Random Terrifying Haunted Theaters Across America (14 items)

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  (#1) The Granbury Opera House

  The ghosts at night are big and bright (clap clap clap clap) deep in the heart of Texas. If you're taking Highway 377 through the Lone Star state you'll find yourself in Grandbury, Texas, home of the famous Grandbury Opera House. The theater may have been staffed by one John Wilkes Booth while he was on the run for the minor crime of killing the President of the United States of America.

  The story goes that after Booth had his leg fixed up while on the run he made his way to Grandbury, where he changed his name to John St. Helens (a fantastic fake name if ever there were one). According to local legend St. Helens spent a lot of time at the Opera House, and on his death bed he admitted to being the one and only John Wilkes Booth.

  People say that they've run into a black clad thespian in the Opera House and that he can recite Shakespeare at the drop of a hat - even when there's nothing going on at the Opera House. Is the ghost of St. Helens/John Wilkes Booth? If you're ever in Grandbury and run into this spooky fellow make sure to ask him how he feels about tyrants and/or ostentatious fake names. 
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  (#2) The W.E. Scott Theater

  After you stop by the Stock Yards for some buckin' broncos and barbecue, take a trip to Fort Worth's own W.E. Scott Theater, a spot that's been known to host the manifestations of its founder, William Edrington Scott. Scott died of lung cancer before seeing his vision and future namesake brought to life.

  Another entity that haunts the building is that of Kenneth Walker Yandle, an actor who was employed by the theater as a stage hand. Local reports say that Yandle committed suicide by hanging himself in the prop room of the theater in 1970, and that he's been heard laughing beneath the stage. It's good that he kept his sense of humor in the afterlife, at least. 
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  (#3) Cincinnati Music Hall

  • Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

  For some reason Ohio is really, super haunted. Whether it's "the ridges," a haunted asylum turned art museum that's so spooky that two people have to open and close it every night, or the Cincinnati Music Hall, a theater that was built over a potter's field - a cemetery for the destitute, Ohio is bonkers haunted. 

  And just in case you think that's an old wives' tale, in 1988, during the installation of an elevator shaft, bones of adults and children were exhumed from under the Music Hall. People have been seeing ghosts on the property since at least 1876. John Engst, a night watchman for the Music Hall, has had plenty of run-ins with the paranormal while working there, but the strangest occurrence happened when he began hearing music playing after everyone had left.

  He told the Friends of Music Hall: "I reentered the elevator and closed the doors. The music was still there and I'm starting to tingle now. I opened the rear of the elevator, entered the adjoining hall, no sound. Returning to the elevator to proceed to Corbett Tower and closed it up, the music was as beautiful as ever."
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  (#4) The Hollywood Pacific Theater

  It goes without saying that Hollywood is one of the most haunted cities in America. Even the citizens who are still living tend to have a ghostly quality about them, so for something to be haunted in the City of Angels it needs to be pretty f*cking spooky.

  The main manifestation that haunts the Pacific Theater is that of Sam Warner, one of the O.G. Warner Brothers who not only help construct the theater, but who also helped make Los Angeles the town it is today. Multiple guards who work at the Pacific have reported seeing Mr. Warner taking the elevator up to his office, and they say that during quiet hours of the night he can be heard shuffling his furniture around. That has to be super annoying for whoever works in that office now. 
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  (#5) The Leaf Theater

  Everyone knows that Florida is full of crazies high on goofballs (or maybe it's the other way around), but are its theaters haunted? At least one of them is. In Quincy, Florida, The Leaf Theater is reportedly haunted by several former movie operators: one named Charles Gibson, another described as "a gentleman wearing a hat", and their very own "lady ghost."

  These claims have been backed up by the Big Bend Ghost Trackers who checked out the theater in 2006 at the behest of a local news anchor. Not only did BBGT sense general feelings of unease in the theater, but they were also able to make contact with the spirit of Charles who seemed to want to make contact with his son. Is anyone else imagining one of the ghost hunters as an alligator wearing sunglasses? No? Well, you should be. It really enhances the experience. 
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  (#6) The Roseland Theater

  This Portland, Oregon based theater was originally an Apostolic Faith Church that was constructed in 1922, and later turned into a night club called "Starry Night" in the '80s. In 1988, the club's owner murdered their publicity agent, Timothy Moreau, to keep him from dropping dime on a counterfeit ticket scam at the club after a John Lee Hooker concert.

  Moreau's body was never found, but many employees at the venue and people who have been living in Portland for longer than IFC has been advertising the dream of the '90s say that his ghost haunts the venue in search of his decaying bones. 
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  (#7) Orpheum Theatre

  • Memphis, Tennessee, USA

  Built in 1890 (and then rebuilt after a fire 30 years later) this classic Memphis theater is supposed to be haunted by the ghost of a girl named Mary who was killed in a car accident in front of the theater. Not only have patrons heard Mary giggling and running up and down the aisles, but some of them have even seen her sitting in her favorite seat C-5 during a performance.

  In 1977, the traveling cast of Fiddler on the Roof got so freaked out by the little ghost girl that they conducted a séanace to try and contact her. A few years later a parapsychology class visited the theater and deduced that there were at least six more ghosts running around the theater with Mary. So she's got some company, at any rate.  
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  (#8) The Belasco Theater

  With the amount of suffering that happens eight times a week on Broadway, it's astounding that every theater on the great white way isn't full of ghosts tearing up playbills and ruining performances of Hamilton willy-nilly. Thankfully, the Belasco Theater more than makes up for the area's lack of spooky sightings. After his death in 1931 the theater's owner, David Belasco, began to appear wearing a clerical collar and cassock, something that he liked to wear while he was still alive. Many actors have seen him skulking around the theater and have even attempted to talk to him with little luck. 
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  (#9) The New Amsterdam Theater

  The New Amsterdam theater in New York City is one of the oldest surviving Broadway theaters, and it even played host to the Ziegfield Follies from 1913 to 1927. It was during the Follies that Olive Thomas, an actress who won the "Most Beautiful Girl in New York City” contest, received her big break and began to work in silent pictures. Things went sour for Thomas in 1920 when she and her husband went to Paris.

  While they were in the City of Love, Thomas allegedly discovered that she had contracted syphilis from her husband and committed suicide. Shortly after her death, stage hands began to see Thomas passing through the theater wearing the same green dress that she wore during her big break in Ziegfeld's Follies. 
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  (#10) The Lincoln Theater

  When you think of haunted Illinois you probably don't think of Decatur, but it turns out that the Lincoln Theater plays host to ghostly footsteps, cold spots, and at least one full form apparition. One theory behind the apparition is that it belongs to an old stage hand named Red, a World War I veteran who laid down to take a nap at the theater and simply never woke up. Most people, however, believe it belongs to an actress that frequented the theater in its early days. 
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  (#11) Mabel Tainter Center For The Arts

  This lovely theater in Wisconsin plays host to a bevy of apparitions, but the main ghost seems to be that of Mabel herself, a young woman who passed away before she could see the final construction of the building. Multiple people have seen a young woman making her way through the halls, and a few women have even mentioned that they've seen something floating near the women's restroom.

  Aside from the female ghost there seems to be an apparition that was either once a stage hand at the theater (or possibly someone that just loves to mess with stage hands), that tries to play with the sound equipment when no one is paying attention. 
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  (#12) Mount Baker Theatre

  • Bellingham, Washington, USA

  Bellingham, Washington isn't just home to indie rock sad boys Death Cab For Cutie, it also houses Judy, Alice, and Geoffrey, three ghosts that live in the Mount Baker Theater. Both Alice and Geoffrey have supposedly introduced themselves to people who work at Mount Baker, and according to a tour guide at the theater Geoffrey is very concerned with personal property. "[Geoffrey] was dressed in a pinstripe suit and told an investigator to be sure to return a paperback book about the history of the theater that she had found on the shelf in the boss room." Thanks, Geoffrey. 
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  (#13) Bagdad Theater

  • Portland, Oregon, USA

  The Bagdad Theater in Portland, Oregon is a beautiful art-deco bar and grill with screening rooms that was apparently so fun to work at that the old employees just don't want to leave. Multiple employees have stated that they feel like they're being watched while the work in the kitchen, and many of them believe that the perpetrators are ghosts of ex-employees who are being a little too judgey from beyond the spirit realm. 
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  (#14) The Brown Grand Theatre

  Concordia, Kansas' Brown Grand Theatre was constructed in 1907 and plays host to the ghost of the theater owner's son, Earl Brown. Many performers and members of the crew who've spent time in the theater have noted that Earl likes to hang out in the wings during opening season. Even to a ghost there's no business like show business. 

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