CENTRAL CITY - The 2025 Haunted History fundraiser, the third annual, began on Saturday, October 11, with a short introduction from Megan Quilliam, Central City Opera’s Director of Development, who welcomed the guests. 

Tickets cost $150, and the sold-out event had 25 guests. The night opened with drinks and appetizers inside the Teller House, including two signature cocktails: Dirty Shirley’s Ghost with blueberry “eyeballs,” and Teller’s Spiced Apple Cider Margarita with a cinnamon-sugar rim. Beer, wine, and sparkling water were also provided.

After everyone was cozy with food and drink, Quilliam called for a toast: “Events like this keep our history alive. To old buildings, to new friends, to the ghosts who linger, and the patrons who preserve.”

Teller House history

Eric Chinn, Director of Historic Properties, began the tour in the main room, explaining how the Teller House, built in 1872, was once considered “the finest hotel between Chicago and San Francisco.” 

He told a ghost story from when he briefly lived in the Teller House. During the pandemic, he turned part of the building into an apartment, and one night, he saw a woman with no feet float between two sconces. But then she vanished. “I just stood there and said, ‘Do it again!’” he recalled.

The Face on the Barroom Floor

In the barroom, Chinn described how Anne Evans bought the Teller House in 1935 for $6,500 and hired artist Herndon Davis to restore its frescoes. After a long night of drinking, Davis painted the “Face on the Barroom Floor,” a face that turned out to be that of his own wife, Juanita, who was active in the temperance movement. This fact was not discovered until Davis’s deathbed confession. “The irony is rich,” Chinn remarked. 

History buff Chinn then recalled a 1960s tenant couple who, after selling off antiques from the Teller House to cover the rent, reported that the wife was choked by invisible hands and the husband suffered a mysterious case of blunt force trauma to his skull.

The warning: “Don’t take anything out of this building that doesn’t belong to you,” Chinn said.

Upstairs opera performance and hauntings

After we ascended the grand staircase and toured a few rooms of the Teller House, we entered the Rouge Room.

As we moved through the lavish antique rooms, a figure appeared. Mackenzie Laun, a soprano, Denver native, and touring artist, wore a flowing white dress and ghostly makeup, her red palms pressing a dagger to her chest.

She sang high coloratura notes, her voice unfolding a haunting story. The legato performance captivated the audience. At the final note, the dagger dropped to the ground with a thud. The crowd applauded, wearing wide grins.

Quilliam joked, “Did you think we would let you come to one of our events without a little opera?” 

An impromptu mini recital came as an added surprise. It included two more arias from tragically dead opera heroines: "Je veux vivre" from Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette, and "Chi il bel sogno di Doretta" from Puccini’s La Rondine.

As we moved further into the notoriously haunted Teller House, Chinn retold a story about a former opera director practicing piano late at night, only to look up and see a room full of people watching him. He turned off the lights, and when he looked back, they’d vanished into the hallway.

We reached the fourth floor and entered the area leading to the costume closet, which houses hats, gowns, uniforms, and props. Some are decades old. 

Chinn said the fourth floor has a reputation for being haunted; performers always travel in pairs when retrieving costumes. “No one likes to go alone,” he said, matter-of-factly.

Opera House and the ghost light

At the Opera House, the tour got a peek at the backstage , where Chinn explained the tradition of the ghost light—the single bulb left onstage overnight. 

“It’s partly for safety,” he said, “but mostly out of respect for the spirits believed to inhabit every theater. The light keeps them company and keeps the living safe.” Bathed in that lone glow, guests went quiet as they viewed the empty opera house.

Masonic Lodge 

The final stop on the tour was Central City’s Masonic Lodge (Central Lodge #6). This lodge is historic: it’s said to be Colorado’s oldest continuously operating Masonic Lodge room, with meetings held in that same room since 1865. 

Chinn let everyone know it would be a good idea to “not bring any of the spirits home” by saying a few words to that effect. The crowd fell to a hush as everyone looked at each other, with a mix of concern and amusement. The group then descended the outside stairs, back to the Teller House across the street.

Scott Finlay, President and CEO of Central City Opera, said a few words about the importance of preserving historic buildings and thanked attendees for participating.

Tarot card readings

Back at the Teller House, Quilliam offered tarot card readings to those brave souls interested in communing with the spirit world. Adept at the art of divination, she employed two decks for the spellbound seekers. 

Looking ahead

The Central City Opera coined the haunted history tour as a “dream” event, allowing participants to become sponsors of the cause and witness the opera “behind the scenes.” 

The spooky event aligned with their mission: promoting the arts, preserving history, and keeping the dream of opera alive in Central City for years to come.

Stay up to date with CC Opera’s upcoming dream events by visiting their website at centralcityopera.org/dream-events.