Did you hear that?
It’s Susie…
Not only for its size and beauty but also for its sweet sisters, the Alpha Gam house is always an interesting topic of conversation. Have you heard of its hauntings?
Living at 530 S. Milledge Avenue is one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in my entire life. Cheesy, but true. This year I live in the old part of the house, in the room Engagement. All of our rooms in the house are named, and each room in the old part has a name with historical significance.
Originally, Alpha Gam was built as a private home in 1896 and bought by James Yancey Carithers as a wedding gift for his daughter, Susie. However, on the day of her wedding, Susie thought she had been jilted because her husband-to-be was delayed on his way back to Athens. Sadly, by the time he did show, the distraught woman had hung herself in the Attic above the room Engagement.
Supposedly, on the day of her death Susie drifts through the windowpanes, through the room Engagement, opens the door to the room, and proceeds to float up the stairs to the Attic.
Although we haven’t experienced this yet, living in Engagement has brought us closer to the supernatural than we have ever been before. Upon move in in August everyone was especially on edge, not knowing what surprises Suz, as we affectionately call her, would bring us. As legend tells, each year one or more girls who’ve lived in Engagement and seen Susie will get engaged. Which makes Engagement one of the most sought after rooms in the house. Excitingly enough, it actually comes true. Some of our candlelight ceremonies are from Seniors who have lived in Engagement. After all, Susie is a good spirit.
The first time I experienced Susie was in August, when I was walking through the hallway back to Engagement around 9 o’clock at night. There was a huge rumbling coming from the Attic and I could feel it in the walls as I walked into our room, which incidentally is right next to the eerie stairway to the Attic. On a previous venture up to the Attic with my roommates I had seen that there were about 60 old, wooden chairs there but, oddly enough, there are just beams above our room.
I had heard stories of Susie moving things around in the Attic but I never knew it would make such a ruckus.
Nevertheless, this was only the beginning. Everyday I walk in and out of our room I look up the stairway to the Attic to see if Susie is there. Boy is that an eerie staircase, with an even eerier 4-foot-tall door. In Engagement we’ve seen hangers fall off hooks and out of closets, doors and closets opening unexpectedly, locks getting stuck and artwork falling off walls. When these things happen we usually get small knots in our stomachs for a hot minute and then immediately laugh it off, thanking Suz for the visit. Even though we are technically the “special” room, Susie has visited pretty much every room in the old part, including downstairs. In the TV room I’ve seen the mini chandeliers swing and flicker, in the Music Room the piano has been heard in the dark and in the Gentleman’s Parlor the doors have opened unexpectedly.
All in all, we all have our Susie days, but most of the time we are just living in a house that is 119 years old. Maybe my luck will be extra strong living here again in Engagement next year for the 120th birthday of the house. Although we are not solely seeking our MRS. Degrees, a little help from Susie wouldn’t hurt. As Beyoncé says, “If you liked it then you should have put a ring on it.”
