The Lincoln Theater Ghost

Name:            Cadie Martin
Email:           CrzyNLuv2@hotmail.com
Location:        Decatur, Illinois
Type:            Ghost
Date:            Saturday, April 15, 2000
Time:            07:02 PM

On March 25, 2000, my boyfriend and I went to the old Lincoln Theatre to see the last Thalia production ever to be put on. A friend of mine was a part of it, so I was excited to go and see it.

The theatre is rumored to be haunted. It's supposedly haunted by an old stage hand that fell to his death from the catwalk, vowing to return to his beloved theatre. I believe the story now, and I did before I ever set foot inside of the theatre.

The theatre was built on the site of an old hotel that burned down, killing 7 people. I'm still not sure what it was that was in there, but this is my story.

When we walked into the theatre I was kind of excited to maybe have an encounter with a ghost. We walked through the doors into the newer part that held the concession stand. My boyfriend and I were fine until we crossed over the line between the tile and the carpet.

I got a little dizzy, and it worsened as we went inside the auditorium. The play hadn't yet started, so we sat down in the back. I felt completely weak. I felt like I had been drained of energy, like I had ran for 3 days without eating.

My boyfriend is able to tell if there is some kind of ghost or spirit in a place, and he could sense one. He was unable to figure out where it was until the play was almost over.

At intermission, I had to have him hold me up as we walked outside. I couldn't breathe and was barely able to walk. I had to get outside. Once I left the building and breathed in fresh air, I felt much better. We had to go back inside though, to see the rest of the play.

We walked back inside, and once again, I was fine until we stepped inside of the oldest part of the theatre. My legs went weak and he had to help me to our seats. The entire rest of the play I had trouble breathing and I kept blacking out. I had no energy, and I kept getting bad vibes.

Towards the end of the play, there were loud noises to represent gun shots. As they went off I felt as though someone were pushing down on me, choking me. After the play ended, we got out of there as fast as we could.

I talked to my friend, and she owned the cat that was in the play. She told me that the cat was extremely agitated the entire time they were there rehearsing. But she was fine after they left. I told her that it was probably because of the ghost... the one that I had continually felt throughout that night.

My boyfriend and I talked about it later, and decided that it was draining me of my energy so that it could live (no pun intended). I asked him why I was the only one that experienced it. Ghosts feed on weak souls. I was the weakest there, so I was drained. It took a few days before I got my energy back, and I will never again set foot inside of that theatre.