Don't be afraid. Lock the doors. Turn out the lights. Inclimb into bed. It's time for

a real building. Dead time. Stories. Stories of haunted theaters have been around as

long as theaters themselves. Next to musty mausoleums and drafty old castles, no

locations are the side of more paranormal activity than theaters. With the amount of

drama, superstition and ego associated with acting, it's no wonder. From see through

noblemen in London to screaming phantoms and Beijing, ghost are encountered in theaters

all over the globe. After all, old actors never really die. They just float around the

mezzanine for all eternity. Certain theaters like the new Amsterdam and the

Balaasco almost always produce ghost stories. The others like the Schubert and the Beaumont

almost never do. It's almost as if some theaters really had ghost and others did not. One

theater that has consistently had paranormal activity sits in Abbingdon, Virginia, the

Barter Theater.

The building that houses the Barter Theater was built in the 1830s. It was originally

the sinking springs Presbyterian Church. It was later operated by the sons of the

Temperance and became known as Temperance Hall. The building was used as a theater for

a short time but it fell into a deep state of decay by 1905. The sons of Temperance no

longer needing the structure passed it onto the town of Abbingdon. The city sold bonds

to repair the building and it became Abbingdon City Hall and was used for that purpose until

1933. That's when Robert Porterfield brought his Barter Theater to town. Although Robert's

father wanted him to become a preacher, Robert caught the acting bug and went against his

father's wishes. He attended acting school in New York and acted in several bit parts

in Broadway plays during the 1920s and 30s. The Great Depression hit Broadway hard. Several

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