Those seeking to shake up their coronavirus stay-at-home routine have some new spooky opportunities: online ghost hunting at Dickens Opera House.
PRISM Colorado Paranormal, an organization dedicated to investigating unexplained phenomena, will be hosting two investigations at the iconic venue on Friday and again on Aug. 29. On those evenings, as many as seven investigators will be present to identify, experience and record paranormal activity in the space.
Members of the public who are curious about ghost hunting are invited to join through the streaming service Twitch. They’ll be able to view the activity on camera, watch investigators ask questions, and pose questions of their own.
“Our goal is to be able to have the audience participate as much as possible by posing questions for us to ask and calling out anything they see, hear and feel,” said PRISM’s co-director and owner Audrey Maday.
As a 131-year old venue, Dickens is known for its paranormal activity.
“Some of the most amazing evidence we have ever captured has been from the Dickens,” PRISM co-director and owner Janessa Haskett said. “It’s definitely in our top five locations that we’ve been to.”
Both PRISM owners said they have experienced activity in the Dickens firsthand. In a previous investigation at the space, Maday heard a woman sobbing and asked the others in the room to speak up if they’d heard the same sound. No one responded. A recording of the event revealed that, during those moments, a second woman asked, “Is she crying?”
Haskett recalled being hit in the back by a paranormal being when she was working in the space. In addition, both PRISM owners talked about how they’ve been able to experience residual energy from the venue’s performances through the years. In two separate investigations, a participant acted out a dance that was almost a waltz.
PRISM Colorado Paranormal co-directors Audrey Maday, left, and Janessa Haskett will livestream their investigation at Dickens Opera House on Friday , Aug. 21, 2020, and again on Aug. 29, 2020.(Courtesy photo)Multiple spirits have been documented in the building by Dickens’ staff. According to the venue’s website, there are mischievous paranormal beings in the theater greenroom, where musicians hang out before performances. There’s also the spirit of a girl haunting the basement hallways, according to the site.
Maday and Haskett mentioned the ghost of a woman who died on stage. Historians believe she was an opera singer who either hung herself and her death was revealed as the stage curtain opened, or she was shot by her husband after he learned she’d had an affair.
The pair of free investigative events can be streamed through Twitch at twitch.tv/prismcolorado. The start time is expected to be between 7 and 9 p.m. To receive updates on the time, register for emails on the PRISM website, prismcolorado.com.
Donations also will be accepted at that link and any money raised will be split between supporting PRISM and compensating Dickens for revenues that were lost because of COVID-19. Donors will be entered into a raffle (prizes are yet to be announced). As of publication date, the venue’s website still shows no concerts are booked, which is one of the reasons it was available for the investigation.
Other businesses also can host PRISM investigations. Interested businesses can contact PRISM.
