“People either find our ghost stories (at The Kent Stage) fascinating, or they think we’re nuts,” said Richele Charlton, assistant director and co-owner of the venue.

Charlton, who is also the organizer of the annual Kent Ghost Walk, said there are four distinct ghosts at her theater reported by various musicians, theater groups and employees.

One is thought to be a young boy who has been seen by several theater groups.

Another is “Woody,” an old stagehand who died on Christmas Eve and seems to “watch over the theater,” Charlton said.

Another is an energy that travels from the projection booth at the back of the theater that some say “feels like a woman.”

The fourth ghost is what Charlton describes as a “grumpy old man” who doesn’t like his space invaded. She said her creepiest ghostly experience may have saved her life during a basement leak on Valentine’s Day last year.

“I went to open the (basement) door and just as my hand got to the knob, I felt someone had their hands on my back,” Charlton said. “They turned and pushed me and they continued to have pressure on my back … I was pushed across the stage, down the steps and into the lobby and then the feeling left.”

Charlton said her husband was working on a tenant’s problem with the pipes the day before and had a space heater plugged in, in the now-flooded basement.

“So if I would have gone down, I would have been electrocuted,” Charlton said. “I felt like it was one of the best Valentine’s Days ever.”

The Kent Ghost Walk, a tour of allegedly haunted places in Kent, will take place Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.

Other “haunted” places in Kent

&bull Kent Free Library

&bull Masonic Lodge

&bull Pufferbelly Restaurant and Bar

&bull Professor’s Pub

Contact general assignment reporter Tim Jacobs at [email protected].