Urban Legend Gone Viral

Living in New Mexico and knowing a little bit about hauntings I was surprised to read on several sites that an abandoned school in the small town of Artesia was considered one of the most haunted places in my state. 

Atoka School

It is a classic, frightening ghost story so I will share it here.

Atoka School, built in 1949, has sat abandoned for many years. It seems this building has a long history of creepiness. Beginning with the school and then later several businesses that occupied this building--all appeared to have been driven out by a dark evil entity.

In fact, the report claims that whatever was going on was so scary that all of the tenets of the old school left quickly or “overnight” without giving any logical reason as to why.

By the 1970s the school’s scary backstory was so well known that teens would Legend Trip the site, often just driving by too scared to go in. Others who dared reported hearing: groans, footsteps and even snarls.

Hence the legend grew, the old school must be haunted.

Recently, the ArtesiaDaily Press while listing places in their town that are truly haunted took a more logical approach to the rumors that surround the Atoka School.

They noted that one group who visited the site in the 1990s, upon hearing the footsteps determined it was just “a goat,” and an entity that flashed by them was a “barn owl.”

This would explain why witnesses who were brave enough to visit the school would sometimes state the dark entity they believed lived in the old school flew out of the walls at them.

Regardless, it provides an entertaining scare.