March 01, 2009

Is The Necronomicon Hidden Under Bradford College?




Photos from the Institute of Urban Speleological Studies and Archeology.

At a party last night I met someone who graduated from Bradford College in the 1980's. Talking with him reminded me of my favorite piece of modern folklore floating around the Web - The Necronomicon is hidden under Bradford College! Cue dramatic music.

For those readers not well versed in nerd culture, The Necronomicon is a book of evil magic that first appeared in the short stories of horror writer (and Rhode Island native) H.P. Lovecraft. Although Lovecraft died in 1937, his fiction grew in popularity posthumously, and other writers imitated his style and adopted his monstrous deities as their own.

Strangely, copies of The Necronomicon, began to appear for sale. In the 1940's, ads in book-seller's guides requested copies of it, or advertised copies for sale at high prices. In the 1960's, a copy of The Necronomicon was printed in a limited edition of 600, and by the 1970's several different versions of the cursed tome could be purchased in paperback. Although most of these are clearly hoaxes, the pagan author John Wisdom Gonce III claims that the most popular of these Necronomicons, writen by Peter Levenda under the pseudonym Simon, actually contains harmful magickal instructions. The Necronomicon has also appeared in countless horror movies, most famously The Evil Dead series. (The Necronomicon Files by Daniel Harms and John Gonce III is a great source for details about all this.)

But again, The Necronomicon is just fiction, isn't it? Lovecraft just made it up because he needed a spooky magical tome for his stories, right? Some modern occultists have disagreed. For example, Kenneth Grant claims claims that Lovecraft was a natural born adept, although he didn't know it and traveled in his dreams to astral realms where he found The Necronomicon. He then used materials from this book in his fiction, not realizing he was transmitting true magickal knowledge. Others think that although Lovecraft wrote fiction, he was actually a powerful occultist, and incorporated real occult lore into his stories for the initiated to find.

Even if The Necronomicon is real, why would it be under Bradford College, a small liberal arts school that closed in 2000? Well, according to the story floating around the Web, Lovecraft hid the book in one of the college's tunnels while he was dating a Bradford co-ed. (Apparently, even demented evil geniuses need to get out and date.) Recent Bradford students seem to have accepted the story as part of the college's lore. You can see some photos by ghost hunters of the tunnels here.

Bradford College closed in 2000 due to fiscal problems, and is now the campus of Zion Bible College. It seems ironic that a school training Pentecostal preachers would be located on top of the world's evilest book, but stranger things have happened.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm a student at a high school on Zion Campus, I've heard all the ghost stories, and sometimes the students try to find them but we get caught. We rant allowed in the tunnels because the teachers say we will be expelled if we go anywhere we rant allowed like den worth hall, the tunnels, and the 2,3, and 4 floors of academy hall... its so creepy.

Anonymous said...

I was a student at Bradford College during the 1986-87 school year. I went one time in one of the tunnels just out of curiousity when going from one of my classes to another. It spooked me so much, and I felt weird physically aka I felt like I was being watched by something. That was in Sept. 1986, I never went through the tunnels ever again.

Anonymous said...

There used to be a church in the town I live in 106 years ago. The preachers name was Mathew Haleson, and he was apparently an upstanding man and pillar of the community. According to a few old newspaper articles, stories from older folks around town, and a general "town legend" he somehow unearthed a copy of the Necronomicon. That part is speculation, but in actuality, Mathew went mad and cut down his entire congregation. He stabbed 16 men 12 women and 4 children to death before lighting himself ablaze and burning them all down. His body was found with 2 charred books on his person. A bible he had desecrated with blood, and an unnamed book. That's what the newspaper said. The unnamed book was though to be a journal written in Latin or Greek or something, but I don't know. It just seems odd.

Anonymous said...

I live at Northpoint Bible College and attend the school (its 1-12 grades) that also shares Hasletine (Classroom Building). The only ghost here is the holy ghost. I live on the second floor of Academy, spent hours watching children on the third and fourth floor also. Nothing is haunted. Sure, its old, but so is all of New England. Denworth Hall is currently not in use due to it being run down, but many people have been in there without any problems, including some of my family members. I walk past Tupelo pond daily and have been in the dorms. I have walked around Academy Hall at night several times and nothing happened. Again, the only ghost we have is the holy ghost. We are bible college devoted to training people for ministry, not a scene from ghostbusters. Please don't come visit if you're interested in ghosts on our campus, there are none.

Anonymous said...

Demonic spirits are real, but the power of the holy spirit is so much stronger.

Unknown said...

I went to Bradford College in its prime (1980's) & I can assert that it IS, without a doubt, HAUNTED ...with both residual & intelligent spirits! Denworth Hall & Academy Hall being the most active locations...I lived in Academy Hall ~ We used to call it "The Bradford Hilton" and yes, there are tunnels under ground that lead beneath Tupelo Pond! You can buy a "Defunct College" but you can't erase the history & you can't cleanse it of its historical energies!

Peter Muise said...

Hi ManWytch! Thanks for the comment. Did you ever see one of the ghosts yourself? I'm sure the underground tunnels are quite spooky.

By the way, ManWytch is a great online name!

Anonymous said...

I went to Bradford from 1984 to 1986 and continued visiting friends into 1988. Without a doubt, this place is haunted. So many ghosts. Probably one of the most haunted places in the U.S. The things I saw there. Incredible. Didn't know about Lovecraft connection until today.

Carl said...

I was a student at Bradford during the 1980-1981 school year and I doubt very much if there are tunnels under Tupelo Pond, what purpose would they have ? supposedly the pond was man-made and what may be a "tunnel under the pond" an access tunnel that leads to the fill / drain machinery for when the pond needs to be cleaned. the pond was dug sometime in the late 1960's to early 1970's since that's when the two newer dorm buildings were built. I never heard of a "tunnel under Tupelo Pond" the entire time I was at the school. The Academy Hall building could be haunted as it's very old and lots of students lived there over the years. I can tell you that the Tupelo East dorm is haunted by something having to do with a student who had a very, very bad LSD trip in a room on the first floor sometime in the Fall of 1979. my experience (sometime in the Fall of 1980) in the room where this happened is too long and detailed to put on this site and there were two students that lived in the dorm that may have "seen something" in the dorm that scared them so much that they took off suddenly (before the Xmas break) and never returned to the school.if you're really interested in what happened in that dorm / room, send me carldinunno@gmail.com an e-mail and I'll e-mail this true story that I have already downloaded to your e-mail address.

Peter Muise said...

Hi Carl! Thanks for the comment. I will email you offline. I am curious to hear the story!

Danny Palow said...

Hey Carl! I go to the school now! There are tunnels under that pond! It's closed off, but they did exist all through the campus. The only tunnel that is not closed off is the one running from the Academy building to the classroom building. It's used mostly for maintenance now!

Carl said...

Hi Dan, have you actually been in the tunnels under that pond ? that pond was most likely man-made and there could be the machines (pumps, drains, whatever) that are under there. I've walked through the tunnel that's between Academy and those two buildings. one is was called "Wentworth Hall". did you know that there is a small swimming pool in the basement of one the buildings that are between the student union and the Academy building ? it's been drained and covered over for a very long time and might even be filled in by now.

Rich Clabaugh said...

Wow, that's a creepy one Peter, even more enhanced by all the accounts in the comments section!

Marygee said...

I was a student at Bradford from 1969-1971. We all used all the tunnels regularly. (There are no tunnels under the pond, but he way.)
There were stories of hauntings, especially in Academy Hall. I’d love to know more.

Anonymous said...

We’re the tunnels from Bell study center to Tupelo?

Lisa H. said...

I attended Bradford '80-'84 and can attest to the fact that the tunnels that lead to the two classroom buildings could certainly feel spooky at times, particularly when the lights would click off and you would be thrown into almost suffocating darkness. That said, I never experienced anything ghostly in them. In my actual dorm room, however, there was certainly activity, and I know I'm not alone in that. In fact, it would sometimes be a topic of conversation in the dining hall. "Oh yeah, what has your room been up to today?" that sort of thing. We all took it in stride because it was never anything malicious. In my particular case, the spirit in my room my senior year when I was an RA seemed to have a lot of fun hiding my keys.

Also, definitely no tunnels under the pond. I know every inch of that campus, and would definitely have known about that.