Witness Accounts of Hauntings at the Michigan Theatre, Jackson

The Michigan Theatre in Jackson opened on April 30, 1930, and the anticipation for its 100th birthday celebration in 2030 is building with each passing year.

Located at 124 N. Mechanic Street, the Michigan has always been Jackson’s top movie palace, outlasting all others. Can you name the others that fell by the wayside while the Michigan carried on? Capitol, Family, Bon Ton, Majestic, Regent, Plaza Cinemas, Westwood Mall Cinemas - the Jackson, Hillside, and Bel-Air Drive-ins - and a good handful of others.

The Michigan was the last and largest theater to be constructed in downtown Jackson, at a time when live vaudeville shows began to peter out and movies started taking over. Something else that makes the Michigan stand out is the decor, artwork, woodwork, carpeting, statues, and stained glass.

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Touring the Michigan Theatre, especially in places that non-employees aren’t supposed to go, there are remnants of the past almost-100 years. I remember shooting a TV segment at the Michigan around 1993-94. The owner showed me around and we took a look in the basement. And there, in all its glory, was a life-size, cardboard cutout of the Boris Karloff Frankenstein Monster, a promotional lobby standup from when the Michigan was showing “The Bride of Frankenstein” back in 1935. Awesome, historic find!

As for any rumors about the theater being haunted, they’ve been circulating for many years...and the Michigan is the perfect place for anything paranormal to happen.

One example that I do not subscribe to is when people claim to get a “feeling of being watched and sensing a haunting sensation”. That’s just a normal feeling anyone gets when exploring a dark, strange, old place. Some say they have been “frozen in place” - again, that’s a natural reaction, not anything paranormal.

As far as experiences, one person wrote “upstairs by the balcony entrance I took a picture of my daughter and nephew, but the picture came out with another boy’s face on him.....the pic came out with some little boy staring directly at the back of her head with a serious look, and it's not his face. I showed his mom and she said who is that, and I said it's your son! I'm not even sure I'm taking the kids back there after that.”

Another person wrote, “I went up in the balcony and looked over at the Exit doorway and saw a body figure that was translucent and misty, no face, and I got a feeling it was a man. I looked away and looked back to make sure I wasn't going crazy and it was still there.. I started screaming and it walked into the wall and disappeared after.”

As for myself, I have explored the theater many times over the decades, and yes, it is spooky down there. The coolest part – for me – are the old basement dressing rooms where the old vaudeville acts would change and prepare. No, I have never experienced any paranormal activity at the Michigan, but that does not mean there isn’t any. Many former employees and customers have their own tales of eerie goings-on at the Michigan, and I am not one to disbelieve.