The Most Haunted Movie Theaters In The US

Haunted houses have been a mainstay in the public imagination, whether in books and movies like "The Amityville Horror" or Halloween-related attractions where people pay to be scared out of their wits. But purported hauntings don't just happen in homes. Some of the allegedly most haunted places in the U.S. include hotels, hospitals, even lighthouses. And then there's a myriad of old movie theaters across the country where people claim to have experienced paranormal activity, seen unexplained figures, and heard strange, disembodied noises.

Among these movie palaces where hauntings have been reported is one of the most famous theaters in the world, along with others that are less so. Most of them hail from the 1920s, the beginning of the Golden Age of cinema, when a few companies controlled the industry. Perhaps the best known of these is Grauman's Chinese Theatre (now called TCL Chinese Theatres) in Los Angeles, where at least two ghosts are said to roam backstage. Other, lesser-known — but by no means allegedly less haunted — old movie theaters included the Bagdad Theatre in Portland, Oregon; the Landmark Theatre in Syracuse, New York; the Palace Theatre in Los Angeles; and the Egyptian Theatre in Park City, Utah. All of them have their own legends, mysteries, and tragedies that have marked these movie theaters forever.

Since opening in 1927, Grauman's Chinese Theatre in LA played host to glitzy Hollywood premieres and was once the home of the Academy Awards. Inside, the opulent movie house still retains all the ornate decorations that Sid Grauman dreamed up when he launched arguably the most famous movie palace of them all. But behind the curtains and backstage, people have had strange experiences. There are reportedly at least two ghosts who haunt the theater, making it one of the most haunted places in Hollywood. 

Staff named one spirit Fritz, and he is alleged to have been a stagehand who died by suicide behind the screen and now moves furniture and bangs on the walls. The other, known as Annabelle, is a young girl who has been seen skipping down the theater's halls. Not even the famous forecourt, where Hollywood elite have been pressing their hands, feet, and other body parts into concrete as a permanent memorial to their fame, is apparently safe from hauntings. People claim to have seen the ghost of actor Victor Kilian, the victim of an unsolved murder in 1979, walking there.

Like LA's Grauman's Chinese Theatre, the Bagdad Theatre, in the Hawthorne District of Portland, Oregon, also opened in 1927. And while it wasn't quite as opulent, this Middle Eastern-themed movie palace was still quite grand. It still shows movies today and has even hosted a premiere or two, including a star-studded one in 1975 for the hit "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Like its LA cousin, the Bagdad is also allegedly quite haunted. Staff and visitors have reported disturbing experiences, from ghostly sightings to unexplained cold spots. Among the supposed ghosts that dwell within the theater is a stagehand who died tragically while working there — some claim he died by suicide — which is also similar to one of the alleged spirits at Grauman's.

People have supposedly heard mysterious whisperings behind the screen that have been attributed to this troubled spirit. He has also allegedly been seen moving in front of the screen from time to time. But this isn't the only spirit to haunt the theater, according to staff members. People have heard mysterious footsteps, supplies and paperwork are often moved inexplicably, and there's a report that in one of the women's restrooms, people have smelled men's cologne and felt like they were being watched.

When the Landmark Theater (then known as Loew's State Theatre) opened in Syracuse, New York, in February 1928, people lined up for blocks to get a chance to see a silent film in an extravagantly appointed movie palace. It was decked out in red velvet and marble and featured a giant pipe organ and a grand Tiffany chandelier in the lobby. But over the years, the theater fell on hard times and shut down, only to be revived as a live performance venue in the late 1970s into the present.

Besides boasting nearly 3,000 seats and some of its old finery, today the theater is allegedly haunted by several spirits. One, known as Clarissa, supposedly plunged to her death from the balcony and remained in the Landmark afterward. Staff claim to have seen her ghost, wearing a white dress and with the smell of lilacs trailing behind her. Clarissa is also associated with arctic blasts of cold air, and she has supposedly been seen sitting in a theater seat.

She isn't alone. People have reported sightings of another ghost, Oscar, possibly Clarissa's lover who also tragically died in the Landmark. There have also been reports of another pair of ghosts: a night watchman and his dog.

The Palace Theatre, on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles, is the city's oldest moviehouse and the oldest surviving Orpheum vaudeville theater in the U.S. It first opened in 1911 and hosted such famous performers as Harry Houdini before being converted to show films beginning in 1926. It also became well known after Michael Jackson featured it as a backdrop in his megahit "Thriller" video in 1983. Back when it opened, it featured a segregated third balcony where Black people were forced to sit, which has become synonymous with ghostly sightings. People have seen mysterious figures moving around in the closed-off balcony over the years.

Patrons have seen a small, ghostly child in one of the theater's bathrooms, and staff later discovered the cremated remains of three people, two adults and a child, in a box in the theater's basement. The Palace, like the Landmark in Syracuse, is also supposedly home to a ghostly woman in white. People claim to have seen her walking across the stage in a lace-covered gown.

The Egyptian Theatre in Park City, Utah, was built on tragedy. In June 1898, a devastating fire burned 350 homes and buildings, including the city's brand new opera house, and left 500 residents homeless. The city quickly rebuilt, including constructing the Dewey Theatre as a replacement for the opera house. Then, in 1916, an immense blizzard caused the theater's roof to collapse. A new venue was built on the site of the Dewey, opening in 1926 and featuring an Egyptian theme. It showed both live performances and films, and remains open to this day. You can see bands and Broadway-style shows there. And you may also encounter something much more unexpected.

Staff and patrons have reported doors slamming, mysterious footfalls, disembodied screams, and the presence of a ghostly apparition known as Edwina, who may have been an organist at the original opera house before it burned down. She haunts the dressing rooms, according to staff. There's also supposedly a male presence. Some say it's the ghost of an aspiring actor named Johnnie McLaughlin, who worked as a stagehand at the old Dewey Theatre and died in a mining accident. The apparition has been known to push people to the ground. So depending where you go to check out a movie, the venue may turn out to be scarier than what's on screen.