With Halloween only a few days away, many Venice students will turn to mainstream media in order to get a fast-fright for the Halloween season. 

However, why turn to media when our own Venice High School is oozing with paranormal lore?

One of the best-known Venice ghost stories is related to the auditorium. While many students have never stepped foot in the auditorium for one reason or another, that doesn’t mean that the stories from within the auditorium don’t come out to play during the spooky season.

Music Teacher Wendy Sarnoff recalls that she has heard things fall randomly, as well as  weird noises.

 However, besides these strange happenings, there is also a resident ghost that is rumored to be lurking within the auditorium.

“His name is Joey,” Sarnoff said. “He was a student at Venice and he was befallen by a horrible accident”.

But she also recalls how retired theater teacher Tracy Thrasher had experiences with the ghost  “I’ve been here as late as four in the morning with Joey and he’s been very friendly…..I’ve been in the auditorium by myself until three, four in the morning and lights have come on when nobody else is there. It’s kind of freaky.”

There is also the fact that Joey was in theater and was passionate about working within the auditorium, so it’s no surprise that he was attracted to haunt his happy place. 

It is said that Joey loves to play around in the auditorium while the theater students try to put on shows or rehearse. 

Maybe all those weird and unexplainable events within the auditorium are because of how old the auditorium truly is. Or….can it be attributed to Venice’s resident ghost Joey, trying to get into the theatre action?

It’s difficult to say whether or not the auditorium is truly haunted. But boy, is it fun to theorize about what’s within the elusive Venice auditorium. 

“Is it really haunted…or is it just an old building?” Sarnoff said. “I’ll let you decide.”