char *(null)="
ucsb.ghost
ucsb.ghost
From: udahner@mcl.ucsb.edu (Name withheld upon request)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.ghost-stories
Subject: Re: theatre ghosts
Date: 11 Feb 1995 20:20:37 GMT
Okay: I was just in a show at the University of California, Santa Barbara,
which closed last Sunday (the show, not the university. :) I am allergic
to hairspray so I can't change in the dressing rooms in the basement of
the theater. Since the theater is located in the music building, I ran
up to a practice room on the second floor to change costumes and makeup.
(A practice room is a small room, usually with a piano, where musicians
and singers go to practice on campus). After Friday night's show, I was
talking to some friends who had come to see it and guess I took longer
than usual to change and take off my makeup, because by the time I had
brought my costumes back down to drop them off at the dressing rooms,
the theater was dark and locked and everyone had left. I was bummed
because I was standing there with my bike and an armful of costumes that
I couldn't very well take home with me on my bike. So I locked my bike
and began systematically trying doors all around the theater to see if
one was open and I could at last leave the costumes inside the theater
tucked away somewhere until the next day's performance. Every door I
tried was locked, though: stage entrance, main doors, shop room... so
in desperation I took the stairwell down to the basement. There are
professor's offices and more practice rooms in the basement, and at the
end of the corridor is a door, more often than not locked, which
leads to another corridor which goes to the dressing rooms. Surprisingly
this door was open. I was very relieved, because I figured this meant
that someone was still there and I would be able to lock up my costumes.
I went through and down the corridor to the dressing rooms, but as I
approached them I could see that all the doors were locked and most
of the lights were off. Out of desperation, I decided to go to the women's
dressing room door and try it anyway, because I had to leave the costumes
*somewhere*. As I moved down the corridor and turned to open the door,
I stopped dead in my tracks about 3 feet from the door; I felt an
unmistakeable sudden chill and the *hair* on the back of my neck *rose*,
which is a VERY bizzare sensation, for those of you who have never felt it.
I got the distinct feeling that there was someone standing behind me.
Moreover, I got the feeling that it was male and older, not the age of
someone in the cast or a student. But there are people working with th
show who *are* older, including orchestra members, so I figured it was one
of them. I turned -- and there was no one there. But I *felt* they were
still there, and watching me. I tried to shake off the feeling once I
didn't *see* anyone standing there; I called out "Who is that?", still hoping
that maybe it was someone who'd unlock the dressing room for me (!). When
no one responded (but I still felt weird), I decided to go try the *other*
entrance to the women's dressing room around the corner (not realizing I
still hadn't checked the door I was standing by). I took two steps down
the corridor and stopped again; the pit of my stomach had just fallen out,
like when you're in an elevator that drops too quickly. I got the abrupt
feeling that it would be a *VERY BAD* idea to go down that corridor, and
whatever I was feeling was watching me which had previously been pretty
neutral felt suddenly threatening. I got the impression of a very large...
*presence*... *looming* over me, and that I should *GET OUT NOW*. Did I?
YOU BETCHA!! I turned right around and headed back the way I'd come, trying
futilely to hum tunes from the show but breaking into a run before I even
made it to the door that led back to the professor's offices and practice
rooms. As soon as I'd made it through and rounded the corner, all the
feelings suddenly... vanished. Like they'd never even happened. Needless
to say, I was spooked -- badly. I rolled up the costumes in a huge ball
and somehow made it home with them on my bike. I told two other cast members
about it, but no one else, and I've never heard of anything like that
happening in that theater. I will never, ever go down to the basement by
myself ever again. Not for a bazillion dollars!!! (FWIW, I've been in
LOTS of performances in that theater and *have* been in the basement lots of
times by myself -- before. But I won't go ever again!). I felt like
whatever/whoever was down there had BUSINESS down there that I had unwittingly
intruded upon, and the consequences if I had stayed would've been...
very unpleasant. *Whew!* Boy did I have trouble sleeping for the next
couple of nights. I was so badly spooked that one of the other cast members
I had told came to check on me after the next show; I didn't like being
in the basement even with all the other people around, although I didn't
feel anything amiss ever again. Scary!!!
--
Dahner Brid "Deeds are better than words,
FDC Princess Leia And fulfillment is better than promises."
-- Eva Duarte de Peron
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