
The Crump Theater in Columbus,
Indiana was built in 1874 and was originally a vaudeville/opera house.
Over the years it has been home to all kinds of entertainment as well
as serving as a movie theater for many years. Click here for more info and
pictures of this historic theater.As far as supernatural events that have happened at the Crump, it is somewhat limited. There have been eyewitness accounts of music being heard from the top of a stairway, some strange happenings concerning concession money and fire inspection certificates, and one contractor being scared in the basement area. This particular contractor vowed never to return to the Crump again. Investigators present for this night were Kenny, Greg, Shanon, Robert and a guest, Brandon. Equipment used included digital cameras, camcorders, voice recorders, thermometers, EMF detectors and both wireless and hard-wired cameras. It was a chilly night with about a half-moon. During the investigation we took base readings in the basement, stage, and balcony areas. None of the investigators felt any strange or uneasy feelings. A total of 8 hrs of video and audio were captured. One note here is that during our interview with the curator of the theater a week earlier Shanon did have a strange feeling in the upper balcony area. Findings: During the night we had three EMF spikes in the upper balcony area captured by three different investigators. Conclusion: Hoosier Paranormal believes that EMF readings do not substantiate a ghostly presence and it can only be used as corroborating evidence in accordance with other evidence. We did not capture any corroborating evidence to support the presence of anything paranormal on this night. The Crump Theater
December 3rd, 2006
This was a
co-investigation with Hoosier Paranormal and Quest Paranormal. The
night of the investigation was chilly with a full moon. Quest had
brought along around 6 members and Hoosier Paranormal had 5
investigators present that included Greg, Kenny, Randy, Shanon, and
Robert.
We decided that since the Crump is such a large place we would have Quest investigate the stage area, lower seating area, and basement. Hoosier Paranormal would set up equipment in the upper balcony, front lobby and lounge areas. Equipment used this night included digital cameras, video cameras, infrared cameras, digital and analog voice recorders, EMF sensors and temperature devices. We started at 11:15pm splitting into 2 groups, with Kenny and Greg together and Shanon, Robert and Randy together. We did not have many personal experiences except that Robert said that he got an eerie feeling one time during the night while he was changing the tapes in his video camera in the upper balcony area. Findings: Hoosier Paranormal was able to cover the front lobby on this investigation and it paid off. We were able to capture what we believe to be a total of 5 EVP’s. The first EVP was recorded at 12:47am in the upper balcony. Kenny can be heard off in the distance talking with a member of Quest. He was standing near the railing of the balcony and you can clearly hear a male voice whisper “Jump, Jump”. Randy and Shanon recorded the second EVP at 1:08am. They were sitting in the lower seating area doing an EVP session. No one else was close by. Randy asks the question and gets a response that we believe to be of a black man who sounds offended by the question. His response was “ I’m a man”. This is one of the most unusual and unique EVP’s ever recorded by Hoosier Paranormal. The third EVP was recorded in the front lobby/entrance way into the Crump at 1:40am. Kenny, Shanon, and Randy are preparing to leave the area and go up into the upper lounge area. As they are walking away we captured a male voice saying “Go Away”. This was recorded on both digital and analog voice recorders. The fourth EVP was recorded at 2:04am in the front lobby/entrance area. A couple of Hoosier Paranormal investigators are speaking in the foreground when you hear a male voice whisper into the recorder and say “ How Old” or possibly “How Is It”. We are not sure. The fifth and last EVP captured tonight was recorded at 2:10am, once again in the front lobby area. Again there a couple of investigators speaking in the foreground when you hear a whisper into the voice recorder. We are unable to evaluate what is said. Conclusion: Our 2nd investigation turned many possibilities into the spirit activity that is occurring at the historic Crump Theater. Having been able to cover an area in the front lobby/entrance way that we missed during the 1st investigation has turned some very interesting evidence. We appreciate the assistance of Quest Paranormal, as they are a professional and scientific group. This certainly will warrant future investigations, as Hoosier Paranormal believes that the Crump is active with not only residual energy but also has a few intelligent spirits still roaming the place. |
![]() These photos were taken at the Crump Theater in February, 2006. As you can see, there is plenty of dust in the old theater that reflect light back into the camera as "dust orbs". |