About This Location
Originally intended as Shriners headquarters in 1928, this lavish movie palace features a mosque-like structure and ornate Moorish design. The 4,665-seat theater has been called the "Fabulous Fox" for nearly a century.
The Ghost Story
The Fox Theatre is one of Atlanta's most recognizable landmarks and one of its most haunted. Built in 1926 as the headquarters for the Atlanta Shriners club, the Moorish-Egyptian architecture was taken over by movie mogul William Fox, who transformed it into a lavish cinema that opened in 1929.
Several spirits refuse to leave the theater they loved in life. The most famous is Joe, an actor killed in a car accident on his way to star in the very first show at the Crystal Pistol Music Hall in 1967. Joe never got to perform his opening number, and his ghost has been seen at the edge of the balcony watching performances ever since. Staff report orbs floating through the hall and a man's voice singing after the building is closed for the night. Joe has also been blamed for moving props from the stage out to the railroad tracks.
A nurse named Mary still wanders the grounds near the hospital room that was built for performers when the Fox first opened. The room remains filled with original 1920s medical instruments. Roosevelt, another ghost, mans the boiler room. Perhaps most haunting is the phantom organist who plays the Mighty Mo organ when no one is around - appropriate for a theater that features one of the last remaining original "Mighty Mo" pipe organs.
Joe Patten, who volunteered to restore the Mighty Mo in the 1970s and later lived rent-free in an on-site apartment as unofficial security, may have never left either. The Ghost Hunters television show investigated the Fox and recorded unexplained EVPs, children's laughter, and lights turning on and off by themselves. Doors slam when no one is nearby, and footsteps run up and down empty halls.
The theater offers official Haunted History Tours throughout September and October, giving guests access to forbidden spaces where most ghost sightings occur.
Researched from 6 verified sources including historical records, local archives, and paranormal research organizations. Learn about our research process.
