Theater Phantoms.

Ghosts of Broadway: Haunted Theaters of New York

Broadway's theaters are among the most haunted buildings in New York City, which makes sense when you consider that many of them are over a century old and have hosted thousands of performers, stagehands, and audiences — some of whom, according to theater lore, never left. The Belasco Theatre on West 44th Street is considered the most haunted theater on Broadway. David Belasco, the producer who built the theater in 1907, reportedly appears as a ghostly figure in the balcony during performances. He was known for wearing a clerical collar (he called himself "the Bishop of Broadway"), and staff and actors have reported seeing a man in a dark coat with a white collar sitting in the same balcony seat.

The New Amsterdam Theatre on 42nd Street — now home to Disney's Aladdin — is reportedly haunted by Olive Thomas, a Ziegfeld Follies performer who died in Paris in 1920 under mysterious circumstances (she drank mercury bichloride, either intentionally or by mistake). Stagehands have reported seeing a woman in a green gown carrying a blue bottle on the theater's upper floors. The Palace Theatre, the most prestigious vaudeville house in America when it opened in 1913, has reports of the ghost of acrobat Louis Borsalino, who died during a performance. The tradition of leaving a "ghost light" — a single bare bulb on a stand — on every Broadway stage after the audience leaves is officially a safety measure, but many theater workers maintain it's there to appease the spirits.

StoryHunt's Broadway ghost walk sends you past the most haunted theaters in the district with paranormal case files delivered to your phone. You'll investigate each theater's history, decode the real events behind the reported hauntings, and explore the alleyways and stage doors where sightings have been reported. A two-to-three-hour walk through the theater district that reveals the history behind the ghost light.