The Spookiest Day of the year has finally arrived!
And as we dress up like ghosts, ghouls and goblins, telling many a haunted tale around a roaring fire, these fictional narratives pale in comparison to many real-life hauntings and encounters with the paranormal that send chills down the spines of even the most fearless among us.
In the metro Atlanta area, one popular excursion telling realistic and ominous ghost stories is Aurora Theatre’s Lawrenceville Ghost Tours.
Eliana Marianes has been a ghost tour guide with the Aurora Theatre for 11 years.
“So the really cool thing about the city of Lawrenceville is that it is massively haunted,” says Marianes. “It really started with the cemetery, and a super-famous paranormal investigator, Patrick Burns, once actually spent a night in the cemetery, not just by himself, but with the entire news crew of 11 Alive.”
Among the many locally-claimed haunted venues is the beloved Plaza Theater, Atlanta’s oldest and locally owned cinema. The Plaza is 84 years old and has been open every year since its founding in 1939.
Over the past few decades, many paranormal claims have been documented by a variety of people, particularly around certain areas within the theater.
Shortly after purchasing the Plaza in 2017, owner Chris Escobar was approached by a paranormal investigation team who wanted to monitor the theater overnight. After participating in the investigation, Escobar says he’s forever been changed.
“The weirdest part about it was how not weird it was. Was how human it felt,” Escobar said.
“Once it no longer became this mystery or this ghoulish thing. Once it just dawned on me, and I realized that these are just people that were on this earth… it became less paranormal, it just became more normal.”
As you partake in the many spooky activities this unique holiday offers, beware of spirits seen and unseen who may also be participating in the festivities alongside you.
You can catch the final Lawrenceville Ghost Tour tonight if you dare… more information about the Lawrenceville Ghost Tours is available here, and its Haunted Pub Crawl here.
