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10.29.99
eight.a
House of spirits
Ghostly legend hangs in rafters of Sigma Nu
For years now, a woman has been living among men at the Sigma Nu fraternity house. But this is not just any woman—she is a ghost. Or so the story goes.
When the capital of Kansas was Lawrence, the Sigma Nu house was home to the governor. A 1911 Lawrence Journal World article reported that after returning from a trip to Topeka one night, then-Governor Roscoe Stubbs, who served from 1908-1912, entered his mansion to find his 17-year-old assistant, who also was his adoptive daughter, Virginia Rockham-Stubbs, hanging dead by a rope from the rafters.
The story does not end there. Douglas County has no record of the burial of Rockham-Stubbs. It is rumored that her final resting place is in the fireplace of the house, which bears a plaque with an eerie resemblance to plaques found on tombstones. It reads, "The world of strife shut out, the world of love shut in."
"I don't know if she's really buried in there." said Ryan Sheahan, Fort Collins, Colo., senior. "I think it's just a myth that's been passed down in our house for years."
It never was determined if Rockham-Stubbs' death was the result of suicide, or a more gruesome possibility — murder. Some speculate
that Stubbs was having an affair with the young girl. The legend says that Stubbs' wife was the killer because she may have been upset at her-husband's infidelities. Shortly after the body of Rockham-Stubbs was found, the governor's wife was found on the balcony in a catatonic state.
Sigma Nu purchased the house in 1922, and according to many members, add things have been happening ever since. By 1982, there were more than 60 documented reports of strange activities dating back decades. Some Sigma Nu alumni have reported hearing the voices of two hysterical women arguing — presumably Stubbs' wife and Rockham-Stubbs. Others have reported hearing doors slamming and footsteps throughout the house.
However, Sigma Nu president Brian Wanamaker, Topeka junior, said there have not been any strange activities recently.
"I've never had anything happen to me," Wanamaker said. "I know that one time, this guy who had graduated two years ago came down the stairs and saw this girl sitting next to one of his brothers and he asked, 'How you guys doing?' The guy on the couch was like, What are you talking about? He looked back and the girl was gone."
Wanamaker also said that most of the strange happenings he has been witness to or has heard about involved the house's electricity.
"One time a guy had his stereo unplugged. He left the room, and when he came back, it was plugged in and the music was blasting," Wanamaker said.
On the evening of Oct. 12, Sigma Nu, in conjunction with Student Union Activities, sponsored a presentation given by two ghost hunters, Lorraine and Ed Warren. They investigated the Sigma Nu house for a paranormal presence and concluded that there definitely were spirits in the house. Sheahan said that more than 300 people attended. The Warrens, who have been ghost hunters for more than 50 years, reportedly detected the presence of a young woman in the room where Rockham-Stubbs died, according to an Oct. 13 article in the University Daily Kansan. This is something that had Sigma Nu members on edge, Sheahan said.
"It sure caught my attention, but we all have stories about how yeah, a door slammed, or a television came on when it was off, but in the four years that I have been here, nobody that I know has actually seen a ghost," Sheahan said.
Critics' favorites capture best of Hollywood horror
The Shining, Cemetary Man provide intelligent alternatives to blood and guts slasher flicks
Contributed art.
By Stephanie Sapienza
Kansan Movie Critic
Dellamorte (Everett) is the groudskeeper for Buffalora cemetery, a strange place where the dead just won't stay dead. This fact is not led up to by a series of hedonistic teens being eaten by Buffalora zombies. It is put forth plainly in the first scene, when Dellamorte casually shoots three newly risen zombies in the head while he simultaneously holds a phone conversation. This is apparently the only way to kill them for the second time. Dellamorte does not alert the authorities of the occurrences because, he says, it will arouse panic and create a mountain of paperwork. Did I mention this movie has a great sense of humor?
Cemetary Man isn't among the likes of Nightmare on Elm Street or Carrie in terms of American popularity, but far surpasses them in terms of originality and wit. This Italian film starring Rupert Everett and Anna Falchi is not for the light-hearted or close-minded. Beware, art filmphobes, the themes expressed in this film — alienation and impotence as linked with death and moral claustrophobia — are not for fans of Scream 2.
The film's director, Michele Soava, does a great job maintaining a level of humor while also portraying a web of complex emotional stagnancy in the film's lead. This flippancy towards the horrible chaos of Buffalora is shown to be a part of Dellamorte's apathy towards death, his loneliness and alienation. This all changes at the appearance of a mysterious woman with a love for all things dead, played by the stunning Falchil. She sends Dellamorte down a spiral of chaos, impotence, and finally rejection that ends at the film's shocking climax.
For anyone who craves something with a little more cerebral meat than the average Craven flick, try something foreign, such as Cemetary Man.
Forget that awful 1997 miniseries that appeared on television, the only version of The Shining worth seeing is the original 1980 movie. Starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall and directed by the late Stanley Kubrick, The Shining is more of a complex psychological thriller than a routine horror movie. All-too-real issues like child abuse, insanity and alcoholism, weave with supernatural elements to make a movie both intelligent and scary.
While the movie shares the basic plot elements of Stephen King's book of the same title, Kubrick's version is a huge improvement on King's bloated novel of turgid prose. Nicholson plays Jack Torrance, a recovering alcoholic, who is the custodian of Colorado's Overlook Hotel, which has closed down for the winter. He lives in isolation with his wife and his son, Danny, who has clairvoyant capabilities that allow him to see into the future. This power is called the "shining."
By Brendan Walsh
Kansan movie critic
As the movie progresses it's clear that Jack is going insane, but it is never easy to tell what exactly causes this. Perhaps it's the ghost of Mr. Grady, the ex-custodian who killed his wife and two daughters and still haunts the house. But director Kubrick leaves open the possibility that something else may be going on here — perhaps a psychological breakdown instead of a genuinely supernatural experience.
Either way it's an amazing film, showeasing the talents of Kubrick and Nicholson, two of film's greatest treasures.
Contributed art.
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