Shreveport Municipal Auditorium

A historic venue that hosted The Louisiana Hayride country music show, launching careers of legends including Elvis Presley, Hank Williams, and Johnny Cash. Adjacent to Oakland Cemetery, which may contribute to the paranormal activity.

The Shreveport Municipal Auditorium was constructed between 1926 and 1929 as a memorial to the servicemen of World War I. Designed by architects Samuel G. Wiener Sr. and Seymour Van Os in the Art Deco style, the building became a cultural landmark long before it became known for ghosts. On April 3, 1948, a new weekly radio program called the Louisiana Hayride debuted on KWKH, a 50,000-watt station reaching 28 states. Known as 'The Cradle of the Stars,' the Hayride launched the careers of Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and most famously, Elvis Presley, who made his radio debut on its stage on October 16, 1954, earning just eighteen dollars a show. After Elvis's final Hayride appearance in 1956, emcee Horace Logan spoke the words that would become legendary: 'Elvis has left the building.'

But some believe Elvis never truly left. Witnesses report hearing echoes of cheering crowds and the strains of rock and roll drifting from the empty stage, as though the King's spirit occasionally returns to relive his earliest performances. The building's basement once served as Shreveport's city morgue, and the auditorium sits adjacent to Oakland Cemetery, the oldest cemetery in north Louisiana — a combination that paranormal investigators believe contributes to the extraordinary level of spiritual activity reported here.

The most frequently encountered spirit is a young girl in a blue dress who has been seen running through the auditorium, opening and closing doors, and playing peek-a-boo with startled visitors. She has appeared in photographs of empty seats and has been captured on visitors' video. Another well-known presence is 'Sarge,' a male entity who watches performances from the audience and has a peculiar habit of playing with women's hair, ruffling shorter styles upward while gently stroking longer hair. Staff members have also reported a phantom pianist — soft melodies played on the grand piano in the main hall with no visible performer at the keys.

The basement holds perhaps the most disturbing accounts. According to local legend, a woman went into labor in the bathrooms during a Louisiana Hayride performance and died during childbirth. Her agonized moaning is still heard echoing from below the auditorium. Security personnel and stagehands have reported hearing whispers from empty dressing rooms, laughter in hallways, and what sounds like distant applause when the building is locked and empty. A dark, human-shaped shadow figure has been seen by multiple witnesses, vanishing the moment anyone looks directly at it and leaving an overwhelming sensation of cold.

The auditorium's reputation attracted national attention from two major paranormal television programs. TAPS, the team from SyFy's Ghost Hunters, investigated in Season 9, Episode 8, titled 'The Ghost Hasn't Left the Building,' which aired in 2013. During their investigation, team members Tango and Steve spotted a woman in white in the auditorium, and several investigators heard a disembodied male voice coming from the balcony area. The venue was also investigated by the Discovery Channel's Ghost Lab team. Both teams documented equipment anomalies including sudden battery drains, temperature drops, and electromagnetic field spikes.

Today, the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium is a National Historic Landmark that continues to host live events alongside regular haunted tours. The spirits of performers, patrons, and unknown souls seem content to share the space with the living, making every visit to this Art Deco treasure a potential encounter with the other side.