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Psychic Predicts Halloween

Campus Murders

Texas college students beware this Halloween, a madman is on the prowl.  The following story is a sample of a warning that seems to proliferate in email boxes every October.  Should we be concerned?

World renowned psychic, James Van Fraaud, shocked viewers on the Oprah Winfrey show last week when he foretold of a mass murder to plague a major Texas university this coming Halloween weekend. His prediction details, and I quote, " A knife-wielding maniac, perhaps dressed as Bo Peep, will slash his way through a sorority house or dormitory."

Whether the prediction rings true as a psychic prophecy or as the result of the publicity surrounding the prediction, students are advised to find refuge off campus during this holiday weekend.

This legend has it's origins as far back as 1968, when a similar rumor was being passed through eastern and midwestern universities.  The story at that time named Jeanne Dixon as the psychic who had foretold of the event on a radio program just a few days prior.

Many variations of this story have mutated over the course of it's 30 year life, including:

• Psychics ranging from the unnamed, to Jeanne Dixon, to even Nostradamus.
• TV shows changing from Phil Donahue, Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Oprah Winfrey, Montel Williams, Geraldo, Sally and A Current Affair.
• Murders taking place at a college whose name begins with a certain letter, or named after a U.S. president, or has a particular shaped building (i.e.; "L" shaped or "8" shaped), or one situated near a mental institution, cemetery or train tracks, or one with a body of water running through it, or a college belonging to the Big 10 or Big 12.
• Potential murderer variously reported to be a student, professor, escaped convict or escapee from a mental institution (even someone dressed up as Little Bo Peep).
• The murder weapon being specifically an axe, knife or hatchet.
• The anticipated number of victims being exactly 9, 10, 12, 15, 18 or 20.

So given the total number of combinations to chose from, you can make this legend fit just about any college, anywhere!  In fact, in 1998 this story was reported as being spread at the following schools [1]:

• Scripps College (Claremont, CA)
• Quinnipiac College (Hamden, CT)
• University of Connecticut
• University of Florida
• Florida State University
• University of Miami (Miami, FL)
• Western Illinois University
• University of Illinois
• University of Indiana
• Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN)
• University of Iowa
• University of Kansas
• University of Michigan
• Michigan State University
• Northern Michigan University
• Hudson High School (Hudson, MI)
• Olivet College (Olivet, MI)
• Albion College (Albion, MI)
• Adrian College (Adrian, MI)
• Siena Heights University (Adrian, MI)
• Tecumseh High School (Tecumseh, MI)
• University of Minnesota
• Minnesota State University
• Ohio State University
• Kent State University (Kent, OH)
• Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green, OH)
• University of Oklahoma
• Penn State University
• University of Wisconsin (Madison, WI)
• University of Wisconsin (Whitewater, WI)

To date, no one has become the victim of a Bo Peep clad serial murderer, but many a dorm room are still being emptied...just to be safe.

-The Folklorist

Links & References:

[1]Campus Halloween Murders

Urban Legends Reference Page on the legend

 

Campus Halloween Massacre '98

From the archives at About.com and David Emery

 

The Baby Train (Brunvand, 1993), pgs. 116-119

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