Bogus Haunting: This is a classic example of how Ghost Stories spread in the internet age. Some of the elements of the story are true, two girls were murdered and their friend, a janitor at the theater, did vanish. However the three were abducted from a nearby parking lot. Continue reading for the real story after the jump.
The Ghost Story
Several years ago two girls were murdered in the theatre which used to be a church. Also that night the janitor disappeared and they still can't find him to this day. At night you can see the youngest girl climb up the stairs. She will also play tricks on you. There is also a phantasm there of a woman who was left at the altar when it was a church. You can see her roam through the seats crying. Also one of the old directors who passed away will sometimes come in late at night and sit down to watch a play. Strange feeling can be felt all around. There are, at any given time, no less than 70 spirits in the theatre. There's a trap door in the light booth that goes up to the rafters that has opened on its own. Lights turn on and off on their own. The chandelier spins in one direction for ten minutes, stops for five, and starts spinning is the same direction. Visitors lit candles on stage. Some blew out on their own. The ones that didn't blow out didn't burn when you put your hand in the flame. There was wailing that started from stage right and moved inhumanly fast to stage left. Floorboards move inexplicably. All the spirits there are harmless, of course, but it's still an exhilerating experience.
The Real Story
Kris Nelson and her half sister Brandy were not murdered in this building. The two girls lived on Sixth Avenue. They walked down the hill behind Lewiston Civic Theater to a set of stairs that once led down to Safeway supermarket on Idaho Street. Their friend, Steve, was indeed the janitor of the theater. He was sitting on the back steps, smoking - evidence proves this - while his clothes were being washed in the theater laundry facilities. The three ventured down the hill together. There is evidence they did finish shopping, a shopping basket with identifications were found later. They were abducted from the parking lot. The girl's bodies were found a year later along the Kendrick road by a teen-ager whose hat blew over the hill. Steve has never been found.
There are not 70 spirits involved in lighting candles nor twirling the chandelier. The only old director who has been involved in the theater is very much alive and would be apoplectic if you referred to him as dead. He does indeed visit all of the shows but he certainly makes his presence known. There is no trap door into the attic which serves as our light central - there is a pull down stairway that does not move of its own accord. Of course there are groaning boards and noises because the building is one hundred years old. You refer to harmless spirits but your article is anything but without harm. I direct children's studio workshops in the summer and my students have come to me with the terrified questions of how to deal with the ghosts that do not exist. Please correct your record.
Jacqulyn Haight
Director, Past President of the Board of Directors and member of Lewiston Civic Theater for more than 35 years.
