Ghost of Fenwick 4B
Kaitlyn Kinney, George Mason alumna and current Head of Access Services at Fenwick Library, has been part of Mason’s library community since 2010. She began her journey as a student worker in the interlibrary loan department and steadily rose through the ranks, eventually becoming a full-time staff member. With over 14 years of experience at Mason Libraries, her knowledge of the library’s history, both administrative and spectral, is unmatched. Among her most memorable experiences is the ghost story that lingers on the fourth floor wing B: the tale of Fenwick’s 4B’s mysterious presence.
During an oral history interview conducted on April 23, 2025, Kinney recounted how the legend began during her early years as a full-time employee, around 2014 [16]. At the time, she often worked alone, opening and closing the building. Students began approaching her with eerie claims that they felt like they were being watched or followed in the 4B stacks. “They would come down and they’d be like ‘I was closing, doing the clears,’ and they kept repeating that they felt like they were being kind of followed in fourth floor wing B…like a dark figure halfway up the stacks aisle,” Kinney recalled. Initially, she dismissed the reports, thinking students were playing tricks on her. But as more accounts surfaced, including from trusted coworkers, she began to reconsider.
One pivotal moment came from a student worker named Tori, known for being practical and reserved. Kinney recounted, “She came down and was just like, ‘Kaitlyn… I had an experience.’” Kinney then tried to find logical explanations, perhaps it was a reflection in the window or a trick of the light, but nothing quite added up.
Though the ghost has no confirmed identity, those who’ve felt his presence often describe him as a tall, masculine figure in baggy clothing including a hooded sweatshirt and loose pants, lurking in the stacks. Kinney speculates he might have been a student in life, based on his youthful energy and behavior: “The weird lurking, like halfway up an aisle, feels like something that like a young man would do… perhaps if they didn’t really want to leave the building.”
His activity peaked between 2014 and 2017, a period that coincided with major construction in the library. Kinney, who grew up in a historically haunted part of Virginia, explained, “Usually when there’s construction, spirits are typically more active because their spaces are being disturbed.” Even though the construction ended years ago, students and staff still occasionally report unsettling feelings or fleeting glimpses of the mysterious figure, now affectionately nicknamed “the lurky Lou.”
Yet for Kinney, this ghost story does more than send shivers down spines—it connects people. “It builds a weird sort of community,” she said. Staff and student workers bond over their shared unease or curiosity, comparing stories and comforting each other during late-night shifts. The ghost of 4B has become a quiet part of Fenwick’s identity, not as a threat, but as a lingering whisper of the past, something that makes the library feel alive in more ways than one.