On September 8, Mr. de Grys received an email with a shocking subject line: “Paranormal activity.” Lakeside Security had sent him a picture as “proof of paranormal activity [on September 6],” when his office window slightly opened, and the lights turned on instantaneously. When the working night guard went in to check what was going on, the door was locked, and nobody was inside.
This isn’t the first time something spooky — perhaps paranormal — has happened at Lakeside. While both nighttime security guards involved have declined to directly comment on what happened, one mentioned that two janitors quit because of unexplained nighttime activity in McKay Chapel some years ago. The paper was unable to confirm this report.
Maintenance foreman Mr. Burgess added his perspective: “I used to get myself spooked when I was in the Chapel basement at 3:30 in the morning … but, I would probably have spooked myself in any older, empty building at 3:30 a.m.,” he said.
Mr. de Grys himself is unsure what to make of the situation. He noted that his lights had been malfunctioning since he came back to school in mid-August. Two different electricians visited his office on separate occasions, claiming to have fixed the problem while it persisted. “That might be a little nod towards something unusual,” Mr. de Grys admitted, “I don’t know if I’d use the word supernatural — but something spooky was going on that no one could find the answer to.” It was only after the incident on September 6, when a third electrician came and swapped out the light switch entirely, that it stopped flickering.
When asked whether he believed this incident was a result of paranormal activity, Mr. de Grys referred to the history of Bliss Hall. “This building is almost 100 years old. All I know is there’s a lot of people in 100 years who’ve had a lot of emotional experiences.” As the heart of campus, the hall has been a library, a shooting range for the Lakeside Rifle Club, a science lab for chemistry classes, and the site of various senior pranks and school dances.
Mr. Bonar, who works on the same floor as Mr. de Grys, added that many of his peers in the hallway have thoughts on the subject. “There’s a few people who think [the unexplained activity] might’ve been a former dean or headmaster who spent a lot of time at Lakeside,” he noted.
When asked about his own opinion, Mr. Bonar paused: “My gut in these situations is to say that I don’t believe it … I also think of how there’s so much I don’t know — so it’s hard to say with any certainty that it’s impossible.”
