While online bingo hauntings are rare- and possibly impossible unless there is a ghost in the machine, stories abound about Bingo Halls past and present, that play or have played host to more ethereal punters.
With a ghostly Hooo-Harrrr-Wooo-Hooo we move to the town of McLaughlin, South Dakota- the Jackpot Bingo Hall.
It is the largest city in the Standing Rock Indian Reservation with 775 people. The Standing Rock Indian Reservation is a Dakota and Lakota reservation with the sixth largest land-area of any Indian Reservation in the United States. The city is named after James McLaughlin, a United States Indian Service Agent who is buried in McLaughlin.
Employees at the Jackpot Bingo Hall have reported hearing the ghostly sound of a baby crying when no one was there. Also, people have reported that objects like tables and chairs will move on their own, without explanation. People also report feelings of uneasiness visiting or walking past the Jackpot Bingo Hall, especially at night. The Bingo Hall is built on an Indian burial ground and this is thought to be the origin of the phenomenon. A number of employees have quit because they find the ghostly goings on unsettling! Personally speaking, I would be most upset if anyone, real or corporeal, started moving around my Bingo cards!
Mecca Bingo Hall, Rosehill - Art Deco Building
Ghosthunters regularly visit the Rosehill Bingo Hall, a magnificent 1930s Grade II listed Art Deco building that was formerly a cinema/theatre. A séance was held there by a local ghosthunting society and they were genuinely scared out of their wits by a huge bump in the night during a séance. They were there searching for the infamous spirit known as the “Grey Man” long believed to have frequented the premises. After being contacted by The Ghost Club, the Bingo hall agreed to open its doors for an overnight stay to try and get to the bottom of the mystery.
Contacting the ghost using a crystal ball, the group asked a series of questions before hearing a noise what they believed to be him. An employee at the Bingo hall, said she could identify most of the noises she heard, such as creaking doors, however when the group were near the Circle Area of the hall, she heard noises which she was unable to explain.
The employee said: "Last time I came out with the group a door slammed behind me, and this time I heard unexplained noises. I'm usually quite cynical about these things." It transpires that a former Bingo hall customer committed suicide in 1965, and the group believe he was trying to get in contact with this world again. Several of the group witnessed a bright light move quickly in a curve across one of the walls, and it appeared to have a face. At the séance the group deployed the use of a crystal ball, but previously a planchet (like a Ouija Board) had been used. A planchet is a wooden board with a pen in the middle. Each member of the group rests their finger on the edge and allow the spirit to move the board around, spelling out answers to their questions.
However the Grey Man is proving a little shy, and hasn’t been seen recently!