The Resurrected (and Haunted) Landers Theatre

The Landers Theatre today is a historic landmark in the city of Springfield, Missouri, but an incident in its early years almost sealed its fate. The theater was constructed in 1909 and hosted a variety of vaudeville acts. Then, on December 17, 1920, a major fire broke out that almost entirely destroyed the facility and closed it down. Rather than scrap the project, Ensley Barbour stepped forward and put up the money for the repairs and reconstruction. Two years later the Landers Theatre was once again opened and has hosted such personalities as Lon Chaney, Kathleen Turner, Lillian Russel, and Springfield-native Brad Pitt (some sources say he got his start at the Landers) in the years since.

If you believe the stories, some of the people who have passed through its doors have never left, even in death. The Landers Theatre is home to a variety of accounts of paranormal activity throughout its four stories. Ghosts are said to include a janitor that is believed to have perished in the tragic 1920 fire, a baby that was said to have fallen from the balcony and its grieving mother, former actors and actresses, and even a strange entity that stands in the middle of the auditorium that brings audience participation to a whole new level.

Read the ghostly tales of the Landers Theatre at Dark Destinations.

-Casey H.