From spooky to spectacular, Southern California has its fair share of historical Halloween haunts in and around Tinseltown.
By Karma Christine Salvato
Staff Writer
Poltergeists, paranormal activity and things that go bump in the night may be more common than one might think in Los Angeles and its surrounding areas.
Buildings and ships from here to San Diego have all been reported to be haunted.
The Queen Mary was a luxury, transatlantic ocean liner for the well to do and served as a troop ship during World War II, with its major route being between England and the United States. Retired from service and sold in 1966, this magnificent ship dropped a permanent anchor at Pier J in the Port of Long Beach.
According to the Ghosts and Legends of the Queen Mary Web site, www.ghostsandlegends.com, various manifestations such as cold spots, phantom gusts of wind, objects moving or disappearing and unexplainable electrical problems have been reported on the ship. It 
has also been said the clanking of chains, the banging of oil drums and footsteps echoing in the darkness can be heard on occasion. Some people even hear glasses clink and laughter ring out in the dead of the night, perhaps as part of a continuing party of a bygone era.
Other specific sightings include a tour guide who spied a man with a beard, dressed in overalls, coming up the stairs behind her. While she waited for this lost tourist at the top of the stairs in order to direct him to an exit, he vanished. Another male apparition, donning a white boiler room uniform, has been spotted working diligently on the ship’s engines.
The cooks and busboys of the Queen Mary’s eating areas have witnessed a man, dressed as a ship’s cook, enter the kitchen and then vanish. They have also seen self-moving dishware, lights that turn on and off by themselves and kitchen utensils that disappear. This ghostly cook is believed to be the one who was thrown into the ship’s oven during a legendary riot over bad meals that took place when the Queen Mary was being used as a troop ship.
And in the pool area and the balcony above it, security guards have seen an apparition of a young female bather in a green bathing suit. She likes to go right through the support columns and can be mischievous — she once pushed a guard into the pool. More than 40 years ago, a young woman drowned in the pool during one of the many transatlantic crossings.
A little further south, The Whaley House, in the heart of historic “Old Town” San Diego, is thought to be “possibly the most haunted house in America,” according to Hans Holzer, a well-known ghost hunter and former professor of parapsychology at the New York Institute of Technology who investigated this house.
Numerous people have observed the ghostly presences of phenomenon here, according to www.whaleyhouse.org and other haunted house Web sites. Various ghosts may inhabit the Whaley House, including an executed man, Yankee Jim, Mr. Whaley himself, his wife, several unknown apparitions, a little girl and one of the Whaley children, who died from scarlet fever.
Pictures of some of these ghosts are on display in the courthouse room.
The oldest manifestation has been that of Yankee Jim, a convicted man who was hung on the property before Mr. Whaley bought it. According to Corinne Whaley, when heavy boot footsteps were heard running across the second floor, Mr. Whaley would say, “Don’t worry, that’s just Yankee Jim.”
A little red-haired girl dressed in late 1800s clothing was recently seen clearly by a staff member out in the garden smelling the flowers. She was there one minute, and then vanished. This same girl has been seen playing with the toys in the playroom. She is thought to be a child who died in the kitchen after strangling on the clothesline in the outside yard.
Also spotted was a ghostly apparition dressed in a frock coat and pantaloons, who suddenly faded away, as well as the apparition of a ghostly spotted dog.
A little closer to home, otherworldly guests have also visited some famous Hollywood landmarks, according to hauntedhouses.com. And with Hollywood’s fascination with the undead, it is no wonder they like to hang around.
From the 1950s to present day, filmmakers have put the spotlight on our paranormal pals, in movies like 13 Ghosts (1960/2001), Ghostbusters (1984), Beetlejuice (1988), The Sixth Sense (1999), The Others (2001) and Ghost Ship (2002). Television shows like “So Weird” on the Disney Channel and “Haunted” on UPN’s channel 13 also focus on this popular topic.
At the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, which is now playing the “Lion King,” the longest occurring manifestation has been happening since 1932, after a female patron died in the mezzanine of the theater during a stage performance of a popular musical. Soon after her death, the sound of a woman singing in the theater could be heard when the theater was dark and quiet. It was theorized that this woman was hoping to become a singer and her dream was to perform on stage someday.
In 1994, her singing was picked up by a microphone during a live performance singing along with the cast.
Manifestations in the theater, especially on the second floor, greatly increased after a 1990 break-in by vandals who damaged the upper balcony area. This incident greatly upset the ghosts who call the Pantages Theatre their home, as they were people whom, when alive, dearly loved the place. Some even say the presence that haunts the second floor is Howard Hughes, who bought the Pantages Theater in 1949.
Another local haunt where phantasmic energy has been recorded is Hollywood’s Palace theater. Built in 1927 and originally called The Hollywood Playhouse, the ghosts who live there allegedly become active in the early morning hours, and experts say these ghosts are considered friendly and not in any great emotional pain. Patrons have often complained about a couple talking and laughing in the balcony during the shows.
One night, after closing, an operations manager in the 1990s came back to the club to find all the white stage lights turned on. Suddenly, all these lights turned off and the stage was dimly lit from the blue lights up the catwalk above stage. He then saw a shimmering, wavy five-foot square mass float across the stage and then float back again before it disappeared. He also found the club’s adding machines and cash registers during the night were in the habit of printing strange messages — sentences of words made out of numbers instead of letters.
Ghostly clientele at the Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard is believed to include Montgomery Clift, Carol Lombard and Marilyn Monroe. At this residence, the spirits like to have a little fun with the living by locking guests out of their rooms and knocking phones off their receivers.
At the Warner/Pacific Theater, also on Hollywood Boulevard, Sam Warner is reportedly unable to rest because he wasn’t ready to go to the other side due to unfinished business. Warner suffered from a brain hemorrhage in 1928 and died in Los Angeles.
Finally, at The Comedy Store on Sunset Boulevard, the ghosts that hang around this building are said to originate from the 1940s and 1950s, probably as a result of mob activities.
When a parapsychology team investigated the comedy club in 1982 two coins fell from the ceiling when they got backstage near the dressing rooms. When they went down the to the basement, a psychic on the team was suddenly overcome by agonizing pain in his legs. He had picked up the horrible pain some unfortunate soul had suffered, inflicted by someone else — perhaps from a common torture tactic of mobsters to break legs and knees.
The big question is whether all this is just coincidence or a message from beyond. It is up to individuals to decide for themselves whether or not these stories are true, or whether they’re simply stories. Perhaps all paranormal activity is a figment of our imagination. But no matter what, strange and unexplainable things will continue to occur whether we choose to believe it or disregard the possibilities altogether.
October 31, 2002
