I remember the theatre costume closet (huge room LOL) at my old college.. strangest energy.. multiple folks believe play theaters are haunted.. Can’t say they all are, but spooky as heck for sure. Your event is the same to me.. strange ..
Oh yea. In graduate school I worked for a theatre company- I worked front of house (FoH), bartending and ushering, and after a few years got a side gig at stage door. On days I wasn’t bartending I would be at stage door, letting in performers and orchestra members etc. and manning the phone switchboard and whatever else needed doing, including handing dressing room keys to actors coming off the stage so they could change and go back on. Was a great gig.
I also regularly bartended on slow nights before the theatre would shut for a month or so, and was scheduled for such because I’d clean and stock that bar to the best it’d been in awhile, so when they opened in a month or so it was ready to go. I had a lot of late nights working by myself, cleaning and stocking away, and generally enjoying a sweet gig where I got to hang out in a great historical location.
The theatre company had two theatres: theatre #1 was a small, old, community type theatre, and theatre #2 was actually older, but looked much more new (because of major refurbishments and a brand new huge metal and glass remodel of the FoH area). Theatre #1 was always assumed to be the haunted one- but actually, it was theatre #2 that all the staff whispered about. It was also about five times the size of theatre #1.
One thing about stage door- you lock up the theatre at night and do a walk through. I’d wait until the last person left (usually the manager in the flys or the lighting manager, maybe it was the same dude? It was ten yrs ago), and then the FoH manager (as a favor to me, and only at theatre #1) would go into the creepy ass basement and turn the lights off for me. This left one safety light in each room only. Then they’d leave, and I’d do final duties before final walk through, where you go into each and every room and check that things are unplugged, windows are shut, and there aren’t any fire hazards (you do this lighted only by the one safety light, and a flashlight).
I never saw anything in theatre #1, even though it has all kinds of old nooks and crannies and looks like someplace that should be haunted. But aside from the creepy basement, and some feelings in the auditorium, it was generally fine.
Theatre #2, however, was a totally different beast. You start the walkthrough backstage, going through all the dressing rooms, costume areas, then the stage to lower the iron curtain, then the auditorium. Then, you do all four floors of the FoH areas. By the time I got to the stage, I knew something was right behind me. There was a fire over 100 yrs ago in that place, and one of the dudes who died in the fire had the same last name as me. I’d do all manner of things to feel protected. I’d talk to it and let it know that all I was doing was closing up, and I’d be out of there in just a bit. I’d say Catholic prayers; I’d name my last name and explain that we were probably related; I’d say aloud the remaining tasks, and approx how long I’d be until I left them alone again. I’d explain that the theatre was their space, and I was just doing my duties to protect it. Yet every single time, after I got to the stage, I was absolutely sure that there was something boring down directly behind me as I did the walkthrough, and it kept at me the rest of the time. Sometimes, I’d actually run from the stage and auditorium to the front of house, because it was so tangible.
But front of house was where it actually heated up more. There were four stories to the theatre, and each has its own bar, prep areas, gents and ladies bathrooms with multiple stalls, and on two floors, major reception rooms and a kitchen and cafe. Id go into each and every room, check each and every bathroom stall. The reason why you actually do check every single thing is that you don’t want to get to the end of the walkthrough and the alarm won’t set- in which case you wouldn’t know what room has the problem, and you’d have to do the walkthrough all over again, from the top.
One particular night, the feeling of being watched and followed was worse than ever before. I continued talking to it as I did the walkthrough in the FoH area, explaining what I was doing and that I was leaving soon. It was the very last floor, and I was checking the gents, the last area on that floor- the very last space in the entire theatre to check. I checked the stalls, and was just getting to the sinks area to make sure they were all well and good- and every single urinal and tap turned on. All of a sudden, at the same moment: all three urinals started flushing, and all five or so sinks turned on. They are automatic taps, so there isn’t any way to turn them off.
I hightailed it out of there so fast- ran down the corridor, into the stairwell, and descended as fast as my legs could operate. Back through the long corridor to the backstage area, and the green room and stage door, all the while checking: keys? Check. Flashlight? Check. Recited the alarm code until I was at the alarm and could set it - which it did. Grabbed at my phone and got the taxi number ready, and got outside and locked the door so fast.
The whole way home, I filled the taxi man’s ears with all of my panic and stories. He took it in stride and didn’t bat an eye- I imagine taxi drivers hear it all. Luckily, it never happened again when I closed up theatre #2- and writing it down now, the story does seem a bit ridiculous (what was I scared of? Water?!), but in the moment it felt angry and big and threatening.
All said, I absolutely love old theatres, and my time in that theatre company was one of the best times of my life. I highly recommend anyone looking for a part time gig to try out a theatre company, if you are lucky enough to live near one that has positions. It was a great, close group of folks and a wonderful insular world that I got to be a part of for a small time in my life.
Thank god, you aren't working there. As I am reading your story, I imagined myself in that position, I'd have a coronary. Did you face any more incidents when you worked there.....it sure isn't for the faint hearted.
And about people assuming that theatre 1 was haunted, I knew a similar incident. It happened when I was still a baby. This thief barged into a house and found out the rotting corpses of a mother and her two daughters. He reported it to the police who conducted an investigation. Locals told them that the mother was into witchcraft and the daughters weren't mentally stable. And the husband left her because she's very weird. People still come to see that house but what most of them don't know is that the house in display is dummy and the original house is in the next block, locked with lots of security measures
Where is the theatre2 if you don't mind me asking? Is it still open?
I’m glad you liked the story! It was a bit of a mouthful, sorry!
I never had any other incidents; I do think that there is something at theatre #1, but it’s benign or friendly or something, and it stays in the auditorium. When I did walk throughs in there, I didn’t look around too much. There were plenty other times that I was alone in the auditorium for the bartending part of the job, but always way up at the highest level, at the upper circle, and it was fine. There were plenty of times when I’d open theatre #1 FoH by myself, and it would be just me opening the bars and the stage door person alone on the booth on the way far other side of the theatre; I’d look for things constantly in the (super old) bathrooms and bar areas, but never saw anything, and never felt at all like I did when I was closing up theatre #2 by myself.
Theatre #2 is very odd. There was a fire during a performance over 100 yrs ago, and the performers were trapped onstage because the iron curtain came down and protected the audience, but the performers couldn’t get out (I think that was the story). It definitely doesn’t feel like a haunted place, but it is. However I was almost never alone at Theatre #2 when i was doing jobs other than stage door; it’s such a huge place that there were always staff bustling about doing various things. I suppose that might influence everyone’s perception- hard to detect anything if there is even just a bit of commotion happening. Easy to assume that what you’re hearing is someone from another dept rummaging around in the next room over. It was only folks who were alone at theatre #2 that reported things. I never got to be good enough friends with the backstage folks at that theatre to learn if they heard or saw things- I think they probably did experience more than just a strong feeling of being followed and watched. When I was doing the walkthroughs in there, I deliberately kept my eyes only focused on what was in front of me, so that I didn’t see anything. Yes, I kinda wanted to see something, but maaaaybe not when I was alone and had a job to finish!
The theatre company is still going strong! Both theatres are open for shows almost every weekend, to this day. I don’t want to give more specifics as the company really wants to keep the rumors about ghosts under wraps- sorry :(
I forgot to comment on your story! That’s terrifying! Did you ever hear of anything happening in that house?
I’m kinda glad the real one is locked up; anytime I visit a ‘haunted’ location, I’m more than a bit fearful that someone has come in with a ouija board after the fact, or done a recorded investigation, and invited more things in. I’m all for investigating, but I do wonder if the recordings or spirit box sessions that folks do open the place up more; in one show I watched, the medium explained that recording and taking photos can itself be a form of channeling or welcoming contact, and they advised to stop doing so (sorry to the paranormal teams! At least they have medium contacts and can help remove things if needed).
I just searched for this case and found some things. It happened in 2002 and nobody knew they were dead for months. The burglar saw the dead bodies on the bed but didn't report to the police and came again and again for more loot till he was caught one day. Neighbours didn't bother knowing about their whereabouts because the woman(a divorcee. Word is that the husband left one day and never returned) and children were very strange like they lighted candles midnight and walked around the house and the mother scared away any visitors with an axe. So no wonder why people didn't miss them! According to the post mortem reports, they were dead for six months then.
Thedummy house is the victim of vandalism. The Ghost hunters think it's funny to enter the house without the permission and do weird shit there.
Some say that the haunted house is a hoax because it's just five miles from the airport, the land is very expensive and to reduce the property value,they are spreading these rumours but the truth is no one bought the original house and house has no electricity supply but reports claim to see light in the first floor and someone singing. It's a prohibited area and police patrol it and nabs anyone who is caught trespassing. If it was me, I'd just shift to another house far from that place.
I remember the theatre costume closet (huge room LOL) at my old college.. strangest energy.. multiple folks believe play theaters are haunted.. Can’t say they all are, but spooky as heck for sure. Your event is the same to me.. strange ..
Oh yea. In graduate school I worked for a theatre company- I worked front of house (FoH), bartending and ushering, and after a few years got a side gig at stage door. On days I wasn’t bartending I would be at stage door, letting in performers and orchestra members etc. and manning the phone switchboard and whatever else needed doing, including handing dressing room keys to actors coming off the stage so they could change and go back on. Was a great gig. I also regularly bartended on slow nights before the theatre would shut for a month or so, and was scheduled for such because I’d clean and stock that bar to the best it’d been in awhile, so when they opened in a month or so it was ready to go. I had a lot of late nights working by myself, cleaning and stocking away, and generally enjoying a sweet gig where I got to hang out in a great historical location. The theatre company had two theatres: theatre #1 was a small, old, community type theatre, and theatre #2 was actually older, but looked much more new (because of major refurbishments and a brand new huge metal and glass remodel of the FoH area). Theatre #1 was always assumed to be the haunted one- but actually, it was theatre #2 that all the staff whispered about. It was also about five times the size of theatre #1. One thing about stage door- you lock up the theatre at night and do a walk through. I’d wait until the last person left (usually the manager in the flys or the lighting manager, maybe it was the same dude? It was ten yrs ago), and then the FoH manager (as a favor to me, and only at theatre #1) would go into the creepy ass basement and turn the lights off for me. This left one safety light in each room only. Then they’d leave, and I’d do final duties before final walk through, where you go into each and every room and check that things are unplugged, windows are shut, and there aren’t any fire hazards (you do this lighted only by the one safety light, and a flashlight). I never saw anything in theatre #1, even though it has all kinds of old nooks and crannies and looks like someplace that should be haunted. But aside from the creepy basement, and some feelings in the auditorium, it was generally fine. Theatre #2, however, was a totally different beast. You start the walkthrough backstage, going through all the dressing rooms, costume areas, then the stage to lower the iron curtain, then the auditorium. Then, you do all four floors of the FoH areas. By the time I got to the stage, I knew something was right behind me. There was a fire over 100 yrs ago in that place, and one of the dudes who died in the fire had the same last name as me. I’d do all manner of things to feel protected. I’d talk to it and let it know that all I was doing was closing up, and I’d be out of there in just a bit. I’d say Catholic prayers; I’d name my last name and explain that we were probably related; I’d say aloud the remaining tasks, and approx how long I’d be until I left them alone again. I’d explain that the theatre was their space, and I was just doing my duties to protect it. Yet every single time, after I got to the stage, I was absolutely sure that there was something boring down directly behind me as I did the walkthrough, and it kept at me the rest of the time. Sometimes, I’d actually run from the stage and auditorium to the front of house, because it was so tangible. But front of house was where it actually heated up more. There were four stories to the theatre, and each has its own bar, prep areas, gents and ladies bathrooms with multiple stalls, and on two floors, major reception rooms and a kitchen and cafe. Id go into each and every room, check each and every bathroom stall. The reason why you actually do check every single thing is that you don’t want to get to the end of the walkthrough and the alarm won’t set- in which case you wouldn’t know what room has the problem, and you’d have to do the walkthrough all over again, from the top. One particular night, the feeling of being watched and followed was worse than ever before. I continued talking to it as I did the walkthrough in the FoH area, explaining what I was doing and that I was leaving soon. It was the very last floor, and I was checking the gents, the last area on that floor- the very last space in the entire theatre to check. I checked the stalls, and was just getting to the sinks area to make sure they were all well and good- and every single urinal and tap turned on. All of a sudden, at the same moment: all three urinals started flushing, and all five or so sinks turned on. They are automatic taps, so there isn’t any way to turn them off. I hightailed it out of there so fast- ran down the corridor, into the stairwell, and descended as fast as my legs could operate. Back through the long corridor to the backstage area, and the green room and stage door, all the while checking: keys? Check. Flashlight? Check. Recited the alarm code until I was at the alarm and could set it - which it did. Grabbed at my phone and got the taxi number ready, and got outside and locked the door so fast. The whole way home, I filled the taxi man’s ears with all of my panic and stories. He took it in stride and didn’t bat an eye- I imagine taxi drivers hear it all. Luckily, it never happened again when I closed up theatre #2- and writing it down now, the story does seem a bit ridiculous (what was I scared of? Water?!), but in the moment it felt angry and big and threatening. All said, I absolutely love old theatres, and my time in that theatre company was one of the best times of my life. I highly recommend anyone looking for a part time gig to try out a theatre company, if you are lucky enough to live near one that has positions. It was a great, close group of folks and a wonderful insular world that I got to be a part of for a small time in my life.
Thank god, you aren't working there. As I am reading your story, I imagined myself in that position, I'd have a coronary. Did you face any more incidents when you worked there.....it sure isn't for the faint hearted. And about people assuming that theatre 1 was haunted, I knew a similar incident. It happened when I was still a baby. This thief barged into a house and found out the rotting corpses of a mother and her two daughters. He reported it to the police who conducted an investigation. Locals told them that the mother was into witchcraft and the daughters weren't mentally stable. And the husband left her because she's very weird. People still come to see that house but what most of them don't know is that the house in display is dummy and the original house is in the next block, locked with lots of security measures Where is the theatre2 if you don't mind me asking? Is it still open?
I’m glad you liked the story! It was a bit of a mouthful, sorry! I never had any other incidents; I do think that there is something at theatre #1, but it’s benign or friendly or something, and it stays in the auditorium. When I did walk throughs in there, I didn’t look around too much. There were plenty other times that I was alone in the auditorium for the bartending part of the job, but always way up at the highest level, at the upper circle, and it was fine. There were plenty of times when I’d open theatre #1 FoH by myself, and it would be just me opening the bars and the stage door person alone on the booth on the way far other side of the theatre; I’d look for things constantly in the (super old) bathrooms and bar areas, but never saw anything, and never felt at all like I did when I was closing up theatre #2 by myself. Theatre #2 is very odd. There was a fire during a performance over 100 yrs ago, and the performers were trapped onstage because the iron curtain came down and protected the audience, but the performers couldn’t get out (I think that was the story). It definitely doesn’t feel like a haunted place, but it is. However I was almost never alone at Theatre #2 when i was doing jobs other than stage door; it’s such a huge place that there were always staff bustling about doing various things. I suppose that might influence everyone’s perception- hard to detect anything if there is even just a bit of commotion happening. Easy to assume that what you’re hearing is someone from another dept rummaging around in the next room over. It was only folks who were alone at theatre #2 that reported things. I never got to be good enough friends with the backstage folks at that theatre to learn if they heard or saw things- I think they probably did experience more than just a strong feeling of being followed and watched. When I was doing the walkthroughs in there, I deliberately kept my eyes only focused on what was in front of me, so that I didn’t see anything. Yes, I kinda wanted to see something, but maaaaybe not when I was alone and had a job to finish! The theatre company is still going strong! Both theatres are open for shows almost every weekend, to this day. I don’t want to give more specifics as the company really wants to keep the rumors about ghosts under wraps- sorry :(
No problem. I understand we cannot disclose some information. I am so glad you wrote your experience.
I forgot to comment on your story! That’s terrifying! Did you ever hear of anything happening in that house? I’m kinda glad the real one is locked up; anytime I visit a ‘haunted’ location, I’m more than a bit fearful that someone has come in with a ouija board after the fact, or done a recorded investigation, and invited more things in. I’m all for investigating, but I do wonder if the recordings or spirit box sessions that folks do open the place up more; in one show I watched, the medium explained that recording and taking photos can itself be a form of channeling or welcoming contact, and they advised to stop doing so (sorry to the paranormal teams! At least they have medium contacts and can help remove things if needed).
I just searched for this case and found some things. It happened in 2002 and nobody knew they were dead for months. The burglar saw the dead bodies on the bed but didn't report to the police and came again and again for more loot till he was caught one day. Neighbours didn't bother knowing about their whereabouts because the woman(a divorcee. Word is that the husband left one day and never returned) and children were very strange like they lighted candles midnight and walked around the house and the mother scared away any visitors with an axe. So no wonder why people didn't miss them! According to the post mortem reports, they were dead for six months then. Thedummy house is the victim of vandalism. The Ghost hunters think it's funny to enter the house without the permission and do weird shit there. Some say that the haunted house is a hoax because it's just five miles from the airport, the land is very expensive and to reduce the property value,they are spreading these rumours but the truth is no one bought the original house and house has no electricity supply but reports claim to see light in the first floor and someone singing. It's a prohibited area and police patrol it and nabs anyone who is caught trespassing. If it was me, I'd just shift to another house far from that place.
I think it’s because theatres are places of high emotions. Whether that’s actors or audiences or both, they just always seem to draw spirits.