Books in hand, your graduation robes on. You walk the halls, the stone cool beneath your feet. You can see the old cathedral’s towering above the rest of campus as you’re on your way to French class. And no, this isn’t a dark academia story. No, what I’m (vaguely) describing is a real place, and a real college located in Savannah, Georgia. It is called SCAD, which stands for Savannah College of Art and Design.

Photo of SCAD in Savannah, Georgia. (Contributed/scad.edu)

This college used to be have a religious affiliation and has since unaffiliated, but they still are surrounded by religious architecture and traditions. As a fan of gothic architecture (and the subculture) when I heard about this school, I knew it was going to be my next topic.

Though the college alone does not warrant an entire article, the city of Savannah has more to offer than just SCAD. The Graveface Museum is located in Savannah, and along with covering legends, it mainly covers true and strange histories.

The museum claims to have the largest collection of belongings from John Wayne Gacey, a murderer who is infamously known as the clown killer, as well as belongings from members of the Church of Satan (not to be confused with the Satanic Temple) such as a human spine that had belonged to the founder, Anton LaVey.

Photo taken at the Graveface Museum in Savannah, Georgia. (Contributed/gravefacemuseum.com)

The more that I heard about this area, the more I wanted to know and, eventually, visit. The town has a variety of content for the supernaturally-minded from museums to ghost tours. For those who aren’t supernaturally-minded, it’s a beautiful space with a rich (though often dark) history, including its involvement in the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The city’s involvement is tied to its quantities of ghost stories.

Despite the interesting aspects with the cryptic and unusual, it is important to note the real pain behind these stories and legends. It has always seemed to me, that whether we know it or not, humans instinctively know when a place has had traumatic events happen. Perhaps the veil of death does not separate us so cleanly.

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