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This is a story I would like to share with all who are willing to read it; I promise you will not be disappointed. My name is Frank and the people who are in this story are Rob, his wife Theresa and our friend Thomas. It all started when we were bored one Friday night in late winter. So I got a crazy idea to look up the scariest places on the East coast, and too my surprise Ellicott City, MD, just
kept popping up!
I found so much information I immediately knew this was the place to go. So I gathered all the information I could find on Ellicott City and the adventure began. We didn't leave our hometown of Waldorf until about 10:00 PM. We arrived in Howard County at 11:00 PM and maneuvered our way down Bonnie Branch Lane towards River Road. Okay, now things get a little weird. We drove up and
down river road looking for the iron bridge and hell house. Well, upon our return trip back down River Road we were cruising with the windows down and up from the riverside came a menacing scream from a women.
The hair stood up on the back of my neck and my skin got hot, now everyone was screaming in the car and yelling go, go, go. Never once did it dawn on us someone may be in trouble, so after about 2 miles we turned around to go back. We shined a flashlight from the car to the area of the river we heard the scream from, but saw nothing. We then headed back to Bonnie Branch Road. None of us really said anything, just confused and scared from what just happened. It wasn't until we came around the turn near the factory or plant or whatever, that we saw the outline of a building high up on the hill above. Was this Hell House we read so much about? We pulled up College Road and pulled off on the right. We could hardly make out what was up on the hill. So like fools the three guys jump out of the car and start up the grass hill. But then something really strange happened, all three of us became so overwhelmed by the silence all around us, it was all we could In short, yes, Ellicott City at night in the area of River Road and Seven Hills is perhaps the scariest place I have driven, walked, experienced. Yet we are all planning a return visit again! So thank you Ellicott City for an Alcohol, and Drug free night of adventure that we shall never forget.
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I have driven past Patapsco Institute one evening last summer. t was around 7 or 8 pm. As my two friends were in the front seat of the car, and me in the back, I could not help but to see the figure of a young girl standing atop the old building. This was from down on the right side of the building on the road. I really honestly thought I was seeing things, but after watching the whole entire time till the place was no longer visible, I just sat back in shock trying to realize and take in what I saw. At this time, I did not know about the history of the institute. When I went home and did some online research, I have found out who she is. And this was confirmed just recently by a reliable source. I know that what I saw was Annie Van Derlot. I saw a beautiful, young girl wearing a white dress holding the corner of her dress out and her head tilted to the side looking down. It was a very sad feeling. I felt she was not happy at all. I have seen and experienced spirits before, but this is the only one I have seen that did not frighten me. She was beautiful, but sad at the same time. Needless to say, I was in such awe when I saw this that I was not able to say a word to my two friends until we got to the red light. They say they did not see anything (and of course mad that I didn't tell them when we were there..lol). But I know what I saw, and I am just hoping one day to be able to find a picture of this girl somewhere so I can compare it to what I saw.
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At night the hollow walls reflect the light of the moon. The stories told by school kids seem to come alive in its skeleton like walls -- stories of occult rituals, blasphemous priests, and murdered children. The burned out shell of a building appears to cry in the dim light, a forgotten relic of a forgotten past.
But when day light shines the buildings become beautiful and peaceful again. Birds sing from the plentiful trees and frogs croak from untamed undergrowth. The property, which can seem imposing from the old staircase (which only has around 70 steps.much opposing the "99 stairs to Hell" stories) littered in broken glass and other trash, quickly becomes a serene walk along forgotten paths, past alters, and the silent life of an old seminary. Few people know the true history to these buildings, but many know the legends shared by those who have seen it. The buildings were once a seminary college, preparing young men to enter the priesthood. There was a church, school rooms, and dormitories in the large building that is most often seen. As you travel the property a small, old greenhouse can be found, with weeds now growing from the planters. A pool with two adjacent bath houses hides near the back of the property, filled with water and duckweed. A tall metal dome with a cross and graffiti eyes hides amongst the paths as do stone alters (without their statues) and a small stone church. There is a beautiful overlook of the dam on River Road, and if you turn just right you can pretend the cardboard factory is not there.
In 1868 the main building was built by the Redemptorists, a Catholic order, and eventually became known as St. Mary's College. It acted as a preparatory school for young men who were going to enter the priesthood. The school remained until 1972 when the lack of students forced the school to close its doors. The original church on the ground is later became Our Lady of Perpetual Help (OLPH) after move in the 1950's further down Ilchester Road. Much of the property became part of the Patapsco Park after the school closing; the rest was sold into private ownership.
The land is beautiful, abet untended, to see - but the No Trespassing signs still remain, and visiting is discouraged. The old caretaker does not seem to be present on the land anymore, but the cops do still look at the property due to arsons and vandalism that occurs. The land can also be dangerous if you do not pay attention - most of the buildings are piles of brick and other burned out rubble, the paths are untended, stones litter the ground, glass shards can be found from old windows and vandals. People have tried to find the current owner, which appears to be a business based overseas, but private records are hard to trace. The last known owners ran out of money for their plans of turning the property into a spiritual center. For more information visiting the Howard County Historical Society is encouraged.
The land reflects its past as a place of religious learning and peaceful doctrines. Although the stories told are fearsome, the devil does not wait around every turn to steal you away, what rests on the hill is a forgotten school and the peace that comes from a spiritual past.
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There are many stories involving the "hell house" some of which show some truth and some of which are totally unbelievable, but as previously said, the land is privately owned by a man that owns "BCS" LIMITED PARTNERSHIP" and it is incredibly hard to reach him, therefore the land is just there, the many stories and legends circling the so called "HELL HOUSE" are not true, some of which take form others, for instance the school was shut down due to lack of students, people then assumed something happened to the attending students, and rumors started that they were being killed and buried in the underground tunnels which housed the gas and electric lines.; other stories like the one that says the priest owned the land and he was killed but they found the 5 molested nuns or whatever, there are records of murders there, but that is about all that one would be able to find only being a curious citizen. there is (was) a caretaker by the name of Mr. Hudson, he did have to dogs and he shot salt pellets off at you to scare you away, he was no form of evil or anything of that nature, he was a paid security guard, just like a man that is paid to be a security guard at a mall or something, just involving different surroundings and such, yes Mr .Hudson is (was) a little on the crazed side, he has been sued numerous times on the account of harassment, it is said by the townspeople that he is not exactly the best man to try to socialize with, although no one can be positive that he is present on the land at this time, I've been there several times with no account of him or the dogs. well i plan to go again sometime soon, if anyone gas any other information regarding "Hell House" or the B & O Railroad next to it
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I grew up in Columbia and I have always heard the stories about Hell House. My encounter with the real place happened one sunny summer day in 1993. I used do some rock climbing in the park (patapsco park I think) that is adjacent to one side of the Hell House property. At that time I was unaware we were really near Hell House. One day I was wandering around back by the small old mill and railroad tracks with a bunch of friends (none of them from the area) and we all noticed that at the top of a large nearby hill there was a 'mansion.' Being curious teenagers, we climbed up the steep slope and through some old gardens and what looked like a vineyard/greenhouse to reach the side of the "mansion" that is away from the main access road. Immediately we heard dogs, many dogs. I took a picture of them because they were soooo cool. There were 6 Rotweilers (sp?) all enclosed in a fence outside the main entrance of the building. They were barking their heads off so, being a vet assistant at the time, I approached the caged dogs and gave them some granola that I had. They seemed starved for attention and wanted me to pet them. The funny thing was that they had access to the house through the front door, which was open. I then realized that I was standing in front of Hell House!!! I could not believe that I had not figured that out until then!! I told my friends where we were and they thought it was really cool. We then walked around to the side of the house that faces Old Ellicott City. At that time it was so beautiful and the grass was cut and everything. The architecture of the place was so amazing. Usually people are coming in from the road so I do not think they even got to see how amazing the building is. I took some time looking at this side of the building, and the funny thing was that the only light on was in one of the very top windows. We decided to try to get in and look around. Here is where things got weird. We went to one side of the building and me and my friend were hoisted up to a second story window (the first story was boarded up. We entered into what looked like an abandoned classroom with no chairs, a mattress on the floor, a blackboard and some other antique furniture. We went into the long hallway and then we heard them...THE DOGS WERE IN THE HOUSE!!!!. they were running up the stairs followed by a man who was holding a gun. We screamed and ran into the room we had entered and shut the door..but it would not lock. So we jumped out of the window (I sprained my ankle) and we ran faster than we ever had before! No ghosts..just some dogs and probably the caretaker everyone talks about. It is funny what people will see when they are really scared and psyched up to see Hell House. I am sorry that somebody burned the place down, it is such a great historic structure (I am now an archaeologist and rely value places like this). Here is a website that tells the history of St. Mary's College, it also has excellent historic pictures of the property when it was a Redemptorist College.
Although EllicottCity.net does not condone swearing, and this story was submitted by A marine over in the Gulf, I feel obligated to share this story, for those of you that get offended by swearing (omitted) you may find this story offensive.
NEVER GOING BACK TO THAT PLACE... HELL NO ...NOT AFTER LAST TIME...
Well it has been about 6 months now since I've been to Hell house with my Buddies. I'm still not sure if I want to go back, after out last experience up there. I've been up there a few times, and each time I haven't seen anything. So I told my buddy one summer night, let's go up there and see if anything happens. Well the first mistake we did was to just go up there by ourselves. We parked the car by the factory that's behind the house and the bottom of the hill. I had this weird feeling about going that time. I don't know if it was because it was just the 2 of us. But I knew immediately, that I needed to prepare myself for some S@#@# Well we climbed the stairs that's behind the building and walked all the way up there. Now let me tell you I'm pretty brave as it is. I'm a marine in the corps, and I've have seen some S@#@# in my times, but this just scared the S@#@# out of me. Once we were up there, we walked around the trail, which kinda takes you around the building, and than I saw a guy at the top of one of the windows just staring down at me. Now if you've been up there before, you know that there is no base to the floors. It's just the walls there. So I was like, what the f@@#@ is that. We shinned our lights, and saw him looking out the window as if he's overlooking the land. You can see him sometimes from what I've heard, but not all the times. Well he was there, and you can see him. Once you climb the stairs, and walk left on the trail, it will be the next building that you pass on your left hand side. He will be on the 3rd floor, second window to the right. Well anyway, we kept walking, and than we chilled by this log that was on the side. We started to drink a few beers, and than a few more...lol.... Started to feel pretty good, and everything else just didn't fade us. Well all was gravy until I got the idea, in which I thought it would be a good idea to go into the tunnels and see what's in there. Well we agreed (bad idea) and went in the tunnels. My and one of my boys were chilling in there, drinking, and than out of nowhere, we heard a crying sound. I was like, (dog you hear that), and he's like no S@#@#. Man once I shined the light in the tunnel hallway, I saw a little girl in a white dress, walking toward us. I was shocked, but wasn't sure what I was really seeing. So I was like, are you alright, thinking just in case it might have been someone. But she just kept walking toward us, and now it was like she was about 10 ft from us. Man I felt like I wanted to S@#@# myself. So I was LIKE, RUN !!!!!!. We made it out there, and caught our breath back. We had that rush that most people get when they see S@#@# like that. But I wasn't done. I said, well she didn't mean no harm. Why don't we walk through the trail some more to get to the swimming pool. I've never been back there before. But what I saw back there almost scared the living S@#@# out of me. We were walking back there, and not even about 10 ft to the gate, I saw the little girl again. She was right in between the buildings. For some stupid reason, I decided what would happen if I went closer to her. My boy was stunned, and so was I, but for some reason I still had the courage to keep walking...Then out of nowhere, I saw her point out to me, and then said GET OUT NOW!!!!. I swear I thought I saw her eyes get red.. Man, we took off so fast, and since we run allot, it didn't take long for us to get the hell out of that area. We passed the school while running through the trail, hearing screaming of some or some girls... S@#@# was now really getting to me, and we just dipped out of there. From what all the stories I've heard before, they say she was a kind girl.. Well not that night...she was just a real B@#$@% ....lol
I grew up in Elkridge the first time I went to Hell House was the winter of 1988, I was 18 years old, with my son's father on our first date - lol of all places right. Well after that night I couldn't get enough of the place and believe me I have seen allot of things there that would freak people out. On one trip the fall of 1988 myself, my cousin and my best friend decided we were going to go up there before my best friend went into the Navy - bad mistake. We parked my car at the bottom of the hill and started walking up the driveway I told them "We are being watched" they were like "Your over reacting" well when we got to the front door my cousin kicked the front door in when it wouldn't open for her. There was an old timely sink on the floor with a chain around it. We heard a click noise and my best friend told us "RUN" so of course we didn't ask any questions and ran, no sooner had we gotten 10 feet from the door we heard a dog barking my best friend yelled "STOP, pitbull", I froze - I've been terrified of dogs since that day. Next thing we know the caretaker, carrying a shot gun came from out of nowhere in a pair of overalls looking like a mountain man off the Dukes Of Hazzard, he accused my best friend of hitting the dog and punched my friend in the face, looked at me and my cousin and said "Ladies use the stairs and leave, don't come back" he pointed to the old staircase and crying scared to death we left. The spring of 1989 I returned with 4 other people this time I didn't go up there, I stayed in my car on Observation Hill and waited. Within 5 minutes of the group leaving me the lights inside the school went from red to blue to green to yellow and there was a man walking around on top the school with a gun. A few minutes later I heard 2 of the girls screaming and looked to see 3 of the 4 dragging on of the girls up the hill by her arms. When they arrived back she announced she had gotten possessed. Later that year I went back up with 15 people and there were about 7 of us that didn't go up the hill and stayed at the cars under the railroad bridge. We heard the dogs barking and people came flying down the hill as fast as they could run. A guy that I grew up with was the last to make it down the hill and to get in his truck; the caretaker followed him and punched his fist straight through his truck window. I moved from the area in 1993 that would be the last time I was at Hell House until the summer of 2003. I took my husband and another cousin up there, they'd heard me talk of it so much and weren't from the area and wanted to see it. Since the fire of 1997 the place is in ruins. We didn't see the care taker; if he was still there he would have gotten us for sure considering we spent about 2 1/2 hours up there. The pool is on the hill with the greenhouse, the old building out back has an old car in it and an old gas pump. The place is as eerie now as it was all those years ago.
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My first trip to old shell of the college was in early 2004. The February air was crisp and cool. My friends had been googling over this historic landmark for the past 6 months and they had finally found the time to take me. We parked in the spots just past the factory and the railroad bridge, and started making our way up the 70 step staircase. The only stories I had heard were the ones that I have found now to be false, such as the 5 nuns being murdered in a pentagram, and the satanic rituals of murders every Halloween night. These storied racing through my head making that "horror story" like trek to the front of the building. We walked around the rubble of the old school through the bricks and old iron casting. Looking up at the West walls you can still see a sink, heater units, and shower heads hanging. We had heard stories of a Pool, and many others things, but it was getting to be night and we hadn't brought flash lights, so we headed back home to Bowie . Needless to say though, I fell in love with the eeriness of "Hell House" and the stories. I returned a total of 12 times during the year. Each time discovering something new of which I had only read about on the Internet. The second to last time I went we finally discovered the pool... the time before though we took the right side on the fork in the path leading by the old "camp truck" and water well, we couldn't find anything else though after following the path for a good quarter of a mile. But let's get back on track, The Pool was absolutely amazing! The Bath house and Boiler room were still standing, and although graffittied up and worn down over the years still had that power over you. The pool still had water in it (I'm assuming run off water from rain and such) but was covered in duckweed. I decided to try and go around the base of the pool and low and behold in the bottom left corner floated the bones and partially flesh of an animal. Too small to be a deer, and certainly was no fox. It had paws, and defiantly the nose of a dog. This kind of freaked me out, not in a spooky way, just in a sad aww that sucks kind way. ANYWAY, the last time I returned to Hell House was in November of 04. It had been about 3 months since the last visit and we thought "Hey Lets take a midnight trip up to Hell House!" So we had a group of 8 of us drove up and there is now piles of woodchips covering the little lot that you would park at to go up the stairs. We found another place to park and made our way up. We really just wanted to show off the pool to our friends who still hadn't seen it. We were getting closer the pool and the moon was full so we almost didn't even need the flashlights. We get to the fence and something's different. The Bathhouse was gone, the weeds and overgrown shrubbery had been removed revealing the bare concrete of the moonlight BRIGHT WHITE walls. And the Pool had been filled with dirt, and in the space of the boiler room was a "BOB CAT" tractor. This was highly disappointing and kind of broke my spirits to see that such an awesome piece of history and a staple in "Urban Folklore" had been demolished. I assume that someday soon the rest of the shell of the old St. Mary's College will soon also be removed. I recommend going to see it while you still can so you can either revive the creepy feelings you felt on the first time, or possibly experience what you haven't yet.
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Well.. where to start.. I've been to .. as we call " Creepy College " about 20 times.. I've always gone with about 5 to 7 people some guys and some girls.. first it starts out as a really good neighborhood.. then u drive in to the deep dark woods .. where at night if you turn off your headlights you cant see anything.. nothing.. anyways .. as you get closer to the narrow road (watch out for the deer, in the summer nights you can see about 100 sparkling eyes...) u pull up to a huge factory.. use to be really loud.. but now it's complete silence.. any way.. you can park either under the tunnel or near the factory .. you walk up a little hill where you can see a train track.. and in the distance you can see the train tunnel which people go under too.. well... you have to search for the stairs but.. when you get there be prepared .. as you go up the steps .. about 70-100 of em you approach this barred building .. craziness, if you walk to the right you can find like a picnic area and if you see it there's an underground tunnel if you walk under there... watch out for babydoll heads.. if you walk way under there's a silent dark room with a chair bolted into the corner.. who knows why it's there.. but we started hearing distant screaming harming sounds so we made our selves back up the tunnel.. after we got out we decided to walk up some more... then about a mile up we found the well with the big cross.. which again we heard the screams even louder.. closer... then we all started to get chills.. so we had a pretty bad feeling that someone didn't want us there.. so we started walking back when all the sudden we saw something run by... so fast we couldn't even see what it was.. we saw the trees sway and the moon hide.. we all just stood there and had these cursed insane faces upon us.. so the about a minute passes so that's when we decided to get back.. let me remind you this was about the 20th time that I visited this place.. and nothing close happened to this... ever... as we walked backed.. we saw a shadow in one of the doors.. as a human being.. no face no skin just darkness in the window.. with no glass.. then my friend screamed on the top of her longs.. as we ran to her .. he faced was shocked as she seen a ghost, about 20secs passed she came back to color and just said "were leaving... now!!" so no more questions asked we walked down the steps as I tripped on the dirt road.. oh my goodness to.. it felt for those 20seconds that I was in a dream a faded dark haunted dream.. as my friend ran to me she shouted out! What the Hell!!!!! i woke up in my friends car.. with just faded memories.. I'm not exactly sure what happened that night.. but till this day .. I still half smile when people say hey.. u wana go to "Creepy"...
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The four of my friends and i took the long journey to Ellicott City for the second time yesterday, Thursday July 14, 2005 . We arrived there at 7, when there was enough light to take pictures but it was getting dark, but the rain clouds darkened the sky even faster. We parked under the bridge and the rain picked up. We walked up the stairs and up the hills and my friends two friends got a glance at the "hell house" for the first time. We stopped a minute to take it in. As we ventured through the house we saw that the four main walls were still standing but just about everything had collapsed. Ironically the fire escapes were still intact as well as some stairs. From the front of the house in the far right corner there was only one small room still in alright condition. I was confused as to how it was still there, for it was five stories up and it was the only room still there. We walked around being careful of where we walked for, rubble was everywhere. There were beer cans and graffiti everywhere. We walked out back of the house and saw what looked like to be just a platform covered in burnt wood, as we walked up to it we noticed the steps going into a hole. we went in and there was stuff everywhere and smelled of mildew. There was a room in the back that had a bed in it and to your right there was an extremely deep hole. We thought it was best not to go in for it was several stories deep with no way back up, when we went to go back up the stairs we noticed a tunnel. We climbed out of the house and walked to our left and looked in the garage, where there was still a car, very rusty though. we walked down a trail leading into the woods, we walked about a mile and we found gates and a main road, we walked on a broken sidewalk towards the gates and found a gigantic cross in a dome. We got an eerie feeling and left. We turned back and walked the opposite way down the road heading back towards hell house. We the road took us by the boiler room and then to the front of the building. By then it was extremely dark, during our "quest" we found no ghosts, no paranormal activity, no old man with a shot gun nor dogs, just some old buildings and trees, lots and lots of trees. we did not find it scary at all just tiring from all the steps and hills. just be prepared for a long walk and people to mess with you when you arrive.
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I came across you Hell House page while clicking around the internet. I figured you might get a kick out of some information/stories that I have about Hell House.
Back in 1990, when I was a whole 19 years old, me and a "punk rock chick" friend of mine heard about Hell House from some other friends of ours. Of course, there were the stories of devil worship, dead bodies, etc. and of course, the super creepy location. So we went out there one night in December to check it out. We decided that the steep stairs up to the house were not the best way in , so we decided to hike up the driveway instead. As we reached the top of driveway, we could see the house which was actually the size of a mansion. We crept along the steep embankment that ran between the driveway and the front of the house, shielding us from view. There was a light on the front of the house and a big "Beware Of Dog" sign. But the place seemed abandoned. Since no one was there and we felt brave, we explored all sides of the house, the garage, and the grounds. Remember, the house was actually intact at the time. After about 30 minutes or so in the freezing cold, we were like "what's the big deal" and left.
We were intrigued by the house though and decided to do some research. Um...this was before the Internet so we had to slum it and use the library. Turns out the place was the old St. Mary's College seminary for Redemptorist priests. And it turns out that my great-uncle, who was a priest, taught there back in the day. Mystery solved. No satanic rituals, no bodies, just an old unused school.
So about 6 months later, I started hanging out with a few of friends that I had not seen in a few years. We were all sitting around bored out of my minds. I had a great idea. "Let's go see Hell House." I spent the entire time driving from Towson to Ellicott City telling them about the rumors and the truth about the house. I had been up there before and while it's creepy, there's nothing to be afraid of, I said I parked at the bottom of the driveway and the four of us creeped up the driveway. Although I knew it was nothing but an old seminary, the night brought with it a sense of eeriness. Once again, we crept along the embankment. We got as far as the main entrance. While kind of creepy, there wasn't much to see so we began to leave the same way we came. A light by the driveway blinked. "Did you see that?" one of us said. Before we had time to think about it, there was a rustling in the trees to our left. All of a sudden, a Doberman comes flying at us, snarling. Since the dog was coming from the direction of our escape route, we instinctively turn and start running AWAY from the driveway. One of my friends, the athlete, was running significantly faster than the other three. The dog took the challenge and followed the fastest "prey." Instinct took over again and the three of us turned and ran down the driveway. Once we got to the bottom, we realized that our friend was still up there...with the dog. We started yelling for him. No reply. We were afraid to go back up, not knowing if there were more dogs waiting for us. We couldn't decide what to do! I figured that the only logical thing we could possibly do was to call the police and tell them that we went up there on a dare and our friend got mauled by a dog. There was a group of guys in a minivan parked at the bottom of the hill. We asked them to keep an eye out for our friend if he came down the hill while we went for help.
So we drove as fast as possible (which is difficult through the windy roads around there...in the dark) to the closest phone we could find, which was at a High's store about 5 miles(?) away. I called the police and told them the story. The operator seemed very non-chalant about the whole issue and said that they would send a officer out. So we drove back as fast as we could to find out buddy waiting for us in the minivan. We thanked the guys for their help and then high-tailed it out of there before the police arrived. As we were driving home, he told us the story of what happened up at Hell House. The dog chased him around the side of the house where the garage was. As he approached the end of the driveway, the dog caught him and bit him on the leg. Once he stopped running, the dog let go. The caretaker came out of the house with his ever-so-present shotgun and yelled at my friend for coming up to the house. He showed him the rabies immunization certificate for the dog and told my friend to leave and never return. The dog bite was not that severe.
But the pain of us abandoning him up at Hell House that night persisted for a long time. It took several months for him to confront us "cowards" We had no idea that that night had such a profound effect on our relationships.
Now, 14 years later, we look back and laugh about it. I still love telling the story every once in a while. Just like I am now!
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well its been a long time since I have been up to the hell house what me & my friends called creepy college on one chilly afternoon we all decided to go when it was light out ,we went up there a couple times in the dark but we never made it up to hell house, well as we approached the long cement steps we always noticed a factory but there never seemed to be anyone in it, As we entered the walkway we starting walking up the steps me & my friends stopped to look at our shirts that had hitchhikers on them from the trees on the way up to hell house ,As we were pulling them off 2 black cars pulled up very cars at that what seemed to get out of the cars honestly looked as if the men were from the mafia, They were very ignorant they told us to leave if u would of seen what they looked like (nice black suits ,very clean cut ,but it looked as if there were scars all over their eyes looked at u as if the devil was in them)u would of left to!!!! So as we were walking to our car they watched us the whole time ,They actually followed us out of there so we decided we would just go back later .We decided to stop in get something to eat in fact it was the best pizza in Ellicott city!! We stayed for about an hour it was finally getting dark I really didn't want to go back I always got a weird feeling in stomach when I knew something wasn't right. So my friends that I love dearly said everything was gonna be ok .I decided not to listen to my instinct and went. Same old routine get out of the car walk past a factory that appears to never have anyone in it walk up the steps we had to climb over a fence then starting walking towards the college it looked so spooky ,just how tall everything was and just many years ago it looked like a palace!! We started to hear things in the surroundings like walking against the leaves things that u no someone else was there, WELL THERE WAS I SCREEMED SO LOUD IN MY LIFE!! I started running as fast as I could I don't no where I was running to finally I noticed I didn't no where I was . I heard dogs then a shot gun go off ,I started crying I ran in a different direction as my friends did it was so dark and scary I just kept running then I reached a road it was one of the side roads near the college, I started walking down the road and I seen the cars of the men we seen earlier they must of followed us ,that was even more scared ,As I was walking towards my getaway car my friends started running up to me asking if I was okay, so we starting walking to the car as we all got in the guys we seen earlier started coming down past the factory ,We hurried up and got out of there !!!! That was the most fearing experience ever I haven't been back since; Allot of people told me the old factory burnt down??? I would advise if u like reaching your adrenalin to the highest point go there .I think I might go again in the next couple of years just to see if the factory really burnt down or not I think the person that owns that property now should do something with it maybe a park or something why let something like that go to waste? Looking at pictures it was beautiful now it don't even look like the college was even there!!! I hope u liked my experience. If anyone has ever seen the guys in the black cars please submit your story!!!
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My brother told me about an abandoned school not far from Patapsco Valley State Park, so I decided the next time I went to the park I would look for it.
I had no idea of its history or that it was referred to as Hell House. Wasn't the Patapsco Female Institute and just about every other abandoned building in America also called Hell House?
On a sunny day, I hiked Valley Road from Swinging Bridge in the park. At the end of the road I met a fellow hiker. He pointed me in the direction of the school and told me about the steps that led up from Ilchester Road. There are actually two sets of steps leading up the hill. I mistakenly chose the more difficult one. I got half way up and found the drive that went up to the school.
The place is completely overgrown. Many of the paths are covered and I had difficulty getting to the school from the drive.
When I finally got up to the school I was awed by the enormity of the ruins. It was obviously not a house--maybe is should be called Hell Institution.
There was nothing creepy about it. There were enough people up there doing exactly the same as I was doing that it felt like a Disney ride. A family I met there told me about the history of the school.
I had thought it was a high school, but learned it was a seminary for Redemptorist priests. It had closed in the early '70s and been practically abandoned for over 30 years.
They told me about other ruins on the property. I saw the gazebo with a cross and altar. Obviously it was used for outdoor Mass and not for Satanic rituals. I also saw a greenhouse, the remains of a swimming pool and a garage. The garage had what I believe was a burnt out Nissan--er...Datsun--280 ZX in it. I guess it was damaged by the fire.
From what I've read a caretaker lived in the garage 'til the place caught fire--thanks redneck vandals. Aside from the graffiti and beer bottles, I guess there's not much to protect now.
After walking some of the many paths, I thought there is actually a beauty to the place. It's amazing what can happen to buildings that have been neglected for such a relatively short period of time. It's as if nature is quickly reclaiming what was hers.
Instead of focusing so much energy on spreading myths and ghost tales about the school maybe we all should work hard to ensure that the property is not developed and is instead turned over to the Maryland DNR. After all, wouldn't it be really scary if hundreds of vinyl-clad McMansions were built on the property? Creepy.
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I skimmed your website and some of these accounts of people's ventures up to creepy college, now I want to share my story. I grew up in Connecticut and came to Maryland to attend Towson University in January, 2002. The new friends I had made told me stories of this place named 'creepy college'. They told me the background stories that have been addressed on this website and I knew I had to come check it out. My first trip there was late at night on May 20, 2002. After exploring the property for quite some time, I got a strange vibe and knew that we needed to leave right away. After getting back down to the parking area, I had my friend take a picture of the other three of us who went up. Now, keep in mind that where the parking area (near the bridge), there is a hill directly in front. This is what showed up in that picture;
As you can clearly see, there are mysterious and unexplained lights. I have shown this photo to numerous photography experts and ghost debunking groups, all which have come back with the same response "we have no idea what it is" and "there is no way that the lights in the picture can be caused naturally". One of the reasons the photography expert gave me was that if the lights were reflecting, they would be slanted with the hill, not vertical.
I also shared the picture with world famous ghost hunter Elaine Warren, whose assessment was "The right lights represent an evil entity, NEVER go back there."
When I was back in Connecticut that summer, I told the story to a coworker who happened to grow up in Columbia, Maryland, and had gone to the site before it burned down in 1997. She had actually been caught, along with some of her friends, by the strange man with the rock salt shotgun. She indicated the man was creepy and odd, but did not harm them in any way.
I was undeterred by the warnings, something attracts me to that place and I am driven to keep exploring. I have gone back approximately eleven times since, but have never been able to recreate the infamous photograph or come across any other anomaly.
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....::[[well i have been to hell house too many times to count]]::....
I have never seen anything while being there that was like way crazy but for some reason the place freaks me out ... During the day everyone is right its beautiful its not scary at all ... but as the moon shines and night falls over the college something changes ... i'm not sure if its the college or the area of ellicott city its self ... but its creepy ... I feel like something there is wrong and something's not right ... i have no idea what it is ...
The last time i was there was october 18th 2005 ... well i went there with my cousin and three friends ... As you walk up the never ending steps (lol) you start to get a feeling ... crazy feeling ... Like WOW is somone watching me or what ... well we got all the way up the steps and walked the path to the 2nd steps that lead to the college and we went right like always and on like the 3rd floor as your walking around the right side of the biulding you always see what looks like a man looking at you or looking over the land ... its weird ... in fact theres not a time i haven't seen him but for the day ... but other then that its freaky but i haven't seen anything too scary ... as for the like (removed, sorry)... i might one day ... i have been through the hole building walking through the bricks ... its sad to me to think such a great beautiful place, is now a big mess ... now while walking in the woods theres the big BLACK cross ... umm i didn't feel safe there standing in front of it ... its got BLACK MAGIC and such painted on it ... its sad some poeple really have problmes ... to paint on somthing like that i mean come on now grow up ... well i dunno' i love going there each time i go i seem to find somthing new i have never found in the past ... but i will be back (lol)...
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I have been to Hell House several times from 2002 up until now and every time I go up there I get a feeling like I'm not supposed to be there. In my opinion, there are alot of things that are out of place. For example, the pool like 400 yards away from the college, the old ass car in the garage with the old gas pump, the cross with the eyes spray painted under it and the word lotus on it, what does "LOTUS" even mean. Something else I found strange was that even though the whole building had vines growing all over it and was falling apart the place where the cross engraved with bricks on the outside of the wall was untouched like brand new. Which wasn't bad to see at all after all the stories I have heard about the place. There is also a place to the right of the garage that is like a concrete platform with an opening on the surface that you can walk down into. It has two floors and the steps are caved in after the first floor which makes it almost impossible for you to go down there and I have always been curious as to what is down there and I would appreciate it if someone could tell me about it, my email address is DominAli@aol.com/ But anyway i never got a chance to see it before it burned down and have always wanted to. Ever since the first time I went up there something has always intrigued me to go back and I know that anybody who's been up there before can relate to that weird feeling, I can't explain it but I don't think it's something good trying to get us back there. Do you?
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Ill tell all of you what it was like being at Hell House. First of all, I decided a few weeks ago that, after reading people's accounts, if I were going to go, I was going during the day. [ Anyone who goes up there at night has to be a complete idiot. ]
That said a few of my friends and I all decided to venture up there with cameras in hand. Hell House is in the middle of the woods so you have to drive down some windy roads. So we arrive & park at the bottom of the driveway. After one of my friends, Tammy, has finished praying over all of us for protection & has braided a prayer into our hair, we start hiking up the driveway. On the way up, someone mentions that it should be ultra creepy because it's friday the 13th. At this point, I think we all got a little more nervous. So we continued to hike &, as the air thickened, we caught a view of the main building.
The main building was an amazing sight to behold. There was quite a strange aura surrounding it but, in it's own strange way, it was beautiful. So, Tammy & I started around it one way & Tiffy & Taryn, the other two with us, started around it in the opposite direction. Apparently, they got around it before we did because they disappeared. On one side of the main building we saw what looked to be a garage or storage building. Across from that was something that looked like it used to be a temple of some sort. Tammy, who can sense things beyond gut feeling, said that it was not a good place to linger for too long. That said, we walked a little further to the stairs that everyone talks about whenever Hell House is mentioned. They are the stairs that lead up to the satanic altars.
Walking up these stairs, my upper right arm began to tingle because the anticipation was getting the best of me. As soon as the tingling stopped, I became incredibly calm. We passed the greenhouse & started to go pretty deep in the woods.
As we got closer to the first altar, Tammy began gaping for breath. I sort of hid behind her & followed her. She was reiterating the bad vibes that she was feeling & advised me to get the photographs that I wanted quickly so that we could move on. I never took fotos faster. I was getting nervous again & felt the tingling again. As we hurried back down the stairs & past the green house, I felt calm again. Well, that was until Tammy asked me if I had heard the growling. I had no idea what she was talking about & got a little shaky. [ She later explained to me that she had said a silent prayer & whatever demon was inside of that alter was growling at her which is why she heard it & I didnt. ]
We walked up another path meeting back up with Taryn & Tiffy. They spoke of an alter with a huge black cross. I really wanted to see what they were talking about so they lead us to it. It looked like something straight out of the Exorcist. Tammy began gaping for breath again & started to feel dizzy. Again, I followed her & actually had the balls to walk inside of it. It was eerie & I felt completely unwelcome there.
Tiffy wanted to show me the pool that all of the websites debated existing. It is there. It isnt much but it's there. However, that is the area where I felt my first cold spot. It was a very surreal thing. The weather on Friday was overcast & a little bit humid. It doesnt make a lot of sense for there to be any sort of cold.
On the way back from the pool area, we found what we thought was a summer kitchen. I felt very relaxed here. No wierdness, no being scared which is strange cos it was only a few feet away from that second altar.
I suggest that anyone who wants to go up there, go up during the day. We were up there around 130 & this was my experience. I wouldnt suggest visiting at night unless you're an idiot ____
So yes, my story is dated to May 13, 2005. It was creepy & amazing.
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