Content warning: This story contains description of a supposed historical suicide.
Dalhousie鈥檚 oldest residence, Shirreff Hall, has long been haunted by stories of a resident who never left 鈥� a young woman, scorned and heartbroken, forever cursed to creep the building鈥檚 corridors.
Most of these stories are tied to unexpected happenings: strange sounds, sudden temperature changes, things that turn on or off without any apparent human intervention. But some stories go further, including possible sightings of the woman, named Penelope, hovering through Shirreff鈥檚 darker corners
鈥淚 was in my room sleeping,鈥� says one current Shirreff resident (who prefers to stay anonymous 鈥� perhaps for fear of offending the wayward spirit). 鈥淚 woke up about 2:30 a.m. and saw a girl standing in the corner of my room, covering her face as if she was crying. And there was no way someone could be standing where she was because that鈥檚 where my filing cabinet is.鈥� The girl quickly disappeared 鈥� was she even there? 鈥� but the student has noticed other strange happenings in her time living in the building as well, like a certain cabinet drawer that opens and closes on its own.
鈥淏efore I moved into Shirreff I didn鈥檛 believe in ghosts, and I thought Penelope was a fun idea but just a tale,鈥� says the student. 鈥淏ut with my own experience and the tales other people have shared, I am definitely hesitant to deny that Penelope exists."
Now, we don鈥檛 mean to mis-spook鈥� err鈥� misspeak: these sorts of mysterious happenings are not very common. With 440 students calling Shirreff Hall home in a typical year, we鈥檇 likely hear about it if a large number of them found themselves face-to-face with a phantom on a regular basis.
Yet Penelope鈥檚 story continues to be passed along as fun, freaky folklore that just happens to align with some of the more inexplicable events that occur in a century-old residence house. So, in honour of Halloween, let鈥檚 take a look at the story behind campus鈥檚 most famous spine-tingling tale.
Ghosts of gender norms past
The story of Shirreff Hall and its ghost are both founded in the gender politics of the early 20th century. The residence 鈥� Dalhousie鈥檚 first 鈥� was built in the early 1920s for Dal鈥檚 growing population of female students, many of whom struggled to find housing from local landlords that preferred to rent to male tenants. (Shirreff would remain a women鈥檚 residence until the mid-2000s.) And Penelope鈥檚 tale of love, betrayal, heartbreak and shame is decidedly wrapped up in sexist and patriarchal expectations.
In the most popular version of the story, Penelope is a maid or caretaker who lives in a suite of servants鈥� quarters in what is known as the 鈥淎nnex鈥� space of the building. (In some versions, she鈥檚 a student.) It鈥檚 assumed her story happens soon after the building was opened 鈥� at the very least, sometime prior to its first expansion in 1962.
She falls madly in love with a man 鈥� possibly a professor 鈥� and ends up pregnant. Her lover abandons her, refusing to help or acknowledge her plight. (Some takes on the story have him fleeing overseas.) Despondent over losing a love she thought true, and unwilling to face the persecution and scorn directed at women who carried children out of wedlock in her era, she makes her way to the fourth-floor tower of the residence, rope in hand, and hangs herself from the rafters.
Penelope ends her life 鈥斅燽ut in doing so begins her tenure as Shirreff鈥檚 first and only permanent resident. As generations of students come and go, Penelope remains.
Folklore facts and fictions
At this point, you鈥檙e probably wondering, 鈥淒id Penelope actually exist?鈥�
To which we say: what鈥檚 the fun in answering that question? Why let the details get in the way of a good spook story?
But if you insist: there isn鈥檛 any concrete proof or documentation any of this happened, or that there was even a Penelope at all. In fact, taking a closer look at some specific aspects of the story 鈥� like the available space in the tower鈥檚 attic, which is not exactly conducive to a hanging 鈥� can lead to the whole thing losing its hocus focus.
The Penelope paper trail is also rather sparse. The ghost doesn鈥檛 get mentioned in the 黑料吃瓜网Gazette until the mid-1990s. Books that have formally documented the tale are relatively modern. You鈥檒l find only the rare newspaper clipping about a Shirreff Hall ghost, usually published around Halloween time. Instead, Penelope鈥檚 story 鈥� like many ghost stories 鈥� has survived mostly through oral tradition, spoken in whispers between upper classmates and first-years, year after year.
Steve Vernon, a Halifax-based author and storyteller who has written dozens of fiction and non-fiction books about local ghosts 鈥� including 2009鈥檚 (Nimbus Publishing), which features Penelope 鈥斅爁irst heard tales of the Shirreff Hall haunting when he arrived in the city as a student in the 1970s.
鈥淏ack then the story was being told and re-told,鈥� said Vernon. 鈥淓verybody who went to 黑料吃瓜网or King鈥檚, sooner or later you鈥檇 hear somebody talking about it.鈥�
He says the appeal of stories like Penelope鈥檚, how they become folklore, is that they exist in a grey boundary between fact and fiction that allows them to be re-told in different ways. Vernon has even written his own telling of the Penelope tale in his 2016 short story in which a modern Dal student learns about the Shirreff Hall ghost on her first day on campus and soon finds herself in eerily similar circumstances. Yet the story鈥檚 conclusion suggests Penelope isn鈥檛 someone to be afraid of.
鈥淚鈥檝e always felt that ghosts aren鈥檛 inherently dangerous 鈥� they shouldn鈥檛 really be that scary to us,鈥� says Vernon. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e spirits with unfinished business, who hang around to finish something up.鈥�
Boo business
Whatever business Penelope may be trying to finish, the way she鈥檚 gone about it has typically amounted to little more than polite mischief.
Reports that have been documented over the years (sometimes attributed, sometimes anonymous) include a sweep of cold air like a physical presence; a feeling of being watched; organ sounds without a source; footprints that seem to walk towards the wall and then disappear. And though full-blown sightings are rare, they typically involve a woman wearing a blue dress, known to appear and disappear suddenly 鈥� never directly impacting anyone who sees her.
What to make of all this? Perhaps the story is more hokum than haunting. Much of Penelope鈥檚 supposed behaviour can be chalked up to normal operating procedure for a 100-year-old building 鈥� creeky happenings rather than creepy ones. (Back in 2013, Mateo Yorke 鈥� Shirreff鈥檚 facility manager 鈥� noted that 鈥渟ightings鈥� had declined since a generator was installed that prevented full-blown power outages.)
But what鈥檚 the point of being part of a 200-year-old university if there aren鈥檛 a few ghosts wandering the ivory towers? By sharing tales like Penelope鈥檚, students get to contribute to living (and beyond-the-grave) folkloric history of this place, putting their own spin on a story that remains resonant across the decades. After all, it mostly sounds like Penelope just wants to be noticed 鈥� something any undergrad can relate to.
And, considering how she was treated, can you really blame her?
PHOTO CREDITS
鈥淧enelope鈥� performed by Genevi猫ve Richer, third-year Theatre student (Acting) in the Fountain School of Performing Arts.
Photography by Danny Abriel.
Costume provided by the Fountain School of Performing Arts.
Many thanks to the staff at the Fountain School and Shirreff Hall for their assistance.
Shoot was conducted following COVID-19 protocols, with masks worn by cast and crew except during particular shots.