Dateline>City of Angels

Except maybe during rush hour when traffic grinds to a crawl, the winding drive along Laurel Canyon Blvd. can border on the mystical. After all, this rustic L.A. neighborhood is steeped in history and lore. Once a stage pass from the San Fernando Valley through the Hollywood Hills, since the late 1800s the ravine has been a haven for banditos, movie cowboys, prohibition-era boozers, bohemian artists, musicians and other sundry counterculturists. Little wonder so many Angelenos insist the free-spirited road remains a prime connection to otherworldly adventure.

Perhaps no Laurel Canyon site better symbolizes this than the mysterious ruins of a once-posh estate near the intersection of Lookout Mountain Road. Allegedly haunted by master-illusionist Harry Houdini, the private grounds continue to draw lookie-loos seeking fleeting glimpses of his lonely shade amid the property’s rocky stairs and grottoes.

Of course, Halloween is an especially popular time for Houdini drive-bys, since he met the Grim Reaper on this night in 1926. Over the years, there have even been rumors of trespassers sneaking onto the property for clandestine seances in the hopes of conjuring up his spirit — an ironic twist, considering Houdini actually spent much of his career trying to debunk such occultism. Nevertheless, true believers claim the so-called Houdini Mansion is among L.A.’s most haunted places. Read more

Today, of course, is the Eve of All Saints, the Christian feast honoring the hallows in heaven, which is followed by the Nov. 2 Feast of All Souls, a commemoration of all the Christian dead. How this day ended up as a festival for spooks, monsters and demons is a long but interesting story. Suffice it to say that the old Druidic ways die hard. Read more

A few years back, while researching an article on downtown haunts for a local newspaper, I canvassed the El Pueblo Monument for ghost tales. I wasn’t disappointed. According to numerous sources, many of the old landmarks there teem with spirits – including, possibly, L.A.’s first firehouse.

I say “possibly” because my initial investigations at the station met with mixed results.

“There are no ghosts here; this was always a happy place!” retorted an elderly male docent in response to my questioning.

The young lady who worked with him didn’t seem so sure. She admitted to hearing odd noises upstairs, but had told herself it was only the wind. “I don’t really like to believe in ghosts. There are a lot of cracks in the walls and windows up there,” she explained – all the while casting a wary eye toward her stern-looking senior counterpart.

Obviously, there was more to this story. Like any good reporter, I went snooping. Read more

For Halloween chills, there are few adventures more spine-tingling than a midnight stroll through an old, abandoned cemetery. Unfortunately for us Angelenos, many of our earliest and most historic burial grounds have vanished forever beneath the urban sprawl. Their locales today are more often marked by parking bumps than aging, chiseled tombstones. Read on after the jump to see my picks for L.A.’s Top 5 Forgotten Cemeteries. Who knows? In visiting these sites you may yet find yourself haunted by the long-lost spirits of our past…
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Yes, I know it’s been a while since my last post — again. And yes, I know lots of October treats were promised. And no, this blog hasn’t died. For the past several weeks my sole attention has been my Day Job — putting out what will be my last issue as editor and getting everything in order for a new editor. (I could just let the new person figure everything out for him/herself, but that would be rude, and I believe in graceful exits…)

It now appears my last day will be sometime this week, which means all the Halloween-season goodies I’ve hinted at will materialize very soon. In the meantime, consider the post below a sample of things to come: It details several spirits allegedly overstaying their welcome at one of downtown L.A.’s most popular landmarks…

Considering how the Black Dahlia was last seen leaving this majestic hotel just before her 1947 murder, you’d expect the Biltmore’s walls to be oozing with ectoplasm. And apparently they are — just not with hers.

As is often the case with upscale establishments, Millennium Biltmore management prefers not to indulge rumors of otherworldly guests. Nevertheless, an off-the-record interview I did a few years back with a highly credible source yielded several tales of mysterious phenomenon.

First there’s the young boy who allegedly materializes just outside the Crystal Ballroom. Hotel employees claim to have sighted him peering into the room late at night as they clean up from events. Sometimes, he’ll cautiously venture in through the doors only to vanish in a ghostly game of hide-and-seek. No one has a clue as to who he is or why he’s so drawn to the place.

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