Many old buildings do not have a great past. Sometimes this leads to the belief that they may even be haunted.

Callahan Hall wasn’t always the dormitory it is now; it was a nursing home.

This year, the Association of Campus Residents chose to focus on the nursing home as a theme for their haunted house.

“Some of the patients were mistreated or abused, and as a result it was shut down and turned into a dormitory,” Cody Scott, president of the Association of Campus Residents, said. “Now, every Halloween these troubled spirits roam the basements seeking revenge.”

Callahan was once Lakeside Place Nursing Home, but it was shut down due to neglect and abuse, according to LawyersandSettlements.com, an online legal news and information website. It was investigated by the state of Kentucky for several complaints of abuse and neglect that lead to deaths of some of the nursing homes patients. After remaining closed for several years, it was bought by NKU in May of 2007.

“Some students don’t have a lot of money to go the USS Nightmare or Dent Schoolhouse,” Joel Wilson, a fourth year geography major, said, “so this is a great opportunity to really be scared and not to worry about money.”

Previously, ACR has chosen the nursing home theme for the haunted house, but each year they try and change up how they create, plan and run the event. According to Scott, they decided to remain with the same theme of previous years because it brings people back.

Different rooms in the basement of Callahan have been decorated by groups on campus, and approximately 40-60 volunteers will dress up to scare anyone who dares brave the Callahan basement, according to Wilson.

Last year around 300 people attended the event, and this year they expect more people will join in the fun, according to ACR.

The Callahan haunted house will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 30 from 7-10 p.m. in the Callahan basement. It is free and open to anyone who has the courage to brave the horrors of Callahan’s haunted past. For students, this is a way to go to a haunted house this year without having to leave campus.

“If there is one program to go to this year, this is the one,” Scott said.