The Dead Guy

Ghosts come in all shapes and sizes. Some emit positive energy others more negative. I am drawn to stories about darker energies. This might be because these stories are not as common.

Dr. Rita Louise in her book entitled, Dark Angels talks about various, angels, entities, and ghosts she has encountered in her life.

One such encounter happened while she was still a child. Her family of 10, including seven siblings, lived in an old Victorian house built in 1898.

This drafty house had four floors, including a basement. This basement was the one space in the home that Louise was always uncomfortable in.

The family all agreed that a ghost resided in the basement. They dubbed this dark energy the “dead guy.” But other than naming it, they never talked about it.

Louise frightened, avoided going down into the basement. 

But the family’s extra refrigerator and freezer were kept in this dark, dusty room so if she happened to be in the kitchen when her mother was preparing a family meal, she often was the one volunteered by her older siblings to go down and fetch a needed item.

The author recounts her mad dashes to turn on lights and rush around corners to retrieve the needed item. 

She then would race back upstairs to get through the basement door before it slammed shut.

Unfortunately, this door often mysteriously locked behind her, leaving her in the basement for extra minutes, as she pounded on it to escape to the safety of the kitchen.

Then there was the dreaded evil laugh she would hear behind her as she tried to pry the door open. 

This scary scenario played over and over each time she was sent to the basement.

Her mother was the only one in the family that the dead guy never seemed to faze. 

She would spend hours in the basement doing laundry. Louise would see the dead guy standing near where her mother hung the clothes to dry—but her mother appeared to be able to ignore his presence.

Years later, at a family reunion, the siblings finally openly talked about their own encounters with this ghost. They all agreed he lurked near where their mother always hung the clothes. 

Their descriptions of what he looked like always matched.

Griggs Mansion: St. Paul’s Most Haunted

Sitting on Summit Avenue, in St. Paul, Minnesota, amidst other Civil War-era mansions, is a stately 10-bedroom mansion.

This well-preserved home was named after it’s original owner, Chauncey W. Griggs.

Griggs was a Civil War officer and a grocery tycoon who had this lavish Victorian home built in 1883. He however only lived in this mansion for 4 years, before he headed west for more adventure and profits.

Griggs Mansion still retains its beautiful wood-paneled walls and stain glass windows. The original carriage house still stands in the back.

In the late 1930s, the mansion was donated to an art school that stayed for 25 years. The school had a beautiful skylight placed above the top floor.

This art school was the exception, for most who have owned Griggs Mansion, over the past Century, have moved out quickly.

This mansion is known to be St. Paul’s most haunted house—it has several ghosts and a variety of paranormal activity occurs in the home.

One of the most active ghosts is a maid who worked in the mansion at the turn of the 20^th Century. She committed suicide by hanging herself on the top floor’s landing after a failed love affair.

A maid and butler that worked in the mansion first saw her ghost in the early 20th Century.

Her apparition has been seen in a white mist ever since. Many witnesses have felt her presence—stating they got an overwhelming sense of doom while standing near the landing.

Another former employee haunts the library in the home. Charles Wade was the mansion’s obsessive caretaker and gardener.

Library door.

It is believed he spent hours in the mansion’s library, doing research on how to do his work better. His apparition has been seen in this room, and people have heard the rustling of pages of a book when no one else is around.

When he died, he was in the middle of a project in the garden. Some feel he lingers because of this unfinished business.

In 1964, Mr. Waschke bought the mansion intending to use it as his home and office. While working at his desk, in the library, he saw a man with a long face, white hat, and a dark suit, who was glaring at him from the doorway.

As he watched this apparition faded away.

When he had the home renovated, one window kept opening by itself—he finally had it nailed shut, but the next morning it was open once more.

Another ghost seen often is an old man with white hair, who wears a black suit and top hat. This male ghost has been seen in several different rooms.

In the early 1950s, Dr. Delmar Kolb joined the art school staff. He moved into a front basement apartment in the mansion. One night he awoke to two cold fingers pressed to his forehead.

When he turned on the light, he saw a blue flash that disappeared. Two nights later, he was awakened again. He saw a man dressed in a black suit and top hat standing at the foot of his bed.

This figure then turned and dissolved into a nearby brick wall.

Students, when the home was an art school, often reported, as they drew on easels, they felt something unseen looking over their shoulders. They speculated that it might be the maid who committed suicide on the upper floor.

When the art school moved out of the mansion to their new building, it is said the staff were relieved for they did not want to deal with unseen ghosts anymore.

One story often told is about three skeptical journalists, from the St. Paul Pioneer Press, who stayed at the house one night in 1969, to do research for an article. These three remained on the top floor near where the unfortunate maid had died, over 50 years before.

By 4:00 a.m., these three men fled the mansion in terror. They heard heavy footsteps on the stairs heading toward the upper floor. 

Staircase

One of these men braved the staircase on his own, at which point he felt a presence near him. All three men then ran out of the house—through the back entrance.

Recent owners of the mansion have discouraged paranormal interest in the home, but they all have left quickly. Griggs Mansion was put on the market in 2012, but it has not sold.

The price was reduced from 1.8 million to 1.1 million—but it was still on the market this year.

This says a lot because anyone who owns the home can rent out the basement apartments, that have the potential to bring in as much as $60,000 in revenue each year. That is if the tenants are willing to stay.

In 1959, three students moved into one basement apartment. One of the three was awakened to see the head of a child floating above his bed. Other students that have stayed in these apartments claim they were shaken awake.

Haunted New Mexico: St. Vincent Hospital, Part ll

When St. Vincent’s hospital in Santa Fe moved to its new location on St. Michael’s Drive in 1983 the old building then was used for several years as a nursing home called by the locals, La Residencia.

Renovated from hospital to Drury
Plaza Hotel

The nursing staff at this facility are aware of the building’s reputation for being haunted. In fact, they initiate new staff members by escorting them at night to the basement on the elevator--leaving them there. They then direct them to find the staircase and meet them back up on the 3^rd floor.

The employees that used this as a “rite of passage” for the newbies on the staff openly admitted they would not go to the basement alone even if they were offered money.

The basement had a history of people seeing apparitions, hearing disembodied voices, loud banging noises, and being touched by unseen hands. As I mentioned in Part l, many feel that the spirits of restless Native Americans haunt the various rooms and hallways in this area.

One evening, the nursing home’s Nurse Coordinator was assigned to escort the new nurse’s aide down the elevator to the basement. When the elevator stopped, she wished her ‘good luck” and reminded this young lady to meet her back upstairs via the staircase.

Time passed, and the nurse’s aide did not come back upstairs. The coordinator and another nurse agreed hesitantly to go down the elevator to find the aide.

As they reached the basement, the coordinator went in search of the young woman while the other nurse kept the elevator doors open. The only light besides what came from the elevator was the Exit signs and the flashlight the coordinator held.

She called out the aide’s name and heard a faint reply. She found the younger woman huddled in the corner of one storage room. The woman was grateful to see her. 

She told the coordinator she had gotten lost and then heard some weird noises. The coordinator called out to the other nurse that everything was okay.

As they left the room, her flashlight picked up something shiny on one wall. She reached out and touched it with her fingers--it was wet. She didn’t have a handkerchief, and she didn’t want to wipe it on her uniform, so she just let her fingers dry.

When they entered the elevator, she looked down at her hand. Her fingers appeared to be covered in blood. She smelled them and picked up the distinct iron scent of hemoglobin. 

Now in a panic, she yelled at the other nurse, “Press the button, press the button.”

Afterward, one workman who had been an employee when the building was used as a hospital told her that this storage room had once held a small furnace. 

The hospital had used this furnace to cremate amputated limbs and organs removed during surgeries.

After this, the nursing home staff no longer used the basement to initiate new employees.

While the building was still St. Vincent Hospital, Room 311 on the 3^rd floor was not used for patients unless absolutely necessary.

During one Christmas holiday a new employee, a nurse’s aide experienced something on the 3^rd floor she will never forget.

She was helping a patient get into bed one evening when she heard crying coming from down the hall. She went to investigate and stopped at Room 311, she listened to the crying once more.

She opened the door and went inside, but the room was empty. She then checked other rooms, but all the patients were asleep. As she walked toward the nurse’s station, she heard the crying once more.

She backtracked and heard the sound as she stopped outside Room 311. This time when she entered she turned on the lights and checked under the beds--perhaps a stray cat had gotten into the room-- but nothing was there.

Later that night, she heard the crying once more. She ran down the hall to 311, but the sound stopped as she entered the room. The following evening she described what she had heard to several nurses.

They informed her that everyone heard crying--that worked on the 3^rd floor, especially during the winter months. They advised her just to ignore it. 

The next time she heard the crying, it was Christmas Eve. She felt it must be a baby--she had worked with babies in an intensive care unit in another hospital, and this crying sounded very similar to what she had heard in the past.

She listened as she heard the crying stop, and then gasping sounds followed. She had heard similar sounds as she had held babies that were dying.

The next week she mentioned the “crying baby” to a group of fellow employees having dinner. 

One woman told her that many years before, she had been on duty on the 3^rd floor on Christmas Eve.

There had been a fatal 2-car accident on I-25 and the driver in one car, a father, had been instantly killed. His young son had been brought in with internal bleeding. 

This baby remained in critical condition and sadly died. The nurse stated she still remembered him gasping for breath as he struggled to live.

The aide asked what room this had been, she replied Room 311.

New hotel

The nursing home left the building after 7 years. The old St. Vincent hospital building has recently been renovated by Drury Hotels. This summer--2014--the Drury Plaza Hotel is having its grand opening. 

Here is Part l of this post where I share another eyewitness account and why the building is thought to be haunted.

* Excerpts taken from New Mexico Ghost Stories, by Antonio Garcez

Haunted New Mexico: St. Vincent Hospital, Part l

At the corner of Paseo de Peralta and Palace Museum in Santa Fe sits a building that is one of New Mexico’s most haunted.

St. Vincent Hospital

This site has been reincarnated as various hospitals since 1865. The present-day building was built in 1977 to house St. Vincent Hospital, which served Santa Fe and northern New Mexico until 1983. 

This facility gained a reputation as being haunted.

The building’s basement and third floor are where most of the ghostly activity occurs.

One legend involves a hospital worker who one night was riding on one of the elevators. He was taken to this lower floor even though he had pressed the 3rd-floor button. 

Once in the basement, he tried to close the elevator doors, but despite pressing every button on the panel, they would not close--even after several minutes passed.

Frustrated, he finally just stepped out into the basement at which point the doors closed, and the elevator went back up. He usually avoided this part of the building because he had heard the rumors. 

In the darkness, he debated whether to wait for the elevator or try to find the stairs when he felt something behind him.

He looked around and didn’t see anything, so he decided to wait for the elevator. But the feeling of being watched overtook him, and he started to search for the stairs. 

He now saw a shadow along the wall that seemed to be following him. He panicked and ran. He tripped over a large packing crate, bumped his head and was knocked out cold.

This basement is large and has many rooms and hallways that even during the day are dark and gloomy.

The above is a local story that is told to inspire “Legend Trippers” to explore the building’s basement. I have heard of more than one incident where teens broke in a basement window to do just this.

Some believe the building is haunted because of what is stored in crates in one hallway in the basement. The St. Vincent is located next to the New Mexico State Museum offices, and for years they stored boxes containing Native American artifacts in this basement.

These items include pottery, stone tools, and grinding stones, etc. all taken from burial sites. 

One rumor often mentioned is that some of these crates even contain human bones. Many believe these rooms are haunted by the spirits of restless Native Americans.

Several nurses, nurse’s aides, and many other hospital staff over the years have encountered strange and ghostly activity in this building. Reliable witnesses tell the following three stories, so they are considered true.

The Game of Chase *

During the time the building was still used as a hospital, one nurse, Maryclare Henebry, worked nights on the 3^rd floor in the adult psychiatric unit. This floor had both secured and unsecured areas.

It was 2:00 a.m., and Henebry was unlocking the heavy double doors to make her hourly round. She felt a presence standing next to her, so she turned. 

A Hispanic man quickly drew his hand back--he had been about to tap her shoulder.

At first, Henebry thought he was a patient, then she realized she had never seen him before. She noted his old style clothing:

“He was wearing dark pants that were crudely stitched and made of heavy fabric. His white shirt was buttoned at the neck and had a wide old-fashioned collar. He wore black leather boots.”

Henebry, who is 5’3” inches in height, was surprised to see that he was much shorter. Henebry asked him who he was, but he did not respond, he instead just stared at her.

To her amazement, she saw him start to disappear where he stood. His head and feet slowly faded at the same time--then his midsection disappeared as well.

Herebry understandably shaken up had trouble relocking the door.

An hour later, at 3:00 a.m., she hesitated when it was time to do her rounds again. She approached the heavy doors and looked through a window down the hall into the secure unit.

To her surprise, she spotted the short Hispanic man again as he rounded a corner out of her view. She then saw a female figure run passed where she stood. This female was taller than the man, wore a white gown, and had long flowing hair.

She couldn’t make out her features for she wore a mantilla or veil over her face. As she passed, Herebry noted she had no feet. Instead, she appeared to be floating three inches above the floor.

Before Herebry could react, the Hispanic man rushed by her, apparently chasing the female spirit as she floated down the hall.

Herebry wondered why this man was chasing the woman, was it a game, or was it something more deadly. She never found out, and she never saw these two apparitions again.

In Part ll of this post, I share two more true witness accounts. The first is about a wall covered in blood in the basement, witnessed by two nurses, and the second is about a nurse who hears a baby crying on the third floor during the holidays.

* Excerpts taken from New Mexico Ghost Stories, by Antonio Garcez

Then Who Followed You?

According to the person who first told this story it is true.

Our aunt took my older brother and I in when our mother died but when she remarried her new husband arranged for us to move to a rental property he owned.

It suited us well for it was in the inner city as opposed to the suburbs so it was close to my brother’s work and my art school.

The home was a traditional bungalow that was built in the mid-1920s. It was one and a half stories with an old-fashioned veranda and full cellar.

As it turned out this cellar came in handy for a year after moving in I formed a “garage band” and this cellar was an ideal place for us to practice.

Every Saturday and Sunday afternoon my band members would come over and we would practice until the early evening--my brother liked this because he was at work and didn’t have to put up with the our “noise.” After practice we then would go out and grab a bite to eat and see if there were any girls who caught our eye.

My members often complained that it was a pain to set up their equipment. They had to carry their instruments, amps etc. up the porch steps and in through the front door and walk back through the living room and dining room to the kitchen and then tote everything down some steep steps. To break down everything was the same pain but in reverse.

One late Saturday evening as I listened to their expected ribbing about what a chore this task was it started to rain lightly. Fortunately, most of the equipment was already packed inside a car but some equipment was in the bed of one friend’s truck so it was exposed.

I went back into the house to retrieve a tarp from the cellar. Once down the stairs I heard a noise--I looked across the large room but the boiler and heater that sat in the middle of the cellar blocked my view. Feeling uneasy I wondered if I should just leave.

I then saw a dark shadowy figure dart from one side of the room to the other out of the corner of my eye. I had always been told that if ever I saw a ghost I best ignore it and walk away.

But I became angry because I was afraid--I unwisely decided the best course of action was to be assertive. So I turned toward where I had seen the figure and announced out loud, “Would you just get lost. I do not have time for this nonsense right now.”

Acting upon a false sense of bravado I found the tarp and walked back up the stairs and grabbed the long string that turned off the exposed light bulb I slammed the door shut behind me. I turned the rest of the lights off as I walked from room to room.

I didn’t stop for I felt a presence at my back. I did not dare turn around.

As I reached the front door I turned off the last light inside. The streetlight flooded the entrance to the house as I quickly shut the door and locked it.

As I made my way down the porch steps I felt silly that I had gotten “spooked.” I convinced myself it was just my overactive imagination. I took a deep breath and walked to the truck.

It had stopped raining but I covered the bed with the tarp just in case. I opened the door and sat down. As I fastened my seat belt one band member asked, “Wait, isn’t your brother coming with us?”

Perplexed I told him, “no my brother is still at work."

The other band member in the truck then asked me, “Then who was behind you as you left the house?”

The Sunset Strip: Haunted Comedy Store

The part of Los Angeles known as the “Sunset Strip” connects West Hollywood to Beverly Hills—via Sunset Blvd. This area represents the wild or seedier side of Tinseltown—for it is here where locals for many years have come to have a good time. 

The Comedy Store, located on the Sunset Strip, has launched many famous comedians. The building that houses this club has a very colorful history—some believe this is why paranormal activity occurs at the Comedy Store.

This area had a bad reputation back to the 1920s—may be even further because it was here fifty years before when bandits, such as Tiburcio Vasquez * plied their trade. 

Sunset Boulevard was first established in 1870, and up until 1984, this infamous Strip was still unincorporated land, which meant it was not officially a part of Los Angeles. Therefore during this time, the Strip was not under the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles Police Department. 

This fact turned the area into a “safe haven” for casinos, burlesque theatres—strip clubs—gay and straight brothels and speakeasies during prohibition. This area also became the ideal spot for nightclubs—many of which remain along the Strip today.

The building that houses the Comedy Store is like the rest of the Strip, for it has a very seedy history. In the 1920s, this building housed the Club Seville. This club boasted a Marine Room, which had a glass dance floor made of crystals that were surrounded by fountains. 

Fish swam beneath people’s feet as they danced, this effect was topped off by colored lights. This club only lasted a year for women customers didn’t like the idea of fish looking up their dresses, and others feared this glass floor might break.

The most famous club to occupy the space was Ciro’s restaurant, where during Hollywood’s Golden Era, the elite came to be seen and party. 

At this time, one of Hollywood’s most notorious brothels was located right next door. Myth has it many stars that visited Ciro’s also took part in the next-door delights. 

Ciro’s also hosted the infamous gangster Mickey Cohen who was known as “The King of the Sunset Strip.” It is said Cohen based his operation out of Ciro’s. It was during this period that many feel the building first became haunted.

Legend states that the building still has the peepholes and handgun stations that Cohen’s men used during the bloody “Sunset Wars,” where mobsters fought for turf dominance in 1947. 

This legend grew as it became widely accepted that Cohen used Ciro’s basement to beat and even murder some of his enemies. Some even wildly speculated that Cohen buried some of his victims under this basement floor. 

Another claim is this basement was used for illegal abortions—serving the club’s dance girls and the prostitutes from the brothel next door that found they had an unwanted pregnancy.

Separating fact from fiction, in this case, can be a challenge, but regardless this building’s very dark history has resulted in the Comedy Store having several restless ghosts today. 

One apparition that is seen is that of a mysterious man who wears a World War II bomber jacket. He is seen most often in the upstairs office and in the Comedy Store’s kitchen. Witnesses state they see him crouching or hiding, and then he just disappears. Some speculate he probably was one of Cohen’s countless victims.

Not surprisingly, this building’s basement also appears to have activity. People have heard disembodied screams, moans, and even what sounds like animals snarling.

One comedian/employee Blake Clark after hours saw what he described as a potent force pushing against the padlocked metal gate that encloses the front of the basement. This freaked him, but he did return once more only to see a dark seven-foot entity appear. He left the building immediately, and he never went into the basement again. 

In the main room of the Comedy Store, many employees have spotted a man in the back who they have nicknamed “Gus.” It is said he is always dressed in a black suit, and it is felt he probably was one of Cohen’s hitmen. 

In this same area, Clark saw a chair slide 20 feet across the stage floor--again, he left the building quickly. At another time, he saw an ashtray float above a table and then hit the wall.

The most famous ghost story told at the Comedy Store involves the comedian Sam Kinison. Kinison, who was a former preacher, always presented his act using a thunderous, frenzied voice. For this reason, many felt his voice stirred up the paranormal activity in the club. 

Often when he was on stage performing, strange problems occurred with the audio. Electrical issues arose as well. As he talked into the mike, strange hisses were broadcast over the room’s speakers. One witness stated that it sounded as if someone was angrily saying, “It’s him” over and over again. 

One night Kinison finally fed up with this strange activity challenged the ghost. As he finished his set, Kinison told the spirit he needed to stop playing around and that it should make an appearance. Right after he finished this statement, the crowd gasped as the lights in the entire club went out, and they found themselves in complete darkness.

Yet another ghost that haunts the building is that of a comedian by the name of Steve Lubetkin. Lubetkin tried unsuccessfully to organize all the comedians at the club to strike for higher wages. After his failure, Lubetkin depressed found himself banned from performing at the club. 

He went up to the top of what was then ** the Continental Hyatt House and jumped to his death. It is said his body landed near the entrance to the Comedy Store. Some feel a somber presence in this area. 

*  I wrote about Tiburcio Vasquez’s ghost in another post here.

** This hotel is known as the Andaz West Hollywood today.

Haunted U.S. Capitol

This building located in Washington D.C. holds the U. S. Senate and House of Representatives. It was first built in 1800, and ever since several non-famous and famous ghosts haunt it. 

In another post entitled Harbinger Spirits I wrote about the Demon Cat who scares people in the basement of this building, a variety of other activity that has been observed occurs in and around this same area. 

Many of the witnesses to this strange activity are Capitol guards, who patrol this massive building’s rooms and corridors on the nightshift.

These guards report that late at night as they cross Statuary Hall they hear footsteps following closely behind them. 

This disturbed one guard so much he decided to investigate further. For several nights in a row, he wore soft-soled boots that he knew would not make noise, but he still heard the footsteps follow him. 

Ruling out the possibility that what he heard was his own steps echoing, he then tried to pinpoint the footsteps he did hear. At one point, he felt he had cornered them, but then to his surprise he heard them in another part of the hall.

Lifesize statues of famous statesmen from American history line Statuary Hall. Originally this area was the chamber for the House of Representatives. 

A brass tablet set in stone marks the spot where the sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams desk was located. 

It was at this desk that Adams suffered a stroke in 1848 while giving an impassioned speech against honoring the generals who won the Mexican War. He was removed to his office where he died. Adams’ ghost has been seen doing what he loved most—giving speeches. *

Yet another phenomenon that has been witnessed in Statuary Hall is not true for the guard that reported it was fired later for drinking on the job. I place it here because it is amusing and it is a well-known legend that has been past down for many years. 

This guard stated that at midnight he would see the statues in Statuary Hall leave their pedestals and float around. He said that they seemed to enjoy doing this particularly on New Year’s Eve.

One ghost that is seen often roaming the Capitol corridors is that of a French engineer and architect, Charles L’Enfant who was commissioned by President George Washington to design the then Washington City. L’Enfant bucked heads often with Congress over his plans. Not willing to compromise he was eventually fired. 

Sadly, in 1825 he died a pauper his work mostly unpaid for and under appreciated. Ironically, in 1889 Congress changed their minds. They took his work from the archives and used them. 

Witnesses that have seen L’Enfant’s ghost state he appears depressed. He is described as small in statue and is seen carrying a roll of parchment under one arm. He is observed in the Capitol's basement pacing the floor and shaking his head.

Another well-known ghost is that of President Ulysses S. Grant’s vice president Henry Wilson. 

Spas or baths were imported from Italy and installed in the Capitol’s basement for the congressmen to use. It is said that Wilson was overly fond of these tubs. 

In November of 1875 Wilson caught a respiratory infection after bathing. His ghost is heard coughing and sneezing in the corridor that heads to the vice president’s office. He is also seen returning from the basement spa wrapped in towels.

One guard reported that one night as he guarded the coffin of a Tennessee Senator that was laying in state that he was shocked to see Vice President Wilson approach him and then just vanish. 

Yet another ghost that vanishes is a man that several guards have seen late at night beneath the hall of the House of Representatives. This figure stands erect, has a large mustache and always has his hands clasped behind its back. Guards have even approached this figure thinking he was an intruder only to see him quickly fade away.

The list continues. 

Another ghost that is seen is of a man who while working on top of a scaffolding in 1860 fell off and was killed. He is seen walking the corridor near where he died. 

In 1881 President James Garfield was shot and killed. His assassin, Charles Guiteau is seen on a stairway leading to the basement. 

One more late night ghost that is observed on a regular basis at 12:30 P. M. is General Logan. The guards recognize his long hair, military stance, and the hat he always wore while alive. He is seen silently opening the door to the room that once housed the Committee on Military and Militia on the senate side of the building.

On the marble stairs that lead to the House Gallery there is a stain that will not come out—even though it has been cleaned countless times. 

This stain is the blood of William Taulbee, a former congressman from Kentucky who in 1890 got in a fight with a newspaper reporter, Charles Kincaid. It is said the two argued over some negative articles that Kincaid had published about Taulbee. Kincaid pulled out a gun and shot and killed Taulbee. 

Legend states that whenever a reporter trips on these stairs it is the ghost of William Taulbee taking revenge.

*  John Quincy Adams is unique in that he served eight terms in the U.S. House of Representatives after he was president.