If you've ever been alone in a darkened theatre, you know it can be a chilling, ominous feeling, even in the middle of the day. The Mid-Ohio Valley Players Theatre on Putnam Street is known as one of Marietta's most actively haunted locations.

Built in 1914, the Putnam Theatre as it was then called, was one of several theatres in the downtown area. Along with its sister theatre, The Colony, the Putnam entertained generations of audiences with films and live vaudeville acts. Today, the MOVP has lost its capacity to show films but remains active with Marietta's thriving live theatre community. Several plays and musicals are performed on its stage every year by local performers.

But when the house lights come up and the audience has left, there remains a different kind of presence in the theatre. Actors and theatre workers tell chilling tales of moving shadows in the empty projection booth, phantom theatre-goers in the auditorium, and everyday objects disappearing and appearing at random.

But perhaps the most frequent experience they relate is that of encountering an unsettling presence on the basement stairs. One can feel a rush of air past your head, a tap on the shoulder, or a faint whispering or sighing in your ear. Grown men will not go down to the boiler room alone.

Some say that it's the restless spirit of a former lighting operator. But most believe it's the ghost of Mr. Shea, a former owner of several theatres, including the Putnam and Colony Theatre across the street. In fact, some people have sworn for years that there is a secret tunnel under Putnam Street that connects the two theatres. And they say that Mr. Shea continues to travel back and forth between the two buildings, watching over cast and crew.

The existence of the tunnels has yet to be proven conclusively. Although preliminary architectural studies for the renovation of the Colony have suggested that with the pipes that run under the street, there may be a large enough crawlspace for someone...or something to make the trip.