More at the Lincoln Square Theatre

The Lincoln Square Theatre fails to disappoint. I usually don’t leave without having some kind of experience. And the nice thing about the Lincoln is that the spirits are fun and playful. If you get scared, it’s all on your part, not on the part of the friendly ghosts.

Our Ouija “message”

My first experience with the Lincoln’s ghosts came on an overnight my husband and I did; I believe it was the first one. There were two girls on stage with a Ouija board, and they were frustrated because they weren’t getting anything to happen with it. This was almost at the end of a long night and many of those attending the overnight had left.

So I asked them if they minded if I gave it a try. I happen to be very good with Ouija boards. So I put my fingers on the planchette and my husband did the same. The planchette is the thing that slides across the board and stops at letters or numbers to give you your “message.” Right away, the thing took off and zipped over to “goodbye” on the board and stopped. I tried asking a question, and once more, it took off, zipped around the board and stopped at “goodbye.”

I tried a few more times to ask questions, and each time, the little wooden piece would go zipping off and then stop on “goodbye.” Each time, it seemed to get faster and more erratic, almost as if it were getting irritated with me for not getting the message. After all, what part of “goodbye” were we not understanding?

So we took our fingers off and I told the girls that I thought the spirits were tired of playing with the ghost hunters for the night and were telling us to go home.

Phantom footsteps

At another one of the overnights, once many people had left and there were only a handful remaining, I settled in a seat on the main floor in the center section just off the aisle. People report seeing something up on the Mezzanine from the main floor and I figured I’d stake it out with my camera and see what I could see.

I set my camera bag, all my stuff and my flashlight in the aisle next to me, acutely aware that if anyone came up the aisle, they’d likely trip over my stuff in the dark. At that time, I always carried my big Maglite flashlight with me; I have a much smaller one now. But it would make an easy thing to trip over for anyone walking up the aisle. So I settled in, with an ear toward the door from the stage behind me, just in case, ready to pull my stuff out of the aisle.

Sure enough, about 15 minutes or so later, I heard footsteps coming up the aisle behind me. I quickly moved and reached down to pull my stuff out of the aisle. As I did, I turned my head to apologize to the person who was coming up the aisle. You guessed it: No one was there.
I looked around. There was no one anywhere on the main floor except me.

How do I know it wasn’t my imagination? I can only say that it’s because of my reaction. I immediately went to move my things, convinced without giving it a thought that it was someone coming up the aisle behind me.

So, for a while after that, I kept my back turned and my ears perked behind me, hoping I’d have it happen again. Not a chance. My phantom visitor was gone.

Date night

One really fun spot on the main floor of the Lincoln still defies any explanation for me.

Anyone who watches the paranormal “ghost hunting” shows knows what an EMF meter is. It measures electromagnetic energy in the air. It’s thought that ghosts, of course, are energy and any time they are present, it will disrupt that electrical energy in the air. Of course, other things will set off these meters, such as lights, appliances, anything electrical, including cell phones.

Well, on one of my trips to the Lincoln, I was roaming the main floor of the theater and using my meter to check readings. I found two chairs, just off one of the aisles that registered off the chart on my meter from the bottom of the seat to about where a sitting person’s head would be. Just those two chairs. If I went higher than head level, I lost the reading. If I went back to another seat or farther into the aisle, I lost the reading. It was completely gone.

Yes, there are lights on the floor and on some of the chairs to guide theater patrons to and from seats, but I checked those out and they didn’t have anything to do with it. I got nothing registering from the floor lights, and there were no chair lights on this aisle.

I pulled out my camera to get a shot of the meter going off, and the reading was gone. My meter was at zero, where just a second before, it had been going nuts. The chair next to it was gone as well. Nothing. I waited a few minutes, but it didn't come back.

The rest of the night, I randomly checked out the seats. Most of the night, it wasn’t there, but every now and again, I’d catch it back in the seats. But, as soon as I pulled out my camera or set the meter down, it was gone again.

I mentioned it to someone at the theater, and he jokingly said it was probably some ghost couple enjoying “Star Wars” for the umpteenth time. I kind of liked that. It appealed to the romantic in me.

So, every time since, I check in with my ghost couple in the seats. Still haven’t found any rhyme or reason for the readings, but sometimes they’re there and sometimes not. A few times, it’s only been in one chair, but mostly it’s in both.

Finally, on one of my trips, I was able to get a picture of the meter going off, sitting on the chair, but it was definitely on it’s way down the scale from the high-point reading. Maybe it was hoping that if it let me take the photo, I’d quit bugging it and leave whoever it was alone to enjoy the show.

I still check in at those seats. I’ve sat in them a few times and never felt anything strange. It’s kind of fun. I’d tell you where the seats are, but if you ever get to the Lincoln, check it out for yourself. It’s more fun if you find them on your own.

Still more stories to come …

"Stage Stomper"

The Lincoln Theatre in Decatur is a jewel. It is a jewel for lovers of history and for actors and musicians - the acoustics in the old girl are perfection. It’s also a jewel for ghost lovers.

On Oct. 22, the Lincoln is going to be the site of a benefit for St. Jude’s called Spookapalooza. You can find information on Facebook. It will be a night of partying, costumes, music and fun - all for a good cause. And I’m sure the spirits of the Lincoln will be there, enjoying every minute of it. So, in celebration of the Lincoln and Spookapalooza, I’m going to share some of my stories and personal experiences in the Lincoln.

The Lincoln Theatre opened in October of 1916, and will be celebrating its 95th birthday. It was built on the former grounds of the Arcade Hotel, which burned down in 1915, and took an unknown number of lives. The Lincoln's stage hosted many major vaudeville acts during its heyday, including Bob Hope, Harry Houdini, Jeanette MacDonald, Chico Marx and many, many more. It later was left dark and vacant for years. It has since undergone a renovation process that has restored some of her luster, but much more is needed.

The first time I spent the evening in the Lincoln Theatre, it was a Halloween overnight with a group hosted by Troy Taylor. This was before the renovations had taken place. I remember walking on the original stage, being in awe because Houdini had been there before me and, as a memento of his appearance, a trapdoor that was built for him remained in the stage and visible, especially from below in the basement/dressing room area. Now, the stage is still there, but has been covered over and the trapdoor is no longer visible in the basement because of a ceiling being added and the dressing rooms renovated.

Anyway … as I mentioned, the acoustics in the Lincoln are amazing. Noises on the stage can be heard all the way into the upper balcony. It was perfect for the days when they didn’t have modern amplification systems and such, but not so perfect for modern-day ghost hunters wanting to keep noise to a minimum.

So my first stories will be about noise.

My husband and I, on our first overnight into the Lincoln, had been assigned a group. We were one of four groups, each rotating into a different part of the theater: The basement/dressing rooms, the stage, the main floor and mezzanine, and the upper balcony.

When we were in the upper balcony, I was finding it hard to stay awake. At this time, I hadn’t taken a camera into the theater and very few people brought sophisticated “ghost equipment” as happens now. Most people were there for the experience. It was so quiet up in the upper balcony and we tried not to move around a whole lot to cut down on the noise.

My husband and I were sitting in different places in the balcony, and he said to me after we left that he was really ticked off because someone was inconsiderate enough to be stomping around on stage. It really annoyed him. I didn’t remember any stomping around. He was amazed, because he said it sounded like someone in heavy-soled boots just stomping down, not even attempting to be quiet. I told him again that I didn’t hear it and, in fact, had been bored to tears and nearly falling asleep.

Well, my husband shared his annoyance with the “stage stomper” later with the group. None of them claimed to have heard it, either.

On another overnight, much later, I was sitting on the Mezzanine level in the back row and I was hearing an orchestra tune up. Every time I thought it was my imagination and dismissed it from my mind, it would float through the air to me again. This went on for about a half-hour. There were a few people on the Mezzanine with me and I asked if anyone else was hearing music and they all gave me a “no” for an answer.

I have a very active imagination, I will grant you that. However, I hadn’t been thinking about an orchestra to have conjured one up in my mind. And, the thing it reminded me of? Anyone who has been to Disney World and visited The Muppets in 3D knows what I’m talking about: The penguin orchestra tunes up its instruments before the beginning of the show. It reminded me eerily of that.

Unfortunately, my little “tune-up” performance didn’t appear on my digital recorder. It was obviously for my ears only.

Which brings me to tell those of you who don’t run around with other paranormal investigators that sounds are interesting things. There may be more than one recording device in a room - maybe several - and a particular voice or sound may be picked up on one, several, all or none. I’ve met people who’ve heard the sounds of a battle on one of the battlefields of Gettysburg, only to not have it picked up on a recorder or video recorder. Voices will show up on recorders that aren’t heard at the time and vice versa.

What was heard? Why was it heard by one person and not another? How could it be picked up by one device and not others in the same room? Why would people hear it, but it not show up on audio recorders or audio tracks with video? You’re beginning to get the idea of what keeps us paranormal investigators coming back for more.

More stories of the Lincoln Theatre will be coming. In the meantime, if you’d like to explore the history of the Lincoln Theatre, and Decatur’s other grande dame theater in Decatur, The Avon, I urge you to pick up Troy Taylor’s book “Flickering Images: History & Hauntings of the Avon Theater.” For some fun haunted theater stories from around the country, look up Tom Ogden’s book “Haunted Theaters.” Ogden’s book doesn’t go in-depth into the history of the theaters, just covers the basic stories. Taylor’s books are fun because he’s done the research - for better or worse in regard to legends and stories - and you get a more complete picture of the locations.

Enjoy!

Paranormal poll

Quick blog posting; quick topic.

It’s interesting to talk to the people around you and realize that some of the people you’d least expect either have had paranormal experiences or believe in ghosts or the paranormal or both.

The following item comes from Men’s Health magazine, via the Bump in the Night newsletter from prolific ghost author Troy Taylor. Reading it reminded me of a guy I know who is big, burly, gruff, tough and absolutely the LAST person you’d expect to believe in ghosts. But he does. He had an experience that convinced him. We all expect women to be believers in the paranormal, but it’s kind of surprising out of the guys.

So, here you go, from Men’s Health:

* 2 out of 3 men believe that have souls that will outlive their bodies
* 1 out of 3 believe some of those free-floating souls come back to haunt us
* 41 percent of men believe that its possible to communicate with the dead
* 7 percent say they have tried it by using a Ouija Board
* 25 percent seek out spooky thrills, like ghost tours, while on vacation
* 2 out of 3 believe that places can be haunted
* 1 out of 3 say they know this from firsthand experience

If you are interested in the newsletter or just want to check it out, go to: www.prairieghosts.com/ and sign up. There’s also a wealth of information on ghost tours, haunted overnights, haunted places, books, etc. on this website belonging to Troy Taylor and the American Ghost Society, of which I’m a proud member! I know, shameless plug. What can I say?

Special anniversary

I was going to write about Lebanon, Illinois, and my trip this weekend to that wonderful city and the great time I had on the ghost tour, but that’s going to wait. I want to share what I believe to be a special experience that happened today.

I really do believe my father-in-law called to wish my husband and I a happy 30th anniversary. Why is this experience so special? He’s been dead for more than 30 years. I’ve written before about how I believe he’s stopped in every now and again to visit us, usually when something good or big is happening in our lives.

Flashback: When my niece was confirmed in the Lutheran Church, my mother-in-law and I were sitting in her living room and my hubby was in the kitchen of her home. He couldn’t see us, so he didn’t see this happen. My mother-in-law said she wished my hubby’s dad could be there to see his granddaughter confirmed. Just then the lamp sitting on the table flickered twice. The lamp was one that turned on and off with a tap (a touch lamp). It flicked off and on, very quickly, twice.

My mother-in-law and I looked at each other. We didn’t say anything, but we looked at each other. I told my hubby about it later.

I honestly thought at the time that it was him saying, “Hey, I’m here!” It was his way of letting us know that he wouldn’t miss such as big event in his granddaughter‘s life. For the record, I’d never seen that lamp do that before, and I haven’t seen it do it since. It stuck in my mind because I thought it was very cool.

Flash Forward. Today (Oct. 3) was my husband and my 30th anniversary. I had been at work for a while and my hubby was at home. All of a sudden, my cell phone rang. I pulled it out of my purse and looked at the display. It was my hubby’s cell phone calling, and I was kind of surprised because I couldn’t figure out what he wanted, since he’d left not too long before.

I opened the phone to answer it (no, I don’t have a smart phone, but my hubby does). At first, I didn’t hear anyone on the other end, but I answered it. There was no answer to my “hello.” I looked down and saw that the connection was there, and said “hello” again. This time, my hubby’s voice came over the line.

He’d been holding his phone, but he hadn’t called me. He heard my voice coming over the phone and answered, but he hadn’t “dialed” it. His phone called me. He said “I swear, I didn’t call you, my phone did.”

I started laughing and said, “Your dad called.”

It’s a smart phone. It operates with a touch. Kinda like the lamp?

I know there’s plenty of people out there who are going to pooh-pooh what happened, and while I will acknowledge there are possible natural explanations for it, I believe it was him, getting us on the line as a way of saying “happy anniversary” to both of us. And I know he’s smiling down at us and laughing at how clever he was, using our technology to call on our anniversary. I won’t be the least bit surprised if it never happens again.

Sometime, someday, we’re going to meet again, on the other side, whatever the “other side” is, and he’s going to look at me and say, “You got it!!”

Remember, it’s the little things. A special happy anniversary.

Thanks, Bub. I got it.