Nearly anyone who has been a performing artist, having spent time upon the stage, will claim to have had or at least to have heard of an encounter with the supernatural, or at minimum the very weird. The performing arts, and theatre in particular, seem to be a breeding ground for a unique form of modern folklore. It seems in any theatre or performance hall, no matter how young or old, one can find stories of resident ghosts that haunt the place. Often these stories can be quite formulaic in nature, and yet every theatre seems to add a little distinctiveness to its brand of the paranormal.
Stories can be both humorous and horrific, and are sometimes both.
While in the world of the actor, musician, and techie, a world largely closed to audience when the curtain is shut, these stories are common conversation, they are neither well documented nor well understood outside their element. I have therefore captured several stories from three theatres of Enid, Oklahoma, a community with a surprisingly rich heritage in the performing arts, and will examine these stories relationships with the places and times in which they take place. All three of these structures are well over half a century old, and their histories are each quite unique. The Knox Building is by its very nature a powerful incubator for stories of the supernatural. It s history must be comprehended before the stories that take place there can be fully understood.