Folklore of Enid's Performing Past:

"Spirited" Stories Surrounding the Places and People of Enid's Oldest Theatres.

A Project for Mythology & Folklore, by Brady Henderson

Introduction to the Ghost Stories of Enid’s Theatres

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.

There are three theatres in Enid that are reputed to be haunted: the Knox Building, Enid High School’s Auditorium, and the Gaslight Theatre.  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.  The building itself was constructed in 1924 in Enid’s then very young downtown.  Of its six stories, the top two were built as a Masonic Temple, housing a large concert hall, banquet hall, and theatre, as well as ancillaries.  In the next two decades it became, for a time, one of the largest and most active Masonic Temples in the region.  Then, in 1946, the doors were abruptly closed for reasons still unknown even to Masonic historians of Oklahoma.  Between 1946 and 1981, no one was allowed onto the top two floors of the building, and despite many requests to buy or lease the outstanding facility, the owner refused to allow anything to take place there for nearly forty years.  Finally only three years ago, a renovation was undertaken that would transform the facility into Enid’s Symphony Center.  This new occupation of the building, as well as its new role as a cultural centerpiece of Enid, has helped to stimulate a new round of stories told by the building’s new tenants.

This mysterious past, from the nebulous activities of the Masons, to the seemingly bizarre closure of the top two floors by the building’s owner, Charlie Knox, has given rise to several tales with supernatural components.  The first of these that I have documented, “The Lights,” is perhaps the best known around the city of Enid.  It is different from other “theatre stories” in that its focus is somewhat outside the performing arts.  Though no artists are involved in it, it is quite typical of a “classic theatre haunting” in its reference to strange things happening with equipment, in this case the lights of the Knox Building.  It is a tale of a vague haunting, that is an unseen force apparently causing lights to go on and off without electricity flowing to them.

This simple tale, however, gives way to one of greater complexity, “Meeting George,” in which the director of the Enid Symphony has a close-quarters encounter with an elevator repairman still walking the halls of the Knox several decades after his death there from falling down an elevator shaft, or according to some, being pushed.  This tale is particularly interesting in its very modern setting, that is, supposedly having taken place within the past year, and its incorporation of the documented report of the repairman’s death.  This story is followed by one with perhaps some similarity to “The Lights,” in which two musicians find themselves at the mercy of a seemingly unnatural and very powerful force.  This story, “Forever,” is the truest to the theme of the performing arts, as it draws upon the energy and emotion of performance as the provenance of its spirit(s).  Ironically it is this very deep story that is the direct spawn of a farcical foil, entitled "Not Forever, but Just Long Enough to Make a Good Practical Joke," as the same director from “Meeting George” plays a series of practical jokes on the two musicians from “Forever” intended to mimic a supernatural experience.

This slightly lighter note leads well into the stories of the Enid High School Auditorium, a large fourteen hundred-seat facility built in the 1930s.  Reputed to be constructed on the site of an ancient Indian burial ground, and having the curses to match, its history has also given rise to unique stories.  In “What Happened that Night,” a young student “techie” (a light and sound technician), finds himself trapped on a rickety catwalk fifty feet above the floor in pitch-black darkness, tormented by spirits intent on claiming his life.  This story though, is particularly interesting in that it is both completely false in its depiction of the supernatural and completely accurate in its representation of an actual event verified by the main character himself (who also happens to be the writer of this project).  Another student who had recently transferred into Enid High School in fact told it to him not knowing he was its subject.  This story is thus provided and followed by an account of the actual occurrence on which it is based, "What Really Happened that Night," so that it may be easier to see how documented facts, like an elevator man dying, for instance, can be turned into harrowing tales of the paranormal.

The third story from Enid High School is perhaps the strangest and most light hearted of all.  In “Paranormal Procreation,” when a custodian sees a strange light and hears frightening noises he fears a ghostly presence.  The “ghosts,” however, turn out to be two very lively teachers engaged in some amorous activities in a back room.  In some ways similar to “What happened that Night,” it shows how the very natural can be mistaken for the supernatural, with frequent talk of a paranormal presence in the auditorium lending credence to the mistake.  The sexual focus of the story interestingly blends a theatrical ghost story theme with some typical stage gossip.  As any performer knows, actors and musicians love to talk about affairs, both real and imagined.  This is aptly demonstrated in the fact that the affair depicted in the story is widely circulated in shortened form without any of the supernatural elements. 

The third of Enid’s “haunted” theatres is now known as the Gaslight Theatre, although that is actually the name of the theatre company founded in 1966.  The Gaslight Company had performed in a converted warehouse and old television studio before moving into its present theatre in 1989.  The building itself was originally a Vaudeville Hall and then a movie theatre before being abandoned for many years and finally restored by the Gaslight.  Ironically many of the stories about the Gaslight Theatre are supposed to have taken place twenty to thirty years ago, which is impossible given that it was only restored in 1989.  This likely means either that stories have been transplanted from the Gaslight Company’s previous homes, or from the current building’s previous inhabitants.

The first story from the Gaslight “Enid’s Version of the Scottish Play,” is one such story, supposedly taking place with Gaslight personnel, in the current building, about thirty years ago.  It depicts a horrid accident in line with the well-known legend of the curse associated with actors who perform Shakespeare’s Macbeth.  Though it has no explicitly supernatural themes, it not only incorporates a traditional acting legend into a story unique to Enid, but also forms some of the basis for additional stories from the Gaslight Theatre.

One of these is entitled “Flooding in the Basement,” in which the foundation under the stage still bleeds from the blood of the young actor killed during the Scottish Play.  This  rather traditional method of haunting is made unique by its location as well as its provenance in the previous story from the Gaslight.  It also has the typical theme of the “anniversary haunting,” only occurring one day per year, on the day of the spirit’s death.  Interestingly, the flooding on which the premise is based is actually real, as the Gaslight’s basement has cracked walls that frequently leak water onto the floor after heavy rains.

The third story from the Gaslight is quite a bit different form the others.  “Love is All You Need,” finds its origin in a love story whose happy ending was destroyed by a man’s lust and lack of compassion back in the 1930s.  In this tale a young woman is said to have hanged herself after finding her dream lover in amorous activities with another woman.  The supernatural component comes from her supposed continued presence at the site of her suicide, decades after her death.  This haunting, though, is unusual in that she is said only to be an apparition, never causing harm, or even mischief.  This is in clear contrast to every other tale featured, as the spirits of the Knox Building or Enid High School are very active forces, making their presence known by mischievous or violent actions.

If anything is to be said generally about all the stories that have been featured, it must be concerning the uniqueness of each tale and its location.  Though all ten stories have at least some supernatural agent or the perception of one, each is immovable from its surroundings, that is, incorporating fundamentally the history of particular buildings and their occupants.   It could therefore be said that these theatre stories are not unique in their form, given the sometimes typical formal features, but in their context and content.  From the story of George the elevator man to the two versions of the same story from the Enid High School Auditorium, all these stories incorporate specific people, events, or physical characteristics found in their respective locations to which each applies the brush of the supernatural.

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