Beaches, sunshine, celebrities: California’s known for many things, so why not ghosts? Let’s take a look at five of the most haunted places in California.
The Queen Mary
The RMS Queen Mary first set sail in 1936 from Scotland. During her first life, the ship made more than 1,000 transatlantic crossings as both luxury liner and troop transport during World War II. In 1967, the Queen Mary made her final voyage to Long Beach, California where she would be permanently docked and become a luxury hotel.
With such a deep history, it’s no surprise that the Queen Mary is home to more than one ghost story. In her time, the ship has been the site of nearly 50 deaths, some of them unexplained to this day.
Two of the more horrific occurrences aboard the Queen Mary center around the infamous Door 13. This massive door killed two men, crushing them both. To this day, a phantom dressed in overalls is seen near the door. He fades away to nothing near the spot where he lost his life.
Elsewhere, in the Queen’s Salon, the famous Lady in White can sometimes be seen. She wears an elegant white gown and dances alone. Her identity and story are a mystery.
James Dean Death Car
This one is not so much of a haunting as a curse. James Dean is known for his career as a remarkable young actor and for his death in a horrible car accident along State Route 46. In 1955, Dean and a passenger were breaking in Dean’s Porsche before a race as they flew down the highway. No one’s exactly sure what happened near the junction with Route 41, whether Dean lost control or he tried a racing turn, what is known is that he hit another vehicle head on, flipped and ended up in a ditch.
Dean died at the hospital from traumatic injuries. After his death, what was left of his car went on display in a traveling show. The show was plagued with problems. One night, the car caught fire for no apparent reason. Tragically, a truck driver who hauled the car was killed.
And it seemed the curse followed the car, even when it was in pieces. In the years following his death, parts of Dean’s car found their way into the hands of collectors. The engine and drivetrain were purchased by two racing enthusiasts. In the first race with the Dean engine and drivetrain, the driver of the car with the engine was killed in a fiery crash, while the drivetrain car also crashed, seriously injuring its driver. Bad luck or something more?
Colorado Street Bridge
The Colorado Street Bridge, known ominously Suicide Bridge, is the site of at least 100 suicides. Over 50 died during the Great Depression alone. Why so many have chosen this place to end their lives is a mystery, but a legend stemming back to the bridge’s construction might hold the answer.
As the bridge came together in 1912, a worker fell, landing in the still wet cement of one of the supports. For whatever reason, the man’s fellow workers couldn’t reach him and he died, suffocating as he sank.
The living who cross the bridge report seeing figures walking along before vanishing. Some of the apparitions even reenact their final moments, plunging over the side of the bridge, but disappear before reaching the bottom.
Alcatraz
Alcatraz is perhaps the most famous prison in the world, and it also might be the most haunted. The island, sitting alone in the unsettled waters of the San Francisco Bay, was the subject of one of our earlier videos, but no list of haunted places in California would be complete without it.
Before it became a prison, Alcatraz was known and feared by the Native American tribes of the area. As punishment, tribal members were banished to the island to be tormented by the evil spirits said to inhabit the barren terrain.
During its life as a prison, the place the inmates feared the most was called The Hole. A dark and freezing cell, being placed in The Hole was reserved for the worst of the worst. Stories of The Hole being haunted by some monster were well known among the prisoners. One story tells of an unfortunate resident of The Hole who screamed for hours that something was in the cell with him. The man was found dead the next day.
Allegedly, the inmate had been strangled by a guard who tired of the screaming. At roll call the morning after the man’s death, there was one extra prisoner in the line. The guards and inmates were terrified when they recognized the strangled inmate standing there. In the next moment, he was gone.
The ghost stories on the Rock would fill volumes. You will just have to visit on your own and see for yourself.
The Whaley House
In San Diego stands the Whaley House. Called by some the most haunted house in America, the Whaley House was built by Thomas Whaley in the mid-1800s. Even before the house was built though, the land was the site of the hanging of Yankee Jim Robinson. Yankee Jim had been convicted of grand larceny and found himself standing on the back of a wagon with a rope around his neck. Spectators at the execution, including Thomas Whaley himself, watched as poor Jim was shoved off the back of the wagon and swung for quite some time before he died.
Undeterred by the end of Yankee Jim, Thomas purchased the land and built the home for him and his family. Almost immediately, the sound of heavy footsteps would echo through the hallways. Family members were convinced it was Yankee Jim, still hanging around (sorry).
Another apparition, this one of a little girl, has also been seen around the house. Legend has it that the girl was a playmate of the Whaley children. One day, the girl didn’t see a low hanging clothesline as she was playing. The line caught the little girl around the throat, snapping her neck. Peer into the backyard of the Whaley House at night, and you just might see her.