Introduction:
The Ghost Club were initally alerted to possible paranormal happenings at Wolverhamptons premiere night spot by an article which appeared in The AdNews on Thursday 22nd August, 2002.
Subsequent contact with the (then) ‘Atlantis’ Manager, Andy Millichamp, resulted in members of the group being invited to go along and take a look around the premises.
As the Express and Star newspaper had recently voiced an interest in running another feature on the activities of the W.M.G.C., Andy Millichamp was kind enough to give the O.K. for us to visit Atlantis in the presence of Feature Writer, Rob Davies and a staff photographer. The resulting article appeared on Friday, September the 13th 2002.
Brief Site History:
The building which now houses the Atlantis Club was originally the ‘Savoy Cinema’, which was built in 1936-37.
The plot of land on which the Cinema was built is said to have stood empty for some time prior to construction. Subsequent research into old Ordinance Survey maps of the region reveal that the area was once part of the old Technical School and, prior to that, a ‘Free Library’. (The former on the 1902, 1919 editions and the latter on the 1889 version).
In December 1960, the Savoy name was dropped and the building became ‘The A.B.C.’ (And then later ‘The Cannon’).
In October 1991, the Cinema closed down and lay derelict until 1995 when it was eventually refurbished and became the ‘Atlantis Club’. The main body of the building is still the original cinema structure (including the cellar), but the entire front of the site was demolished and remodelled during the refurbishment.
Reported Phenomenon:
Hazel Kingsnorth, Club Receptionist, is convinced that the building is haunted after she saw (what she describes as) a ‘Shadow’ and heard ‘sinister’ laughter. A third of the staff at the site claim to have experienced peculiar happenings and one of the Club cleaners is said to be absolutely terrified of the building!
Most of the potential paranormal happenings at ‘Atlantis’ centre around the basement area and Assistant Cellarman, Mark Douglas, has had a number of inexplicable experiences. He says that he has been aware of weird incidents occurring at the Club since he started working there in the February of 2001.
Doors have been heard closing of their own accord in the Cellar, along with knocking noises and, on occasion, the sound of someone ‘giggling’. The latter mentioned is described as being either female in origin, or possibly made by a male with a high pitched voice. The laughter is brief “Just a short burst and it is gone”, says Mark.
All of these sounds have occurred while Mark was completely alone in the cellar and, despite immediate investigation, he has never been able to account for them.
A number of staff members claim to have felt a ‘presence’ in the building and Mark says that he has sometimes felt uncomfortable and broken out in a cold sweat in the icy cellar.
Glasses are regularly found broken in the Club - especially in the Cellar area, Glass Room and, particularly, on the Main Bar next to the Dance Floor. Staff claim to have seen and heard the glasses shatter for no reason, both while the Club is open and after closing.
Andy Millichamp has been told that a projectionist at the Cinema hanged himself there a number of years ago. Subsequent research into the history of the site (at the local City Archives) revealed no record of any such suicide.
On October the 31st, 2004, members of the West Midlands Ghost Club paid a second visit to the site as part of a live ‘Halloween’ broadcast in conjunction with The Mander Centre and Wolf FM Radio Station. (Other sites covered that night were the Civic Hall, the Giffard public house and the Mander Centre itself).
In 2006, the group was contacted by a former employee at the old ABC Cinema, who wised to remain anonymous. The person concerned presented us with a huge, written catalogue of ghostly happenings which had allegedly been experienced by staff……
Reported incidents included: Various cleaners reportedly seeing ghostly figures inside the cinema, seeming – from their costume – to indicate old characters from the Cinemas distant past.
Incidents in the old, Boiler House - reputed to be haunted – including footsteps heard following people and, at least on one occasion, all of the lights on the stairs being turned off whilst staff were down in the basement. No other member of staff had a key.
In the Projection Rooms, the face of an old man with staring eyes appeared at one of the portholes (the glass where the film was projected through). The face appeared on the auditorium side of the glass and, if not a reflection, would have been situated some 8 foot from floor level!