I went to three spooky places in Cambridge for Halloween

Tonight is Halloween night and there is an unsettling force descending upon Cambridge. Some corners of the university are steeped in paranormal activity and it’s been my job to investigate these haunted, twisted, and spooky locations in the run up to Halloween so you don’t have to.

Thank God the UL doesn’t offer an overnight service (Image credit: Iteka De Bessou)

The UL at night

Don’t go to the UL at night, just don’t do it. It’s creepy enough in the day time. There is a dark presence surrounding that building. I think it’s the ghost of an academic slighted by a cocky supervisee but I can’t be certain. Whatever it is, you want no part of it. The UL looks like a disused factory for depression waiting to be populated by the souls of unfortunate English undergrads the next morning. The UL has bad vibes at night… nice craftsmanship on the front door though.

Even the bricks give off bad vibes during Halloween (Image credit: Iteka De Bessou)

Sidgwick Site at night

Sidgwick is off-putting at the best of times. Brutalist concrete buildings, fashionable students, and the lingering sense that you’re not working hard enough makes Sidgwick unnerving enough without Halloween casting its shadow all over the place. However, at night Sidgwick becomes a whole new level of creepy. At night even the usually stunning History Faculty (an exception to my comments on Sidge buildings) looks haunted and harrowing. Just avoid Sidgwick Site, Halloween or no Halloween – aside from any mandatory contact hours, of course!

On the lookout for ghosts, ghouls, and the disembodies spirits of Econ Tripos toppers (Image credit: Iteka De Bessou)

The alleyway leading to the Department of Social Anthropology

It’s a bit specific this one, but a very important place to avoid when trick or treating. Though trick or treating at this age is perhaps an even more disturbing thought. This little alleyway near the Eagle pub leads to the Department of Social Anthropology and it’s definitely haunted. I saw a vampire transform into a bat and fly off into the night while walking through. I tried to convince a nearby Deliveroo driver of what I’d seen and he promptly sped off. He must have wanted to avoid bumping into the vampire. Wise move. Unless you have any commitments at the Department of Social Anthropology and the Eagle in the same night, then steer clear of this location.

By this point my sister was getting a little tired of me pointing out phantoms I’d seen (Image credit: Iteka De Bessou)

I was too shaken from my Halloween tour to cover other spooky places in Cambridge which include, but are not limited to, the motorways beyond Girton, Castle Mound, and the queues for the clubs on Halloween. That last place is a source of phantasmagoria that would drive any human to insanity.

A truly haunting site…though this doesn’t stop me from going tbh (Image credit: Iteka De Bessou)

I’m sure you all have creepy haunted, cursed, and horrific locations across Cambridge that you know to avoid like the plague but I guess that’s what Halloween’s all about, crippling fear.

Feature image credits: Iteka De Bessou

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