A spooky podcast from Saint Mary’s Hall
A group of St. Joe’s students have been creating an original podcast, “333 West,” which was released on Oct. 25. This podcast delves deep into the haunted history of 102 year old on-campus residence, Saint Mary’s Hall.
Comprised of five episodes, each lasting about 20 minutes (excluding the 40 minute finale), “333 West” isn’t afraid to go for the jugular. What started out as a group project for Digital Storytelling, a class within the communications department, soon became much more than just a project it became a mission.
“Without giving any spoilers, we talk about the rumors around campus and what other students are hearing about Saint Mary’s and how many know it’s haunted,” said Joey Arzeno ’19, co-host of “333 West.” “We also talk about the history of St. Mary’s to try to get down to the foundation of the rumors and if there’s any truth to them. There’s a lot of crazy stories in there.”
One of the students mentioned in the podcast is Emily Waystack ’19, a current RA in Saint Mary’s, who believes the whole house is haunted, not just the third floor.
“There’s still lots of things that go on, especially during RA training when you live there alone,” Waystack said. “I was doing door decorations and when I left my room, I turned off my lights and closed the door behind me. I was down in the common room and suddenly I heard my door open and close. I went upstairs and saw that my light was on and my door was wide open.”
According to Waystack, her experiences have indicated that the ghost isn’t an evil presence.
“It’s very present, very active, but not dangerous. I feel safe living in Saint Mary’s,” she explained.
The creation of “333 West” was not an easy process. Several rounds of brainstorming had to be completed in order to reach the subject no student dared to publically investigate before. Steven R. Hammer, Ph.D., assistant professor in the communications department and instructor of the Digital Storytelling class, explained the structure of the project.
“In terms of the project itself, they ran the show completely. I just managed some of the teams,” Hammer said. “The philosophy behind most of my courses is to present students with a challenging position in terms of production to gain experience on how to produce with other people, especially in large scale media projects. But I’m happy to report I think it all went well.”
Hammer also noted the growing popularity of online-based audio podcasts in general.
“Podcasts are growing in popularity in mainstream, that’s one reason why I’m digging into it more,” Hammer said. “I think sound lets us experience stories differently than reading them, not better not worse, but certainly differently, which is why I wanted to do this [podcast] with the class.”
This podcast isn’t only relevant to current St. Joe’s students. Theresa Ta ’17, lived in Saint Mary’s for three years and while she wasn’t aware of “333 West,” she completely understands and believes the spooky inspiration behind it.
“I only ever lived on the first floor to successfully avoid any hauntings, all the ghost stuff happened on the third floor,” Ta said.
Lauren Lang ’16, a previous RA in Saint Mary’s, had a different experience than most.
“I never personally encountered anything paranormal while I was an RA and didn’t believe it was haunted, but it [Saint Mary’s] definitely had a creepy feeling to it on the third floor,” Lang said. “I know some of my residents would stack chairs and make things look random and then blame it on the Saint Mary’s ghost.”
While Lang never experienced any first-hand paranormal activity, she felt it was important to acknowledge the extensive history behind Saint Mary’s.
“In 2015, I held an 100-year birthday party for St. Mary’s,” Lang said. “It was fun, I even created a slideshow with tons of facts about the history of the residence.”
Whether one believes in ghosts or not, it’s important to remember at the end of the day, Saint Mary’s is a place of living and safety.
“No matter what you believe, be respectful to that house,” Ta said. “First of all, because other people live there and deserve respect. Second of all, because it’s haunted. And even if you think it’s fake and you don’t believe in evil or ghosts or spirits, don’t you even think about bringing a ouija board into that house.”
