GLENBEULAH, Wisc. — The Old Glenbeulah School in Sheboygan County sat vacant for almost 30 years until paranormal enthusiasts took over.
"I wanted to restore something unique and beautiful and also be able to use it for my hobby — ghost hunting,” said local Craig Nehring. "It was kind of a dream come true."
He co-owns the schoolhouse with his business partner Melissa Clevenger. Together, they also own the Sheboygan Asylum, also said to be haunted.
The school was built in 1916 and closed in 1995. Nehring said he was drawn to it, driving past it all the time.
"I always had a fascination with the afterlife,” he said. And the school was the perfect place for that.
"Students and teachers had said that when they went here as a little kid, they were frightened of the downstairs in the bathroom. They would see shadows."
Now having toured the building, I can confirm that the bathroom is indeed dark and creepy.
Just down the hall, an old maintenance man’s spirit allegedly likes to hang out in his old office and is still very territorial of his chair.
Nehring also mentioned the presence of a student who died from cancer at an early age.
Watch: Sheboygan County's Old Glenbeulah School attracts ghost hunters
"She used to love cats, so the teacher put up a picture of cats…kind of like this one,” he said pointing to a frame on the chalkboard. In it, a depiction of a little girl with a cat.
“Through the years, that picture would be on the floor a lot. Even though they hung it on a sturdy nail."
These ghostly encounters could have something to do with a supposed curse put on the Village of Glenbeulah.
Nehring explained that he heard about a bullied boy in the early 1900s. His mother was a local witch, or so the story goes, and in response to her son’s maltreatment, she cursed not just the school but the whole village.
The unexplained school happenings could also have something to do with the building’s connection to Amityville Horror, a book and movie series based on a real-life family murder and subsequent haunting in 1970s Long Island.
Nehring said an attendee of his ghost tour and a former Glenbuelah student, said she and her classmates were kept in the school overnight during a bad storm years ago.
For entertainment, they decided to read The Amityville Horror.
Nehring also pointed out a woodchip that he said is from the original Amityville House. He stores it inside the school.
But one of the most unsettling rooms in the school is filled with vintage dolls. It seems to be a hotspot for paranormal activity.
"One doll in particular is not supposed to be turned around. She's supposed to be facing the wall otherwise she gets mad,” Nehring noted, adding that tour guests have run from that doll before, screaming. “I'll ask the dolls, 'Do you want to go home?' And they'll knock on the glass."
While I was there, I wanted to see if the spirits would put on a show first-hand. So Nehring and I hit record on our phones and asked a few questions in the school’s boiler room.
"If you could give us a sign that you're here, I'd really appreciate it,” I said. “I don't mean any harm, no ill will…”
I was then interrupted by the weekly warning siren outside.
“That was creepy,” Nehring laughed.
We'll call that a coincidence — at least that's what I'll be telling myself when I go to bed at night.
"If you're skeptical about ghost hunting, come on one of our tours We've made believers out of a lot of people,” Nehring insisted.
There are a few openings for school tours in November. The Asylum is booked through 2025.
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