As we head into the last few weeks of “spooky season,” the Guide to Graduate team was gathered in our breakroom, passing the lunch hour by sharing spooky stories from Halloween’s past. As aficionados for all things careers, naturally our conversation veered toward cringey encounters, creepy coworkers, eerie execs, and so on.
Of course, we had to let some of these stories breach the breakroom for our readers. Keep reading (if you dare) as we share the Guide to Graduate team’s spookiest stories from the workplace.
Contents
A Spooky Smell
“In my first job as a paralegal, I remember one executive (okay, the company President!) brought his 150 pound dog with him to work every day. I love dogs, but this one wasn’t trained very well. Along with the constant barking while I was trying to converse with clients, it was constantly pooping on the floor throughout the office. Talk about a spooky smell.”
- Mikella, Guide to Graduate Writer
An Eerily Enraged Exec
“I was working at a marketing agency, and had this really awful CEO. I was mid-level managing at the time, so didn’t really have to interact with him too much. However, there was one meeting, in particular, where I was called into his office with a few team members.
I don’t remember much about the context of the meeting, but do remember that, as he kept looking over the launch plan and numbers, he kept getting more enraged by the minute. The next thing I knew, he was yelling and threw a fist through his glass desk, shattering it in an instant; I think it goes without saying that he was terminated just as quickly.”
- John, Guide to Graduate Editor
An Embarrassing Encounter
“This one happened to me here at Guide to Graduate! Because we dress up for Halloween here every year, I had been planning my Halloween costume for about a year in advance. I bought a Darth Vader costume, and purchased a speaker to play his entry music every time I entered a meeting that day. On Halloween day, I showed up in full costume. With my entry music blaring, I threw open the door and marched into our 9:00 am team meeting.
… and then I quickly realized I had interrupted a pretty serious meeting of people (who were not dressed up, by the way). Apparently our meeting had moved to another room, but I hadn’t yet checked my email since I was so caught up in perfecting my costume.”
- Will, Guide to Graduate Intern
A Creepy Coworker
“In college, I’d work early mornings at a coffee shop before class. One morning, I arrived about five minutes early for my usual 4:00 am shift and unlocked the door and began turning on the lights. To my complete shock, I heard the bathroom door open and out came Ben, one of our vendor delivery drivers. He does have a key, but usually only comes by around noon each day to restock our shop’s supply of coffee beans.
When I asked what he was doing there so early, he said he got stuck with an early shift and needed a spot to use the bathroom. I shrugged it off and went about my day. A few months later, I saw Ben’s face on the news. He was convicted of a series of murders in the area, and had been using the coffee shop bathroom to ‘clean up’ after a crime.”
- Evelyn, Guide to Graduate Writer
Spine-Chilling (but Funny)
“One time, during an important team meeting at my first job in sales, I called my boss ‘dad.’ Just thinking about that moment still sends chills down my spine.”
- Dave, Guide to Graduate Editor
Do you have a similarly spook-tacular story from the workplace? Share it with us in the comments!
