We're Not Alone in the Prop Rooms...
by KuchumaKik
I attended a haunted elementary school. For the sake of privacy – and the fact that the building is still in use and is not available to the public, I will not divulge the name. It was built (corrected date)at the turn of the century as a convent. I’m sketchy on the details (I can’t find any records or newspaper articles on its history). I’ve heard that it was a boarding school for boys at one point, and then it was a girl’s high school, and then it became a K-8 elementary school. A building for a gymnasium and pool was added, and later an assisted living facility. It’s an imposing building complex. It closed as an elementary school due to a decline in enrollment, although the convent and assisted living complex are still in operation. But enough about its history. I knew early on that the place wasn’t “right.” It was mostly vague feelings, but when I was in eighth grade, I saw something.
I would like to preface this story with some background. The hub of the activity in the building is the auditorium. First off, the auditorium is about 80% underground and has no windows. Secondly, the walls are a dark maroon color, which gives it a creepy impression from the beginning. The stage has black walls, black pillars, and black curtains. The auditorium is also directly underneath the chapel, which makes it an interesting vibration sandwich. Behind the stage is two floors of prop rooms. I had a lot of fun in there.
We did a musical every year. If I remember correctly, it was Fiddler on the Roof. I didn’t try out, because I genuinely didn’t care. I was titled prop master. The problem was, both seventh and eighth grade were thrown together to do a single play, and seventh grade had been split into two classes. Each class had a prop master, so I was one of three. Luckily for all of us, they happened to be friends of mine, and since prop masters really didn’t do much of anything, we spent most of our time goofing off in the upstairs prop rooms, where we generally weren’t bothered during rehearsals. It was springtime, and only the upstairs proprooms had windows. We could also get some sunlight while we were up there, which definitely helped to counter the generally creep-tacular feeling of the auditorium itself. I remember it was a Thursday, and it was probably around 10 or 11 in the morning. I have no idea what was going on downstairs, because my two friends and I were upstairs in our own separate world. I was standing in the doorway of something akin to a closet facing out, and the older of the two friends was standing facing me. I could see over her shoulder. The other friend was sitting next to a window, listening to us. I made a map so you can understand the setup.
The four-pointed star is me, the diamond is the older friend, triangle the other friend near the window, and the arrow is what I saw as well as pointing in the direction it travelled.
For some reason, I glanced past her shoulder, only to catch sight of a person walking from the front prop room towards the catwalk. It looked like it was made of compressed smoke – dark gray, striated, perhaps like static on a tv, see-through, had no face, but it was in a human shape with a definite head, chest, and arms that I could see. It walked past us like it was nothing unusual, like it didn’t give a single crap that we were here and it had things to do.
Really rough sketch:
The friend next to me could tell by expression as well as my eye movements as I tracked it that something was happening. The other friend was aware as well, and we all chased after it, but it was already gone. The door to the catwalk was open, but I swear it was closed when we went up there. The door was usually closed because the teachers didn’t want anyone to go on the catwalk for safety reasons. None of us were scared – we were excited, actually. Since we couldn’t see it, we all settled back down in the back prop room, but for the rest of the time we were up there (another hour or so), we kept hearing knocking on the wall from the front prop room, as well as our discussion being interrupted by footsteps coming towards us, then stopping within about two feet of us, and bangings on the pipes around us.
I kind of joke that the spirits in the building knew I would be leaving and wanted to put on a show for me before I left for good. Well, they certainly did not disappoint. As a note, I have never found any evidence of student death, and for some reason my brain wants to say that the apparition was male, despite the lack details.
I would like to preface this story with some background. The hub of the activity in the building is the auditorium. First off, the auditorium is about 80% underground and has no windows. Secondly, the walls are a dark maroon color, which gives it a creepy impression from the beginning. The stage has black walls, black pillars, and black curtains. The auditorium is also directly underneath the chapel, which makes it an interesting vibration sandwich. Behind the stage is two floors of prop rooms. I had a lot of fun in there.
We did a musical every year. If I remember correctly, it was Fiddler on the Roof. I didn’t try out, because I genuinely didn’t care. I was titled prop master. The problem was, both seventh and eighth grade were thrown together to do a single play, and seventh grade had been split into two classes. Each class had a prop master, so I was one of three. Luckily for all of us, they happened to be friends of mine, and since prop masters really didn’t do much of anything, we spent most of our time goofing off in the upstairs prop rooms, where we generally weren’t bothered during rehearsals. It was springtime, and only the upstairs proprooms had windows. We could also get some sunlight while we were up there, which definitely helped to counter the generally creep-tacular feeling of the auditorium itself. I remember it was a Thursday, and it was probably around 10 or 11 in the morning. I have no idea what was going on downstairs, because my two friends and I were upstairs in our own separate world. I was standing in the doorway of something akin to a closet facing out, and the older of the two friends was standing facing me. I could see over her shoulder. The other friend was sitting next to a window, listening to us. I made a map so you can understand the setup.
The four-pointed star is me, the diamond is the older friend, triangle the other friend near the window, and the arrow is what I saw as well as pointing in the direction it travelled.
For some reason, I glanced past her shoulder, only to catch sight of a person walking from the front prop room towards the catwalk. It looked like it was made of compressed smoke – dark gray, striated, perhaps like static on a tv, see-through, had no face, but it was in a human shape with a definite head, chest, and arms that I could see. It walked past us like it was nothing unusual, like it didn’t give a single crap that we were here and it had things to do.
Really rough sketch:
The friend next to me could tell by expression as well as my eye movements as I tracked it that something was happening. The other friend was aware as well, and we all chased after it, but it was already gone. The door to the catwalk was open, but I swear it was closed when we went up there. The door was usually closed because the teachers didn’t want anyone to go on the catwalk for safety reasons. None of us were scared – we were excited, actually. Since we couldn’t see it, we all settled back down in the back prop room, but for the rest of the time we were up there (another hour or so), we kept hearing knocking on the wall from the front prop room, as well as our discussion being interrupted by footsteps coming towards us, then stopping within about two feet of us, and bangings on the pipes around us.
I kind of joke that the spirits in the building knew I would be leaving and wanted to put on a show for me before I left for good. Well, they certainly did not disappoint. As a note, I have never found any evidence of student death, and for some reason my brain wants to say that the apparition was male, despite the lack details.
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