This month, we reminisced on Memphis’s haunted past.
Through our Haunted Memphis series, we explored the ghost stories, legends, and mysteries that still echo through the city’s streets — the places where history refuses to rest and the past still has a presence.
From glowing stages and creaky staircases to flickering jukeboxes and candlelit mansions, these stories remind us that Memphis never truly lets go of its memories.
Here’s a look back at the spirits, legends, and history that shaped our Haunted Memphis series.
The Arcade Restaurant – Memphis’s Friendliest Ghost
At the corner of South Main and G.E. Patterson sits The Arcade, the oldest restaurant in Memphis and one of its most beloved. For more than a century, generations have gathered here for breakfast, conversation, and the occasional encounter with its founder, Speros Zepatos.
Employees swear they still see him, dressed in a suit, inspecting the counter he built in 1919. Shot glasses sometimes leap from the shelf, and a shadowy figure appears in the reflection of the front glass before fading away.
Whether it’s a ghost or just the spirit of tradition, The Arcade remains as alive as ever — a place where Memphis history still orders coffee every morning. Read the rest of the story here.
The Orpheum Theatre – More Than Just Mary
Everyone in Memphis knows Mary, the 12-year-old girl who died outside the theater in the 1920s and still watches from her balcony seat, C-5. But the Orpheum’s haunting runs deeper.
Staff members speak of a man in a tuxedo who appears in the lobby mirror and vanishes with a nod. Ushers have heard footsteps in empty aisles, and a weeping woman named Eleanor is said to linger in the balcony.
Even during late-night rehearsals, performers feel unseen eyes watching. The Orpheum isn’t just a haunted building. It’s a temple of Memphis memory, a place where applause and afterlife seem to meet beneath the same chandelier. Read the rest of the story here.
Earnestine & Hazel’s – The Bartender Who Never Clocked Out
Few buildings in Memphis carry more energy than Earnestine & Hazel’s, the South Main bar famous for its Soul Burgers, jukebox, and ghosts that refuse to leave.
What began as a pharmacy became a café, then a brothel, and finally the dive bar that defines the city’s late-night scene. After owner Russell George died inside the bar in 2013, the stories began.
The jukebox plays on its own, often choosing songs that match the moment. Bartenders feel someone brushing past them when they’re alone, and patrons have heard a man’s voice say “hey” from nowhere. They call him the bartender who never clocked out.
Upstairs, laughter and footsteps echo from rooms that have been empty for decades. The walls may be worn, but the stories here will never die. Read the rest of the story here.
The Woodruff-Fontaine House and Mollie Fontaine Lounge – The Lady of the Rose Room
In Victorian Village, the Woodruff-Fontaine House still glows with 19th-century elegance and the lingering presence of Mollie Woodruff, the daughter of its builder.
Visitors report the scent of roses in her old bedroom, known as the Rose Room. Guides have seen her shadow in the hallway and heard her voice say, “My bed doesn’t go there.”
Next door, her spirit lives on at the Mollie Fontaine Lounge, one of Memphis’s most atmospheric cocktail bars. Locals swear the mansion’s energy flows into the lounge, where candlelight, music, and memory mingle every night. Read the rest of the story here.
The Green Beetle – Spirits on South Main
The Green Beetle, founded in 1939, is the oldest tavern in the city. Its founder, Frank Liberto, still checks in according to bartenders who have heard footsteps behind the counter or seen bottles move when no one is nearby.
They also talk about Marilyn, a fiery spirit believed to have lived upstairs who makes her presence known when the music gets too loud. A flying glass or sliding stool usually means she’s had enough.
For regulars, the Beetle’s ghosts aren’t a scare — they’re part of the charm. Read the rest of the story here.
The Pink Lizzie Ghost Jar Mystery – Memphis’s First Haunting
In 1871, at Brinkley Female College, a student named Clara Robertson claimed to see a ghost in a pink dress. The spirit called herself Elizabeth and said she had buried a jar of gold and family papers beneath a stump in the schoolyard.
When townsmen dug where she described, they found a real glass jar filled with coins and documents. Before it could be opened, it was stolen, and Pink Lizzie was never seen again.
The story swept through the newspapers and became the city’s earliest recorded haunting — proof that Memphis has always had one foot in history and one in the unknown.
The Pontotoc Hotel – The Watchful Spirits
Built in 1906, the Pontotoc Hotel once housed traveling businessmen and artists — and a few spirits who stayed behind.
Caretakers have reported the smell of smoke when nothing is burning and footsteps moving through the hallways at night. Some even claim to see a little girl looking out from the upper windows. But unlike other hauntings, the ghosts here seem protective, as if they are still keeping watch over their guests.
A City That Never Lets Go
From candlelit mansions to neon bars, from history’s triumphs to its tragedies, Memphis carries its past like few cities can. The ghosts that wander here are not just spirits of the dead. They are reminders of how much life has been lived within these walls.
The Haunted Memphis series reminds us that our history still breathes, flickers, and hums through every streetlight and song. And maybe that is what makes Memphis so unforgettable — the way it keeps its stories close.
💀 Read every Haunted Memphis story at ThisIsMemphis.co
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