“Captain Howdy, that isn’t very nice!”
By Paige Wearmouth
Caldwell Hall, built in 1888, is the Catholic University of America’s oldest building. The historic building contains classrooms, offices for professors, a chapel, and is the residence of many students. Caldwell Hall is also home to the infamous “Exorcism Room.”
The story surrounding the “Exorcism Room” involves a young boy, believed to be possessed, a priest, who performed the boy’s exorcism and later committed suicide, and the priest’s journal containing the events of the procedure.
The exorcism legend has become a source of interest among members of the Catholic University community as well as within the Washington D.C. area. Interest was especially heightened following the release of The Exorcist, a 1971 novel by William Peter Blatty and the 1973 film adaptation of the same name that is loosely based on the events of the exorcism in Caldwell Hall.
Now, the exorcism legend is accompanied by rumors that Caldwell Hall, including the Elizabeth Ann Seton Wing, which was built onto Caldwell Hall in 1960, is haunted.
While some members of the Catholic University are skeptical of any paranormal activity in Caldwell Hall and the Seton Wing, others are believers in the haunting rumors. Some even cite personal experiences with ghostly activity in Caldwell Hall and the Seton Wing as their motivation for believing.
In 2011, a group of freshman students at Catholic University went searching through Caldwell Hall to find the “Exorcism Room.” A member of this group, Anthony Papastrat, now an alumnus, decided to film the experience and post it to YouTube titled, “Caldwell Hall Exorcism Room Excursion.”
“I wanted to investigate the rumors, document my experience and find out whether they were true or not,” said Papastrat. “My friends and I had heard the rumors about Caldwell Hall and after doing some investigating (what little we could), we decided to investigate for ourselves and document it.”
The video shows the group exploring the hallways of Caldwell Hall and investigating possible locations of the “Exorcism Room.” While on the excursion, one member of the group begins to receive phone calls from an unnamed caller. When he answers the phone, there is nobody on the other line. This happens repeatedly throughout the video.
“This happened when we left Caldwell the first time and happened every time that we spoke about it after,” said Papastrat. “It was one of the oddest things I’ve ever experienced.”
Following the Caldwell Hall excursion, students from the group in the video continued to receive telephone calls and text messages from an unknown source.
“We would place a phone on a table, ask a question and immediately would receive a caller ID with the answer,” said Papastrat. “Questions as specific as our hometowns. It was impossible that it was a friend tricking us as we had not yet shared with each other where we were from! Even more, we received caller IDs with Bible passages.”
Papastrat classified these personal incidents as “one of the most disturbing experiences.” Based on his experiences, Papastrat discourages other people from trying to find the Caldwell Hall “Exorcism Room.”
Other Catholic University students have also had similarly spooky experiences. Residents of Caldwell Hall and the Seton Wing have noted strange occurrences that happen with no explanation.
“Things would fall off the wall, but it would only be my things, not my roommate’s,” said Megan Travaline, junior Psychology and Theology double major. “One time we both came back to the room to find that the clock had fallen off the wall–after months of staying up with no issue–and mid-fall the batteries must have somehow come out and landed on my bracelet.”
According to Travaline, who was a resident of the Seton Wing last school year, the bracelet, which was resting on a Bible at the time of the fall, was damaged due to the falling clock. When Travaline found it, “the bracelet was broken and the icons scattered around the room,” said Travaline.
In another instance, Travaline reports that upon arriving very late to her room one night, her roommate’s laptop turned on and started playing music despite the fact that her roommate had been sleeping and the laptop had not been in use.
Genevieve Petruccelli, junior Music and Philosophy double major and former resident of the Seton Wing of Caldwell, cited the fifth floor lounge of the building as a popular place for unsettling occurrences.
Once while there with her friend, Petruccelli’s friend opened a window, and was frightened by something that flew at her. The window was closed when they looked back to it, though neither touched it.
“We both knew something weird just happened and just wanted to get out of there,” said Petruccelli.
Though many members of the Catholic University community remain skeptical towards the ghostly rumors about Caldwell Hall, many others are convinced through personal experiences to believe otherwise.
