The eerie feeling of Halloween lingered in the aisles of Sandburg Auditorium as more than 1000 NIU students and faculty gathered to hear “True Ghost Stories of Chicagoland” Wednesday night.

Richard T. Crowe, who believes he might be the only full-time ghosthunter in the nation, said, “Northern always pulls the best crowd,” as he spoke for the second year in a row before a standing room only audience.

Crowe said he focuses mianly on “hauntings” in the Chicago area because “Chicago has some of the greatest ghost stories in the world.”

The lecture depicted a few “familiar” ghost stories, including Resurrection Mary, Bachelors Grove, Al Capone’s St. Valentines Day Massacre, and Monk’s Castle.

Crowe said ghosts come in a variety of forms, including solid , semitransparent, cold spots, disembodied voices and flickering lights.

Crowe also brought slides of haunted sights and ghosts. The slide which brought the biggest crowd reaction was one of Ladine, a model, being photographed in a cemetary.

‘Ooohs’ and ‘aahs’ were elicited by the crowd as Crowe said, “If you look at the slide you can clearly see a bald, bloated head floating behind Ladine and a mist encompassing her body.”

He said the mist was not a photographical error, but rather it was an ectoplasm, the substance he said ghosts are made of.

During a reception at Neptune Hall, before the presentation, Crowe said, “Many of the ghosts I’ve encountered are those of people who have died from head or spinal cord injuries.” He also said, “people who die while drunk have the makings of good ghosts because they don’t have their wits about them at the time of death.”

Calvin Hill, coordinator of the event, said, “After they closed the room there wre people with their ears to the doors and others still waiting in line even though they knew they couldn’t get in.” About half he audience stayed to ask questions after the show.

Michelle Lilly, Campus Activities Board speakers coordinator, said, “It was a really great program, I think everyone got spooked at least once.”

Crowe said last year duing the question-answer period he received several tips on ghosts from the audience. He checked out one tip on ghost lights in Elgin. The “ghost” turned out to be lights from a baseball diamond.

Crowe said, “It is important to always eliminate every natural explanation before you look for the supernatural.”

Crowe said, “It used to be an uphill fight to find people who believe in ghosts, but nowadays peple are disappointed if I don’t verify their ghost.”