Girls at San Lorenzo Valley High School have been plagued with fear, terrified to enter the D building bathroom, wary of the resident ghost that haunts the sink.
Over the years, rumors and stories have spread across the San Lorenzo Valley High School campus. Gossip isn’t anything unusual in a school setting, but some of the recent buzz is revolving around the hidden, paranormal side to the school. After digging out some of these rumors, Sophomore Tilia Lundberg and myself worked together to help The Claw debunk some of these vague speculations.
A popular rumor that has been whispered between female students is the infamous bathroom ghost. The origin of this story is unknown, and there are several distorted versions. So far the only one that seems to be consistent is the legend of a Freshman in the 1900’s being mysteriously murdered in the girls bathroom, and her ghost now haunts the corner by the sink. “It’s probably made up, kids have been making up stories since middle school and Bloody Mary”, said Sophomore Sarah Landes. This is a generally scoffed at idea as there are no records of any students being murdered on campus, but there are still occasional claims that someone has seen the ghost. There have also been declarations of the water faucets turning on by themselves, and the sound of someone whispering when no one else is actually in the bathroom. In order to debunk this, Tilia and I went on a stakeout.
Lunchtimes and occasional brunches over the span of three days were spent visually monitoring the bathroom near the band room. This is where the ghost would apparently appear, but there was no sign of the paranormal entity. When mentioning this to an anonymous freshman, they replied, “You should have used thermal cameras.” Unfortunately, the ghost monitoring team wasn’t able to get funding or parent permission to purchase thermal cameras, so there is still a very slight possibility that the ghost may exist. Most of the females in the student body brush off the bathroom ghost rumor, but a few students are still uneasy about having a supernatural entity joining them in the bathroom, and have started avoiding the bathroom all together. Others acknowledge the ghost rumor but don’t particularly care. When asked what advice she would give to the few concerned students who actually believe in the ghost, Tylia Lundberg says, “I have none. I think people are overreacting to something that is untrue and something immature that a student started.”
Another story circulating around the campus is based on the actual events that occurred in the lifetime of Herbert Mullin, a former student at SLVHS turned serial killer in his late twenties. From 1972 to 1973 Mullin killed thirteen citizens in California, claiming that by killing them he was preventing earthquakes in California. He is currently in Mule Creek State Prison serving out a life sentence, according to several news articles and police reports. The story at SLVHS surrounding the criminal is that someday he’ll return to the school and sacrifice everyone to the earthquake god. This rumor was immediately shot down by most, if not all of the people who have heard of it. It may be a somewhat well known tale, but there’s no traction. “I don’t think he’s going to come back…” Junior Rhys Jones trailed off in his response. It’s unlikely that Mullin could even break out of prison, and he would have no reason to return to a school he has no grudge against. Overall, this myth is considered just a ridiculous story.
Tales and paranormal stories float all over the campus on a fairly regular basis, but most of them are just fiction students made up in order to ruffle everyone’s feathers a little. Generally, it’s good advice to not pay attention to any of the strange fabrications you hear. There’s no paranormal activity on the SLVHS campus… Right?
By Paris Obsidian
The Claw 