Gideon the Ghost is Eastern Michigan University’s friendly campus ghost who offers personal, hand-written advice to those willing to sit with him and receive it.
“I wanted to personalize little things that you’d get from engaging with me so you don’t just hear somebody talk and have to retain that information, I wanted to spend the time to write out personal notes for each person,” Gideon said. “It shows that you care, but it is also something that they can take with them and refer back to.”
On Halloween of 2023, Gideon the Ghost began haunting Eastern Michigan University, making his first appearance in Halle Library. Later that day, he set up at Campus Life’s Pumpkins on the Patio and Haunted Hallway. At both events, Gideon was well-received.
Gideon, the campus ghost, says "Hello" at EMU Campus Life's Pumpkins on the Patio and Haunted Hallway on Tuesday, Oct. 31 in the Student Center.
"I don’t talk, because who I am doesn’t matter as much as the advice itself," Gideon said. "My main goal is to be a silent ear that people can talk to, and even though I’m not a professional, I think it is important to be someone for somebody when there are people out there that don’t have anybody."
Gideon enjoys drawing, creative writing, and performance art outside of the typical ghost advice and activities. However, as a ghost, Gideon struggles to materialize his art into this world. Gideon would describe his art as "anxious and chaotic-looking."
"I give advice from experience, it’s very important to me that people know that I struggle," Gideon said. "You’re not talking to somebody who’s speaking from a lack of painful life experiences, you’re talking to somebody who is also actively going through it and can outstretch a hand and be like 'let’s go through it together.'"
Gideon aims to use his personal experiences to create art that speaks to the struggles of many college students.
"As somebody who has always dealt with his problems through his art, I realized that I could turn helping other people into an art piece itself," Gideon said. "So that’s why a lot of my poems are sad or the art is scary to some or off-putting. I just really want to give the impression that I’m here for you, but I’m also on your level."
Since Halloween, Gideon has been active on his Instagram, @ghostlygideon, posting prompts via Instagram Stories and giving advice that way. Gideon has been incorporating more art into his profile and is currently working on videos to add to his grid. He is preparing and thinking about ways to get back out there and in person.
