Haunted Universal Studios

Did you know Universal Studios is haunted? The ghost of Lon Chaney is said to haunt stage 28 in Universal Studios Hollywood! Here is the story of Universal studios haunted stage 28.

According to studio legend, the "man of a thousand faces," Lon Chaney, the original Phantom of the Opera, is haunting his old set.

Reports say that the phantom has been seen running across the studio catwalks, mysteriously holding a chandelier that was removed years ago.

Visitors and employees to Stage 28 have long maintained that it is haunted. For years, there have been sightings by electricians, designers, carpenters, art directors and security guards of a man in a black cape who seems to come and go without warning. Those who have gotten more than just a glimpse of him say that the cloaked man is Lon Chaney himself.

In addition to studio employees, many visitors who do not know the history of Stage 28 have reported the man in the black cape. He is often seen running on the catwalks overhead. Even security guards who have laughed off the idea of a resident ghost, admit to being “spooked” by lights that turn on and off by themselves and by doors that open and close on the empty stage at night. It has also been reported one can occasionally hear ghostly voices.

It has withstood fires, earthquakes, the birth of talking pictures and the ever-increasing encroachment of studio tours. But Universal Studio's Stage 28 is best remembered for one very famous star's performance in a classic film. The star was Lon Chaney, and the film was "Phantom of the Opera."


While many studio stages have been home to some of Hollywood's most popular motion pictures, Stage 28, or The Phantom Stage as it is better known, stands alone in Hollywood history because no other stage on any studio lot has ever been named for one particular picture. Even the other Universal stages where they filmed such classics as "All Quiet on the Western Front," "My Little Chickadee," "Dracula," "Frankenstein" and "The Wolf Man" never received such a familiar denomination.

Just when The Phantom Stage got its name is unclear. Old-timers at Universal don't have an explanation, and film historians, even the former head of the studio's research department, cannot give a definite date to the naming of this famous stage. The best guess is that it was first called The Phantom Stage during the making of that classic picture. This theory is supported by Charles Van Enger, the cameraman for "Phantom of the Opera" who stated in a 1973 interview that, "we always referred to it as The Phantom Stage during production. As far as I know that's where the title came from."