A Guide to Haunted Theaters in Hollywood, California

Hollywood is the home to the movie industry, and over the years a number of the theaters in town have become haunted.

One of the most haunted theaters in the Hollywood area is Mann's Chinese Theater, still known to some as Graumann's Chinese Theater. This theater first appeared in 1927 and was an instant success. Today many people know the building as the place where celebrities leave their hand and footprints in the cement, but this tradition was actually born of accident. Actress Normal Talmadge accidentally stepped in wet cement one night when leaving the theater and a tradition was born.

Mann's Chinese Theater is also the site of two ghosts. One is a small girl named Annabelle that has been spotted by employees. The girl is usually seen playing backstage. The other ghost is that of actor Victor Kilian. The man went home with another man he met at the bar and was killed that same night. Now many people claim to see the ghost of the man walking from the theater to his former apartment.

There is also the haunted Pantages Theater, built in 1949 by Howard Hughes. Hughes used an office in the building for his own personal business, but eventually he sold off the building along with quite a lot of his other possessions.

After the building was rehabbed in the 1960s, people began noticing some strange things and they blamed those things on Hughes. Some have felt like someone was watching them when no one was there, while others have experienced cold spots. There are also strange noises heard fairly often and many of those noises come from the office Hughes once used. Employees working in the building have occasionally seen the ghost of Howard Hughes themselves, and others have smelled the cigars he often smoked in his office.

The Pantages Theater is also home to the ghost of a woman who died there during the 1930s while watching a movie. People sometimes hear the sounds of a woman singing in the auditorium, despite the fact that no one is there.

Another haunted theater in Hollywood is the Warner Pacific. This theater is supposedly haunted by one of the founders of the modern film industry: Sam Warner. Sam was one of a group of brothers who formed Warner Brothers and created the first movie with sound, The Jazz Singer. Sam worked at the theater to get the Warner Pacific up and running and ready to show a movie with sound.

The Warner Pacific grew to be enormously possible, but poor Sam wasn't able to see his success; he died not long before The Jazz Singer premiered. A few months later the theater was dedicated to Sam and people claim that he's haunted the building ever since.

There have been numerous stories from people who claimed to see the ghost of Sam walking around the lobby and offices at the Warner Pacific. Others have seen a man walking into the elevator and actually taking it to an upper floor. There are also strange noises heard from the office area, like someone is walking around and doing work.

These three Hollywood theaters are often cited as the most haunted places in all of Hollywood. If you get the chance to venture inside, don't be surprised at what you might find.

Sources:

http://www.prairieghosts.com/hollywood12.htmlhttp://cinematreasures.org