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High School Theater Ghost – Legend

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: College Student
Residence: Huntington Beach, California
Language: English

Text

Informant: So George was a student at Huntington Beach High and he was in the acting program and he was dating this girl, she was also in the acting program. And they were going to audition to be in Romeo and Juliet together. She got Juliet, he didn’t get Romeo, another guy got Romeo.

Me: What did he get though?

Informant: I don’t think he got in (laughter from Informant, me, and other person in the room)

Informant: What a loser. But um, anyway, so his girlfriend and this guy, they fell in love, and she broke up with George. So George (small laugh) hung himself in the theater and he became the ghost of the theater and so if you don’t put the ghost light out, he is going to come get you. Also he lives in the basement where all the props are so if you want to go get a prop, you have to have all the lights on and you’re going to hear… or OR George is going to take you away. AND we have a noose hanging (laughter) from the top of our theater backstage (more laughter) to commemorate him.

Me: Okay, okay, so, what would he do to you?

Informant: He would snatch you! (laughter)

Me: He would snatch you?

Other Person: He’d just grab you?

Informant: People would just talk about, like, “Beware of George” and that’s really it, not like, the specifics of what he was going to do to you, you know?

Me: Did you ever, like, try to find him?

Informant: No, but my friend, (NAME), said… oh my god, my friend (NAME) was convinced she looked like his ex-girlfriend, because these were real people.

Me: Right.

Informant: So she apparently thinks she looks like the girl and that George was like, George is always with her so whenever she goes to the basement alone, she always says that he’s right behind her like she can feel him… it’s like “okay girl.”

Me: Okay so you don’t believe her stories.

Informant: No, I don’t…but, like, it is kinda spooky in there without the ghost light because it’s a huge theater.

Context

The informant went to Huntington Beach High School in the early 2020s and heard this story from other students while going there. They were in the theater program and sharing this legend was mostly among theater students rather than the whole high school. The informant says that they never believed in the ghost or their friend’s story but they do believe that it is based on real people who existed. The informant added that there was also a ritual associated where everyone in the show would sign a playbill (booklet given at theater performances to give the audience some information about the show and cast as well as act as a place to put advertisements). This playbill was then thrown up into the ceiling and the idea was to appease George so that he would not ruin the show. The informant engaged in this tradition butt did it for the community bonding and fun part instead of actually believing in its power.

Analysis

Theater are a common place to find ghosts due to the way they are used. Theaters are spaces where a person doesn’t act like themselves and where death is commonly simulated. They are a liminal space where the boundary between reality and imaginary is pushed and the proscenium (frame around the stage that separates it from the audience) acts as the portal into a new world. This portal could just as well be a portal into a plane where ghosts exist. Furthermore, theaters are also the location of a lot of actual deaths due to many fires that destroyed theaters and killed thousands throughout history. All of these aspects of theater taken together make it a prime location for ghostly hauntings.

This story uses the idea that the theater is a place with lots of death and even follows the story of the play that was being put on. Romeo and Juliet is about two lovers that kill themselves when they can’t be together, directly reflected in the story as George (Romeo in this version) kills himself but his ex-girlfriend (the Juliet) does not follow suit. This results in George being left with unfinished business and the need to haunt the theater program that lead to his demise.

Theater ghost stories usually have a connection to that stage’s ghost light. This light is placed on stage at any time when the theater is dark and there isn’t a performance happening. There are two reasons that are commonly given for this. One is about ghosts and the idea that the ghost light is meant to appease or block any ghosts in the space. The second is likely more true and that is for safety. The stage can be very dangerous when dark and the ghost light provides a small amount of light that helps a person stay safer while navigating it. This story is an explanation for why the stage needs the ghost light. Although it is only a small portion of the story, the informant says that “if you don’t put the ghost light out, he’s going to get you.” This story plays into the ghost explanation but also works as a way to remind high schoolers to put out the safety device at the end of the show. High schoolers might not remember to turn on the ghost light given that, for many of them, this is their first time doing theater with more responsibility. The story can help them to remember to put it out at the end of a performance because it threatens consequences if they forget.

The ritualistic signing and throwing of the playbill first acts as community bonding between the whole cast and crew of a production before opening night (the first time the show has an audience). Secondly, it is a place where this story can be told to new students in the program as they engage in the act and story all together. This quickly brings any new student into the culture of the theater program by directly showing them the stories and rules of the group. Knowing this story becomes a sign of induction into the program as a whole.

Although the informant says they don’t believe in the story, they do believe in the existence of the people within it. These people may or may not have existed but because of the informant’s connection to the school and story, they might be more inclined to believe in part of it. Even if someone doesn’t believe in ghosts, they might find other parts of the legend that they think are more believable, like that these people were real at one point and the story was created around them. They might also engage in the rituals associated with the stories without the belief in their power such as signing and throwing the playbill even though they don’t believe George exists. The ritualized behavior still allows them to feel the connection to others without needing to change their beliefs to include ghosts.

The ritual resulting in a good show without any disasters is significant. Thespians can imagine nothing worse than their show going wrong or things breaking. Even if a person doesn’t believe that a ghost is the one doing the show harm, they would still take any luck they can get in preventing mistakes. If a person didn’t engage in the behavior and something did go wrong, they would be blamed because they didn’t do the ritual. This makes people who might not believe in any part of the story (ghost or luck) still engage in the ritual to excuse themselves from any fault.

La Niña

DETAILS:

  • Nationality: American
  • Language: English
  • Age: 55
  • Residence: Berkeley, CA
  • Occupation: High School Teacher
  • Collected on: 11/28/2024

CONTEXT:

Informant is a high school theater teacher, and works in the theater alongside a tech theater teacher. The story takes place during a school day in the fall, when they were the only two people in the theater. 

DIRECT TRANSCRIPTION:

AS: “ I’m not sure exactly what day of the week it was, but it was a weekday, and I was in the theater, and so was our tech theater teacher, and we were doing what we do, which was, he was actually preparing for class, his tech theater class, and I was probably tidying up after one of my classes, and the theater was in, in the, it was sort of in the early fall. And we didn’t have a show, like, in full production at that point, but there was a set being built and, um, his class was gonna come in to do stuff. But the backstage area was pretty open and, you know, there was nothing out of the ordinary going on or nothing unusual. And, and also there was nobody in there. So my class left and I was back in the back of the theater, doing various, just like, odds and ends, like, you know, planning my next class, or like, getting things together. And our tech theater teacher was coming in and out doing stuff in the drama office. So not actually in the theater, but coming back and forth. And the key thing here is that the paint room was closed. And the door was closed and locked. And, so, at some point in the, later in the morning, we discovered water pooling out from the paint room. And we were like, holy crap, what’s going on in there? And so we went into the paint room. We opened the paint room right away, we were like, the floor, the theater floor is flooding. And so we opened the paint room, and the sink was overflowing. Like the water was on and the sink was overflowing. And the water was on and you could actually hear, like you could hear it. It wasn’t like drip, drip, drip. The water was on. And so we also called the maintenance guys and they came and we were trying to figure out like, was the water, like did somehow, did a valve burst? Did the pipe go on? But no. Was the pipe busted? Was the valve busted? So like, the water just suddenly turned on, because of some mechanical failure? And we all looked back, you know, we looked around, and the maintenance guy was like, no, the water just got turned on. And we were like, but nobody’s been in the paint room today. Nobody was in the paint room yesterday. Like, how would this, like, this, we, none, nobody went in, the door was locked, and I was in the theater, like, I would have seen somebody come in, somehow get in the locked door, and then go in and turn on the water, and our head of facilities was like, “mmm, La Niña,” and we were like, what do you mean? He was like, “La Niña,” and we were like, same word, he was like, “she’s here, she’s the ghost of the school, or the ghost of the theater, and the middle school building.” And we’re like, you know her? And he’s like, “oh yeah.” And um, and I said, so you think La Niña turned it on? And he’s like, “I’m sure.” So, we turned the water off. We cleaned up everything. And then I said, “Luis. Tell me more about La Niña.” He said, “oh, we have lots of stories of La Niña. La Niña is, La Niña is here often.” And I said, “she’s a girl?” And he said, “yeah, she’s a girl. She’s a little girl, very mischievous. She likes to play her tricks. She’s a very tricky one.” And I said, so she, She moves things around. She, she, I guess, I guess she turns on the water when nobody’s looking. Um, but he said, “yeah, that’s exactly the kind of thing she does.” And he said many of the maintenance staff have seen her. So that is the story of La Niña.”

INFORMANTS OPINION:

AS: “There’s no question that whatever happened in that paint room was not done by normal human hands. Something uncanny happened. And the thing that convinced me that it was supernatural and that it could have been La Niña was how sure the maintenance people were. They right away, they were the ones who were like “La Niña.” They didn’t really wanna get right into it, like they were a tiny bit embarrassed, but I mean they knew who it was. So that convinced me as much as anything.”

PERSONAL INTERPRETATION:

Ghosts have long been thought to haunt theaters. There’s a common superstition of keeping a light on in the theater at all times to fend off any ghosts, and because of this many theaters keep on a “ghost light.” In this story, I find it to be especially interesting that the school’s maintenance staff are so aware of La Niña, and have clearly witnessed her presence before. Not only that, but the fact that the paint room was locked and the informant was absolutely sure no one had been there all day supports the maintenance team’s story of La Niña as a ghost who plays mischievous pranks.

Burning Down the House

Nationality: American
Age: 26
Residence: Chicago, Illinois
Performance Date: 04/17/21
Primary Language: English

Main Performance:

There’s a theater in Downtown Chicago called the James M. Nederlander Theater, back then known as the Iroquois Theater, which apparently burnt down once in 1903 with around 2000 people inside where at least 600 patrons ended up dead. The panic caused mass hysteria, the crowds of people tried to force doors that opened inwards, meaning that a wild crowd could not properly open them. Many other doors were locked by foreign locks, exits were not properly labeled, and the upper floor patrons as they were locked in as VIP 2nd floor rooms were locked from the outside as to keep the 2nd floor exclusive and not have anyone sneak in after the shows sold out. While many burned to death, others stuck on the 2nd floor threw their bodies out the windows, barely managing to cushion their falls from the bodies of those who fell before. The back alley served as a temporary morgue, accounts saying that bodies were stacked 6 feet high, and the area trapped the spirits of the dead to wander in and out of the back of the theater. Countless remarks about the inexplicable amount of noises, moving objects, and sightings of ghost inside and outside the theater and around the alley have been reported. The area is known as the Coach Place, Death Alley.

Background:

The informant, NC, is a friend from my highschool days who I bonded with over videogames and appreciation for animated shows who I still keep in daily contact with today. NC is particularly religious but loves to partake in the knock on wood superstition.

Context:

Because he was living separate from his family, NC did not necessarily have too many folklore or tradition to share and instead asked one of his friends if she had any interesting tidbits to share.

My Thoughts:

Reading up on the story some more revealed to me that there has not been a formal memorial marking the location of the incident, which might be the entire reason that these tortured souls have not been able to move on from their suffering in the first place. Much like how desecrated grave sites are the classic grounds on which angered spirits haunt those who disturbed their rest, this story feels as if these spirits haven’t been at peace at all. More than a ghost story, the entire thing reads like a historical account on how fire safety protocols were implemented because something horrific had to happen at least once for these things to be taken seriously. An infrastructure problem with the theater itself most likely led to many basic amenities and fire safety procedures we take for granted today. It seems strange that this particular location hasn’t been taken by the city’s government to be made into a tourist zone, one of the few examples of how things are left as they are and the story is allowed to speak for itself.

Haunted Theaters and Ghost Lights

Nationality: Afro-Latinx
Age: 20
Occupation: FIDM Student Studying Fashion Design, Food Service
Residence: 2715 Portland St Los Angeles CA 90007
Performance Date: 4/13/21
Primary Language: English

My friend shared this story with me and another female friend one night in the kitchen after work. I asked this friend about her haunted house and she later shared that her classmates always left a ‘ghost light’ in the school theater. It was bad luck not to leave a ghost light. This friend also said that she believed her theater may have housed some recent ghosts.

This speaker went to an arts school in Tampa, Florida. She took classes in the drama department and was in school theater productions. Here is her story.

*

“Theaters are traditionally haunted all the time… they’re just traditionally haunted,” the speaker said. “After you’re done striking a set or cleaning up or after you’re done rehearsing. You’re always supposed to leave a ghost light, or the ghost, or else that was bad luck.” I asked whether the light was meant to guide the ghosts, but she said that it existed to appease them/ She said ghosts do not like the dark, and that this was ironic.

One day after practice “a student forgot to put the ghost light on, you know, it’s not anything, not a very big deal. It’s literally like a stick and a light ball. And you roll it out onto theaters, like, but we just forgot about it. And then the next day, like a spotlight fell, and that was really bad.”

The speaker said that there were some specific ghosts she thought haunted the theater. “There were a couple of tragedies that did happen at our theater. And there was actually some of them were actually pretty recent. So I’d like to think there were good spirits rather than bad spirits,” she said. The drama director’s brother had passed away that year, and the speaker said that she would like to think that he came to see the productions at the theater. The speaker also added that a young actress had died of a disease in the past, and that there was a plaque in front of the theater honoring her memory. The speaker said that she would like to think that the actress’ ghost visited the theater as well.

When I asked what this meant to the speaker, she said that the young actress had “put so much of her craft into theater.” I suspect that knowing that deceased guests might visit the theater is comforting to the speaker, and that these two particular ghosts help future productions.

*

The speaker has shared other ghost stories and believes that these stories are real, so it makes sense that she would believe these ghosts could be real as well. She began telling this story discussing ghost lights and bad luck, but the story ended on a note of good luck. I was taught to act as if a god was always watching, and I know many people feel comforted to know that someone else is guiding them during stressful parts of their life. It might be comforting to know that ghosts are watching over stage productions as well, since the ‘good’ ghosts the speaker mentioned had theater or theater-adjacent backgrounds.

I did not know that movie theaters and stages are supposed to be haunted or that actors would leave a ghost light. My school had a small theater that we used for small class meetings when the drama department was not at practice. I can’t remember a specific light that was left on the stage, but the room was never completely dark. This was likely for security reasons.

The haunted theater trope may be due to the fact that theaters serve as a sort of liminal space when not in use. Theaters are such specific buildings, and sticking around after the show is not an expected reaction. Only janitors and stage crew might remain after a show is over.

Additionally, members who know about the ghost light are ‘real’ members of the theater community. They understand the traditions of other actors and stage crew, and they are part of an in-group.

This story also draws upon similar ideas as the article ‘Ghostly Possession of Real Estate: The Dead in Contemporary Estonian Folklore’ by Ulo Valk. Actors and other community members who believe in ghosts come to terms with tragedy by carrying out traditions in the hope that loved ones continue to exist in the ‘haunted theater.’ The ghost does not necessarily need to be buried near the theater, rather the theater belongs to them because their devotion to acting tied these ghosts to this particular spot.

For another ghost legend by the same speaker, see ” Haunted House in Indiana- The Funny Man and the Woman with the Red Eyes: Sleep Paralysis and Two Traveling Ghosts” in the USC digital Folklore Archive.

Gertrude the Theater Ghost

Nationality: American
Age: 23
Occupation: Pastry Chef
Residence: Napa, CA
Performance Date: April 20, 2020
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

Here is a transcription of my (CB) interview with my informant (AH).

AH: “So when I was at Salinas High, I was very active in theater. And the first year of my theater program, the older classmen have always told the freshmen about gertrude who is our theater ghost. And I kinda thought that it was all bullshit at first, you know, I didn’t really believe in ghosts, and I didn’t think that it was anything worth paying attention to until my sophomore year. Now the story behind Gertrude, is um… Gertrude was one of the first students at Salinas High back in…..actually I don’t remember when the school opened. But the story was that she was one of the first students there, the first freshman when the school opened. And she was in love with a boy from the opposing school, and he was colored as well. So it was a big to-do. And one night she snuck out to go see him, and he got caught, and he got beaten up by some of her family members. And so he ended up dying from the beating. And she was just so overwhelmed with grief, and she was in the basement of the theater, which back then I don’t remember what it was, at one point it was a bowling alley… but yeah, she went down to the basement and took her own life. And so she has continued to haunt Salinas High for the rest of eternity.”

CB: “Why do you think that the upperclassmen would tell the underclassmen the story?”

AH: “I used to think that the upperclassmen told them to try and scare them and as a kind of hazing sort of thing. It wasn’t until my sophomore year that I actually thought gertrude might be real.”

CB: “Well why do you think it’s important to share the story still?”

AH: “As a warning for one, because some scary shit goes on. Like some really unexplainable stuff has happened. And so we explain it with Gertrude, you know, it’s kinda our way of reasoning. And I think that it also passes down a certain tradition to kinda keep a connection between older and younger generations.”

CB: “And what does Gertrude mean to you?”

AH: “Gertrude will forever hold a place in my heart as my first theater ghost. She probably scared the shit out of me more than any other theater ghost I’ve ever encountered.”

Background:

My informant has spent many years actively involved in theater programs, and attended a high school with a very active program. There are tons of stories of theater ghosts, and the tradition can be seen going back to ancient times. Every theater has a different ghost, with a different personality. The story and moral associated with the ghost changes depending on the theater in order to represent the values associated with the theater.

Context:

My informant called me with stories prepared after hearing that I had been interviewing other members of our family for folklore. We had a fun and casual conversation, exchanging versions of stories that we had heard growing up.

Thoughts:

Growing up in Salinas, my informant was in a very diverse community with staggering differences in socioeconomic status. This led to a lot of racial tension. It makes sense that their ghost’s story would portray this tension, however it’s interesting that it is portrayed as tragic. By doing this, this specific theater makes it clear what sort of attitudes are and are not tolerable within their community. My informant cites that the older members of the community told the new members as a warning against the actions of the ghost, but I believe that it was also told as a code of conduct. The older members used the story as a way to acknowledge that bigoted sentiments are common in the larger community, but to remind the new member that they are not tolerable in their theater’s community. My informant also cited the ghost as a means to explain unexplained incidents. She claims the ghost is memorable because of these incidents and her belief in it. In this way, by first explaining the code of conduct, and then by introducing the new members to a shared belief, the story telling acts as an initiation ritual. Once the new member accepts the code of conduct and respects the beliefs, they are a member of the community.