Haunted Santa Monica Pier

Santa Monica Pier

This iconic LA pier has attracted visitors from around the world, for over a century.

Its' cool Pacific Ocean breezes provide the local's relief from the California heat and its' shops, restaurants and amusement park offer a variety of entertainment for visitors.

But some visitors and residents have experienced more than they bargained for . . .

In 2016 the Hippodromes' 100th
birthday was celebrated.

For years, the pier has had a reputation for being haunted. Most of this paranormal activity is centered on the Looff Hippodrome-- the two-story building that houses the carousel.

This carousel was constructed in 1916, it was the last great work of its' master builder—Charles I.D. Looff.

A dark, shadowy entity is seen wandering through the Hippodrome.

A pier supervisor reported hearing someone, "walking down the hallways" in this building on several occasions. When he would check—he never found a logical explanation for these footsteps.

Initially, the buildings' 2nd floor was used as offices, but by the 1960s they had been converted to apartments.

Its' residents were an eclectic group, which included, writers, musicians, beachcombers, and hippies.

The Looff Carousel at the pier.

By the 60s, this same supervisor and residents also heard the calliope playing when it was turned off—late at night. They would run downstairs to investigate only to find no one there. This happened countless times over the years.

Current reports include witnesses stating they saw ghosts walking on the roof of the Hippodrome and that a dark entity is seen riding various horses on the carousel during the day and at night.

The Hippodrome today.

A fire in 1975 destroyed the apartments. The building was repaired, and now the 2nd floor is used once more as office space.

Santa Monica Pier

Since the witness reports have slowed down—one reason being the activity observed was mostly in the middle of the night, and these days no one is in the building this late.

Urban Legend Gone Viral

Living in New Mexico and knowing a little bit about hauntings I was surprised to read on several sites that an abandoned school in the small town of Artesia was considered one of the most haunted places in my state. 

Atoka School

It is a classic, frightening ghost story so I will share it here.

Atoka School, built in 1949, has sat abandoned for many years. It seems this building has a long history of creepiness. Beginning with the school and then later several businesses that occupied this building--all appeared to have been driven out by a dark evil entity.

In fact, the report claims that whatever was going on was so scary that all of the tenets of the old school left quickly or “overnight” without giving any logical reason as to why.

By the 1970s the school’s scary backstory was so well known that teens would Legend Trip the site, often just driving by too scared to go in. Others who dared reported hearing: groans, footsteps and even snarls.

Hence the legend grew, the old school must be haunted.

Recently, the ArtesiaDaily Press while listing places in their town that are truly haunted took a more logical approach to the rumors that surround the Atoka School.

They noted that one group who visited the site in the 1990s, upon hearing the footsteps determined it was just “a goat,” and an entity that flashed by them was a “barn owl.”

This would explain why witnesses who were brave enough to visit the school would sometimes state the dark entity they believed lived in the old school flew out of the walls at them.

Regardless, it provides an entertaining scare.

Michigan’s Mackinac Island, Part l

This small island on the western tip of Lake Huron reflects its history at every turn—some believe this is why the ghosts on the island outnumber the living.

Mackinac Island

Many have visited the island for its beauty, but few know its hidden darker past.

Archaeologists have determined the Anishinaabe Tribe, which was drawn to the area for its prime fishing in 900 AD, first inhabited the island. These Native Americans considered Mackinac sacred and used the area to bury their tribal leaders.

Fort Mackinac

However, by the time the first Europeans stumbled upon the island in the mid-1600s, it was deserted. The French first settled the island, then the British took control of it in 1780 and established Fort Mackinac.

Not long after, the Treaty of Paris gave the island to the Americans.

During the War of 1812, the British captured the island once more, despite numerous bloody attempts by the Americans to take it back.

After this war in 1815, the Treaty of Ghent put the island firmly back in American hands.

After the American Civil War, Mackinac became a popular tourist destination. It, after Yellowstone, was made American’s second National Park.

Downtown Mackinac Island
reflects the Victorian era like most
buildings on the island.

The island today still has no bridge to the mainland. It is accessed from ferries, boats, and planes. No cars are allowed on the island—which lends an old-world charm to the place.

Some believe this is why so many ghosts linger.

Grand Hotel

The island’s most famous building is the Grand Hotel. When this structure was built, many human skeletons were found. The workers unearthed so many it is said they did not know what to do with them.

So they were just left there—hence the Grand is built on a massive gravesite.

Two maintenance workers checking the hotel’s theatre stage encountered a dark entity. They felt as if they were being watched. Then one of these men glanced across the stage and saw a dark mass with red glowing eyes.

Before he could react, this entity quickly headed for him—knocking him down. Later, when he woke up in a hospital, he refused to return to the Grand.

Other witnesses have spotted a ghost wearing a top hat in the 2^nd floor piano bar. They watched as this entity just disappeared. Afterward, they smelled his cigar smoke.

Workers at the hotel claim a woman dressed in Victorian clothing haunts their employee housing. Some have experienced her lie down next to them as they slept.

At Fort Mackinac,  ghost soldiers have been seen walking the Rifle Range Trail. Others have stated they saw piles of amputated limbs in the fort’s hospital.

Fort Mackinac

Furniture is known to move around by itself, and at least thirteen ghosts of children have been heard. It is believed they died of Typhoid Fever and Tuberculosis. Their cries are heard echoing in the halls of the buildings where they once lived.

Located between Mission Point Resort and downtown Mackinac is a 20-foot drop off a cliff. This area is called The Drowning Pool.

It was here were women accused of witchcraft were tortured.

These women worked in the brothels that sprang up on the island in the late 1700s and early 1800s. They were accused of witchcraft because they enticed supposedly unsuspecting innocent men to their houses of ill repute.

Rocks were tied around these women’s ankles, and they were thrown into the lagoon. If they sank, they were considered innocent—but by then, they were dead.

It is believed this pool is haunted by some of these victims. Shadows come out of the water silently. Also, no ripples are seen.

On the other hand, witnesses report seeing huge splashes in the area that are too big for fish to make.

In Part ll of Michigan’s Mackinac Island stories about the island’s most haunted area—Mission Point Resort are shared.

The Pantry Ghost Videos

In 2007, a father living with his family in California started to film some unusual footage on his video camera. This is his story.

Names of the family have been protected. Only the daughters first name is used publically.

A YouTube Sensation

The father who has an OCD was obsessed when it came to changes in his home. He was so obsessive he would write sticky notes when a light switch was left up etc., and place it by the item.

He began to wake up to find that the kitchen pantry door was open when he was sure it had been left closed the night before. Since this continued to happen, he decided to set up a video camera to film this pantry door.

What he captured confused him. The door opened at 12:34 a.m. by itself. Nothing was in the room or in this pantry. The father continued filming the door for 2 more days. The pantry door always opened on its own at precisely 12:34 a.m.

He then decided to stay up and watch to see if the door opened again. He filmed the door opening at precisely 12:34 a.m. But this time since he was in the room, he went up and shut the door continuing to film.

Once he stood back, he saw an image pressed against the door on the inside of the pantry. When he opened it nothing was there. 

When he played this footage again, he saw a face and hands pressed to the inside of the door.

He decided to place these videos on YouTube. The comments posted reflected that many felt he was just faking these videos. Others expressed how “scary” they were.

At one point, the father even put a lock on the pantry door. The next night as he filmed, he heard loud banging sounds at the same time the door opened. His film captured the door opening despite the lock.

I watched this video--in the film documentary mentioned below-- the door handle twists and rattles as well. 

One commenter on YouTube, that the father connected with was invited to the home to see this phenomenon for himself.

The two men stayed up, the father filmed, the visitor watched as the door opened at 12:34 a.m. When the visitor closed the door, "the father" then encouraged him to put his hands to the outside of the door. When the figure's hands appeared, and then the face appeared, he jumped back.

Face and hands pressed to door. Click to enlarge.

A Dark Entity

This phenomenon continued to occur. The wife suggested to her husband remove the door from the pantry--he did. The couple regretted this decision because then unusual activity started to happen in other areas of the home.

Most of this activity revolved around their daughter, Arianna. She began to hear a voice talk to her as she lay in bed. At one point she saw this ghost who told her-- my name is Mable.

Arianna began to play with this entity. One evening the father discovered his daughter hiding in her bedroom, she stated she was “playing Hide and Seek with Mable.” He joined the game too, as he filmed.

Searching for his daughter, he saw a closet door downstairs close. When he opened it, his daughter was not inside. He then went back up to her bedroom where he spotted what he thought was Arianna in a corner, between the dresser and the wall.

He then heard a giggle and found his daughter hiding under a sheet on her bed. He realized what he saw and filmed in the corner must be the ghost. He got his daughter out of the room quickly.

Unsettled, he invited a childhood teacher of his--a clairvoyant/medium to visit his home. She sensed the energy in the house was evil. That night as she drew a picture of what she had seen--a dark male form--the father heard his daughter cry out upstairs.

Arianna told him that Mable had pulled her hair. He heard noises--filming he followed the sound--he ended up in a walk-in closet and opened the crawl space above. He filmed the entity.

The family had been planning to move out. But he became determined to move his family, within the week. The last days they were in the home, they heard crying every night.

Dark entity standing up.

The last night he got out of bed and filmed the hallway outside his bedroom door. He saw a dark entity in the hall. He went back into the room briefly, then he opened the door again.

This second time his footage shows a strange dark form that stands up.

Once the family moved out, they had pictures they had taken in the home printed out. They discovered two photos they had not snapped. They were pictures of the family while they slept in bed.

Since the father posted the initial videos online, he has refused to talk to the media, but he did talk anonymously in front of the camera to one production company.

This company made a documentary entitled, The Pantry Ghost Documentary that shows a great deal of the footage the father captured. They also extensively interviewed the wife, daughter, and the father in this film.

This production company took the videos to an expert in the field. It was determined they have not been edited, tampered with, or faked in any way.

This documentary is available to own or rent on Amazon Instant Video here.

It took me a while, but I found the best video still left on YouTube without loud music etc., that shows:

First-- the Hide and Seek game.

Second-- the face and hands appearing while the invited YouTube commenter was there.

Third--the dark entity filmed in the hallway.

Fourth--the pantry door opening, then the face and hands are shown clearly.

Notice the father's reaction when he first sees the face on the pantry door, and then opens the door --  and when he realizes his daughter is under the cover, and not in the corner --he is genuinely scared.

The Berini Haunting

A little girl, once a sister returns to warn a family of danger. A young boys’ apparition is seen dressed all in white. He asks the family “Where do all the lonely people go?” Then a violent poltergeist or demon terrorizes this family for months. This is one of the more aggressive hauntings recorded in recent years.

This haunting occurred in New England in the late 1970s and didn’t end until the 1980s. The family name “Berini” is just a pseudonym in order to protect their privacy--the exact location of their home has not been revealed for the same reason. *

Joe and his wife Rose--again pseudonyms--moved with Rose's two children from a previous marriage into Joe’s family ancestral home in the 1970s. Joe had not been raised in this home. At first, all was well but then unusual things started to occur.

Rose started to hear a disembodied voice of a child in the home. In her first encounter with this little girl she heard the following--“Mama, Mama, this is Serena.” Joe questioned his family as to who this could be--he knew several people had died in the home. He was stunned to find that he had a sister named “Serena” who had died at the age of 5.

The Berini’s reaction to this little girl’s presence was curiosity not fear. As it turned out each time the Berini’s heard Serena’s voice something bad happened to the family. They came to believe her appearances foretold danger. The day after Rose heard Serena for the first time her daughter was scheduled to have her tonsils out. Her heart stopped during the operation and she almost died.

The next time her voice was heard was just before Joe’s grandmother suffered a stroke. Then her voice was heard again a month later just before his grandmother died. After this Joe heard Serena’s voice one last time. He was woken up to the sound of Serena’s voice when he discovered Rose was choking in her sleep. She told him afterward that she had dreamed her ex-husband was strangling her.

All was quiet in the Berini home for several years then in early 1981 the couple started to see the apparition of a small boy dressed all in white. Again, Joe made inquires of his family and discovered his father’s younger brother, Giorgio had died in the home at the age of eight. He was buried in his all-white communion suit.

Rose first saw Giorgio’s apparition walking in the upstairs hall in the middle of the night. She was not afraid, upon seeing him she recounts she felt a strong sense of peace. She watched his apparition for over an hour before he disappeared. During this encounter Rose’s sense of peace was shattered when this young boy spoke to her.

He stated, “Where do all the lonely people go? Where do I belong?”

After this, Joe watched one evening as Giorgio’s kneeled on the hallway carpet. It appeared as if he was intently searching for something. Joe now curious pulled up the carpet in this area the next day. He found a religious medal on a broken chain.

Again, the Berini’s were not afraid of this young ghost.

Giorgio’s ghost made frequent nightly appearances. He always seemed distressed about something. He would often answer questions the Berini’s asked him. At one point he announced that Carlos, his twin brother--who was still alive and living nearby--had taken something from the house that belonged to him. The family could not figure out what this item was.

On another night when he appeared he announced to the Berinis, “My oldest brother is the only one that can help me.” This statement made Joe wonder if maybe Giorgio was confusing him for his father who had been Giorgio’s older brother.

After this, the couple took a friends advice and tried to just ignore this activity.

But after their last encounter with Giorgio's ghost the activity in the home became much darker in nature. That very night the phone in the Berini’s bedroom was flung off their bedside table by unseen hands. Over time this phone continued to be flung violently off this table--according to the Berinis over a dozen times.

Joe now concerned, called his parents to warn them that Giorgio might visit them. But as he discussed this apparent poltergeist activity with them-- every time he mentioned Giorgio’s name the phone went dead. Again, they tried to ignore the activity.

But in June of 1981 darker things started to happen that were very disturbing. This is when the third entity showed up.

The Berinis described this entity as a dark male that appeared as a hunchback. He had very large feet and a gruff voice. They bravely questioned this entity to determine who he might be but he always gave evasive answers telling them he was a “minister of God.” But it wasn’t long before they didn’t believe him.

The phone continued to be flung off its hook and the poltergeist activity increased in both frequency and intensity. Whenever Rose prayed with her rosary this entity would try to distract her with a string of obscenities. Religious items in the home went missing or were broken.

In various rooms in the home furniture was moved or rolled over. A daughter's desk was found violently pushed down the stairs.

Joe, Rose and a daughter were all hit by items that were thrown. Rose was the target of most of this abuse. A bedside lamp fell striking her on the head. Another time the freezer door was flung open hitting her on the head. While sitting at the kitchen table something twisted her arm behind her back and then her head was jerked so far to the side she started to choke.

Things worsened. Joe saw Rose pulled out of bed, she levitated above the bed and then she was dropped to the floor. After this attack bruises where discovered on her arms and legs where unseen hands had forcefully gripped her. Two months after the hunchback first made an appearance he became even more violent.

One night after Joe left for work Rose heard a series of loud bangs on her bedroom wall. The walls literally shook. When her bed rose off the ground she tried to leave the room but the door slammed shut in her face. When she managed to open the door--her dog was growling at something unseen.

She went to her  children’s bedrooms but their doors shut violently on her, she then was knocked off her feet by an unseen force and dragged back to her bedroom. Invisible hands started to choke and scratch her. She managed to call Joe and he rushed home.

When he entered their bedroom he saw the bed lurching repeatedly off the floor. He found Rose curled up in a ball in the corner of the room clutching her crucifix.

The next morning as they entered their kitchen they saw a carving knife embedded in their kitchen table. They moved out of the house for a month. During this period they arranged for a priest to do a ceremony similar to an exorcism. This worked for when the Berinis moved back into their home they no longer saw apparitions or had poltergeist activity.

* Joe invited the (PRA) Psychical Research Foundation--based in North Carolina--to investigate the home. In this group's case summary they call this family Berini. This organization was able to verify many of the couple's claims. One reason being, many of the Berini’s friends, family and neighbors had seen the apparitions and witnessed the poltergeist activity.

Today this group is based out of Florida and is known as the American Institute of Parapsychology.