HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Downtown Bangor theater whose company runs October haunted tours of its three resident ghosts
131 Main St, Bangor, ME 04401
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Performance and tour ticket prices vary by event; the seasonal Haunted Opera House Tours are ticketed separately. Check the Penobscot Theatre Company box office for current pricing.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Historic theater with multiple levels; the haunted tour requires the ability to climb stairs
Equipment
No Photos
Est. 1920 · Home of Penobscot Theatre Company · Downtown Bangor Arts Landmark · Successor to opera house lost in 1914 fire
The Bangor Opera House sits on Main Street in downtown Bangor. An earlier opera house on the site burned in 1914, and the present building rose afterward to carry on as one of the city's main performance halls. Built into sloping ground near the waterfront, the theater has the multi-level layout, backstage passages, and historic stage machinery typical of an early-twentieth-century house.
Since the late 1990s the building has served as the home of Penobscot Theatre Company, a professional regional theater that produces a full season of plays and musicals along with education programming. The company maintains the historic auditorium and stage as a working venue rather than a museum piece.
The Opera House has become one of Bangor's recognizable cultural landmarks, anchoring the downtown arts district and drawing audiences from across central and eastern Maine. Its long history as a performance space, the 1914 fire that ended its predecessor, and its continuous use under Penobscot Theatre Company form the documented backbone of the building's story, separate from the ghost lore the company itself has embraced in its seasonal tours.
Sources
Penobscot Theatre Company openly leans into the Opera House's haunted reputation, telling audiences the building is home to three resident ghosts and running annual Haunted Bangor Opera House Tours that recount their stories. The company has not publicly named the three figures in detail; they function as the building's house lore.
The most concrete recent account comes from a 2024 production of A Christmas Carol, when a young cast member, Miles Green-Hamman, reported feeling a cold hand squeeze his shoulder while standing backstage. He turned to find no one there, with other cast members too far away to have touched him. Ensemble actor Ben Layman, who leads the haunted tours, has also described his own experiences in the building. The Opera House was featured on a Season 10 episode of Discovery Channel's Expedition X, and local radio coverage has revisited the theater's ghost stories.
Because the venue itself documents and promotes the haunting through its tours, the reputation here is unusually well attested for a performance space, even if the individual ghosts remain part of company folklore rather than identified historical people.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Penobscot Theatre Company runs its own Haunted Bangor Opera House Tours, typically around October 30 and 31, led by an ensemble member. The 60-minute tour covers the stories of the building's three resident ghosts and the spaces where staff and performers have reported activity. Participants must be able to climb stairs. Book through the Penobscot Theatre box office.
The Opera House is the year-round home of Penobscot Theatre Company. Attending a mainstage production is the most reliable way to experience the historic interior of the building where the haunted reputation is centered.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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