Haunted Halls of the Holidays 🎄

🍦 NEO’s best ice cream shops? Gimme. 👇
🩰 My favorite local place to see The Nutcracker
🏛️ Mind-blowingly beautiful (and haunted) Ohio theaters 😍

Every December, thousands of Northeast Ohioans bundle up, fight for parking, and step into these old, glittering theaters for the exact same reason: holiday magic.

The velvet curtains. The chandeliers. The starry ceilings that look like they’ve seen a hundred opening nights. And somewhere between the Tchaikovsky swell and the first snowfall on stage, it’s very easy to believe you’re not alone in the audience. 😉

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This week, we’re taking a quick (but-not-too-spooky) ghost tour through five historic NEO theaters that do double duty in December: they’re home to The Nutcracker and other holiday shows, and they come with decades of whispered ghost stories, late-night tours, and “I swear I saw something” moments.

For the record:

Now add in a few friendly ghosts and…chef’s kiss. 🤌

If you want maximum “holiday magic meets haunted palace,” this is it. The Akron Civic Theatre is one of only a handful of surviving “atmospheric” theaters in the U.S., designed to feel like you’re sitting in a Moorish garden under a twilight sky. Twinkling “stars” and drifting clouds move across the domed blue ceiling while the show happens underneath. 😍

Underneath all that charm is a spookier, but fairly friendly layer: the Civic is widely believed to be haunted by three main spirits. Local lore says there’s Fred the janitor, a longtime custodian who died on the job and is still very protective of “his” building; a well-dressed man who appears in the balcony; and a young woman sometimes seen weeping along the old canal that runs under and behind the theater.

If you go see The Nutcracker there this year you can expect to see plenty of kids staring up at the stars on the ceiling… and perhaps a handful of adults wondering who’s sitting a few rows behind them in an otherwise empty section.

If you’re heading to Canton Ballet’s The Nutcracker this year, you’ll be at the Canton Palace Theatre, which is already extra magical on its own. Built in 1926 and designed as another “atmospheric” theater by architect John Eberson, the Palace was created to feel like a Spanish garden at night, with a painted sky and twinkling “stars” overhead.

The December production here is a whole event: Canton Ballet brings a huge cast to the stage, and the Canton Symphony Orchestra plays Tchaikovsky’s score live at every performance, which means the music is literally rumbling under your seat while snow falls on stage. (You might see me there since my friend Bernie is a featured dancer in Canton Nutcracker every year!) 😉

On the spooky side, the Palace leans right into its reputation. They’ve hosted “Spirits of the Palace” ghost investigation tours with local paranormal group Team S.P.E.C.T.R.E., inviting guests to bring cameras and ghost-hunting gear to explore the building after hours.

Legend has it there’s a young woman’s spirit from decades past who still wanders the theatre. Whether she’s benevolent or just curious remains part of the intrigue - but in this season of music and lights, she feels less like a mystery and more like part of the house’s holiday charm.

Cleveland’s Playhouse Square is one of the largest performing arts centers in the country, but inside that big complex, the Connor Palace is the one that shows up on ghost tours. Built in 1922 as a movie palace, it’s now a home base for touring Broadway shows, big concerts - and more than a few spooky stories.

Local ghost tours specifically call out Connor Palace as a stop where “the spirits of performers and patrons still linger,” and guides share tales of shadowy figures seen near the balconies and inexplicable cold spots in certain rows.

During the holidays, this is where a lot of people will see touring productions, seasonal concerts, and big sparkly “make it a downtown night” shows. It’s all sequins and selfies on Euclid… with just a hint of “who’s walking that hallway behind you after the doors close?”

If you like your ghost stories with receipts, head to the Lorain Palace Theatre. This 1928 movie palace leans hard into its haunted reputation - enough that there’s an entire documentary called “Ghosts of the Palace” focused on the evidence paranormal investigators say they captured inside.

According to local reports and investigators, staff and projectionists have experienced moving objects in the booth, phantom pipe-tobacco smells, and disembodied voices when no one else was around. One recent write-up talks about a “vanishing projectionist” - as if someone’s still up there, keeping an eye on the reels long after film gave way to digital.

In downtown Youngstown, the DeYor Performing Arts Center / Powers Auditorium, the former Warner Theatre - gives you big golden-age-movie-palace energy. The building originally opened in 1931 as a lavish Warner Brothers theater and now hosts the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra and touring performances, including holiday pops and seasonal shows.

It also has a reputation as one of the more haunted spots in the city. Paranormal groups have investigated the complex, and a recent ghost hunt documented stories of apparitions on the staircase to the balcony, unexplained footsteps, and odd sounds in otherwise empty spaces.

So when you’re sitting in Powers listening to a soaring holiday concert - maybe even a suite from The Nutcracker - it’s not hard to imagine the “ghostlight” burning late at night, keeping a quiet peace with whoever’s still hanging around backstage.

Here’s a list of the top twelve old Ohio theaters locals say are haunted:

Much Love,

P.S. Want to keep the “cozy night out” going? Here’s a guide to Northeast Ohio’s best ice-cream and frozen-custard shops, perfect for a big family pre-or-post-show indulgence. 🍧🍦

P.P.S. If you’re more of a savory-over-sweet person, this local list from National Taco Day hits all of Cleveland’s best taco spots. 🌮

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