A ghost light is a single bulb left burning whenever a theatre is dark. Some legends state that its function is to chase away mischievous spirits who once worked within the theatre’s walls. Others insist it lights the way for the ghosts who are said to still inhabit the theatre, thus appeasing them and preventing them from cursing or sabotaging a production.
It is considered back luck to let a ghost light burn out. But at North Country Center for the Arts Jean’s Playhouse in Lincoln, a brand new haunted experience will invite you to see what happens when the ghost light goes out and dark takes over.
“It’s an all encompassing event,” says creator and Producing Artistic Director, Joel Mercier. “It’s taking over our whole building and we’ve been working on it for almost an entire year.”
The Playhouse will indeed be transformed into the dilapidated old “Papermill Theatre,” named after the real venue that housed the North Country Center for the Arts before they built Jean’s Playhouse. However, in this version of the Papermill, the once vibrant vaudeville house is now fraught with ghosts and spirits who harbor wicked secrets of what happened in the old theatre, and the land and area on which it sits.
When asked to describe the event, Mercier explains, “It’s like a haunted house meets a piece of interactive theatre. It’s the best of both worlds. We wanted to provide the jump scares and walk-through style that people are used to when they visit a haunted house, however, as a theatre, we also wanted to tell a story and make sure there was a journey. Unlike traditional haunts, where rooms are themed, but there’s no connection between one room and the next, our haunt has a story that flows through the entire tour, room to room. You are on a tour of the condemned and decrepit Papermill Theatre and, as we all know, theatres can be a really creepy place when the lights go out.”
Each haunted tour accommodates twelve guests and runs approximately forty minutes. Tours start every twenty minutes, but with such limited openings, it is recommended guests purchase tickets ahead of time.
The haunt runs for two weekends on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, 7 to 11 p.m., October 21 to 30. On Sundays, from 1 to 4 p.m., there is a “Daytime Light Fright” version of the event suitable for those a little more faint of heart. While still a spooky environment, there are no jump scares, and the sound and lighting has been adjusted.
For more information, visit nhghostlight.com or jeansplayhouse.com.