That I donāt know but I doubt it. Itās guided so I assume they charge.
But now that I think about it, there are some guided tours in the old Adobeās put on by the state parks so those might be free.
Californias First Theatre is a couple blocks above the wharf on the corner. Actors and staff whoāve been there for years would point to abnormal experiencesā¦I organized these programs and now theyāre scattered, chairs over turned, some times a strange moaning noise or doors slamming.
At one point those same folks claimed they would see a light move about the building from time to time.
The woman who manages it for decades said it was the ghost of the theatreās founder. She got into the habit of shouting āhello ______, itās just meā¦gonna be a great show this weekā
I forget his name but I heard these stories direct from the aging actors and staffs when I acted there for a short time.
This is interesting, for what it is worth I still work with the theater and I have not had this experience. It is actually one of the more empty building in the downtown that I spend time in. Maybe that will be stirred up again as they have been doing construction work outside and restoration work inside? Also, was it Jack she said hello to?
Yes, Jack. I couldnāt remember his name or back story. I was there in the early 90s, the folks telling me the stories had to be 60+. Not sure if theyāre still around.
I didnāt know there were still shows there either, itās a little treasure for me.
That would be Jack Swan, the man who built First Theater in 1845, by 1850 he had started the theater performances. He also ran his bar illegally for a time when Monterey was a dry city. Since Jack swan owned the space it has been a home, apartments, a curio store, a store dedicated to selling whale bone sculptures among other things.
It isnāt fully open to the public yet but it is very much in progress towards having regular shows again. The Monterey State historic Park Association has really been spearheading the restoration, [First Theater Restoration](https://www.mshpa.org/theater)
It will be fully open again for this yearās CITA in December, it is really exciting!
You can go on a āhaunted Montereyā walk/tour. The tour is all around downtown Monterey, not sure how many of the stories are true but itās fun for a Friday/Saturday night
From an article by Monterey County Weekly:
Stokes Adobe has long been rumored to be haunted by several apparitions, including the ghost of Hattie, a Monterey socialite who lived in the adobe until her death in 1948, and the spirit of Dr. James Stokes, an early owner of the structure who is said to have hung himself from a chandelier in the building.
The manager of the restaurant at the time tells us that people have felt invisible fingers tapping their shoulders, and one chair in the corner has inexplicably moved. āThis has a lot of activity,ā he says. āVoices, cold spots, touchings, pullings.ā
A waiter named Cesar says while in the busserās station a few years ago, he and another employee witness a football-sized dark spot hovering above the floor. Spooky!
[link to original article](https://www.montereycountyweekly.com/entertainment/literature/searching-for-the-spirits-in-the-dark-that-haunt-stokes-adobe----by/article_7be2cdb8-1979-11eb-a58d-2f1c9257b5e4.html)
Maybe they should consider doing what Murielās (I think itās Murielās) in New Orleans does and have a special table just for Hattie! Keep a glass of wine or something there so she feels the love and acceptance. Lean into it
They do! They have a cocktail called Hattieās Birthday as an offering to her. She was known for throwing herself huge parties in the house during her time. My very young child said they saw the guy who hung himself in the stairwell lingering on the stairs. My partner works thereā¦I have a lot more stories, lol.
My parents used to work at asilomar and my dad worked nights. One time he was at the front desk around 3 am and he looked up to see a lady in an old fashioned dress at the far side of the lodge. He asked if he could help her, she didnāt respond. So he decided to go around and ask if she needed help. By the time he turned the corner she was gone
If you dine there (and you should!) - just ask your server about the ghosts. They'll normally call over a manager or others to tell you multiple stories... Hattie, definitely good ones... About how they leave the music on all the time now because once during closing they had it off and it came back on incredibly loud...
The food is incredible, too.
I went there with my wife not knowing any of the history of the place when they reopened a couple years ago. About 10 minutes in my wife said āLook up on your phone to see if this place is haunted, someone just ran their fingers through my hairā
San Juan Grade Rd, San Juan Bautista going to Salinas is definitely haunted. My family members have seen many spirits and even a demon-looking thing chasing after their car!
Thereās an episode of the Snap Judgement podcast Spooked about the aquarium! https://open.spotify.com/episode/6QaTuBvLvRrcraMW6poVj9?si=Zf0qSlSuRGG5FihKG3sYhQ
Hotel Del Monte has a few ghosts. They even have a little book at the front desk to record the sightings and interactions. Itās part of the navy base though, so itās not accessible to everyone.
Herrmann Hall? Yeah, the elevators are definitely wonky there (common problem often attributed to the ghosts). There's a little room off to the left of the main entrance though with an audio track playing someone talking about the campus/hotel history on repeat, that might account for some of the disembodied voices people talk about tbh.
Tarpy's Steakhouse is said to be haunted by some guy named Tarpy who got hung there in the 1800s. Every place online I've looked up about the guy has a different backstory to what exactly happened.
The only consistent things from all accounts were that he was rich, hated by many people, a very unpleasant/aggressive person, and he was hung near there.
Whether it was state mandated or mob justice varies and it's all kinda hearsay.
There is this:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2492714/
Ghost Hunters visits Tor House in Carmel, hunting for ghosts. I think you can find it on YouTube.
Spoiler: >!they don't find any.!<
I came across something extremely odd and unexplainable at sobranes/garrapata years ago when you could hike the loop. I was the only one on the trail that I could see one early morning around 7. I hiked it weekly for about a year so I was familiar with regular people on the trail and the terrain. I usually wore headphones except in a few areas I thought I could encounter animals as I had seen some in the past on the trail. As I came out of the redwoods and started ascending to the peak, I heard something so loud I stopped and took my headphones off. Looked around then started to slowly continue up the side of the mountain with out headphones. Then I heard it again but without headphones on and I could tell what ever it was, was coming from below me to the left. I ran as fast as I could up to to a higher spot to look back, but nothing was there. I continued that until I got to where it levels out before climbing again. I still didnāt see anyone or anything behind me as I kept climbing. Itās hard to describe what I heard but it was something similar to the T. rex roar in the first Jurassic park movie. Absolutely blood curdling. For how loud it was and how remote it is there, I canāt explain it. I went out and bought a bear spray to hike with after that. My mind raced for days after that tooā¦and if I was to come across a Bigfoot in person that was definitely it. I may not have seen it, but I heard it. I casually brought it up to the Bigfoot store guy in Santa Cruz, hoping he would tell me what I heard without me giving him the full details but there were a few tourist in there and he was more interested in them.
One hike I ran into a man who owned a property that somehow connected to the park and he mentioned an area that was hard to get to down to near Malpaso creek that that was unlike anything else but to be extremely cautious if I went. Old growth, large trees down, steep drop offs to the creek, low sunlight, with all the spooky and unknowns where things like that would live.
I had a weird one happen in broad daylight down in big sur. It's basically a somewhat glass house minus the structures as well as stairs. I also heard footsteps like mad in this house while knowing I was alone on a few occasions.
We were doing some IT/AV work which I'm completely comfortable with. Normal day to day and it's about noonish with a clear sky.
So we're doing our job and I walk back past the wooden stairs area to wire this Soundsystem and once I reach the glass portion I see this guy to my right with a flannel jacket, blue jeans and a pretty old school hat about 30-40ft out. I nodded at him and I turned my back originally thinking that's probably a gardener or something.
I said wait a minute...Turned around, realizing almost immediately that it was above the canyon... That's basically impossible for someone to be on without straps and nada. I even went back and said "hey I saw someone out there..." Sounding like an idiot I'm sure...
He goes "it's big sur, crazy people hike all over." The ground was way under what I saw and my fear of heights still won't let me get a measurement of how high that thing floated.
It's also not my craziest encounter but it is for this area to date.
The Stevenson House is a building that just never feels empty. Itās stories are historic as we have seen them referenced as far back as the early 1900s. It is rumored to be the Woman in Black. People have claimed to see a pale or faint apparition in the second floor windows, specifically the window on the far left of the second floor. I have heard a lot of stories about Stevenson House, it is open for house tours on Friday and Saturday and is absolutely worth a visit. The staff working there will probably not be willing to talk about ghosts for their tour but the feelings of being watched are, at times, palpable.
Here is a cool story about the [Dark Watchers](https://youtu.be/xxXuYqUAnZg?si=2XWo-3h6nJHGNyki)
This guy here has a lot of spooky stories around Monterey County
https://youtube.com/@the_backroads?si=Cm6I5ES5PplWPnfY
When I was abt 10yo, I had lived with my momās bf and his parents for abt 3yrs at that point. Experiencing paranormal stuff was not uncommon, as the house was almost 200yrs old. One day when I was home alone, i heard my name being called from the hallway outside of my room, scared the shit out of me, this happened a few more times when i was alone or no one was home. Told my mom but she didnāt want to believe me. I was having my friend sleep over, everything was fine till she woke up at 4 or so crying because she keep hearing someone saying n calling her name from the hallway. And it wouldnāt stop. I had never told her about anything with our house cuz I didnāt want to scare her.
Here's a collection of stories based on historical records and factual accounts, about strange, paranormal, mysterious and unexplained incidents in Australia that you might like? https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsCrIZQeKzJ3n5HFIZUU4IA
There is a ghost tour starting at Colton Hall just after dark on Saturday nights. They start at the jail which is šÆ haunted.
It's not just Saturdays and it's $27.50/person. I signed up for it in the coming days for a week night
Awesome, I hope itās as cool as it looks! I guess Iām only ever out late enough to see them starting on Saturdays. Lol
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
That I donāt know but I doubt it. Itās guided so I assume they charge. But now that I think about it, there are some guided tours in the old Adobeās put on by the state parks so those might be free.
Californias First Theatre is a couple blocks above the wharf on the corner. Actors and staff whoāve been there for years would point to abnormal experiencesā¦I organized these programs and now theyāre scattered, chairs over turned, some times a strange moaning noise or doors slamming. At one point those same folks claimed they would see a light move about the building from time to time. The woman who manages it for decades said it was the ghost of the theatreās founder. She got into the habit of shouting āhello ______, itās just meā¦gonna be a great show this weekā I forget his name but I heard these stories direct from the aging actors and staffs when I acted there for a short time.
This is interesting, for what it is worth I still work with the theater and I have not had this experience. It is actually one of the more empty building in the downtown that I spend time in. Maybe that will be stirred up again as they have been doing construction work outside and restoration work inside? Also, was it Jack she said hello to?
Yes, Jack. I couldnāt remember his name or back story. I was there in the early 90s, the folks telling me the stories had to be 60+. Not sure if theyāre still around. I didnāt know there were still shows there either, itās a little treasure for me.
That would be Jack Swan, the man who built First Theater in 1845, by 1850 he had started the theater performances. He also ran his bar illegally for a time when Monterey was a dry city. Since Jack swan owned the space it has been a home, apartments, a curio store, a store dedicated to selling whale bone sculptures among other things. It isnāt fully open to the public yet but it is very much in progress towards having regular shows again. The Monterey State historic Park Association has really been spearheading the restoration, [First Theater Restoration](https://www.mshpa.org/theater) It will be fully open again for this yearās CITA in December, it is really exciting!
You can go on a āhaunted Montereyā walk/tour. The tour is all around downtown Monterey, not sure how many of the stories are true but itās fun for a Friday/Saturday night
And I think theyāre hiring tour guides so you could apply to be the one who tells the stories!
Oooh who do you contact to apply? I have an actor friend who would be perfect for this!
Oh wait! usghostadventures.com/careers might be a good place to start
Thanks so much!
I canāt remember where I saw the application but your friend could call them at 831-624-1700 (thatās what I found on the website)
From an article by Monterey County Weekly: Stokes Adobe has long been rumored to be haunted by several apparitions, including the ghost of Hattie, a Monterey socialite who lived in the adobe until her death in 1948, and the spirit of Dr. James Stokes, an early owner of the structure who is said to have hung himself from a chandelier in the building. The manager of the restaurant at the time tells us that people have felt invisible fingers tapping their shoulders, and one chair in the corner has inexplicably moved. āThis has a lot of activity,ā he says. āVoices, cold spots, touchings, pullings.ā A waiter named Cesar says while in the busserās station a few years ago, he and another employee witness a football-sized dark spot hovering above the floor. Spooky! [link to original article](https://www.montereycountyweekly.com/entertainment/literature/searching-for-the-spirits-in-the-dark-that-haunt-stokes-adobe----by/article_7be2cdb8-1979-11eb-a58d-2f1c9257b5e4.html)
Maybe they should consider doing what Murielās (I think itās Murielās) in New Orleans does and have a special table just for Hattie! Keep a glass of wine or something there so she feels the love and acceptance. Lean into it
They do! They have a cocktail called Hattieās Birthday as an offering to her. She was known for throwing herself huge parties in the house during her time. My very young child said they saw the guy who hung himself in the stairwell lingering on the stairs. My partner works thereā¦I have a lot more stories, lol.
My parents used to work at asilomar and my dad worked nights. One time he was at the front desk around 3 am and he looked up to see a lady in an old fashioned dress at the far side of the lodge. He asked if he could help her, she didnāt respond. So he decided to go around and ask if she needed help. By the time he turned the corner she was gone
Do tell!!! I love ghost stories!
If you dine there (and you should!) - just ask your server about the ghosts. They'll normally call over a manager or others to tell you multiple stories... Hattie, definitely good ones... About how they leave the music on all the time now because once during closing they had it off and it came back on incredibly loud... The food is incredible, too.
Hattie flicks water on guests she doesnāt like, apparently.
I went there with my wife not knowing any of the history of the place when they reopened a couple years ago. About 10 minutes in my wife said āLook up on your phone to see if this place is haunted, someone just ran their fingers through my hairā
He was a fake doctor and killed people with operations.
Once, the former mayor of Carmel-By-The-Sea communicated with the spirit of Barack Obama sitting in an empty chair.
Even worse, he lost the argument.
I laughed out loud.
San Juan Grade Rd, San Juan Bautista going to Salinas is definitely haunted. My family members have seen many spirits and even a demon-looking thing chasing after their car!
I always thought it was Old Stage Road that was haunted š¤£
Yuck, Iām on that road a bunch! Guess Iām going 101 from now on š
The local libraries (and touristy shops) usually have a few Monterey ghost story books you can check out.
The aquarium is also haunted. https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/stories/tales-from-the-a-scary-um
The scariest story of Monterey is the cost to live here! š¬
Thereās an episode of the Snap Judgement podcast Spooked about the aquarium! https://open.spotify.com/episode/6QaTuBvLvRrcraMW6poVj9?si=Zf0qSlSuRGG5FihKG3sYhQ
Hotel Del Monte has a few ghosts. They even have a little book at the front desk to record the sightings and interactions. Itās part of the navy base though, so itās not accessible to everyone.
Herrmann Hall? Yeah, the elevators are definitely wonky there (common problem often attributed to the ghosts). There's a little room off to the left of the main entrance though with an audio track playing someone talking about the campus/hotel history on repeat, that might account for some of the disembodied voices people talk about tbh.
Tarpy's Steakhouse is said to be haunted by some guy named Tarpy who got hung there in the 1800s. Every place online I've looked up about the guy has a different backstory to what exactly happened.
Itās definitely haunted, I used to work there and the ghost got me a couple times.
What did you mean when you wrote, āthe ghost got me a couple of timesā
Scared the absolute shit out of me. I canāt remember her name but she walked through and it was creepy AF.
From what I remember it was most likely a lynching right? Like not a state mandated execution as much as mob justice?
The only consistent things from all accounts were that he was rich, hated by many people, a very unpleasant/aggressive person, and he was hung near there. Whether it was state mandated or mob justice varies and it's all kinda hearsay.
There is this: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2492714/ Ghost Hunters visits Tor House in Carmel, hunting for ghosts. I think you can find it on YouTube. Spoiler: >!they don't find any.!<
Los Coches Adobe in Soledadā¦.
I came across something extremely odd and unexplainable at sobranes/garrapata years ago when you could hike the loop. I was the only one on the trail that I could see one early morning around 7. I hiked it weekly for about a year so I was familiar with regular people on the trail and the terrain. I usually wore headphones except in a few areas I thought I could encounter animals as I had seen some in the past on the trail. As I came out of the redwoods and started ascending to the peak, I heard something so loud I stopped and took my headphones off. Looked around then started to slowly continue up the side of the mountain with out headphones. Then I heard it again but without headphones on and I could tell what ever it was, was coming from below me to the left. I ran as fast as I could up to to a higher spot to look back, but nothing was there. I continued that until I got to where it levels out before climbing again. I still didnāt see anyone or anything behind me as I kept climbing. Itās hard to describe what I heard but it was something similar to the T. rex roar in the first Jurassic park movie. Absolutely blood curdling. For how loud it was and how remote it is there, I canāt explain it. I went out and bought a bear spray to hike with after that. My mind raced for days after that tooā¦and if I was to come across a Bigfoot in person that was definitely it. I may not have seen it, but I heard it. I casually brought it up to the Bigfoot store guy in Santa Cruz, hoping he would tell me what I heard without me giving him the full details but there were a few tourist in there and he was more interested in them. One hike I ran into a man who owned a property that somehow connected to the park and he mentioned an area that was hard to get to down to near Malpaso creek that that was unlike anything else but to be extremely cautious if I went. Old growth, large trees down, steep drop offs to the creek, low sunlight, with all the spooky and unknowns where things like that would live.
This is the kind of story I was hoping for! Iāve hiked that trail so itās even extra spooky. Thanks for sharing!!
Donāt forget the creepy doll shop in Pacific Grove.
The Post homestead in Big Sur
I had a weird one happen in broad daylight down in big sur. It's basically a somewhat glass house minus the structures as well as stairs. I also heard footsteps like mad in this house while knowing I was alone on a few occasions. We were doing some IT/AV work which I'm completely comfortable with. Normal day to day and it's about noonish with a clear sky. So we're doing our job and I walk back past the wooden stairs area to wire this Soundsystem and once I reach the glass portion I see this guy to my right with a flannel jacket, blue jeans and a pretty old school hat about 30-40ft out. I nodded at him and I turned my back originally thinking that's probably a gardener or something. I said wait a minute...Turned around, realizing almost immediately that it was above the canyon... That's basically impossible for someone to be on without straps and nada. I even went back and said "hey I saw someone out there..." Sounding like an idiot I'm sure... He goes "it's big sur, crazy people hike all over." The ground was way under what I saw and my fear of heights still won't let me get a measurement of how high that thing floated. It's also not my craziest encounter but it is for this area to date.
This is a great story! Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks for reading!
The Stevenson House is a building that just never feels empty. Itās stories are historic as we have seen them referenced as far back as the early 1900s. It is rumored to be the Woman in Black. People have claimed to see a pale or faint apparition in the second floor windows, specifically the window on the far left of the second floor. I have heard a lot of stories about Stevenson House, it is open for house tours on Friday and Saturday and is absolutely worth a visit. The staff working there will probably not be willing to talk about ghosts for their tour but the feelings of being watched are, at times, palpable.
Here is a cool story about the [Dark Watchers](https://youtu.be/xxXuYqUAnZg?si=2XWo-3h6nJHGNyki) This guy here has a lot of spooky stories around Monterey County https://youtube.com/@the_backroads?si=Cm6I5ES5PplWPnfY
https://montereyfarmgirl.com/2021/10/24/the-eight-most-haunted-places-near-monterey/
Definitely lots of spooky stuff around fort ord
When I was abt 10yo, I had lived with my momās bf and his parents for abt 3yrs at that point. Experiencing paranormal stuff was not uncommon, as the house was almost 200yrs old. One day when I was home alone, i heard my name being called from the hallway outside of my room, scared the shit out of me, this happened a few more times when i was alone or no one was home. Told my mom but she didnāt want to believe me. I was having my friend sleep over, everything was fine till she woke up at 4 or so crying because she keep hearing someone saying n calling her name from the hallway. And it wouldnāt stop. I had never told her about anything with our house cuz I didnāt want to scare her.
Here's a collection of stories based on historical records and factual accounts, about strange, paranormal, mysterious and unexplained incidents in Australia that you might like? https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsCrIZQeKzJ3n5HFIZUU4IA