We wish you a scary Halloween!

You are here: Real Ghost Stories :: Haunted Places :: Ghost In An Old Cinema

Real Ghost Stories

Ghost In An Old Cinema

 

The location of this experience is the same as a previous one I posted called "An Edinburgh Pub Haunting" though not directly related as it occurred in a different part of the premises.

Bit of background first. The pub was opened in a building that used to be a snooker hall and before that a cinema. The owners of the pub own the whole building but only use the ground floor level as a bar, with the cellar in the basement. The upstairs is just used as a place to throw loads of old crap that there is nowhere else for, old signage, old unused furniture, Christmas decorations etc.

More importantly for this story is that upstairs the seats of the old cinema are still there in situ, just as they were when the cinema was operational.

Back in the days in Scotland when it used to be legal for the staff to stay back after closing time for a couple of drinks, we would occasionally go exploring upstairs to see what we could find and also to show new staff the place. I began to notice that there was always one seat folded down in the sitting position and was clean (everything up there was covered in dust). A different seat each time. Once I went to return it to its up position, and found it difficult to do because they had become stiff over time and difficult to move. I always just presumed that a different member of staff had done this, and I didn't take much notice.

As time went on I became manager of the bar and therefore a key holder. One time I discovered that I was the closing manager one night and was opening again the following morning. I saw my opportunity and before I left that night, I went upstairs and made sure that every single seat was in its up position before I locked the door to upstairs, set the alarm and locked the building for the night.

Next morning I was first in, so opened the building, unset the alarm and went straight upstairs to see. Had a look around and low and behold I noticed one seat in the sitting position and clean of dust. I put it back in its up position and again found it very difficult to move. It required a lot of force to move it up or down.

There are no windows in that part of the building (as it was a cinema) and there is no draft blowing through from anywhere. The air there is very still. There are no animals up there either apart from a few mice who I'd say would have a lot of trouble moving them seats. The only way in and out of upstairs is the way I came, so there couldn't have been squatters etc. There without setting off the alarm.

Thanks for reading

John

Hauntings with similar titles

Find ghost hunters and paranormal investigators from United Kingdom

Comments about this paranormal experience

The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, johntravis28, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

johntravis28 (guest)
 
13 years ago (2011-06-28)
Darkfantum - yeah that would hve been an idea, however unfortunately I don't work there anymore so can't test the theory. I wish I had thought of it though

DA - Yeah it could have been anyone really. Allegedly some ghosts return to areas which brought them happiness... I know I love going to the movies, so could be a movie buff of old. Yeah the seats are still there. They will more than likely be there for a long time to come. There is no plans to do anything with that area

Javelina - Yeah talcum powder would have been good too. I wish now I had found this site when I was still there so I could put everybody's good ideas into action

Darkness - Glad you liked my experience. Nothing else that I am aware of happened up there. There was numerous incidents in the other parts of the building though. I have heard countless tales, but as I say in my profile I am always skeptical of incidents unless I experience it myself
DARKNESS (3 stories) (2022 posts)
 
13 years ago (2011-06-23)
johntravis28: Have been enjoying your stories mate, well done. Would be very interesting to find out more about this old cinema, there are many possibilities as to who and why this had been occuring, I bet even until this day it is still happening. Did anything other then the chairs being moved up and down happen up there at all? In a way it kind of seems residual although you mentioned differant chairs would be moved! Hmmm! Great story! 😊

Thanks for sharing.

Dan
Javelina (4 stories) (3749 posts)
 
13 years ago (2011-06-22)
johntravis28,
Great story! I love the haunted workplace stories (been there myself).
Too bad you're not still employed there. Even if you don't have a camera, just putting down some talcum powder could have helped eliminate the possibility of human traffic. And once you eliminate that...

Jav
DeviousAngel (11 stories) (1910 posts)
+1
13 years ago (2011-06-22)
Excellent story, johntravis! Spooky but at the same time, not downright scary. Maybe it was the owner of the cinema that still hangs out in that seat. Maybe it was someone who went to meet a friend there and never made it. The possibilities are endless...regardless, I enjoyed your story and I wonder if they took the seats out yet?
darkfantum (44 posts)
 
13 years ago (2011-06-22)
it is realy weird that the seat just move when are all up maybe you should set a video camera and see what it shows
Yours truly
Darkfantum
johntravis28 (guest)
 
13 years ago (2011-06-22)
Hi guys. Thanks for your comments and I'm glad you enjoyed my experience.

-bacchaegrl - As far as I'm aware it was just a normal run of the mill bog standard cinema. Went out of business some years ago

-justcurious/luvparanormal - Happy you liked it. I'm presuming that whoever is there stayed because it is a place they found happiness in their life

-happyspirit/isandhu - DAMMIT! Why didn't I think of that! That would have been a great experiment. Unfortunately I don't work there anymore. I don't even live in Scotland anymore. Woulda been good though
HappySpirit (187 posts)
+1
13 years ago (2011-06-21)
Great story! I too would love to see what a video camera might show. Maybe the mysterious ghostly movie goer wouldn't mind staring in his own home cinema.
lsandhu (2 stories) (360 posts)
 
13 years ago (2011-06-21)
Would it be possible to set up a camera and see if you could record this?
JustCurious (2 stories) (434 posts)
+1
13 years ago (2011-06-21)
That was definatly an interesting read. Sounds like the spirit is still enjoying the cinema that is located there.

Peace
JustCurious
luvparanormal (12 stories) (268 posts)
 
13 years ago (2011-06-21)
I got chills! 😲 anyway loved the story! I wonder why who ever is doing that is still there. He must be tied to the cinema somehow.
Thanks for sharing!

Luv ❤
bacchaegrl (506 posts)
+1
13 years ago (2011-06-21)
How eerie! I like it! A nice, simple mysterious haunting. Good show. A lot of people will probably ask this, but do you know any of the history of the cinema part of the building? I mean specific history? It could be just a retired movie fan, waiting to see another show. I really liked your story!

To publish a comment or vote, you need to be logged in (use the login form at the top of the page). If you don't have an account, sign up, it's free!

Search this site: