Berklee College of Music

The haunting at Berklee's 150 Massachusetts Avenue residence hall is among Boston's most documented and credible paranormal phenomena, supported by numerous independent witness accounts from generations of students. The spirits are believed to be guests and staff of the Sherry Biltmore Hotel who died in the 1963 fire.

Student reports consistently describe apparitions manifesting in hallways and dormitory rooms. Witnesses describe seeing translucent figures of people in period clothing, often moving with urgency or distress as if re-enacting their final moments. Some accounts describe partially materialized apparitions that vanish when approached or when students attempt to photograph them.

Sound phenomena are frequently documented. Students report hearing loud banging and knocking on walls during quiet hours, as well as unidentifiable cries and voices speaking in urgent, often unintelligible tones. The sounds are often described as originating from empty rooms or hallways with no living occupants. Eerie laughter has been reported, characterized as hollow or desperate rather than joyful. Some students describe hearing footsteps running through hallways at night, as if evacuating from danger.

Physical phenomena include doors opening and closing on their own, windows opening despite being locked, and temperature fluctuations within individual rooms. Objects go missing from dormitory rooms and reappear in unexpected locations. Students describe feeling sudden drafts of cold air in sealed rooms with closed windows. Some residents report feeling touched, shaken, or pushed by an unseen presence while sleeping.

The most distinctive phenomena involve phantom fire and heat sensations. Students describe feeling intense warmth in certain rooms despite comfortable ambient temperatures, and seeing flickering shadows that resemble firelight. Some accounts mention smelling smoke or burning materials in rooms where no actual fire source exists. One particularly striking report describes a student who awoke to find phantom flames moving across their dormitory ceiling.

Specific rooms are recognized among students as particularly active. Senior dormitory residents often warn incoming students about certain floors or wings where paranormal activity is most concentrated. The intelligence exhibited by the spirits suggests they are aware of the dormitory's current function and may react to disturbances in their environment. Some accounts describe spirits that interact negatively with room occupants who are insensitive to their presence or who attempt to provoke them.

Alumni accounts consistently mention knowing another student with a paranormal experience at the residence hall, suggesting the phenomena are commonplace enough that nearly every student cohort produces new witnesses. The haunting has become a traditional element of Berklee student culture, discussed in orientation sessions and passed through generations of residents.