It seems that popular paranormal search sites continue to report that the Oklahoma City Zoo is haunted. Well, there really is no reason for it to be haunted. We have asked GHOULI members to submit stories new or from the past that they feel should be shared once again. We can all agree that it is intriguing to think that the OKC Zoo could be haunted, but we do ask you to read more about this topic.... Oh, don't believe everything you read on those "find a haunted place in your state" types of websites. Most of it is just made up for website hits.
Enjoy this article from GHOULI affiliate and member Cullan Hudson. Author of Strange State books and blogs.
OKC's Mysterious Zoo Ghost May Prove Hoax
One popular (if sketchy) go-to website
for ghostly information is www.shadowlands.net. While many people rely
upon the site for details concerning local hauntings across the country,
it is also filled with erroneous and fabricated tales that have no
basis in fact--or even legend.
As I have posted before, HERE,
sites like these can be troublesome for researchers. While it might be a
fine place to start when looking for local haunts, you will probably
wish to follow up your interest with a visit to a library, bookstore, or
more reputable websites.
The following is an example of particular interest to those in Oklahoma who are looking forward to famed psychic Chip Coffey's (Paranormal State, Psychic Kids)
forthcoming visit to the Oklahoma City Zoo. In promotions for Coffey's
upcoming appearance, he has stated he will talk about the woman that
haunts the place. Here's what Shadowlands has to say:
"In the behind-the-scenes area
of the Aquatics [sic] building, a ghost of a woman with long hair has
been seen at various times, usually at night, by several different
people. No one has any idea of who she is or where she came from, much
less why she is there."
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| Ghost Girl at the OKC Zoo |
Myself and others questioned
this story when we first caught wind of it. I exhaustively researched
legends from across the state in compiling my book. Not once did I come
across even the most oblique reference to any spirit haunting the
Oklahoma City Zoo. Puzzled by this, I inquired further. What I learned
from the zoo's marketing and public relations manager, Candice Rennels,
was that "the rumors are just that--rumors."
While not an outright dismissal,
Rennels does intimate that the story doesn't exist within the zoo
walls. This makes sense. In researching nearly a century of newspaper
accounts concerning the zoo, not once did anything ghostly crop up.
True, the zoo holds a Halloween trick or treat romp for kids each year,
but this event is more awwww than awful.
It makes a kind of sense,
really. Both Ghosts of America and Shadowlands (particularly the former)
are replete with less-than-factual accounts submitted by completely
anonymous persons. Some tales, in the case of the Choctaw Library, are
completely made up:
"Some people say if you go there at night the books will fly off their shelves at you."
My paranormal-loving mother has a
Masters of Library and Information Studies from the University of
Oklahoma and did undergraduate work in History. She knows her way around
a library and a good story. More importantly, she worked at this and
other libraries in the Oklahoma City area for years. She has been in the
library countless times after hours without a single experience to
report. She has also spoken with other librarians, staff members, and
security guards--some of whom had called the Choctaw Library home for
decades. Not a single one of them claimed to have experienced anything
bizarre, unexplainable, or supernatural. The story is entirely
fictitious.
I think the same may be going on
with the ghost at the Oklahoma City Zoo. I am fairly certain the tale
can't be supported by fact, but I've got a good feeling that it won't be
corroborated by legend either. Whatever you may hear in the future
regarding the zoo ghost, I urge you to take it with a grain of salt.
However, if you have further information concerning the alleged haunting, I would be interested in learning more. I am especially keen to talk with any current or former employees.
However, if you have further information concerning the alleged haunting, I would be interested in learning more. I am especially keen to talk with any current or former employees.
- Cullan Hudson
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