Capitol haunted? Just ask the ghosts

WASHINGTON — Ever since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the U.S. Capitol seems spookier. Before then, tourists packed its hallways as they were allowed to wander freely through most of the building. But since 9/11, fewer tourists are allowed — and only with congressional staff escorts.

So now it is easier to find oneself alone in dim, dungeonlike basements. When things go bump in the night, they echo and reecho now. That can raise the hair on the back of the neck, because the Capitol is supposedly one of the most haunted buildings in the world.

That is, of course, if you believe all the ghost stories. I first heard them 15 years ago from Florian Thayn, a former Utahn who for 25 years worked deep in its dimmest basements as a historian for the Capitol architect.

I repeat them every once in a while for Halloween. After all, why work in a haunted building if you can't tell spooky stories about it on Halloween? Here are my favorites:

THE BLOOD-STAINED STAIRS: No cleaning agent has ever been able to scrub away the blood of former Rep. William Taulbee, D-Ky., who was shot to death on a marble stairway in 1890 by newspaper reporter Charles Kincaid in an argument, apparently about a woman.

"Judging from the blood, he must have bounced all the way down the stairs. The marble soaked it up like a sponge, and they've never been able to scrub it away," Thayn said.

Some say Taulbee haunts the stairs and trips anyone wearing press credentials because a reporter killed him. When I used to hear guides tell that to tourists, I always made a point of tripping. I miss scaring the tourists.

THE DEMON CAT: Thayn said it is the most-often reported phantom in the Capitol, dating back to when dozens of cats were placed there to control its still-present mice.

"The demon cat would usually meet someone alone in a dark corridor. It had large yellow eyes that seemed to hypnotize, and it would snarl. It would seem to grow larger and larger until it would make a final lunge toward its victim and then either explode or disappear over the victim's head," Thayn said.

Historians recorded stories of guards firing guns toward the hissing cat as it disappeared only to find they were shooting into an empty hall. "It was said to appear only on the eve of a national tragedy or the change of administrations." The cat even has a nickname among Capitol workers: "D.C."