Paranormal Peeps
Paranormal Peeps
Fargo’s Red Light Past And A Theater That Never Sleeps
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The wind off the Red River doesn’t just howl, it tells stories. We’re in Fargo, North Dakota, digging into the haunted lore that clings to a city built on railroads, fast growth, and the parts of history people try to bury. First stop is the Hollow, Fargo’s original red light district, where Malvina Macy built the Crystal Palace and became a “well-known character” in town history. Today the building is long gone, but the reports haven’t faded: security guards describing women in long gowns who vanish, and strange small items like gloves and satin buttons found exactly where an apparition stood.
Then we step under the Art Deco marquee of the Fargo Theater, a landmark since 1926 and home to the Mighty Wurlitzer organ. The place is packed with classic haunted theater stories: the lady in white near the balcony, phantom children near the concessions, the smell of burnt sugar tied to old fire legends, and a projection booth that seems to come alive after hours. We also go beyond the scares by talking about EMF, old wiring, and the “fear cage effect,” because not every chilling feeling is a spirit.
We wrap with a crucial paranormal investigation lesson: bad sources spread fast, and misreported hauntings can become “truth” if nobody fact-checks. If you love Fargo ghost stories, haunted theaters, and practical paranormal skepticism, hit play, share this with a friend who’d brave the basement, and leave a review. And tell us, why do you think theaters are haunted?
Thank you for listening to the Paranormal Peeps Podcast. Check us out on Facebook Paranormal Peeps Podcast or Coldspot Paranormal Research and on Instagram coldspot_paranormal_research
Welcome To Fargo’S Haunted Heart
SPEAKER_03Between the realm of the dead and the journeys of the living, join Josh, Jamie, and Elisa as they delve into the vast world of the paranormal and breathe life back into the history of the departed.
SPEAKER_02Hey everyone, welcome back to the Paranormal Peeps Podcast. I'm Elisa. I'm Jamie.
SPEAKER_00And I'm Josh. And tonight, we're heading to the Red River Valley, a place where the wind doesn't just howl, it carries the voices of those who never left. Fargo, North Dakota. You might know it for its legendary winners, but beneath the modern skyline lies a history built on vice, tragedy, and the flickering light of the silver screen. Tonight we start in the shadows of the hollow. Long before it was a quiet corner of downtown, it was Fargo's original red light district, a hub of railroad workers and the legendary Crystal Palace run by Madame Malvina Macy. They say Malvina still keeps watch over her block, but she isn't alone. Security guards report women in long gowns vanishing into thin air, leaving behind only the tactile proof of their existence. Satin buttons and gloves found on the floor where they stood. Then, we walk a few blocks north to the neon glow of the Fargo Theater. Beneath the iconic 1926 Art Deco Marquee, the show never truly ends. While the Mighty Worldster organ might provide the soundtrack, the audience sometimes includes guests who didn't buy a ticket. We're talking about the two phantom children often spotted peering out from the vintage popcorn machine or running barefoot down the aisles, accompanied by a sudden, sickening, rotting sweetness in the air. Is it just the creaks of a century-old building? Or are the legends of the projection booth and the restless spirits of the basement trying to tell us something? Lock your doors and dim your lights. We're going deep into the haunted heart of Fargo.
SPEAKER_03Let's go.
SPEAKER_02We need to add some like amazing music to this.
SPEAKER_00I mean, I could.
SPEAKER_02Some spooky music. Spooky background music. This is like a good campfire story. Right?
SPEAKER_00So before it was ever Fargo, North Dakota, nearly 125 years ago, a woman who would eventually etch her name in the annals of Fargo's early history stepped off the train onto the platform of the Northern Pacific Railroad Depot. As a 53-year-old African American woman, Malvina Macy was not an obvious candidate for success. A growing village built on the banks of the Red River, Fargo lacked racial diversity. As of the 1885 census records, only two African Americans lived in Fargo. But the area teemed with opportunity. Movina was one of many ambitious transplants who arrived on Front Street, which was later renamed Main Avenue via the railroad. An entity that made Movina's future business venture possible in the first place. A busy railroad and agricultural sector required men to build the roads and work the fields. Droves of single men meant the world's oldest profession had found yet another market. Back then, Fargo, which was actually called Centralia until 1873.
SPEAKER_02Centralia? That's quite the name.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Only had 600 inhabitants. So what does every place need that has 600 people? A brothel.
SPEAKER_02Of course. I mean, because you couldn't have a church.
SPEAKER_00Right. Within a year of Melvina arriving from her home state of Virginia, the city boasted more than 8,000 people, and the tents and shanties of early days had been replaced by mainly wooden framed buildings. Melvina built one of those wood framed buildings at 118 Third Street North, according to the 1891 City of Fargo Direct Directory. Melvina wasn't alone though. Elmo Anderson, Pearl Adams, Stella Dorsey, and musician Coleman Butler are listed as boarders. Could this have been Malvina's first foray into the brothel business that made her famous? That same year, Malvina purchased a property at 2013 Street North and began making plans to establish a brothel called the Crystal Palace. The house resided in an area of early Fargo referred to as the Hollow, a poorer section of the city near the river where immigrants and laborers lived. The footings of the house are buried below the city hall parking lot next to the Red River. So it's still there. Just the footings though. Right?
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00A savvy businesswoman, Malvina immediately started making connections in the city. She let it be known that she was interested in investing money in property here. She dined at the headquarters hotel in grand style by the leading men and women of the day, according to a june fifteenth, nineteen seventy five forum article, which is the newspaper in Fargo. Once the palace was ready, Melvina sent Fargo businessmen engraved invitations to the grand opening. The venture turned out to be a lucrative one. Brothels and prostitution were illegal at the time. So law enforcement officials enforced regular fines on houses of ill repute. Each month, owners of brothels were arrested and brought to court to pay a fifty-six dollars and fifty cent fine, which is more than fourteen hundred dollars today.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I'm sure back then they were like, that's fine.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, exactly. They're like, Well, that's a day's worth of wages. We're good. Melvina paid up regularly each month. Clearly, she was finding success. Unfortunately, Melvina couldn't avoid prison despite paying her fines. In 1901, she was convicted on charges related to alcohol. So prohibition was big in Fargo at the time. And she was sent to prison in Bismarck, according to a June 5th, 1901 Bismarck Daily Tribune article. Malvina surrendered willingly and was accompanied to the penitentiary by Cass County Sheriff Treadwell T. Twitch Twitchel.
SPEAKER_02Twitchel.
SPEAKER_00Twitchel.
SPEAKER_02That's a new one for me.
SPEAKER_00It's like Mitchell, but with the twit. A Jamestown newspaper reported her surrender, noting that Madame Macy will enjoy the distinct honor of being the only female prisoner in the penitentiary. She is an old timer in Fargo. She was 63 at the time, and smart enough to mind her manners. Because of good behavior, Malvina was released after serving less than one year. After turning to Fargo and her Crystal Palace business, Movina's life continued in the same ebb and flow of serving a need in the growing community while paying her monthly fines. Her business continued to do well, but her health declined. And in May of 1911, she died in a local hospital, with her obit recognizing her as a well-known character in Fargo.
SPEAKER_02Where all the men loved her and all the women hated her.
The Watcher And EMF Fear
SPEAKER_00Yes. Exactly. So today, in that area, obviously we know that the City Hall building parking lot sits where the Crystal Palace once stood. But also in the area is the forum building, which is the newspaper. And they have reportings, several reportings of hauntings associated to the hollows. So it goes beyond the Yeah, goes just beyond that that area.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So there's in the basement, they have what they call the watcher.
SPEAKER_03That sounds ominous.
SPEAKER_00Doesn't it? So advertising manager Jess Hastings and several colleagues reported an ominous feeling in the basement.
SPEAKER_03Called it. Knew it.
SPEAKER_00Specifically near the mechanical room. Witnesses say, witnesses describe the sensation of being watched so intensely that the hairs on the back of their neck would stand up.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's not a good feeling.
SPEAKER_00No, it's not. Although it's interesting, though, because of where it's located. It's next to the mechanical room.
SPEAKER_03Oh.
SPEAKER_00Which is where all the electrical outlets are. Right. Where all the electrical is in the building.
SPEAKER_02And basically a battery.
SPEAKER_00Basically a battery. But also, in the same token, if you have ill-shaded or shielded cables, it can have high EMF and you can get the fear cage effect.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, which is the feeling of being watched.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. And your hair can stand up on its end and nothing's actually there.
SPEAKER_02You would be surprised how many people, how many homes I've been to where that has been the case, where they live in an old home and they have that fear cage because of their electrical being bad. Yeah. And I'm like, holy cow, look at the EMF coming off of your lights, your light switches everywhere in the house. Like it was just a higher EMF reading. I'm like, once you take care of this, that feeling's gonna go away. Right.
SPEAKER_03Because it can also cause like headaches, even hallucinations, I say.
SPEAKER_00Once you get up over 10, 10 milligals, you're looking at potential for hallucinations and everything else.
SPEAKER_02Well, and even over time, just over time, you're going to get worse and worse things. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02If you're staying in there for long periods of time. Exposed to it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Now, if that was the only issue, then we would I probably just chalk that up to fear cage in the building. But also, uh, local accounts mention that some have attempted to stay overnight in the building to test any of the legends that have that are occurring there. But no one has made it past midnight due to an overwhelming heavy presence.
SPEAKER_02We could do it.
SPEAKER_00Oh, we could totally do it.
SPEAKER_02It's one of those things where I'm like, really? Nobody made it past midnight? I doubt that.
SPEAKER_00Well, I think it's I think it's though, too, like you have people that are like, oh, that's not real. And then they're not actually investigators.
SPEAKER_02And so they're just I could see that, yeah, but not actual investigators going in there.
SPEAKER_00Um, to my knowledge, no one's actually really investigated the building. So the janitorial's night staff has established a three-person rule because being alone on the upper floors or the basement has led to so many chilling experiences that has made them refuse to go by themselves. That would be kind of that's understandable, though. Nobody wants to be alone in a in a spooky building.
SPEAKER_03I mean, I wouldn't say nobody, I would say a majority of people don't.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03But I wouldn't say nobody.
SPEAKER_00So employees have reported hearing old-fashioned phone rings from lines that have been physically disconnected for years.
SPEAKER_02That's cool, that's awesome.
SPEAKER_00I mean, and you know it too. Like if you grew up with the the old landlines with the bells, the bell phones, I mean, you know what that that ring kind of sounds like.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. There might be younger people watching this go, what's a landline? What's a bell phone?
SPEAKER_00Right?
SPEAKER_02What's a rotary phone?
SPEAKER_00On the upper floors, electronics and lights frequently fail or flicker without clear mechanical cause, often coinciding with the sensation of an eerie presence pressing in on workers.
SPEAKER_02Something wants to be known.
SPEAKER_00Right? I mean, I can imagine though too, like if so if you're up there cleaning on those floors and now the lights are flickering and phantom phones are ringing and you're not an investigator and you're just trying to clean clean the area, it might be a little rough. Might be a little freaky for those people.
SPEAKER_02I think lights are probably the least ominous thing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Because I think we all can just count we generally like when a light starts to flicker.
SPEAKER_02Chalk it up to a bad libel or bad ballast. Yes.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, something something normal's going on. Staff have reported hearing disembodied voices and seeing shadows that appear to move between the stacks of paper and archives. Which I would imagine that is probably in the basement. So if they're running around the basement and you got shadows, shadow figures running around, would be a little freaky.
SPEAKER_03That'd be a lot freaky.
SPEAKER_00So night security guards have reported seeing women in Victorian style long gowns who vanish instantly. Most notably, guards claim to have found intact satin buttons and gloves on the ground exactly where the apparitions were standing.
SPEAKER_03So they kind of leave behind clues? Yes. It's like free close.
SPEAKER_00You want my button?
SPEAKER_02I was here. It's like, you know how the ladies back in the day would drop a glove for the thing to pick up. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Maybe that was the Crystal Palace's like calling card. Like the ladies would be out and they would be it. They'd drop a glove and they're like, Oh, I should go see this lady tonight.
SPEAKER_03Or they'd pop a button and say, Hey, come hither. Isn't there a saying button button?
SPEAKER_02Who's got the button? Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Huh. I wonder if those two are connected.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I never thought of that.
SPEAKER_03I mean, I could see it.
SPEAKER_00I could too. Construction workers in the area have reported unearthing perfume bottles and hair pins in spots where sightings are common, suggesting a physical tether to the former residents of the Crystal Palace.
SPEAKER_03When I think of the hair, like the bobby pins. I always see the Bugs Bunny cartoon with Witch Hazel where she cackles and then takes off and then bobby pins fly everywhere. Right? That's what I see.
Under The Marquee Of Fargo Theater
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah, I could see that. But to find the next chap chapter of Fargo's Ghost Stories, we have to leave the riverbank in low-lying shadows of the hollow. We're walking out of the red light past and into the neon soaked present of Broadway. It's only a six minute walk, but as the as you pass the modern storefronts and the air starts to change, you aren't just moving between blocks, you're moving between eras. We're heading toward a landmark that has stood as a beacon of entertainment since 1926. But while thousands have come here to escape reality through film, some have found that the Fargo Theater the screen isn't the only thing showing you things that shouldn't be there. Let's step under the marquee and see who or what is waiting in the wings. The Fargo Theater is a two-story concrete and mason commercial building with a seventy-two foot front with a seventy-two foot frontage on Broadway, which is Fargo's main commercial street. The front facade is clad in a red faced brick, was symmetrical in appearance, and sat on a base of limestone approximately one foot in height. Entrance doors and a box office occupied the center at the street level, and were flanked by a small storefront shop and a pair of exit doors on each side. Above the exits, stone consoles visually supported uh cornices, each of which were terminated at the top with a decorative uh cartouch.
SPEAKER_03Decorative what?
SPEAKER_00Cartouch.
SPEAKER_03Cartouch?
SPEAKER_00Yep.
SPEAKER_03Are you saying that right?
SPEAKER_00I cartouch.
SPEAKER_03I like that better. Let's go with that one.
SPEAKER_00Cartouch.
SPEAKER_03Cartouch.
SPEAKER_00Uh the second level is rhythmically articulated by large windows with a vertical four over four sash configuration set deep within brick pillars. Here, arched stone hood molding spring from a molded stone impost and in highly detailed keystones. Six of the typanums formed by the arches are infilled with brick in an air herringbone pattern, while the three in the center are glazed. Directly above, stone denteo workforms, a decorative building cornice, and the facade is completed in a step stone coping. Protruding from the wall between the arches are stone faces with grotesque expressions, their mouths open to accept the hanging rods of the marquee. The original marquee was square and at some time was replaced with the existing diagonal version that flows upward to an illuminated sign approximately 36 feet in height. It's a lot of architecture.
SPEAKER_03I'd say just a little.
SPEAKER_02I don't know what that what that is.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I so sorry about that.
SPEAKER_03Sounds interesting.
SPEAKER_00You know what? It's just Gothic revival. Or Greek revival.
SPEAKER_03It's a cross between the two.
SPEAKER_00Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_03It's a revival. That's what I know.
SPEAKER_00So the actual construction of the theater began on September 15th, 1925. And it's located at 314 Broadway, which is formerly the site of a fruit store known as Idle Cope Building. The theater took only six months to complete.
SPEAKER_03That's not very long.
SPEAKER_00That is not very long.
SPEAKER_03Is it a really big theater?
SPEAKER_00It's not huge, no. I mean it's only 72 feet like on the on the fronts on like the the store side, so it's not I wouldn't say it's massive.
SPEAKER_02But it's not like you're building a bunch of rooms.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. You're building one giant room. Uh the opening of the theater was March 15th, 1926.
SPEAKER_02A hundred years ago.
SPEAKER_00Almost. As of recording, we are two weeks short of its hundredth birthday.
SPEAKER_02Because it's the first.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Right in the midst of Hollywood's silent era, movie tickets cost just 25 cents for adults. Wouldn't that be nice?
SPEAKER_02I remember when it was$1.50.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03We had a theater that was like a buck fifty, little garland theater.
SPEAKER_00Now they're$15.
SPEAKER_03Or$18, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Or more. Uh it was designed by Minneapolis architect David Richardson. Uh, the theater was billed as a palace of dreams featuring a stunning art deco interior and a full uh Vandeauville stage in a mighty Wurlitzer organ that still captivates audience audiences during its special performances.
SPEAKER_03That'd be cool.
SPEAKER_00So if you remember, like in the silent movie era, there was music. There was music being played.
SPEAKER_03Right. Yep.
SPEAKER_00And so that's what was being played. So someone their organist was in there playing the music to the that would be cool to experience at least just once.
SPEAKER_02Like I just want to know what that's like.
SPEAKER_00It would be neat, wouldn't it?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So they do have silent movie night at the theater.
SPEAKER_03Oh, that'd be awesome.
SPEAKER_02At this one, or just oh no, this theater. That's way cool.
SPEAKER_00So you can go on a special movie night and I would go for that. The theater quickly became a cultural hub, showing silent films, hosting Vandeville acts, and bringing traveling entertainers to the heart of Fargo. It was more than just a place to watch. Watch films. It was a gathering point for community, conversation, and creativity. It easily became the jewel of downtown, a place locals returned to again and again. With the arrival of the talkies in the late twenties, what they were called. The Fargo Theater adapted swiftly, becoming the first venue in Fargo to show movies with sound. Even through the Great Depression and World War sorry, World War II, it remained a community staple, offering North Dakotans some well-deserved escapism on the silver screen. By the 1940s and 50s, the Fargo Theater was riding the wave of cinema's golden age. People flocked to see Hollywood's biggest stars illuminated across the theater's single screen. Local lore even claims that a young Marlon Morrison, better known as John Wayne.
SPEAKER_02Wow, that's cool.
SPEAKER_00Like many historic theaters across America, the Fargo Theater entered a period of decline in the 1970s. Changing entertainment habits and suburbanization led to a dwindling attendance. For a time, it seemed like the neon lights might blink off for good. But the Fargo community wasn't ready to say goodbye. So in 1981, the Red River Theater Oregon Society helped save the Worlitzer Oregon, a rallying point to preserve the building itself. And thanks to energetic grassroots campaign and support from the city, a major a major renovation began. The building was painstakingly restored to its original glory and officially reopened in 1999 after being placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1982. Couple of fun facts about the about the building. It's a wooden statue carved in the likeness of Francis McDormott's character, uh Marge Gunderson from the 1996 film Fargo.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, never seen it.
SPEAKER_00I haven't either.
SPEAKER_03No, I mean the movie.
SPEAKER_00I know. I haven't seen the movie either.
SPEAKER_03I thought you did see the movie.
SPEAKER_00No, I saw like one scene from the movie.
SPEAKER_03Oh, because you've talked about it before, and that's why I guess I thought you'd seen it.
SPEAKER_00No. I remember when it was being filmed because I was a high school student at the time.
SPEAKER_03Gotcha.
SPEAKER_00And they were calling for extras and stuff to be in the movie. But just so you all know, most of the movie Fargo was filmed in Minnesota.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I can see North Dakota.
SPEAKER_00Not in North Dakota. Now, granted, geography, you know, geologically, uh, Fargo is right on the Red River, which separates North Dakota from Minnesota. So really you're not that far off.
SPEAKER_03It was in the vicinity.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, it was close. I mean, it's it's it's better to say that it was actually filmed close enough to the area than like you know being filmed in like Australia or something weird. We're like, well, that mountain doesn't exist in North Dakota.
SPEAKER_03No mountain exists in North Dakota, it sure does not.
SPEAKER_00It's about as flat as the paper I'm reading off of.
SPEAKER_03That's true.
SPEAKER_00Um, the Mighty Worlitzer, which is a 1926 pipe organ, uh, before talkies, which we talked about, it was scored for the silent movies in real time. The pipes are hidden behind the walls of the stage, and the organ itself is on a lift so it can dramatically appear from below the stage as it's played.
SPEAKER_02Oh, that's cool.
SPEAKER_00It is the largest theater organ between Minneapolis and Seattle.
SPEAKER_02Wow, that would be cool to see.
SPEAKER_00Wouldn't it be neat?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I don't think I've ever heard of any of these surviving, which is probably why it's the largest one between Minneapolis and Seattle. So, like basically the western half of the country.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And then 15 years ago, the theater added a second auditorium as part of an urban infill project. That theater uh produces the annual Fargo Film Festival. And wouldn't you know it? They do an annual Fargo review of the movie Fargo at that film festival.
SPEAKER_03I failed to see the correlation.
SPEAKER_00I I have no idea what why would you watch Fargo and Fargo? It makes no sense whatsoever.
SPEAKER_03I don't get it.
SPEAKER_00So we'll get into just a few of the hauntings there. Most frequently cited apparition is known simply as the lady in white. The witnesses describe her as a spectral figure draped in a flowing white gown.
SPEAKER_02Really?
SPEAKER_00Typically seen near the balcony or in the back rows of the main auditorium.
SPEAKER_02One of these days these women are gonna wear pants. Right? Yeah, get with the program. We're gonna wear white pants instead.
SPEAKER_00The legend goes that she is a former Vandeville performer who died tragically backstage. Though there are no records to confirm her death, numerous reports match the same description, even decades apart. Security footage has allegedly captured unexplained movement near the box seats, and multiple patrons have claimed to feel a sudden chill when passing through the aisles that she's believed to frequent. Some even say that they've heard faint humming as if someone is rehearsing a tune from a long ago just off stage.
SPEAKER_02That's cool.
SPEAKER_00I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a uh a death at that time and just people it just didn't get reported a whole a whole lot.
SPEAKER_02Well, even though, like, there doesn't have to be a death for it to be haunted. It can just be haunted because the person loved it so much.
SPEAKER_00Well, and this is true too. So she could have just loved performing there and just stayed.
SPEAKER_02Because that's generally somebody's passion. When you're in theater, it's a passion, it's like something that you put your whole heart into.
SPEAKER_03You have strong emotion.
SPEAKER_02Right. And like when you're acting, you are putting out those emotions and trying to make people feel certain things. So, like, in my opinion, if that was something that I did, I I could see myself haunting a place like that. You know what I mean? Yes.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Something that you love and you care about, that's what you gravitate towards. I'd rather do something like that than haunt my house. Right? Right?
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, if you haunted your house. Your house, oh geez, the dishes need to be done again. That's a haunting all by itself. Oh, look, the ghost laundry, dang it.
SPEAKER_00Gotta clean my sheets.
SPEAKER_03Otherwise, you have nothing to wear.
SPEAKER_00Right. So before I talk about this next haunting, there's a little context to get into for that one. So on June 7th, 1893, there was the great Fargo fire. It was a massive inferno that destroyed 31 blocks and 160 acres of downtown Fargo, leveling the city hall and the business district.
SPEAKER_03Wow.
SPEAKER_02That would be awful. That would be devastating for a city.
SPEAKER_00So it would have ripped right through the Hollows area. Right where the theater now stands.
SPEAKER_02Why is there always like a fire at a theater? I don't know. Seems to be a common theme, doesn't it? There's quite a bit of fires at theaters. Yeah. There are. Why is that? Like where do they originate from? The electrical? Yeah, but it's like the lights. I mean, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Is it because they're pulling too much power for you know to try those big old spotlights or you know whatever later?
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I don't know.
SPEAKER_00I don't know how this one was almost 50 years before the theater.
SPEAKER_02The theater was built.
SPEAKER_00The theater was built.
SPEAKER_02Um but I feel like there's a common theme.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, there does definitely seem to be a common theme amongst that. Um, yeah, I don't know, because like there's not much to a theater, but no, if it is a theater that you had a lot of performing done at, there are usually a lot of chemicals, like paints and other things that are highly flammable. And if you're storing stage props below the stage, right? You know, someone's smoking a cigarette, and the next thing you know, half the building's gone.
SPEAKER_02That's true, because back then you could smoke anywhere. Right.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Anywhere, anytime, doing anything.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Like I'm just cutting your hair. Flick the ashes off of the side there. Don't worry about that.
SPEAKER_03I'll clean that up later. I smell burning hair.
SPEAKER_00Ah, it's just in your mind. So at the Fargo Theater, staff and guests say that they've smelt burnt sugar and heard crying from the balcony. Signs supposedly tied to the fire that killed a mother and two children at the same location over a century ago. So that would have been that big 1893 fire. Employees have claimed to see a pale little boy near the concession stand who disappears when looked at for too long. One worker said she experienced something so horrifying she quit that very day. Although she never said what it was.
SPEAKER_03I was gonna say, well, what is it? Don't leave us hanging. Come on.
SPEAKER_00No, she didn't say what it was. That's the problem. Uh constantly, guests say that they see apparitions in front of the screen running by predominantly little kids. Um, Kane Carlson, who's an employee of U.S. Ghost Adventures, said that they like to be seen. They'll giggle, they'll run by, you'll see their shadow, and you'll feel something.
SPEAKER_03That'd be kind of cool.
SPEAKER_00Wouldn't it be neat? Um, the projection booth, which is high above the auditorium, comes with its own spectral mysteries. Projectionists over the years have reported hearing knocking sounds and phantom footsteps, especially during closing hours. Lights flicker in patterns that seem too regular to dismiss as electrical glitches. And a longtime employee described hearing the sound of an old film reel spinning when none were in operation. Technicians inspecting the equipment found no logical explanation, and some now refuse to enter the booth alone after dark.
SPEAKER_02Now I have with theaters heard a lot that those booths are haunted. Whenever I go to a theater or talk about a theater or hear about a theater, you generally hear that those booths are haunted. I wonder why. I don't know if I've heard one that isn't.
SPEAKER_00I mean, I've only ever heard of two theaters being haunted, and we investigated one, so um and that projection booth was also haunted.
SPEAKER_02See, like but I've been doing this for a little bit longer. Yeah. And so like what? I don't know how many years longer than you guys, but it I've been to quite a few theaters and investigated. Like I think a theater, the theater was the first thing I ever investigated.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But every one of them.
SPEAKER_00I wonder if it's emotion. Like, because the projectionist is up there, they're watching every film, they're experiencing every piece of emotion, they're the heart of the theater.
SPEAKER_02Well, and also, too, it's like it's not gonna run without them there because they have to change and move like Yeah. I don't know. It's like the keep things going.
SPEAKER_00It's the engine room of a theater, really. And so wonder yeah, I wonder if that's the cause of it.
SPEAKER_02But I wonder if it's more repetitive. You know, like a residual. I wonder if it's if they tend to be that way. This I don't know. Like I've been told a lot and seen a lot that they're haunted, but I I wonder if because it's repetitive movements, right, that it would be more of a residual haunting, right?
SPEAKER_00I think what's that would make sense.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00We'll have to go do another theater and try to figure it out. Perhaps the most unnerving area of the Fargo Theater is the basement. It's always the basement. Designed originally for storage and mechanical access, the basement is known for its maze-like corridors and low ceilings. Staff speak of an oppressive feeling when descending the stairs, and more than one person has abruptly left the space after seeing shadowy figures dart around corners. There's been disembodied whispers, cold spots, and the sensation of being watched are common reported. One volunteer swears they heard a voice say, Quiet, please, while retrieving cables.
SPEAKER_02That's cute.
SPEAKER_00Only to turn around and find the room completely empty.
SPEAKER_02You wonder what they see on the other side. To tell you to be quiet, please. Like what are they seeing on the other side?
SPEAKER_00Right. Are they seeing an active movie like an active 1926 movie theater where you're so like it's and you're supposed to be quiet? Yeah, like the films in session. Makes you wonder.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So the theater has not gone unnoticed by par by the paranormal community. Local ghost hunting groups have been permitted under controlled circumstances to investigate the building. Using things like EMF detectors, you know, digital voice recorders and thermal cameras, several teams have reported odd temperature drops, unexplained audio clips, and anomalies caught on video. I w it would be nice if they did more, if they allowed more investigations, but when they say a f uh you know, uh some have been allowed under controlled circumstances, the actual number is two.
SPEAKER_03Oh wow, that's super controlled.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Just two have gone in there. Uh one EVP recording allegedly captured during a 2017 session features a ghostly female voice saying encore. And others have detected untraceable footsteps when the building was securely locked. While skeptics remain unconvinced, the balance of accounts suggest something otherworldly might be lurking beneath the curtains.
SPEAKER_02It sounds like a lot of residual to me.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, otherworldly.
SPEAKER_03Like so just the paranormal.
SPEAKER_00Just the paranormal.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03That made it sound much more ominous than just Yeah, I know. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it does sound a lot residual.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Like it's just a lot of residual energy hanging around.
SPEAKER_02Well, I think there's a lot of energy that gets put into a theater that gets put into a show.
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah, because they're like not only were they doing, you know, films and you know, the silent and the the the talking films, they also had stage performances and theatrical stage performances and stuff. And so they had tons of different things going on.
SPEAKER_02And there's a lot of moving parts to that.
SPEAKER_00Yes. A lot of moving parts, a lot of energy, a lot of routine things. I mean, think about if you're putting on like a a thing of or a production of cats, like every scene is going to be done many, many times there, and you're gonna have you know dress rehearsals and all of this stuff going on. So just tons of energy.
SPEAKER_02And back then it was like when a movie or a show, a theater production was done, everybody clapped and was excited, and that's a lot of energy in and of itself. Yeah, that's being produced at one time.
Bad Sources And Ghost Fact-Checks
SPEAKER_00Yeah, just a lot of different stuff going on, right? So there is one reported haunting that isn't actually associated to the theater. Although I found it many times looking at different articles associated to hauntings, and it's one of uh Melville Reva Ferguson. She's most report most frequently reported as a spirit who was of a homeless woman with mental health issues who died in 1981 after starting a fire in the theater's south stairwell. Witness of witnesses have reported seeing her walking across the mezzanine, pacing back and forth during rehearsals before vanishing, and moving folding seats up and down.
SPEAKER_03Hmm. Another fire. Another fire, yep.
SPEAKER_00Except this one happened it actually in Greensboro, Carolina theater.
SPEAKER_02What? What? Why is it in this one?
SPEAKER_00That's because it's a misreported.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah. It is misreported for North Dakota?
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Really?
SPEAKER_00Yep.
SPEAKER_02That far away.
SPEAKER_00And not just once.
SPEAKER_02Most of them.
SPEAKER_00I found it in like six different articles associated to the Fargo Theater.
SPEAKER_02That's interesting.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I wonder if it's going to be one of those things where if you put it out there enough that it starts to happen and that it could start happening in that theater just because it's been put out there enough. Breathe life into it.
SPEAKER_00Yep. It's possible, but I think also what ends up happening is people get, you know, people get lazy in in this age and they're like, well, it was reported here, and the next thing you know, seven people have copied the same source and have reported it seven more times. The next thing you know, it's um it's out there more and more, and people are not fact-checking the information.
SPEAKER_03That's part of the problem.
SPEAKER_00Yep. Because when I found that she was listed as part of the hauntings, the first thing I did is I looked her up. And like it's an it's a recent death, you know, relatively speaking.
SPEAKER_03Right.
Centennial Parties And Silent Film Night
SPEAKER_00And so it's like there's newspaper articles and all this stuff. And then so as soon as I searched her up, the first thing I found was the different theater. And I'm like, Yep, this is not the right person. So um so as we talked before, on March 15th, 2026, this theater will celebrate its 100 years. It's this, it's centennial.
SPEAKER_03That's pretty cool.
SPEAKER_00And so they've got a couple different little events going on for their for their centennial. So on the 14th, they're doing a roaring twenties soiree.
SPEAKER_03Oh, that would be way fun. That'd be so fun.
SPEAKER_00So you're invited to an elegant evening at this the Sinclair, which is in downtown Fargo, turn out in cloach hats and flapper dresses with spats and bowlers for your stylish 1920s theme event. There's gonna be uh appetizers for there's gonna be official Fargo Theater popcorn, a champagne toast at 715. Um there's gonna have they're gonna have vintage party games.
SPEAKER_02What would those be? Bobbin for apples?
SPEAKER_00Maybe throw it. Could be throwing a uh a dunk tank? Throwing a uh an apple peel into the fire or not sure.
SPEAKER_03Rue in a shoe?
SPEAKER_00Rue in a shoe.
SPEAKER_02That will never get old for me.
SPEAKER_00Never will get old. So on the 15th, which is a Sunday, and it is their actual birthday, they're going to do a classic silent short film, Felix Revolts, with live music on the organ.
SPEAKER_02Oh my gosh. That'd be awesome. Just for that, I would go.
SPEAKER_00Right? I would brave another North Dakota winner just for that.
SPEAKER_02Although this winter is not too bad.
SPEAKER_00Well, that's a Utah winner. They're getting pounded.
SPEAKER_02Are they?
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02That's where all the snow's going. They're taking it all.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah. My my uh my mother lives about an hour east of the Fargo. And last week it was seven degrees.
SPEAKER_02What about the snow?
SPEAKER_00Two feet.
SPEAKER_02Man, we need some snow over here.
SPEAKER_00We do need some snow. I mean, how is it that uh Donner's pass got seven feet?
SPEAKER_02No, kidding.
SPEAKER_00And we got nothing. Um, and then yeah, they're they're gonna do uh red carpet photo op with 1920 style paparazzi.
SPEAKER_02Cute. I bet this is gonna turn out super cute.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think it's gonna be great. And then they're going to do a movie-themed performance by local artists, including Gene Kelly's iconic dance from Singing in the Rain.
SPEAKER_01Man.
SPEAKER_02How fun.
SPEAKER_00Wouldn't that be a blast?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it really would.
SPEAKER_02I would love to ghost hunt after that was all done. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Can you imagine what it would possibly stir up?
SPEAKER_02Oh, all the things.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah. The energy's got to be just amazing in there after that.
SPEAKER_02Well, and can you imagine all the triggering things that are gonna happen that night? Oh man, put me out there.
SPEAKER_00I think it'd be just fun to like I imagine this in like 1920s, like paparazzi style, like photo thing.
SPEAKER_03It's gonna be like walking down a red carpet with the with the uh you know the the rails up, those little uh velvet, the little velvet ropes up and all the stuff and flash bulbs, flash bulbs flicking off, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And then to hear the whirl it's her organ light up for just a little nice little short film.
SPEAKER_03Oh, that'd be so fun. That'd be amazing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, see, I remember seeing some of the silent film stuff, like you but you see it and you hear the music, and it never occurred to me that the music that you were hearing was supposed to be played in the theater.
SPEAKER_02I never thought about that either, though. Really? No.
SPEAKER_00Never?
SPEAKER_02I did. Well, I Disney always showed it like that.
SPEAKER_00Like in even in their cartoons, they had Well, they like, yeah, there was the one Donald one where he was playing Chasing Chippendale on the organ.
SPEAKER_02But like it was like they would pretend like you're watching a black and white movie, and so you'd go through the theater, you know, and then it'd like it have the screen like come right at you, and then there's people playing in the orchestra orchestra pit, yeah. Yeah, and then you go into the movie, into your silent film.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, never thought of that either.
SPEAKER_02No, it's funny how like you can see things, but you never put two and two together. Right? Yeah, you never draw the correlation between the two.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Would you bl would you brave a North Dakota winner to go to the theater on its 100th birthday?
SPEAKER_03I would. Yep.
SPEAKER_00I would too. Had we known about it months ago, we'd be doing it right now in Fargo.
SPEAKER_02I just want to go something after, too. Well, yeah. I'd be like, hey, look, we'll do a podcast on this whole thing. And then can we investigate after?
SPEAKER_03On the celebration, on all of it.
SPEAKER_00That would be so much fun. We need to get it press passes. That's what it is. Paranormal press pass.
SPEAKER_03There you go. That'd be cute.
SPEAKER_00Who they'll let us do it.
SPEAKER_03I doubt it.
SPEAKER_00Wey, we got time, we got two weeks to get there. No, yeah, no. We can drive there in that time.
SPEAKER_02I ain't driving, dude. You guys can drive. I'm flying.
SPEAKER_00No, I ain't flying in there. I've done that before. Won't do that one again. But yes, um, why do you guys think theaters are haunted? Movie theaters and and production theaters. Let us know. And as always, stay ghosty, my peeps, okay.
