First Adventure of the New Year! Spahn Ranch

Scott and I decided to start the new year off right and pick a new creepy spot to visit for the start of 2016!

We often get asked about Manson family locations, and though we do touch on the subject of the murders, and are somewhat well versed, it is not a piece of history we focus on much.

That being said, when we were talking about the first place to go for the new year, both Scott’s and my first thought was to head up to the remains of Spahn Ranch and hike out to the famous “Manson Family Cave.”

 

The ranch has been around since 1862 when J.R. Williams received 160 acres after the Homestead Act was passed by the US Government. The land itself is part of the Santa Susana Pass, the main transport road between LA and Santa Barbra during the mission days. The land was used in early silent films and even owned by William S Hart for a time, before finally ending up in the hands of George Spahn.

By the time the Manson Family arrived in 1968, the ranch was only being used occasionally for TV shows and locals for renting horses to ride around the property for an afternoon. I won’t write much about Manson’s time on the ranch, which is often shrouded in contradictory urban legends. Plenty of other people have done so before me, and in a much better way than I could. You can read LA Curbed’s Post on the ranch HERE

The property burned down in 1970, so there wasn’t much for Scott and I to explore while we were there. We hope to find a map containing the old building locations so we can explore with a bit more direction on our next visit.  If you have such a map, please share!

Actually, to call this excursion a hike is more than a little exaggeration.  It’s really not a hike at all! After reading a few blogs and our with our previous experiences hiking to other creepy spots, we expected a lot worse. We were warned about Poison Ivy and Rattle Snakes, and though we didn’t see any, I’m sure it is still a danger! 

The path is narrow, but fairly direct, it’s also littered with morbid little reminders of where we were.  (To the left is an example: a displayed modern picture of Manson; green little skeletons dot the area)

We found the cave quickly and took our obligatory selfie (up at the top). We were surprised to see that there were quite a few other people there. We talked a bit and then went back to poking around the property.

People often report paranormal goings on at Spahn Ranch, which seem to be mostly residual in nature. Scott and I did not do an investigation on the property on this visit, so we don’t have anything to add on to the subject.

We didn’t spend much longer at Spahn Ranch, before heading back to our car, but we took pictures of a few items.  There are plenty of pieces of building material, plates, car parts and more that require more examination to properly attach to dates.  That said, we felt satisfied with our first adventure of the year!

 

A Ghost Hunter Watches – Supernatural – Episode 1

Just in time to start season 11, Connor takes you all the way back to the pilot of Supernatural!

Follow along as Connor watches Supernatural and then discusses the real life paranormal concepts behind each story!

Woodstock and the Stickney House

We were planning on resting and laying low today, recovering from our awesome weekend at the Chicago Ghost Conference….but around 2 o’clock we decided we couldn’t just sit around any more, so we decided to go on the hunt for some things we’d always wanted to see!

Turns out that one of Mickey Cohen‘s bodyguards is buried in Woodstock, Illinois! Johnny Stompanato, a strongman in the LA mafia and lover of Lana Turner, was from the small town. Stompanato was stabbed by Lana Turner’s daughter, Cheryl Crane, a crime that was later ruled as self defense. His body was taken back to Woodstock after his passing and he was interred at Oakland Cemetery.

  

The cemetery is old and beautiful, and also the final resting place of Dick Tracy creator, Chester Gould.

Unfortunately, Scott and I were not very successful in locating either of the graves (if you have directions to where they are let us know!)

We did however find lots of great old graves, and even saw some great wildlife.

  (can you believe this picture is real?? I still can’t and I took it!)

They even have a small pet cemetery with a bunch of sweet send offs for fur babies!

   

It was a great place to spend an afternoon.  It was very restful and there were plenty of other people and their living pets walking around too.

   

  

After the cemetery we headed into downtown Woodstock, which is super cute, and also where they filmed “Groundhog Day!”

  

After a walk around the town square and some much-needed hot coffee, we headed over to the Stickney House.

The Stickney House was one of the locations covered by Scott in his book, “Voices from the Chicago Grave.”

Built in 1856 and located in the Village of Bull Valley. George Stickney, his wife Sylvia, and their family were the original residents. The house was built without any 90 degree corners.  The Skickney’s were spiritualists and believed ghosts could become trapped in such spaces. Of the 10 Stickney children only three survived into adulthood. The family held many séances in the house trying to contact the children that passed away.  Some believe that perhaps it was Sylvia’s inabilities as a medium or cultists who moved into the house in the 1970s that have caused the home to become very haunted.

  

The house has gone through much renovations since we last saw the house. Thanks to the local historic society and the Stickney Foundation. The interior and exterior are both being restored to the houses original state, and I have to say, it looks fantastic!  Note in the photos below the continued use of rounded edges – even the front door itself is curved.

  

From the Stickney House, we were directed to the small cemetery down the road where the family was buried. It was starting to get dark, but as we stumbled around by cell phone light, we eventually found the family. A few of the tombstones were missing, and some of the others were damaged, but overall they were in great shape considering their age.

  

There was an oddly large amount of traffic on the road, considering how far out of town we were. Still, we decided to do a small EVP session at Sylvia‘s grave.

 We haven’t reviewed our recording yet.  Once we do, we’ll definitely let you know of any findings!

Haunted Disneyland!

By Connor Bright

When thinking of ghosts at Disneyland, the first image that pops into ones mind is probably the Haunted Mansion ride and it’s “999 happy haunts”. One really doesn’t think about untimely deaths, final wishes, and park employees that are still on the clock, but those are exactly the kind of spirits that roam Anaheim’s Disneyland.  Here are some of the more famous tales (though not even a complete list) as well as our favorite haunts of Disneyland Park, and remember, as the Haunted Mansion’s “Ghost Host” will be happy to tell you, “There is room for 1,000!”

The Haunted Mansion itself (which opened mere days after the famed Tate-Manson murders) is home to some non-animatronic spirits, the first of which may have appeared during construction! When working on the Séance Room, one of the construction workers started hearing strange music, at first he believed it was a radio that someone had accidentally walled up, but no disc jockey or commercial breaks ever came on, nor did the music ever stop. The workers solved the problem by adding more speakers to the area and shrugged it off.  After completion, a tragic occurrence took place in the Séance Room; the death of a teenager. A young man tried to get a closer look at the mysterious head of “Madame Leota” in her crystal ball, and fell in the gap in between the walkway and the table, 15 feet, to his death. Though there are no reports of people seeing this boy, they do see another, a little boy crying at the exit. The story most people associate with this boy is that a mother (without park permission) spread her son’s ashes in the ride, thinking it was what he would have wanted.  However, considering he is seen crying, she may have been wrong!

Before one starts feeling too bad for this little boy, one should know that park employees report seeing this same boy in the cameras that watch the boats on Pirates Of The Caribbean, happily journeying through the ride until the end… only to vanish!

Other Haunted Mansion ghosts include that of a pilot who crashed in the 1940’s on the land that later became the site of the ride.  He is described as holding a cane and seems to be quite at home amongst the ride’s phony spooks! There is also the mysterious “Man in a Tuxedo.”  He appears as a black shadow in the exit walkway, and is the reason one employee quit her job at the park!

One of Disneyland’s more famous entities is “Dolly,” a woman who died on the Matterhorn Bobsleds. Legend states that Dolly was turned around, helping one of her children, when her bobsled hit a dip and she fell out and onto the track, left to be crushed by the following sled.  Park employees refer to the slope that the woman fell from as “Dolly’s Dip!”

Another well-known park ghost is “Mr. One Way” the reddish haired man that is seen getting onto Space Mountain, but disappears before the ride returns. This is the spirit of a man who died on the ride and still continues to relive his last ride in the theme park. As a matter of fact, all throughout Tomorrowland (where Space Mountain is located) people report a menacing spirit and cold spots. Though this probably isn’t “Mr. One Way,” because he seems to be enjoying his afterlife.

Perhaps the most famous Disneyland ghost is that of Walt Disney himself. Walt is seen all over the park, checking in on his employees and seeing how his dream has grown. His first post-mortem visit to the park was almost immediately after his passing. One night after finishing a routine cleaning of Walt’s office, a janitor went to turn of the light, only to have it turned back on after she left the room. After repeating this event a few more times the employee heard a voice tell her “Remember, I’m still here.” Ever since then, the light in Walt’s office on Main Street has been left on, out of respect for their ever present founder.

Just outside of the park is the death site of a teenager who attempted to sneak into the park by walking along the Monorail tracks.  When he saw the on-coming train, she attempted to lay flat on the track, allowing the train to move over her.  Unfortunately there wasn’t enough clearance and she was killed. People still report seeing a shadowy figure sneaking into the park along the tracks!

Scott learned from an employee that a bed is left in the It’s A Small World ride for the spirit of a child that dwells in the ride. Could it be this spirit that turns off and on the lights and moves the figures when Small World is turned off?

My personal favorite (after Walt Disney himself) is the “Woman in White.” This woman is seen dressed in early 19^th century costume and wanders Main Street at night, she is seen on cameras and sets of motion sensors. Children can even see her during the day.  She must have had a very kind heart because even in her afterlife, she talks to lost children and brings them to the “Lost Children” where they can be picked up by their parents!

One story we are looking forward to investigating is the of two brothers (or teen friends, depending on the storyteller) who hid on Tom Sawyer’s Island until after the park closed.  They tried to sneak across the Rivers of America to play in the park after dark, but one of the boys didn’t know how to swim.  When the other boy attempted to help, they both drown in the water.  Some people claim that they see these boys trying to get across the water, as well as hearing other long gone children running and playing on the island itself. We look forward to getting back in the park and poking around!

Disneyland calls itself “The Happiest Place on Earth” but all theme parks are a joyous place for many people all over the world; it is no wonder so many people return to them again and again, even after death! The stories in this blog entry are only scratching the surface of Disneyland haunts, let us know if you have your own Disneyland ghost story or any other theme park haunting LA or otherwise!