Ghost Story
Berkeley is officially haunted. Ask anyone who has done a Circle Lounge close (meaning they've stayed on after everyone else has left in order to clean up after the last movies) and they will tell you that it is haunted. You could even ask some of the supervisors and they will agree.
Instance #1
Anyone who has closed in Circle more than once or twice will confirm (I know because we talk about it) that the Circle Lounge is very creepy when you're up there doing a close on your own. Everyone agrees that the creepiness is centered around the dumbwaiter room (the room next to Cinema 1 door in the lounge). Personally, if I turn out the light in the dumbwaiter room I can't stay up there for long without the hair on the back of my neck going up and fear slowly growing. It honestly feels like you're being watched, from behind the closed door! I sometimes feel that if I open the door there will be something in there waiting to attack me or something. There have been nights where I have run downstairs in panic near the end of my shift because of it. When I take down the baskets of laundry as one of the last things to be done, I can't take them back up. I just can't! I leave them in the lift for the morning people to deal with.
Sometimes I've even deliberately gone up there on my own late at night after the lights are out to do something, just to try and get over my fear, but it always drives me downstairs after a few minutes. I just can't do it.
Just tonight, the girl on close (a perfectly rational, level-headed girl) was hanging around downstairs coz she was too scared to go up and stay up there alone for the hour that she had left on her shift.
Instance #2
This is where it starts getting more interesting. A couple of months ago now, I think it was one of the 3am weekend closes, the close people were all leaving - the supervisor, the projectionist, and the close worker. The projectionist turned out the remaining lights in Circle on his way down, yet when they walked out, having set the alarm, the Circle lights were on. They were already out the door when they noticed, so rather than get back inside, unset the alarm, turn them off, reset the alarm, and lock up again, they decided to leave them as the cleaners would be in soon.
Anyway, they got out to their cars and got a call from the manager who had got a call from the security company saying the alarm had gone off. So they had to go back inside to check it out, and when they got in, the Circle lights were off again. They walked through the building, and there was no one there.
It was after this story got out that the Circle ghost started becoming more than just stories of workers freaked out late at night.
Instance #3
This happened last Friday night. It was 3am, I was the close worker; there was me, the supervisor, the projectionist, and another guy who had stayed - partly to keep me company (cheers Lyle!), partly to get a ride home. The supervisor had set the alarm and we were on our way out, when suddenly both the lights in front of candy bar and the lights in circle went on. We immediately thought of the Circle ghost but we had to check it out, so while the supervisor was unsetting the alarm, the projecitonist ran up to Circle to turn the lights out. He was up there for a minute or so and came down again saying he couldn't turn the lights off. They just wouldn't turn off. So we decided we couldn't be bothered and that we'd just leave it. The supervisor was going back in to set the alarm, when suddenly the lights all went out again. That wasn't all though. While she was setting the alarm, we heard her give a small squeal. The reason was that the locked door beside her had suddenly unlocked itself.
Instance #4
For a couple of weeks after the first instance of lights turning on and off (the one I called Instance #2) I think the ghost (or an accomplice) might have moved downstairs to the ice machine back of house (yes folks that ice in your drinks comes from a machine out back). The reason I think this is because the scoop we use to scoop the ice out of the machine and into the bucket to take it out front, which usually sits securely on top of the ice machine, developed a habit of flinging itself off the ice machine and onto the floor. The saturday night after Instance #2, I had a shift in kitchen, and I must have had to pick it up off the floor 7 or 8 times over several hours. Each time I'd place it back on in such a way that nothing short of tipping the (very heavy) machine would cause it to fall off, and each time it would end up with a loud clang in the middle of the floor.
It happened every time that I was there for the next week, and other people were complaining about it too. One of the supervisors was walking past when it happened, and she said it actually flung itself off the machine!
So yeah, there is an increasing number of people at Berkeley who believe in the Circle Ghost.
Instance #1
Anyone who has closed in Circle more than once or twice will confirm (I know because we talk about it) that the Circle Lounge is very creepy when you're up there doing a close on your own. Everyone agrees that the creepiness is centered around the dumbwaiter room (the room next to Cinema 1 door in the lounge). Personally, if I turn out the light in the dumbwaiter room I can't stay up there for long without the hair on the back of my neck going up and fear slowly growing. It honestly feels like you're being watched, from behind the closed door! I sometimes feel that if I open the door there will be something in there waiting to attack me or something. There have been nights where I have run downstairs in panic near the end of my shift because of it. When I take down the baskets of laundry as one of the last things to be done, I can't take them back up. I just can't! I leave them in the lift for the morning people to deal with.
Sometimes I've even deliberately gone up there on my own late at night after the lights are out to do something, just to try and get over my fear, but it always drives me downstairs after a few minutes. I just can't do it.
Just tonight, the girl on close (a perfectly rational, level-headed girl) was hanging around downstairs coz she was too scared to go up and stay up there alone for the hour that she had left on her shift.
Instance #2
This is where it starts getting more interesting. A couple of months ago now, I think it was one of the 3am weekend closes, the close people were all leaving - the supervisor, the projectionist, and the close worker. The projectionist turned out the remaining lights in Circle on his way down, yet when they walked out, having set the alarm, the Circle lights were on. They were already out the door when they noticed, so rather than get back inside, unset the alarm, turn them off, reset the alarm, and lock up again, they decided to leave them as the cleaners would be in soon.
Anyway, they got out to their cars and got a call from the manager who had got a call from the security company saying the alarm had gone off. So they had to go back inside to check it out, and when they got in, the Circle lights were off again. They walked through the building, and there was no one there.
It was after this story got out that the Circle ghost started becoming more than just stories of workers freaked out late at night.
Instance #3
This happened last Friday night. It was 3am, I was the close worker; there was me, the supervisor, the projectionist, and another guy who had stayed - partly to keep me company (cheers Lyle!), partly to get a ride home. The supervisor had set the alarm and we were on our way out, when suddenly both the lights in front of candy bar and the lights in circle went on. We immediately thought of the Circle ghost but we had to check it out, so while the supervisor was unsetting the alarm, the projecitonist ran up to Circle to turn the lights out. He was up there for a minute or so and came down again saying he couldn't turn the lights off. They just wouldn't turn off. So we decided we couldn't be bothered and that we'd just leave it. The supervisor was going back in to set the alarm, when suddenly the lights all went out again. That wasn't all though. While she was setting the alarm, we heard her give a small squeal. The reason was that the locked door beside her had suddenly unlocked itself.
Instance #4
For a couple of weeks after the first instance of lights turning on and off (the one I called Instance #2) I think the ghost (or an accomplice) might have moved downstairs to the ice machine back of house (yes folks that ice in your drinks comes from a machine out back). The reason I think this is because the scoop we use to scoop the ice out of the machine and into the bucket to take it out front, which usually sits securely on top of the ice machine, developed a habit of flinging itself off the ice machine and onto the floor. The saturday night after Instance #2, I had a shift in kitchen, and I must have had to pick it up off the floor 7 or 8 times over several hours. Each time I'd place it back on in such a way that nothing short of tipping the (very heavy) machine would cause it to fall off, and each time it would end up with a loud clang in the middle of the floor.
It happened every time that I was there for the next week, and other people were complaining about it too. One of the supervisors was walking past when it happened, and she said it actually flung itself off the machine!
So yeah, there is an increasing number of people at Berkeley who believe in the Circle Ghost.
posted by David | 12:35 am
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