San Jose’s Winchester Mystery House

by Jeremy Kressmann on

This past weekend I found myself in San Jose, California. As far as Bay Area tourism is concerned, San Jose has always been the red-headed stepchild to more well-known destinations like San Francisco, the Napa Valley and Berkeley. However, during my stay I discovered a great reason to make the hour-long drive down to San Jose from San Francisco – the Winchester Mystery House.

This sprawling, ornate Victorian mansion sits just a short distance from the city’s downtown. Spanning a property of over 4 acres, the mansion contains more than 160 rooms, 40 bedrooms, 2 ballrooms and 3 elevators. But it’s not just pretty to look at – the Winchester Mansion boasts a mysterious history thanks to its late resident Sarah Winchester, heiress of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.

Sarah’s husband William Wirt Winchester amassed great wealth through the sale of his company’s most famous product – the Winchester rifle. The gun was responsible for many deaths in the late 1800’s, which weighed heavily upon Sarah. She was convinced she was being haunted by the spirits of those killed by Winchester rifles. In an effort to confuse these spirits, Mrs. Winchester began construction on a massive estate near San Jose. From 1884 until her death in 1922, the house underwent 38 years of continuous, non-stop construction, taking on a confusing and labyrinth-like floor plan. Stairways were built that led to nowhere and many doors open onto blank walls. All of this a tribute to the madness and persistence of its reclusive owner, Sarah Winchester.

The next time you’re in the Bay Area, why not swing by San Jose for a visit? For what you paid for that bottle of Napa Cabernet you’ll get to experience a real piece of Americana and a house that truly has to be seen to be believed.

Spooky libraries

by Martha Edwards on

Dusty, musty and seemingly old as time, some libraries are the perfect place for ghosts and ghouls to haunt their way through eternity. The folks over at Intelligent Traveller have done some uncovering and found some of the spookiest libraries around the world — and the ghosts who haunt them:

  • Morelia Public Library, in Michoacán, Mexico: This library, which has been around since the 16th century, is said to be haunted by a blue clad nun. The sensation is so real that people have reported hearing footsteps following them.
  • State Library of Victoria, in Melbourne, Australia: Built in 1856, this library is reportedly haunted not only by a librarian named Grace in the Children’s and Arts sections, but also a mustachioed man in the music section and various poltergeists in the newspaper room. After-hours security guards report seeing glowing balls of light in the library — yikes! That’s got to be one frightening job.
  • Rammerscales House, in Lockerbie, Scotland: A ghost haunts the library of this large home, and apparently it’s so frightening that guests have asked to stay in the stables.
  • Felbrigg Hall, in Norfolk, England: The ghost of an 18th-century scholar, William Windham III, is known to sit in his armchair by the fire and read books well into the night. In fact, it’s such a regular occurrence that the butler used to leave specific books out for him each night.

Haunted Hotels to Get Your Halloween Freak On At

by Martha Edwards on

Are you into the supernatural, the kind of person who chases ghosts and spirits? If so, well … I don’t really know what to say except why?!?! That stuff totally freak me out. But to each their own.

And if you are a ghost-lover, you probably love Halloween too. But this Halloween, instead of doing some un-scary like going to a costume party or doing a pub-crawl, why not spend a night in a haunted hotel? I bet the rates are cheap because people in their right mind wouldn’t consider it (I kid, I kid … ) Here’s a list of hotels where the guests or employees never left, including:

  • The Admiral Fell Inn in Baltimore: Once a hospice, the night nurse is purportedly still on shift.
  • The Driskill Hotel in Austin: A senators daughter came crashing to her death her and is still supposedly playing with her ball in the hallways.
  • The Hawthorne Hotel in Salem: This hotel is home to a sad — but unidentified — young woman in suite 612.
  • The Hotel Galvez in Galveston: A young widow, who committed suicide after learning that her husbands ship had sunk, still keeps watch on the fifth floor.
  • Blennerhassett Hotel, Parkersville Parkersburg, West Virginia: Cigar smoke of an unknown source wafts through the halls here. Many believe it belongs to the hotels founder.

Want to find out where the other haunted hotels are? Read the full article.

One for the Road: Ghost Hunter’s Guides

by Kelly Amabile on

Calling all paranormal adventurers — ready for a Halloween ghost hunt?
Cardiology specialist and ghost hunter Jeff Dwyer’s latest guide reveals details about over 70 haunted hangouts around the Crescent City. The Ghost Hunter’s Guide to New Orleans provides historical background on the spooky stories that have made these locations legendary.

But no fears or frets if NOLA is not on your Halloween travel agenda. Ghost-lovers in Los Angeles and San Francisco can do hunting as well, using Dwyer’s guides to those cities. Folks who might be up for hunting goblins in between sips of chardonnay will want to pick up his Ghost Hunter’s Guide to California’s Wine Country, due out next year. (A guide to haunted locales in Seattle is forthcoming as well.) Whether or not you believe in the paranormal, these guides might be fun to have if you are traveling to these cities this Halloween season, or on any family vacation when you want to spook the heck out of your Aunt Martha.

Bonus for California residents: You can actually join up with Dwyer for ghost hunts taking place on Saturday, Oct. 13 at Acres of Books (1 pm) and Under the Bridge (5 pm). And he’ll be signing books at the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose on Oct. 27 (6 pm). Boo!

MSN’s 10 Places to Get Spooked

by Adrienne Wilson on

BOO! Halloween is now only a week away and it is time for some real trip planning if you have yet to begin. If you’re too embarrassed to go cruise your home digs in costume with a begging bag in hand consider some of these ghostly destinations provided by MSN. Start with a trip down to the legendary Bermuda Triangle known for making many a vessel disappear while sailing the sea span between Miami, Bermuda and San Juan, P.R. If taking to the seas on one of the creepiest nights of the year doesn’t give you goose-pimples try a visit to the city of Salem, Mass., where the famous witch trials took place in 1692. All month long Salem makes the most of its utterly gruesome past by hosting several ghost tours, street fairs and costume balls. In all honesty Salem looks like one of the best places to head too if you’re really wrapped into this stuff. Other stops include Roswell, London’s Ghost Walk and Transylvania of course. Having been to Transylvania before, I say skip the expensive plane ride over and again, head to Salem.

See MSN for the spooky rest.