hauntings.

You know, I really love paranormal stuff. I love living in a house that's old and makes weird noises at 3 in the morning. I love reading about hauntings and visiting haunted places. I enjoy going to graveyards and taking pictures of the graves, especially the old ones that are very Southern Gothic. I don't take pictures of myself lying on the graves decked out in Hot Topic with bad goth make up on my face, just so you know. I love ghost stories and all that.

I really don't like when people make stuff up randomly. See, there's this old school that's about 16 miles south of Shreveport on Ellerbe. It's widely believed that this school is haunted and that Satanists perform rituals and slaughter cows and nonsense because of the spirit activity. One legend is that the school was closed because a janitor disappeared, and when the school children went looking for him, they all disappeared, too. Another is that there was a fire and a lot of kids were killed. And I believe I've heard another story that says there was a shooting and a lot of kids were killed that way, too. Supposedly if you go out there at a certain time of night, you can hear the screams of children and a school bell. You can also get shot at with paintballs by the owner of the land if he catches you wandering around his property, according to a few of my friends who've been out there looking for a thrill.

I admit, the first time I went out there I felt uncomfortable and got that weird, prickly feeling that goes down your spine when something's creeping you out. It was also the middle of October, my empathy had gone haywire, and I was generally not in great mental health anyway, so all that could've had something to do with my paranoia. I felt strange feelings everywhere, so the stories and the stigma and such surrounding the school might've made me more uncomfortable than usual.

A few months later, I read up on the school and what it was actually for and what really went down. If you don't want to be disappointed, please don't read any further.

George Washington Carver School was built for African American children in the '50s who lived in a very rural area and couldn't easily access education any other way. It wasn't used much because a lot of people moved to the city and integration started happening soon after it opened. Now the school sits out in a field by itself; beautiful in a strange, sad way. Because of lack of maintenance, it's fallen into disrepair and kids come out to destroy it more and vandalize it, and make up stories about hauntings which makes more kids come out to do the same thing. It's a shame because there are a lot of people living in that part of town now, and it would probably be easier if there was a school closer to them.

So there you have it. There was no fire, no shooting, no mysterious disappearances. It was simply built and barely used, and no one took the time to manage it over the years. Still, I guess it's fun to go out for a thrill as a kid, but people still claim that they've been beaten up by a ghost. Unless someone was shot in the face by the owner for trespassing, I kinda doubt there's really anything there.