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May 08 Ghosts and GravestonesSan Diego is the first city in California, which means it has a lot of old places, old stories, and -- just maybe -- ghosts. I decided to try another tour in order to hit a number of legendary spots at once. So, after darkness fell, I reported to the Ghosts and Gravestones Tour in San Diego's Gaslamp district. The tour takes you, among other places, to one of San Diego's oldest graveyards, a haunted mansion called Villa Montezuma, and the place believed to be the most haunted house in the United States, the Whaley House. I was stoked. It starts out quite theatrical. We all board the "Trolley of the Dammed" and are welcomed by our host, Rupert, a British man in a tailcoat and stovepipe hat. I've been wondering about that lately. Why are 99% of the ghosts you encounter in America from the Victorian times? I sometimes wonder if ghosts have a half-life of 100 years. The "rules" of the tour are announced by a recording of Rich Little doing an Alfred Hitchcock impression, which sets a pair of drunk middle-aged men to giggling, and those two events pretty much set the tone for the evening. But I am getting ahead of myself. We make an after-hours stop at Villa Montezuma, a colorful Victorian mansion built for musician and spiritualist Jesse Shepard in 1887. The creepiest part of this house isn't even supernatural. On the walls, hung in glass-fronted shadowboxes, are flowery wreaths made of human hair. In Victorian times, this was a common practice. The hair came from dead relatives. I'd heard of this practice, but I'd never seen one up close. Frankly, I don't need to see one up close again. The tour guide tells us we're not permitted to take pictures inside Villa Montezuma, so I only have shots of the outside. The tour also stops at the William Heath Davis house, where we meet Susie the Psychic Dog. She is beautiful and affectionate, and follows the museum docent everywhere. On certain nights, she becomes agitated, and hides under furniture for no apparent reason; on one such night, the rocking chair starts rocking by itself. It seems that animals, perhaps dogs in particular, are sensitive to forces humans are not; weather events, strokes and heart attacks, and perhaps supernatural phenomenon also. We pass through one of the oldest cemeteries in San Diego. By this time, the drunken men are so taken with giggling fits that some members of the tour are outwardly wishing spirits would appear just to kick their butts. Rupert, our fearless guide, handles it with a pro. We go on to the part I am most excited about, the Whaley House. The Whaley House, built in 1857, is said by some to be the most haunted house in America. Poltergeist activity, ghosts appearing in human form, noises, cold spots, feelings of dread -- just about every type of paranormal activity you've heard of has been reported in this house. We walk up, knock on the door, and... Nothing. No one is there to let us in. Through a mix up between the tour company and the Whaley House, the place is all locked up. I got a picture of the front porch, but that was it. I'll have to try again another night. Comments (6)
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