Scary Geek » Haunted Houses and Places

Haunted Places – Pantages Theater

scarygeek — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:07:14 +0000

When I was in elementary school I remember we had a field trip to the Pantages Theater in Hollywood, California. I remember the interior was really quite beautiful, and made me think of a castle, or palace. The Pantages is located at 6233 Hollywood, Blvd, and yes, it is haunted. The theater was originally completed in the 1930’s, and was a stage theater. In 1949, it was purchased by Howard Hughes, and it became part of old RKO Pictures, and it was turned into a movie screen theater. In 1967, it was purchased by Pacific Theaters, and was then turned back into an all stage theater, and the Broadway Touring Company performed there. There is a reason for me giving you all of this information before we talk about the hauntings, and I am getting to that…..lol.

Since 1932, there has been a woman spirit that visits when the theater is dark and quiet. She is believed to be a woman who was a patron, and who also had dreams of becoming a performer, died during one of the performances. They say her singing can be heard, day or night. Once, during a performance in 1994, her voice was picked up during a live performance, and they said she was singing along with the performers.

Howard Hughes, supposedly haunts the second floor in and around what used to be his office, and is now a large conference room. Employees have reported cold spots, and sudden passing of air, like someone walking by. Twice, there have been reports of a tall male entity, walking around the corner to what used to be his office, and sometimes there is even the scent of a smoke.

Alexander Pantages, was a very gentlemanly man, and his ghost is said to have helped an older employee of the theater, after she fell down in the theater when it was dark, and she could not see. Apparently, he took her by the arm and escorted her to the door and when she turned the lights on to thank him, there was no one to be found.

I did not experience any paranormal activity while I was there, but it sure would be fun to go back, and see what I could find now.

Haunted Places – Calico Ghost Town

scarygeek — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 23:43:34 +0000

When I was a little girl, my family and I went to the Calico Ghost Town, on more than one occasion. I think my dad liked to walk with the ghosts…lol. It was fun, and I remember running around and touring the area. Calico Ghost Town was founded in 1881, and isan old silver mining town, located about 10 miles north of Barstow, California. The town was purchased by Walter Knott, the owner of Knotts Berry Farm, in 1950. He later dedicated the town to the city of San Bernardino, and it is now a County Regional Park.

They used to have a 90 minute guided ghost tour through the town, but I am not sure if they still have one or not. It has been at least 25 years since I have been there. They used to have them on Friday and Saturday nights, and they were taken after it got dark. There have been reported sightings of apparitions and shadow people during tours and not. I don’t really remember any events or encounters during the time that I was there, but I do remember the “feeling”, you know that one that you get when there is an energy trying to drain your own….lol.

Calico is a pretty neat little town, if you are ever close by, it is kind of a fun place to visit. There have been reports of voices, as well as scents and sounds of a horse in the that used to be where the stage coach stopped. Wow, a ghost horse…..haven’t heard of that one yet.

Since I have started writing about my paranormal experiences, and since my awareness has seemed to increase, I have been wanting to go back to all of those places that I visited as a child. It would be fun to revisit those places that claimed to have been haunted. Calico would be a very fun place to take my own kids, and see what kind of experiences we can have. I plan on going back to the West Coast some time in the near future and will be making an effort to visit these places so that I can write about my own experiences. Well, if you have any Calico Ghost Town stories you would like to share, I would love to read them and maybe even post them on my site, with your permission of course! Email them to lisa@scarygeek.com. Thanks! Happy Ghost Hunting!

Haunted Places – Leonis Adobe House

scarygeek — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 04:59:26 +0000

One of the most haunted houses in the Los Angeles County, is the Leonis Adobe House. This house is not like any other haunted place I have written about. This house is haunted by a woman named Espiritu Chujilla, who just so happens to be my great-great-grandmother.

The Leonis Adobe House was built in 1844, and is one of the oldest surviving homes in the area. It is located in what is now Calabasas, California. It was registered with the The National Register of Historic Places in 1975, and now serves as a museum.

Leonis Adobe, acquired the house in the mid 1800’s. He purchased half of the property from its dying owner, but the second half he acquired by marrying a widowed mission Indian named Espiritu Chujilla. She lived with Leonis in the house for 30 years, until 1889 when he was killed after suffering from injuries received when he was run over by his own wagon. His Will was read soon after his death, and in it, he denied Espiritu as his wife, and referred to her as his “Faithful Housekeeper.” The property was worth $1,000,000.00 at the time of his death, he left Espiritu $10,000.00, and left the remaining property to his siblings. There was a 15 year legal battle over the estate, and Espiritu suffered greatly. Having no money, she was forced to eat what she could find or hunt down, sometimes eating the acorns that she picked off of the ground. Even though several witnesses testified that Leonis acknowledged Espiritu as his wife, his siblings wanted the estate. She even showed them the grave of their only daughter who died before adulthood. His name was on the grave, identifying him as her father. Anyway, she ended up being awarded half of the estate, but was taken advantage of by lawyers, and lost all of the property by bogus lawsuits. Espiritu lived in the Leonis Adobe house until her death in 1906, at which time her son, by her first marriage, moved his family into the home.

The house was named one of the most haunted places in Los Angeles, and was featured on the British television show “Most Haunted” in 2005. Many of the people that work and visit the house have reported having paranormal experiences. There have been reports of very clearly heard voices on both levels of the home, but when checked, there is never anyone to be found. A shadow figure of a woman on the upstairs balcony has been reported seen by passers by. There was even a report of a woman who was standing on the balcony, who was pulled back by an invisible set of hands, at the exact time that the balcony collapsed. Leonis himself, has been seen walking his dog, and even on his deathbed. Footsteps on the upper floor and stairways, and a strong smell of soap, are always a commonly reported experience.

I honestly can’t wait to take my family to the house. I am looking forward to taking some good pictures and maybe even asking Espiritu to take one with me. If you have any stories to share, please email me at lisa@scarygeek.com. I would love to read them, and with permission, post them to my site.

Haunted Places – Roosevelt Hotel

scarygeek — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:44:09 +0000

I had the opportunity to visit and stay at the Roosevelt Hotel, while attending an employee Christmas Party some time in the 1990’s. It is a beautiful, 12 story, luxury hotel that is located in the middle of Hollywood, at 7000 Hollywood Blvd, and was opened in 1927. The hotel received a $12 million dollar make over in 1984, and if you ever get a chance to visit the area, and you can afford to stay there, you should. Especially if you enjoy having ghosts for room mates.

The very first Academy Awards Banquets were held in the Blossom Room of the Hotel. It is said that there are several ghosts that frequent the hotel, and sightings of partial and full apparitions, as well as shadow figures, are not uncommon among visitors and staff. During the filming of “From Here to Eternity” in 1952, actor Montgomery Clift, spent three months in room 928. Visitors and staff have said that they can smell his cologne and hear his footsteps as he paces the hallways of the 9th floor. He has also been known to play the trumpet which has also been heard.

The staff of the Roosevelt report that they receive phone calls from unoccupied rooms. They also have been called to assist hotel guests when they are mysteriously locked out of their rooms from the inside, and if you look out at the pool at night you might catch a glimpse of an apparition taking a swim. Staff have even reported being pushed and touch by something while they were working.

There is a ghost that manifests itself to look almost lifelike, and when seen by someone new, can be mistaken for a real child. They say she is about the age of 5 or 6, and that she sometimes interacts with her surroundings, wanting to know where her mommy is, and asking questions of visitors or staff. They say her name is Caroline, and she can sometimes be seen sitting by the fountain and she is crying.

Some of the other reported experiences are from staff that have seen images in mirrors of Marilyn Monroe. Unfortunately, when I was there I did not have any paranormal experiences. It would be fun to go back there some day and stay in room 928.

Haunted Places – Alcatraz Prison

scarygeek — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:10:18 +0000

When I was a child, I had an aunt and uncle that lived in Santa Clara, California. We often visited them, and when we would, we always went to San Francisco as part of our trip. My parents liked to take the tour boat that went around Alcatraz, and I remember it like it was yesterday. I also remember, a very scary helicopter ride over Alcatraz, that turned out to be more fun and interesting than scary.

Alcatraz Prison is located in the middle of the San Francisco Bay, on Alcatraz Island. The water surrounding the island is known for its extremely cold temperatures and strong currents, which made it almost impossible for a prisoner to escape without drowning, and making it an ideal place for a prison. Construction of the prison began in 1859 and continued through 1912. In 1933, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, declared Alcatraz a Federal prison that would be home to some of the most hardened and most problematic prisoners in its system. There were many incidents of suicide, murder, and violence within the walls of Alcatraz, and these incidents resulted in many more residual energy imprints left behind for us to experience.

Alcatraz Prison is now a museum, and a National Park, and there have been numerous reports of experiences by Park officials as well as visitors. Silvia Brown, a well known psychic/medium, with her well known Spirit Guide Francine, have also been invited guests of Alcatraz, and a she even performed a seance in an attempt to free some of the souls imprisoned within the walls of Alcatraz today. Park officials have reported hearing voices and screams in what used to be the Hospital ward. There have been reports of footsteps, voices, screaming, and crashing sounds coming from both Blocks A and B. The stressful and traumatic events that took place within the walls of Alcatraz have left intense impressions, some of the worst felt in the area of 14D, where the ”steel boxes” were kept. These steel boxes deprived a prisoner of almost all of his sensory stimulation, and I can only imagine the traumatic experience that would have been for any length of time.

In 1963 the old prison buildings began to crumble, probably as a result of the weather and elements of the San Francisco Bay, and the prison was closed. Today, you can take a guided tour of the prison, and walk around the prison grounds. I hear that the grounds and the views are breathtaking. I hope that someday I will be able to go back to Alcatraz, visit the museum, or take the guided tour. Maybe, I could even take a few really good pictures.

The Faces of Belmez – Video

scarygeek — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 20:12:07 +0000

On August 23, 1971, in a small town called Belmez, began one of the most well documented hauntings in the world. Maria Gomez-Pereira noticed an unusual formation on her kitchen floor. She watched each day as the formation became an image, the image of a woman. Maria’s husband decided that he would take a pick axe tore out the cement floor. He then replaced the floor with more cement and they waited. Things returned to normal, and then just over a week later the face almost instantaneously reappeared on the kitchen floor. Soon, Maria and the Faces of Belmez, grabbed the attention of curious people, and paranormal investigators who came to the home to see the faces. Soon, the Belmez city council then became involved and decided that they should dig up Maria’s kitchen and excavate the earth beneath it, in an attempt to find the reason for this strange phenomena. What they would find, would shock the small town of Belmez. Buried almost nine feet under her kitchen were the skeletal remains of not one, but numerous headless bodies in a pile, and some of the remains were determined to have been dated back to the 13th century. They were removed and the kitchen floor was re-cemented, but it did not solve their problem.

The Pereira’s then noticed that the face reappeared, but this time there were also other faces starting to appear. Soon they called in experts to investigate the phenomenon. They were able to take a sample of the floor and examine it, and it was determined that there had been no evidence of paint or dyes. Once they were through with their examination they sealed the kitchen with wax on all windows and doors. The floor was covered with as well, and they made sure that no one could tamper with the evidence. The kitchen went untouched for a period of three months, and then the experts returned to reexamine the room. What they found was that the faces had evolved, and had even moved from their original places. In 2004, a group of investigators took EVP recordings of the room, and found that they had recorded voices crying, and one spoke directly to Maria and said, “I want to leave.”

There has been some reports that the Belmez Faces are a hoax, but it has not been verified. Maria Gomez-Pereira has died since, and the faces remain. Here is a video I found on YouTube, that shows you some of the faces that appeared during the time of the investigation. Watch them and make a decision for yourself. I am not sure that the Belmez City council did not know what they would find when they excavated the ground beneath her floor, maybe they did. Also why would this poor woman and her husband create such a hoax in the first place? Well, you decide. Enjoy!

True Ghost Story Sent in by a Friend-Another Ghost on Fenton Street!

scarygeek — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:21:00 +0000

Apparently my house was not the only house on Fenton Street that was haunted by ghosts! This story was sent in by Margie B. a friend of mine who also lived on Fenton Street when she was 12. Here is her story:

Well one night I was woken up ….I thought I saw my my mom walk by my door. I always slept with my door open so the bathroom light could come because my little sister was scared of the dark and she would only fall asleep with it a light coming into our room (did i mention she was 2yrs old and i was 12yrs old)…. well anyway, I got up because my mom doesn’t usually get up so late. (i don’t think) .. I looked at the clock and I think it was almost 3am. As I walked to my door I looked down the hallway to the front entryway where the front door was. There I saw a shadow figure turn left towards the kitchen/dinner area. I walked down towards the entry way and flipped the the lite on to the kitchen. I walked about a 2 or 3 steps and I saw the shadow go in to the living room. So I followed it and as I walked around the couch I saw the shadow go into the entry way to the front door. As I followed the shadow I would turn the lights on as I went. For some reason I felt safe in the light. This house was somewhat strange at night and even though we lived right in front of the street lights the house was always pitch dark at night. Even with the curtains my mom bought to let in light it was still dark during the day. The hallway had a mirror in the hallway and a door that closes off the entry way so that no one can go to the bedrooms if you didn’t want them to. I looked down the hallway past the entry way but the door was closed. I don’t really remember if I closed it or not so I walked to it but something told me to leave it closed. It was really dark in that hallway I thought to myself, but the lights where on so I felt safe. I retraced my steps and shut off all of the lights as I went. When I came to the hallway I opened the door just a bit and flipped the switch. It felt really cold in the hall but I walked over to my mom and my step dads room. The door was closed so I opened the door and realized my mom had been sleeping the whole time. Then I heard something behind me and I turned quickly. Nothing was there that I could see but I felt very scared. Then I remembered that I still had to turn off the hall light before I went into my room. So I opened my door that I did not remember closing. As I did this I did something I normally never do especially at night. I looked into the mirror and saw something. It was a face and it seemed to float out from in the mirror. I felt frozen but I knew that if I did not move quickly, what ever that thing was, it was going to hurt me. Well, I wasn’t about to stand there just looking, so I ran into my room, closed the door, and jumped into my bed. I covered my head like all kids do. Then the light from the bathroom turned on and I saw something walk past my door. I could see the shadow walking past and stop in front of my door. It started to turn the knob and I realized I hadn’t locked the door. So I screamed “YOU CANT COME IN, GO AWAY!!” The door started to shake as if someone was trying to get in and the door knob just shook back in forth. I fell asleep with the covers over my head and in the morning I asked my mom why she was walking around the house trying to scare me. She looked at me puzzled and told me she hadn’t been up at all last night . I never said anything about the face in the mirror, but several years later my mother and I were talking about the house on Fenton. She asked if I had seen anything in the house and I told her I didn’t like the face in the mirror. She looked surprised by my answer and said, “You saw the face?” I told her ”Yes” and that is why I slept with my door closed. She said she was afraid of it, and thought that it would hurt someone, but that she thought that it only showed itself to her!!!

San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge – Ghost From the 40’s

scarygeek — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:33:18 +0000

If you like a ghost hunt and are in the San Francisco area the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge is home to one of the most sighted ghosts in California. It is said that in 1948 a man was driving on the bridge and ran out of fuel. The car stalled and he had to walk to a phone. As he was walking he was struck by a car and was killed. His apparition can be seen on the upper westbound deck. Most people that have seen him don’t know that they have seen a ghost because he just blends in with the crowd. They say when you see him he looks real and if you try to look at him directly he will disappear. Look for a man dressed in 40’s style raincoat and hat. If you see him let me know.

Source:

Encyclopedia of Haunted Places, Jeff Belanger

Haunted House in Jerome, Arizona-Jerome Grand Hotel

scarygeek — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:33:14 +0000

The Jerome Grand Hotel is a restored 30,000 square foot hospital building from the early 1900’s and is considered Verde Valley’s highest public building. The Hospital closed in 1950 after 23 years of service to the residents of Jerome, Arizona. Jerome is a hot spot for ghosts and the Jerome Grand Hotel is no exception. It has been said that in the 44 years the the hospital was vacant people could hear the elevator running even though it was empty. The building was purchased in 1994 and restored to its current state as the Jerome Grand Hotel. There have been witnesses to the footsteps in the hallways, poltergeist activity in the lobby, and many other paranormal experiences. The hotel itself offers Ghost Hunting tours where they provide EMT meters, IR thermometers, and even digital cameras to hotel guests only. So if you are interested in visiting the Jerome Grand Hotel, here is the current information:

The Jerome Grand Hotel

P.O. Box H

200 Hill Street

Jerome, AZ 86331

928-634-8200

For general information you can email: jghfrontdesk@yahoo.com

Source:

www.jeromegrandhotel.net

Encyclopedia of Haunted Places, Ghostly Locales from Around the World, by Jeff Belanger

Think We Have it Figured Out!

scarygeek — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:24:13 +0000

Last night during dinner with the kids we had a discussion regarding our latest experiences at the house. It seems Jacob has been holding information for some time now. He said that his sister has been talking in her sleep more and breathing funny at times. He also said that he feels and sees things a lot more than he makes known. We have all been talking to other people about these experiences too, and have come up with some interesting theories as to why this is happening to us. It seems Sera has been reading a book series called “Wicked” and the authors of this book have done some pretty extensive research on some very old witch covens and have put into print some extremely powerful spells. Not knowing what she was doing my daughter has read these books three times each. There are some spells contained in these books that call on demons as well as good spirits and when a reader gets into the reading they don’t realize how intently they are reciting these spells. Well, we decided that this could very well be the problem and so decided that we would go home and burn all three books. Now I don’t normally believe in burning books, but in this case we had to take a stand against whatever these books have brought into our home. So we burned them and used our protection spells during the burn. It felt great. Sera said that the books were screaming at her and she was shaking, and believe it or not, one of the books just would not burn…Jason had to take a torch to it. We all felt so much better when they were gone. We will definitely be more careful about the literature that is brought into our home. The thought that there is a group out there that is determined to bring more demons into the world by circulating books that contain spells for so many people to read and to create such a powerful calling is one of the scariest thoughts I have had yet…..Please be careful what you read. Last night the kids seemed to sleep better than they had in a long while. We are going to continue to fight back with positive thought and prayer. We will let you know how it goes.