Haunted Rock Venues: The Stories of 21 Creepy Clubs and Arenas
From sweaty night clubs to massive, regal theaters, every music venue has an official sitting-standing capacity. But if you believe the legends, some have paranormal visitors not reflected in the stats.
You may dismiss these claims outright, even without investigating yourself. (And it's worth noting that many venues offer that exact activity.) But even for the skeptics out there, the below examples make pretty compelling — or, at the very least, intriguingly creepy — cases.
One inevitable pattern: The older the building, the more extravagant the claims. Just look at London's Royal Albert Hall, an iconic space for live music since opening in 1871. There are so many haunting stories that their official site includes a detailed blog post about the most startling of the bunch — including a famous seance held to contact the late British writer and doctor Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, later home to the country stage show Grande Ole Opry, has racked up numerous spirit stories since the original venue launched in 1892. (There's even a supposed "Opry Curse," which argued that dozens of people connected to the program faced an untimely demise.)
But there are no hard and fast rules with the supernatural. Other buildings on this list are more recent in construction. Some spaces are indoor, some outdoor. Some large, some intimate. And the ghosts seem to be fine with all genres. Below we explore the real stories and urban legends behind 11 of the most noteworthy "haunted" venues.