomorrow night
HiJinx Lounge: Dreamatorium with DJ Velasquez
Sunday night
Jazzhaus: Majesties Rhythm Revue
Bottleneck: The Schwig
Hi-Jinx Lounge: The Sadies, Buck Jones and The Bourbon Power and Lawn Tractors
Replay Lounge: 16 Deluxe
Trick-or-treat, Governor
Missouri's leader invites children to a haunting event
The Associated Press
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The stately Missouri governor's mansion, by day the very image of inviting elegance, was transformed by night into a house of horrors with skeletons on the lawn and a scary giant spider dangling over the main entrance.
The chilling scene was all staged, of course, as part of Wednesday evening's sixth annual Mansion Spooktacular, established and hosted by Gov. Mel Carnahan and his wife, Jean
Carnahan credited the house's transformation to the assistance from Six Flags St. Louis. The amusement park arranged costumes, special effects, decorations
Each youngster was given a bag of treats after they wound through a maze of stacked hay bales and the interior of the mansion, which was decorated for frights.
and not-too-scary inflated monsters, ghosts and oversized pumpkins, and even the Batmobile.
"It is really nice that the Carnahns do this for the kids," said Lisa Bradley of Holt's Summit, whose 1-year-old daughter, Alyssa, was wearing a leopard-snotted feline costume.
The governor, dressed as Uncle Sam, caused the small girl's blue eyes to widen as he greeted her in a soft voice. Carnahan defly adjusted his eight-inch-long, glued-on goatee, which wilted a bit in the unseasonably warm weather.
"This has been a real success," Carnahan said between handshakes for about 10,000 visitors. The first lady said she couldn't decide whether her character was dancing actor Gene Kelly or the
"We love the costumes, because we're just kids at heart," she said.
saluting sailor from the Cracker-jacks box.
The Carnahans settled on patriotic costumes, although their first choices were to come as Captain Hook and Peter Pan.
The couple's 9-year-old grandson, Austin Carnahan, put a halt to that; Carnahan said Austin noted that Captain Hook is mean to kids and grandpa isn't mean. so they wanted to be politically correct from a young person's view.
Even the governor's dog, a massive Newfoundland named Beaumont, greeted guests. The Carnahans' son, Randy, who dressed as a monk, said the dog's sleek, heavy black coat had been painted with white polka dots.
"But they've all been petted off," he said, as the heavyweight bound rolled on his side for more affection.
Fort Riley's spooks puzzle skeptics
The Associated Press
FORT RILEY — A teddy bear moves around a room when no one is there. Windows and doors open by themselves. A fire alarm goes off after it's been disconnected.
It's enough to make even the most skeptical wonder whether ghosts actually exist in the limestone homes of Fort Riley that once housed the likes of George Armstrong Custer and Philip Sheridan.
The public can judge for itself on Monday night while enjoying the Halloween atmosphere of Fort Riley's annual "Ghost Tour," a two-mile walk along some of the more famous of the haunted sites at the fort.
For example, visitors will learn about the mischievous "Teddy Bear ghost" of the Custer House.
Members of the Fort Riley Historical Society will be on hand to tell stories of the fort's ghosts.
The apparition is said to be responsible for moving a stuffed bear from the bed of the children's room in the museum to a rocking horse or a chair across the room virtually every night.
"The volunteers who cleaned the place got pretty spooked by that," said Karen Kryschal, coauthor of *Ghosts of Fort Riley*, *Past and Present*, a book produced by the Historical and Archaeological Society of Fort Riley. "They would make sure the bear was on the bed when they locked up, and they'd come back and find him somewhere else."
And, she said it is not unusual for the basement door to open when she approaches the stairs with her
Kryschtal, whose husband is third in command at Fort Riley, lives in one of the historic limestone homes. She tells the story of a window in her home that would open and close of its own accord — even when locked.
arms full of laundry baskets.
Tourists on Monday night likely will hear the story of the "Man in Buckskins," who has been seen by numerous residents at Scofield Barracks, and of the ghost of the Sutlers Quarters who was exorcised by a Catholic priest in a service several years ago.
And there's the most recent story — the fire alarms of Custer House that kept going off without apparent cause during last year's ghost tour. The first time the alarm sounded, fire officials checked the house and reset the alarm.
And when it sounded a third time, the firefighters joined the ranks of the many residents of Fort Riley who wonder about ghosts at the old Army post.
After the second alarm, they checked the house and, finding no cause for the alarm, disconnected it.
Ghosts, Bigfoot stories roam across Kansas
The Associated Press
PITTSBURG — There has been more than grass and buffalo on the Kansas prairie. For more than a century, ghosts, witches, werewolves, UFOs and even Bigfoot have been romping across the state.
Lisa Hefner Heitz has collected numerous ghost stories and legends into a book titled "Haunted Kansas," published by the University Press of Kansas. She recently discussed some of them in a presentation at the Pittsburg Public Library.
Heitz said she had been interested in fairy tales and spooky stories since childhood. Her interest intensified after she took a course in folklore as a part of her graduate work in American studies at the University of Kansas.
"When I grew up in Topcka, I heard our local legend about the 'Albino Woman' with long white hair and glowing red eyes, who supposedly haunted a cemetery north of Topka." Heitz said. "When I was in high school, we'd go out to the cemetery on weekends to look for the Albino Woman. I decided to write a paper on her and started doing research."
Heitz was fascinated to find that the legend was at least 30 years old when she first heard it and that the story had changed through the years.
"When I first heard of her, the Albino Woman was more sad and forlorn than frightening," Heitz said. "The story was that she was searching for her lost white poodle. I was surprised that my own daughter, who was then in high school, had also heard all about the Albino Woman, but by this time, the woman was more scary and the dog had changed to a German shepherd."
Heitz said the legend still persisted in Topeka, but the Albino Woman was now violent, even capable of eating children. Her dog was now a pit bull.
"I've heard it described as a oneeyed pit bull or even a headless dog." Heitz said.
She said she thought the character of the woman had become more violent because society had become more violent.
"Some elements of this story — or any legend or story — may mirror social concerns." Heitz said.
Her paper on the Albino Woman became the basis for her master's thesis and was also the seed from which her book grew.
"It occurred to me that if Topeka had such a legend, other communities across the state might have their own stories," Heitz said. "And, while stories from other states had been collected and written down, they hadn't been in Kansas. I immediately decided to jump in and fill that void."
Heitz said she began by sending mass mailings to libraries and museums across the state, asking about local legends and stories. She also began personally collecting stories and found that people were usually more than happy to share stories.
"I might go to a town, walk into a cafe, order a cup of coffee and ask the waitress about local stories," she said. "Almost without exception, they all have a story for me."
Bigfoot, when he's not prowling the Himalayas or the California redwood forests, likes to drop in on Kansas.
"We've got lots of Bigfoot stories in the state," Heitz said. "The most recent one I've found was from Lawrence just a few years ago."
Some ghost stories have their origins in actual people who were legendary while still alive.
For example, Heitz said, in Atchison there was a librarian who ruled her library with an iron hand, insisting that all procedures be carried out according to her standards. The librarian has been dead for years now, but some employees think that the woman's spirit still is watching over the library she loved so dearly.
So far, Heitz has surveyed 35 communities across the state. Based on her observations, she said that Atchison was probably the most haunted town she's studied so far.
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