QUB’s Paranormal Myths and Legends: An Investigation
By Katie McShane
Recently a friend took delight in telling me QUB was haunted. A scare mongering tactic on her end no doubt, but her source? TikTok of course. Namely the TikTok account ‘Student Beans’ (citing the knowledge academy), claimed QUB is the 8th most haunted university in the UK. At first, I sought to dismiss this as lame media content before considering is there some truth to this? Naturally, I knew I needed to launch my own investigation and seek to answer the question – Is QUB haunted?
All good research starts at the desk. Conducting my own I found many an article on supposed paranormal activity however all seemed to take place at Queens accommodation rather than on campus. Specifically, Alanbrooke Hall – the accommodation tower block that was demolished in 2004. This I took issue with; I was investigating Queens as a whole and for the most well-rounded research I would need to look at both the campus and accommodation.
The Lanyon Building
The Lanyon building seems a natural focus for a paranormal investigation. Denoting a gothic vibe, the Lanyon building was built in 1849 as a part of the original university. Boasting the Great Hall, the original library (now the Lynn building), and the black and white entrance hall, as well as a striking statue of Galileo this seems the most apt place for a ghost to go striding through the corridors. However, aside from the occasional tourist, never once has any unusual activity been reported here. I crept through the halls hoping for a light possession or a poltergeist to appear but disappointingly all came up short. Queens Campus seems to be disgustingly ghost free! I can only assume education is not the top priority of the undead.
Alanbrooke Hall
In need for some excitement, I turned to more fruitful horizons. Alanbrooke Hall, the old student accommodation block, bears three separate witnesses of paranormal activity.
A Radio Four series featured Ken – now a geneticist, who saw a ghostly apparition of ‘pure distilled evil’, as well as having the door to his room kicked and shaken with no visible perpetrator. It doesn’t stop there, another past resident of the offending ‘room 611’ saw a ‘shadowy figure’ in the corner of the room, something he saw multiple times. He also reported mysterious banging at the door, so violent he thought the door would break down. Like Ken, once he opened the door there was no one to be seen. Finally, one of the past students accommodation wardens weighed in. Professor Gary Foster experienced haywire electrics with no explanation – even after calling engineers for help. Foster even reports being accosted by the ‘ghost’, flying forward one night and nearly falling from the window. [1]
These reports are fantastic ghost stories but what relevance have they now, the tower having been knocked in 2004? Well, little did I know that today Elms village sits on that very site.
Elms Village Today
In a daring act of investigative journalism, I decided to investigate Elms village, the location of many a past paranormal experience. Shortly passed witching hour I walked through the village, eyes and ears open for anything unusual. The treehouse remained open, and the security stood guard – what horrors have they seen? No stone was left unturned in my search, nothing short of door-to-door interviews was good enough. However, I must admit there was nary a ghost to be seen. The only activity there seems to be in Elms nowadays is the village cat, the revellers enroute from limelight, the students tucked up in their beds, and of course the poor souls getting up for 6am rowing.
Does this mean there was never a haunting at QUB? It would be impertinent for me to say, I can only attest for what I did not see. Perhaps they’re lurking behind the bins, or in the bushes, maybe the routine tree cutting has pushed them out of their natural habitat, or perhaps the cost of living (or lack of) became too much for them and they’ve simply moved on. In conclusion Queens students seem to be safe so host your pres with no fear of unwanted guests. However, next time you hear your flatmates being too loud at 3 am, I wouldn’t be so quick to judge……
Sources
[1] “Alanbrook Hall: The Belfast building spooking UK listeners”, BBC News, November 21st 2021,
