american hauntings ghost hunts
NIGHT AT THE guyer opera house
lewisville, INDIANA
NEXT AVAILABLE DATE: august 1, 2025
8:00 PM TO 2:00 AM
$58 PER PERSON
Discover the history and hauntings of this early 1900s opera house and spend the late night hours searching for the many restless spirits that so many have encountered in this building. Join us for a private history tour of the theater, followed by a ghost hunt with a limited number of attendees. Perhaps you'll come face-to-face with one of the former actors or patrons from this historic Indiana opera house!
The Guyer Opera House opened in the early days of the twentieth century and was named for its original patron, Dr. Oscar K. Guyer.
The opera house is located in the small town of Lewisville, which is in Franklin County and east of Indianapolis. Over the years, it's seen its share of tragedy, including the 1893 gas explosion that triggered a fire in the downtown business district that burned most of the area to the ground. But the community recovered and a few years later, Dr. Guyer persuaded a group of local citizens to construct an opera house downtown that would appeal to the musical and cultural needs of the town.
Work began on the opera house in 1900, but sadly, Dr. Guyer did not live long enough to see opening night. He passed away in March 1901, and the doors opened without him. As the driving force behind the project, the opera house was named in his honor. His funeral was even held in the theater's auditorium.
Built on the ashes of the 1893 fire, the opera house has also seen tragedy in days past. In 1923, a young audience member -- six-year-old Newell Calpha -- was accidentally shot in the theater during the performance of a traveling "wild west show." He was watching the exhibition from the third row of the audience and was shot in the forehead. His father owned the dry goods store located on the first floor of the opera house building and he was taken there directly after the accident. There was nothing that could be done for him, and he died without regaining consciousness.
In time, opera houses fell out of fashion, and the Guyer was abandoned. It sat empty for many years before being remodeled for the first time in 1985. Since that time, it has continued to be under renovation and has also become a working theater. Volunteer actors put on performances throughout the year -- and many of them come face-to-face with their counterparts from a bygone era! Since the Guyer reopened in the 1980s, it has become known as a very haunted place!
Over the course of the last few decades, reports have begun to circulate about strange activity at the opera house, from ghostly footsteps to knocking sounds, whispers, voices in the dressing rooms, doors opening and closing, mysterious shadows, and much more. The stories say that the ghost of young Newell Calpha has been seen in the theater, as well as the apparition of Dr. Guyer, who was never able to enjoy the opera house when he was alive.
Is the opera house as haunted as the stories seem to imply? Those who have been lucky enough to have explored the place, seeking the spirits of the past, claim that it is truly haunted and many regard it as one of the most haunted locations in the state.
Brave enough to hunt for the resident ghosts? Find out during our PRIVATE ghost hunting event!