Olivas Adobe Family Ghosts

Located south of Ventura, California near Highway 101 is an adobe home built by Don Raymundo Olivas in 1841.

Ranch house at Rancho San Miguel.

Olivas was given 2,250 acres from a land grant by the Mexican Governor, Juan Bautista Alvarado in appreciation for his service in the Mexican Army.

He called his new home Rancho San Miguel. In 1849 he had a second story built onto his home-- making it a one of a kind in the region. He and his wife, Teodora had 21 children.

Teodora Olivas

Being the wealthiest cattle rancher in Alta, Don Raymundo held fiestas at his home that often lasted 3 to 4 days. But this attracted undue attention, the result was bandits rounded the family up and held them captive as they looked for valuables.

In one version of this story, it is stated Don Raymundo sent a servant with a box containing gold coins worth upwards of $75,000. This servant buried it while Don Raymundo stalled.

Unfortunately, when this servant returned the robbers killed him, before finding out the location, so to this day no one has ever found where this gold is hidden.

When Don Raymundo died in 1879, his land was parceled off to his heirs. By 1899, the property was no longer owned by the family.

Max Fleischaman

Front view of Olivas Adobe.

In 1927, Max Fleischman—of the yeast and butter fame—bought the ranch house and restored it. When he died in 1972 he gifted the property to the city of Ventura.

The Olivas Adobe was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The home is run as a museum today and tours are offered on the weekends.

Employees, volunteers and visitors all feel the old home is haunted.

The most active ghost is a female known as the Lady in Black. Many feel this spirit dressed in black mourning is the ghost of Don Raymundo’s wife, Teodora.

Numerous witnesses have spotted her ghost over the years. She is often seen pacing back and forth. She is active both day and night. She is spotted in various rooms and on the upper porch at the rear of the house. Witnesses have watched as she disappeared in mid-stride.

It is stated she wrings her hands nervously—a throwback to the time she and her family were held captive by bandits. It is said they ruthlessly ripped her earrings out.

Nicolas Olivas

Another ghost seen is that of a man with a beard. His face * is seen hovering outside a second story window. It resembles, Nicolas Olivas, Don Raymundo’s eldest son.

This ghost is spotted looking in at the room that once was the “Children’s Room.” This window is 16 feet above the ground and has no ledge or balcony attached to it. Some speculate he is looking for his finger—chopped off by the bandits.

The ghost of a little girl has also been seen in the home--it is believed she was Nicolas' daughter, Rebecca. On one Halloween over 100 people witnessed her at the same time.

Rebecca Olivas 

* In 2004, Richard Senate the manager of Olivas Adobe who is a ghost hunter captured this bearded face angrily peering into this window on his digital camera.

The Lady in Black has also been seen gazing out of this same window onto the courtyard below. She has startled more than one visitor.

Volunteers at the museum report hearing footsteps going up the stairs and on the floorboards above. When these sounds are investigated no one is ever found.

Other activity includes rocking chairs in the home moving on their own and the dolls in the Children's Room have been moved around overnight when the home is closed.

The following 5-minute video is Richard Senate talking about the ghosts that have been captured in EVPs and photos in the Olivas Adobe. 

Here is another more recent video Senate did about this haunting.

Haunted Object: The Anguished Man

The Anguished Man is an oil painting that depicts a man that looks tortured.

The Anguished Man

The figure of the man in this picture appears bald, his face, neck and a portion of his body that is shown appears red. The mouth is open as if the man is screaming.

Some paintings are made to look this way but The Anguished Man painting is unusual in that it seems to adversely effect people that own it.

Sean Robinson’s grandmother came in possession of the painting when a friend gave it to her. She was firmly convinced that the painting was evil. She told Sean that the woman who gave her the painting mentioned the painter of this piece of art mixed his own blood with the oil paints he used.

Supposedly the artist then committed suicide after he completed it.

His mother stated that she heard crying and saw a shadow man who was faceless and a strange mist, She felt this activity was connected to the picture.

For twenty-five years she kept the painting locked away in her home’s attic in order to protect the family from the evil it projected. She felt this art piece was haunted.

When Sean inherited the painting his family began to experience several unexplained events. They heard the crying and sobbing sounds and saw the shadow figure as well. Sean’s wife had her hair touched while the painting hung upstairs.

His son fell off the stairs inexplicably. Sean feels the painting was the cause. 

Sean states his dog would not go upstairs when the painting was there and now it is in the cellar the family dog will not enter this room.

His wife had another a spine-chilling encounter with this ghost. One night, she thought  Sean had come to bed with her only to look up into a pair of strange eyes. Sean rushed upstairs hearing her screams. Sean put the painting in the cellar at this point.

After this, the dark figure was seen more often, the noises became louder and the family began to feel cold spots around the home. 

Sean set up a camera in front of the painting and filmed it. What he captured on this recording is interesting. This 2+ minute video is below.

Scraping sounds were recorded, a door shuts by itself and a loud bang is heard—while everyone in the house is sleeping.

Sean later set up his camera once more, this time he filmed for three consecutive nights for 8 hours each time-- he captured the loud bang sound again and he also captured the painting falling over on its own in the middle of the night. This video is below as well.

Sean still owns the painting but these days he keeps it locked in the basement of his home to protect his family. He feels it is cursed.

He has had many offers from others to buy the painting but for some reason he has no desire to sell it.

As usual, skeptics have claimed these videos are hoaxes. I will leave that to the reader to decide.

Here is the original video footage Sean shot of the painting.

Here is the second video where Sean captured the painting falling over.

Creepy Horton Mine

This haunting was discovered by Frank, who is an experienced mine explorer. He has explored over 100 abandoned mines in the west. He recommends that the inexperienced should not do what he does because often these mines are falling apart and dangerous.

But what he experienced in two of his latest explorations goes beyond this usual danger--for he encountered something otherworldly. He captures both these events on the two videos below.

In the summer of 2013 Frank was exploring the Victorine Mine in an isolated mountain area of Nevada with his video camera when he spotted a Bore Hole outside this mine. He then explored the bottom of the mountain and found the lower mine that this hole leads to.

The tunnel he discovered is the the Horton Mine. He spotted water coming out of the entrance to this mine, but since it was running and not stagnant, he felt it would be safe to enter this tunnel.

As he walked through the entrance or what he refers to as the portal of this mine he felt this space was odd.

Becoming overwhelmed, he felt that he was being watched. As he moved further into the tunnel, he felt cold spots and a strong sense of creepiness.

He films several 40-pound chains hanging from this mine’s ceiling. His camera records one of these chains further down the tunnel from him swinging in a full arch from side to side. Other chains in front of this one are swinging as well.

He expresses that he feels a negative presence.

Knowing this type of chain usually does not move even when a man brushes passed them, Frank, understandably freaks out and returns to the entrance and leaves.

Here is the short video, which is 3 and a half minutes. It shows these chains moving.

A Return Visit

A year later in 2014, Frank decides to visit the Horton Mine once more. He is curious to see if something else will happen.

In this video he films the area outside of the Horton Mine then he enters the tunnel. He has found out more about the mine’s history and shares it as he walks further back into the shaft.

He notes once more that this tunnel has a strong creepy feel to it. He feels as if something is warning him to leave.

The Horton mine was used in the late 1970s and early 1980s as an ore pass. Ore was dropped down the 900-foot Bore Hole from the Victorine Mine on top of the mountain.

It was then conveyed on a shute that dumped it into motorized tramcars that carried it out. So Horton was used as a transport shaft. This operation by-passed having to carry this ore the long distance down this steep mountain.

As Frank moves further back into this tunnel, he films a strange mist, and he begins to hear dripping water that feeds the small stream at his feet.

He reaches the back of the tunnel where he sees the water pouring down from the Bore Hole. As he explains how the operation worked faint voices can be heard talking above the sound of the running water and his voice.

He does not note this, so I wonder if he heard what I heard. Faintly at the 6:20 mark and then they get louder at the 6:35 mark.

After he films the machinery and explains how it all worked, he walks back down the tunnel toward the entrance. At this point his video camera records sounds that frighten him--these begin at about the 7:46 mark-- to the point where he panics and quickly runs out of the shaft.

He feels a sudden blast of cold air as he hears these ghostly sounds.

They are clearly recorded. There is the distinct sound of people talking and machinery moving--then a two-alarm sound.

Frank states he will never go back in the Horton Mine.

One has to wonder if the running water and minerals in this mine contribute to this haunting.

This second video shows his return visit in 2014. It is slightly longer--eight-and-a-half minutes--but hearing the ghostly sounds at the end make the wait worthwhile.

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.

Paranormal TV Channel

There are free samples of this channel on YouTube. These productions are well-produced episodes that focus on both well-known and obscure hauntings around America. To view all of them you have to subscribe and sign-in but I have found they are worth the extra effort. 

The stories they tell most often have witnesses with first hand accounts about the ghost or ghosts they have encountered. They always include recent sightings etc. They also tap into a variety of sources: psychics, parapsychologists, mediums, authors and spiritualists etc. to narrate these stories. These narrators usually have some direct link to the stories they share.

The following free fifty-seven minute video is one they produced. It gives the viewer a good idea of the production value of Paranormal TV. The only drawback is that since it is free there are ads within it but you can “skip them”. What I find useful about this series is they also periodically debunk some stories about hauntings. 

The following video is worth a look-see. One story it shares about the “The Lady Who Walks the Stairs” in the hacienda on a ranch called, “Los Luceros” in Alcalde, New Mexico just 40 miles north of Santa Fe is one I have investigated. I will share my story about this house in future.

Enjoy the video entitled "Hauntings Across America".

BBC Ghost Stories Aired at Christmastime

M.R. James, Montague Rhodes James, wrote several collections of short ghost stories in the early 1900s. He was a medieval scholar and for many years the Provost of King’s College. The ghost stories he wrote he shared with his students at Eton on Christmas Eve, which is a long standing tradition in England.

His tales unlike today’s horror stories were quiet in comparison. His stories did though amp up the horror quotient for his day. He wrote about demons, murderous zombies as well as spirits. He shared these bloodcurdling tales from 1918 until the late 1930s. One of his stories Casting the Runes became the 1950s film "Curse of the Demon," which in turn inspired Sam Raimi’s “Drag Me to Hell.”

The BBC adapted several of his stories for their annual television Christmas Ghost Story, which was aired in Great Britain from 1971 until 1978 in the month of December. They were shown under the title "A Ghost Story for Christmas." In 2005, BBC Four revived them during the Christmas season. Even today, these episodes are still remembered with fondness in the United Kingdom. Most are not available to buy or rent but YouTube has parts of many of them.

My favorite one first aired in 1976 and was the first non-M.R. James one shown in the series. It was adapted from a Charles Dickens’s story entitled, The Signalman. It starred Denholm Elliott. It is about a railroad signalman who tells a curious traveller (I spell it traveler) how he has been troubled by a ghostly spectre (I spell it specter) that seems to predict calamity. This specter is a “harbinger”, which is a favorite theme of mine.
 

I like this story because the horror is subtle—it leaves it up to the viewer’s imagination, which in the long run is much more scary.

Below are the YouTube videos in 4 parts that show the episode in its entirety.

Enjoy...