Strand Cinema

The Strand Cinema in downtown Skowhegan opened on November 18, 1929, and has been run by Spotlight Cinemas since 2018. It is often named among the most haunted theaters in America and has been written about in several books. Reports include handprints that turn up on the screen, papers and tools that move on their own, a shadowy figure said to have thrown a piece of ceiling in the balcony, and a feeling of being frozen in place. Most stories center on two presences: a woman who is said to have died in the apartment above the theater in the 1970s and a man seen in the balcony or projection room. The phenomena are said to have begun around 1978, when the apartment was added. The theater is a working cinema, and the accounts are staff and visitor lore.