BUCKHANNON – This Halloween weekend, the West Virginia Wesleyan College Theater Department will be hosting guided historical ghost tours on Wesleyan’s campus. The tours, which are free and open to the public, will be held each night from 7 to 8:30 p.m. starting on Friday, Oct. 29 and ending Sunday, Oct. 31.

Each tour will last about 20 minutes and will begin at the steps in front of West Virginia Wesleyan’s Chapel. Warm layers are recommended for each night.

Written and directed by Taylor Pugh ‘22, of Glen Jean, West Virginia, each story told within the tour will be based on Wesleyan records and documented encounters.

“In the theatre department here at Wesleyan, we were brainstorming ideas of how to perform and do theatre in the midst of a pandemic,” Pugh said. “Having people outside and distanced seemed the best answer. A ghost tour at Halloween seemed like a great solution! Pair that with the fact that almost everyone who goes to school or works at Wesleyan has a ghost story from campus and you’ve got the makings of a show! I’ve also been interested in exploring the supernatural stories and campus history, so I could tell those stories in a way no one has before.”

In addition to Pugh directing the tours, the cast will include Tiara Stokes ‘22, of Charleston, West Virginia, and Jason Coping-Smith ‘25, of Smithers, West Virginia, as guides and Dominick Gray ‘22, of Belle, West Virginia, and Anna Zurbuch ‘25, of Charleston, West Virginia, as ghosts.

“I’m excited to see people’s reactions to the tour,” she said. “Everything in the script is true and based off of records from the school and documented stories. I learned so much about our school and I hope others will be interested in it as well.”

For more information, contact Tom Schoffler, director and Chair of the Department of Theatre & Dance at schoffler_t@wvwc.edu.