BROOKDALE LODGE
This hotel, with its indoor stream, secret tunnels, and
hidden rooms, was a favorite rendezvous for Joan Crawford,
Marilyn Monroe, Tyrone Power, and other movie legends. The
lodge was built in 1923 on the site of a hotel and dated
back to the 1880's. A string of bad luck caused the lodge
to shut down in 1984. In 1972, a thirteen-year-old dirl
drowned in the beutiful indoor pool and the owners decided
to close it. Without the pool to attract visitors, bookings
dropped off. Then in 1982, Clear Creek overflowed its banks
after torrential rains. The creek ran right through the
middle of the lodge, in the Brook Room, and receding
flood waters deposited mud and debris throughout the lodge.
The lodge sat deserted until 1990, when it was purchased by
LeAnn and Bill Gilbert, a lieutenant with the San Francisco
Police. They completly remodeled the place and reopened the
pool. Not long after afterward ghostly ghostly phenomena
started to occur. LeAnn and Bill had both noticed strange
things happening, but it was not until their daughter Kim
saw the ghost of a young girl run across the lobby and
disappear through a window that they relized they had a
resident ghost. They called the lost girl Sarah and blamed
her for a wide variety of effects, such as slamming doors
and turning on the jukebox or television sets. Sarah's
youthful spirit seems to have attracted other ghosts to the
Brookdale Lodge. Sarah's mother has been seen in the
Brook Room, and the ghosts of a twelve-year-old boy has
appeared in Room 46. The ghosts of a woman named Mary and a
lumberjack named George have also been detected. In fact,
psychics say that forty-nine separate entities have returned
to the Brookdale Lodge-so far.
Brookdale Lodge is located in Santa Cruz County near
Boulder Creek in the San Larenzo Valley, eleven miles
northwest of Santa Cruz on Highway 9.
Brookdale Lodge, P.O. Box 9, Brookdale, CA 95007.
Phone: (831) 338-6433
ALCATRAZ
The Miwok Indians thought evil spirits inhabited this island
and never set foot until 1859, when they arrived in shackles
as the island's first prisoners. By 1912, the army had built
the largest reinforced concrete structure in the world: a
huge fortress that would later house the nations most
dangerous criminals. In 1963, the island was taken over by
the National Park Service; only the ghosts of ots tormented
inmates remain. Clanging sounds, screams, and crying can
sometimes be heardin Cell Block A. Disturbances in Cell
Block C became so frequent that the park service called in
psychic Sylvia Brown to try to figure out what was
happening. She made contact with the spirit of a man called
Butcher, who resisted all her efforts to calm his violent
soul. Prison records confirmed that Abie Maldowitz, a mob
hit man with the nickname of Butcher, was killed by another
prisoner in the laundry room of the cell block. In Cell
Block D, four cells are thought to be haunted. Strange
voices have emanated from Cell 11, 12, and 13 there. Even
in the summer months, Cell 14-D feels ice-cold, and some
visitors have been overcome by emotion in one corner of the
cell. This was the tiny cell where killer Rufe McCain was
kept in solitary confinement for over three years.
Sometimes the sounds of banjo playing are reported coming
from the deserted shower room, where Al Capone frequently
played the instrument.
Boats to Alcatraz island leave every few hours from Pier 41
in San Francisco. Call (415)546-2700 for tour information.
TOYS R US
This modern toy store was built in 1970 and has been haunted
ever since. Employees first thought someone was scattering
roller skates and books throughout the aisles as a practical
joke, but when they started hearing voices and being touched
by phantom hands, they asked manager Judy Jackson for help.
She discovered that customers had also been reporting
strange things: faucets that turned themselves on after
being turned off, and invisible hands tapping their
shoulders or stroking their hair. Assistant Store Director
Jeff Linden was having a hard time with employees who were
frightened to go in some areas of the store alone. Acording
to some workers, objects were flying twenty feet through the
air and hitting them. Finally, psychic Sylvia Brown was
called in to investigate. The medium contacted a presence by
the name of Johnny Johnson, who worked on a ranch that had
existed on the site of the store. She discovered that
Johnny was mentally impaired and came to be known as
Crazy Johnny by ranch hands. In 1884, he hit his leg with
an ax while cutting wood and bled to death near a well on
the property. Records showed that a well did exist beneath the
store indicated by Johnny's ghost.
Sunnyvale is west of San Jose, near junction of U.S.
Highway 101 and highway 237. The Toys'R'Us store is at
130 East El Camino, Sunnyvale, CA 94087.
Phone: (408) 732-0331.
WINCHESTER HOUSE
Sarah Winchester started building this house in 1884 and
never stopped. She was living in New Haven, Connecticut,
when her husband and only son died within months of each
other. In an attempt to contact her lost loved ones, she
went to Boston medium Adam Coons. He contacted her husband,
who asked Sarah to build a house for all the spirits of
people killed by the rifle that bears the Winchester name.
She traveled west and came upon an eight-room farmhouse
being built in the Santa Clara Valley in California.
Immediately she knew it was the right place and bought the
entire forty-acre farm. Work continued on the house around
the clock for the next thisrty-eight years. She eventually
spent six million dollars and and ended up with a house of
700 rooms, 950 doors, and 10,000 windows. She had a special
room for seances, called the Blue Room, where she recieved
building plans direct from the spirit world. Every night at
midnight, 1:00 A.M., 2:00 A.M., a large bell in the bell tower
rang to summon spirits. To discourage evil spirits from
entering her home, she built many blind passageways and
based much of the contruction on the number thirteen. She
even slept in a different bedroom every night to keep one
step ahead of them. She was convinced the evil spirits had
found her the 1906 earthquake leveled the upper stories of
her mansion. Only 160 rooms remained, and she boarded up
the bedroom where she had slept that night. On the other
hand, Sarah treated good spirits royally. She held regular
banquents in her lavish dining room, where servants set out
five-course meals on thirteen solid-gold plates and cutlery.
The only guests were herself and twelve invisible ghosts.
Real people rarely set foor in her home, and she even
turned away such notables as Theodore Roosevelt and
Mary Baker Eddy. One of her few guests was Harry Houdini,
who never spoke of his single visit to Winchester House.
Sarah died in September 1922 and bequeathed her estate to
a niece with the instructions that "the ghosts continue to
be welcomed and provided for." Guided tours of the house
have been offered since 1923. Several famous psychics have
contacted ghosts here, and staff members have seen moveing
balls of light and a gray-haired female apparition floating
through the halls. Visitors have heard organ music,
whispering voices, and slamming noises. The management of
Winchester House maintains a file of affidavits by
witnesses unusual events.
Follow Highway 17 into San Jose and turn onto Stevens
Creek Boulevard, then go west to Winchester Boulevard.
Winchester House is at 525 South Wenchester Blvd, San Jose,
CA 95129.
Phone: (408) 247-2101
WILLARD LIBRARY
This Gothis library building was not considered haunted until 1936,
when a custodian quit after repeatedly encountered the appartion of a
lady in gray in the basement. Since then, janitors, employees, and
patrons of the Willard Library have all reported sensing the elusive
ghost, sometimes only a cold spot or the odor of perfume. The Lady in
Gray has been encountered near the restrooms, near the elevator, and in
the Childrens Room, which was moved to the basement in the 1940's.
Margeret Maier, who served as children's librarian until her death in
1989, saw the ghost repeatedly in the 1950's. When the Chrilren's Room
was remodeled in 1985, Maier insisted that the Lady in Gray came home to
live with until the remodeling was completed. Maier's sister and nephew
both reported seeing the apparition in her home. The Lady in Gray was
later caught on a security camera placed near the restrooms at the
library. The Willard Library first opened in 1885, and the female
apparition is always dressed in the fashion of that time. In 1992, a
child reported seeing two ghosts in the Children's Room. She described
Margeret Maier sitting in a peacock chair. Standing behind her was the
figure lady in Gray.
Willard Library, 21 First Ave, Evansville IN 47710
Phone: (812) 425-4309
MYRTLES PLANTATION
Many ghosts roam the halls of this picturesque home, built in 1796 by
General David Bradford. There have been ten murders in the house, plus
at least one suicide. A frequent visitor is the ghost of Cleo, a former
slave hung for murdering two little girls. General Bradford's son-in-law
Clarke Woodruff cut off the black woman's ear for eavesdropping, and she
took her revenge by mising oleander into the children's birthday cake.
Another ghosly guest is attorney William Winter, who lived here from
1860 to 1871. He was shot by a stranger on his front porch. The lawyer
staggered into the house and made it up seventeen steps of the stairway
before he collapsed and died. His ghost still plods up those seventeen
stairs. Ghosts from the slave graveyard on the property report to chores,
and the ghosts of the two children poisoned by Cleo play on the verandah.
One ghost, dressed in khaki pants,is said to meet visitors at the gate
and tell them the plantation is closed. Jane Roberts, a psychic who
investigated the house, said that walking into the parlor was like
walking into a crowded cocktail party full of departed spirits.
Frances Kerman, who now runs the former plantation as a bed-and-breakfast
inn, says the ghosts have proved to her the reality of life after death.
The two-story wood-frame bed-and-breakfast inn is three miles north of
St. Francisvill on Highway 61.
Myrtles Plantation, P.O Box 1100, St. Francisville, LA 70775.
Phone: (504) 635-6277
DEFEO HOUSE
The famous and controversial "Amityville Horror" case took place in this
house. One night in November 1974, twenty-four-year-old Ronald DeFeo
shot and killed his parents, two brothers, and two sisters. DeFeo told
police he heard voices that ordered him to kill his family. He was
sentenced to six consecutive life terms in prison. In December 1975 the
house was purchased by George and Kathy Lutz. Within a month, the Lutzes
abandoned the house and moved in with friends. Rumors started to spread,
and the news media promoted the idea that the house was possessed by
evil spirits. In 1977, the Lutzes commisioned Jay Anson to write
The Amityville Horror, which was made into a hit movie and four
sequels. However, investigators were unable to confirm any of the
spectacular claims made by the Lutzes. In all likelihood, the Lutzes
moved out because they relized they could not afford the mortgage
payments and then capitalized on the sensational publicity. The ASPR
investigated the site and found no evidence of paranormal activity.
The present owners of the house have reported nothing unusual.
Amityville is at the junction of Routes 27A amd 110 in soutwest
Long Island. The house is a private residence, at:
112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, NY 11701