Ghosts aren’t as common in Wisconsin as they are in England, but then again, even the Marshall Building in Milwaukee’s Third Ward has its legends. In Milwaukee Ghosts and Legends, local writer Anna Lardinois collects tales from across the metro area, from the benign sport-coated ghost who moves the scenery at Sunset Playhouse to the spectral child seen scampering across the tiles at Villa Terrace. “There seems little doubt that the theater is haunted,” Lardinois writes of the Modjeska, citing the top-hatted Balcony Man, a smoky presence in the gallery. She also reports a mysterious cold breeze in the lobby of the Journal Sentinel building, but the likely source for that is Gannett’s corporate management.
