H is for Haunted Places

It is the fifth day of the A to Z Challenge.

H is for Haunted Places! How could I resist after G is for Ghosts?

Below are photos from various Ghost Tours I have taken in the past. Happy Haunting!

 

 

 

Queen Mary is located in Long Beach, California

There are what psychics call ‘hot spots’ and vortexes throughout the ship. The first class swimming pool and the dressing rooms have the most paranormal sightings.  It is believed a woman was attacked in the pool’s dressing room. Numerous psychics feel there is a negative energy that still lingers.  It has been reported a  little girl’s laughter can be heard on occasion and a forlorn girl, clutching a teddy bear, has appeared to guests and staff.  They believe she may have drowned.  At times, they have heard splashing and have seen wet footprints leading to the changing rooms.

Another sighting is of a woman and a child dressed in 1940’s clothing standing near the gate leading to the pool. (Do you notice the light energy strands in the picture? Some believe this is a spirit. We had a quite a few pictures like this. What do you think?)

One spirit said to haunt the Queen Mary on D Deck or door #13 in shaft alley is John Pedder. He was a fireman/cleaner in the number 3 Boiler Room in 1966.  For some reason on a routine drill, the eighteen year old tried to squeeze through the watertight door that closes in less than six seconds.  Some speculated that he was trying to play “Chicken” and unfortunately, it became a deadly game where he lost his life.

Haunted Jail in Bodie, California

The town jail still stands in Bodie. In 1881, the bail was set at five dollars for any resident. Joseph DeRouche was the only prisoner who escaped from the jail, but his freedom was short lived. The residents formed the “601 Vigilante Committee” and went after DeRouche. They apprehended him at Goat Ranch and returned him to town where they hanged him at midnight.

Haunted Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Rudolph Valentino was best known for his role as “The Sheik.” He was the heartthrob of the silent pictures and when he died of complications after surgery for a gastric ulcer, thousands of people attended his funeral.

On the anniversary of his death, a lady in black and wearing a veil to hide her face, brought roses to Valentino’s crypt. Though many claim to be this mysterious woman, most believe the woman was Ditra Flame.

Valentino was a friend to Ditra’s mother. Ditra had been seriously ill and in the hospital. Valentino visited the girl and brought her a single red rose. “You’re not going to die at all,” Valentino told her. “You’re going to outlive me by many years. But one thing for sure—if I die before you do, will you please come and stay by me because I don’t want to be alone either. You come and talk to me.”

Ditra did get better, while Valentino died a few years later. Ditra wanted to honor his request and brought red roses to his crypt every year. She passed away in 1984, but others have taken up the tradition of leaving flowers. Our tour guide, Kari Bible, who loves the history of Hollywood and the legends who lit up the screens, has decided to carry on the tradition of the well-known Lady in Black by leaving red roses at Valentino’s crypt.

 

Ghostly sightings: Some visitors claimed they’ve seen a ghost woman in black kneeling in front of Valentino’s tomb. Others have seen a rose suddenly appear in the vase on the wall. Some have heard footsteps when no one was there. While others have the feeling they’re being watched.

St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum in Florida

St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum is a working lighthouse serving the nation’s oldest port.  The waters around St. Augustine can be treacherous.  In the 16^th Century the Spanish built a watchtower, but it wasn’t until 1824 that an official tower and beacon was built giving Florida its first official lighthouse.

The photo on the left is downstairs in the keeper’s house. The apparitions of two girls have appeared to the staff and guests down here and at the top of the spiral stairs.

Sometimes you’ll hear laughter and children playing.  It is believed to be the spirits of Hezekiah Pittee’s two daughters, who tragically lost their lives.

On July 10, 1873, five children were playing.  They decided it would be fun to ride the railcar down the steep slope.  The railcar didn’t make the turn, but plunged into the Atlantic Ocean.  Workers tried to save them, but they only saved a boy and a girl.  Two of Pitte’s daughters, Mary (15), and Eliza (13), and a young black girl, either a servant or the daughter of one of the workers drowned.

Jerome Grand Hotel, Jerome, Arizona

In 1927, the Jerome Grand Hotel was the United Verde Hospital. In 1930, it was written up as the most modern and well equipped hospital in Arizona. However the Hospital was closed in 1950 as the mine operation began to phase out. The building stood unused for the next 44 years until the rehabilitation plans started in 1994 as the Jerome Grand Hotel.

There are three main ghosts at the hotel. There is a woman in white who roams the corridors late at night. It is believed to be a woman who died during childbirth. The baby also did not survive, and the woman searches for the child she lost.

The second is of a nurse who carries a clipboard. She's been sighted on the third floor, bending over as if there are beds and she's checking on a patient.

The third is believed to be Claude Harvey, who died in an elevator accident in 1935. He roams the hotel, including the basement. Some speculate the elevator incident was no accident and he was actually murdered.

Other paranormal experiences at the hotel include: coughing and wheezing coming from one of the rooms, ghostly lights in unoccupied rooms, and the scent of cigar and tobacco smoke.

Bird Cage Theatre in Tombstone, Arizona

William 'Billy' Hutchinson opened The Bird Cage Theatre in 1881. The Bird Cage served as a theater, saloon, brothel, and gambling house until 1889. It was open all day and all night, every day of the year. Its sordid ways earned a comment form the New York Times, describing it as "the wildest, wickedest night spot between Basin Street and Barbary Coast." There were twenty-six murders committed at the Birdcage.  It's no wonder there is reported paranormal activity.

There have been reports of talking, whispering, and singing when no one is in the theater. Others have seen an apparition of a woman singing on stage, but then she fades away.

There have been people who claim as they approach the saloon, it sounds like it is crowded with loud patrons. There are others who smell smoke and whiskey. Ghosts wearing period clothing have join in on tours. They look so real, tourists believed they are part of the fun, but find out later that there weren't any employees dressed in period clothing.

 I hope you enjoyed the tour. Have you been on a ghost tour? Do share.

Here's the list to the other A to Z Challenge participants.