From the category archives:

Cryptic L.A.

Ghosts and GHOULA at Olvera Street’s Casa La Golondrina Mexican Cafe

Cryptic L.A.
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Readers with a thirst for spirits — both the distilled and paranormal kind — should consider some monthly barhopping with GHOULA, the Ghost Hunters of Urban Los Angeles.
Last night the group’s “Spirits With Spirits” gathering descended on Olvera Street’s famous La Golondrina Mexican Cafe for dinner, drinks and an impromptu tour of the not-so-public upstairs [...]

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Back From the Dead

Cryptic L.A.
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The pumpkins are carved, the skeletons are hanging from the rafters, dusk has descended, and the witching hour is upon us.
Yes, it’s the Eve of All Hallows, and at long last the resurrection of this blog after its recent crash. Most of the infrastructure has been repaired, so, fittingly, I plan to recommence regular posts [...]

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Forest Lawn, the Ultimate Celebrity Neverland

Cryptic L.A.
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This week it was announced that pop-singer Michael Jackson will be laid to rest at Forest Lawn, Glendale, on what would have been his 51st birthday, Aug. 29.
Dateline>City of Angels can’t think of a more appropriate choice of cemetery, given how for nearly a century Forest Lawn has served as a virtual Neverland for [...]

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Altadena’s Weirdly Mysterious “Gravity Hill”

Cryptic L.A.
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Recently your humble blogger picked up a copy of the wondrously offbeat Weird California (left), a “travel guide to California’s local legends and best kept secrets.” Written by folklorist triumvirate Greg Bishop, Joe Oesterle and Mike Marinacci, the 2006 book devotes several pages to so-called “Gravity Hills” throughout the Golden State, including one in [...]

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Banking on a Dead Horse in Silver Lake

Cryptic L.A.

For all Citibank’s Silver Lake customers know, their branch safeguards a mythic lost treasure.
But it’s not in the bank’s vault — at least not the one where the loot is kept.
That’s because the treasure in question isn’t gold or currency, but rather Old Blue, faithful steed of cowboy movie legend Tom Mix. And according to [...]

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Photo Op: Two Views of Pasadena’s Wonderfully Creepy Bridge

Cryptic L.A.

As long as we’re still celebrating the Christmas season, remember the famous Bridge Scene in It’s a Wonderful Life? Had the film been set in Southern California, Jimmy Stewart certainly would’ve considered hurling himself from the spans of Pasadena’s Colorado Street Bridge instead of some snowy old trestle.
Built in 1913, the overpass towers 150 feet [...]

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Col. Griffith’s Brush With the Cursed Grim Reaper

Cryptic L.A.

One of L.A.’s favorite ghost stories is the Feliz Curse, a hex allegedly placed on Griffith Park by a young girl a century and a half ago. Each Halloween, the story inevitably pops up in some newspaper or blog.
I’ve written extensively on many aspects of the curse (for example, here and here), but a little-known [...]

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Field Trips: Five Family Friendly Halloween Haunts

Cryptic L.A.

My fascination with Angeleno ghostlore is no secret. For the past several years, I’ve spent every spare moment I can “collecting” spooky legends, researching their roots, interviewing witnesses, and joining professional ghost hunters in their explorations of our region’s most historic haunts.
Recently, fellow blogger Rebecca Lacko asked me to recommend some “family friendly” locales with [...]

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Rudy Valentino’s Cryptic DeLongpre Park Memorial

Cryptic L.A.

Hollywood is known for countless oddball pairings: Laurel and Hardy. Spanky and Alfalfa. Sonny and Cher.
But in my mind one of the oddest has to be Rudy Valentino and DeLongpre Park. There is no historical connection between the two. Yet here in the pocket park commemorating the famous floral artist Paul DeLongpre, you’ll find not [...]

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Urban Myth Busting: City Hall’s Phantom Aristocrat

Cryptic L.A.

As the Big Orange Landmarks blog recently reminded us, L.A.’s 1928 Parkinson-designed City Hall is an architectural icon worth exploring inside and out. But if you ever do find yourself touring its hallowed halls, be on the lookout for a restless spirit said to be making his own ghostly rounds of the place.
For years paranormal [...]

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Friday Flix: Beware the Wrath of Feliz

Cryptic L.A.

And now for this week’s choice for the most interesting, offbeat and/or entertaining web video sharing key themes with this blog…
Yesterday Dateline>City of Angels explored the forgotten history of Griffith Park’s Crystal Springs adobe, along with its possible link to the legendary Feliz Curse. I also took the opportunity to announce I’m writing a book [...]

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Sleuthing the Mysteries of Griffith Park’s “Cursed” Ranger HQ

Cryptic L.A.

As they say, looks are often deceiving. Take for example the Crystal Springs Ranger Headquarters at Griffith Park, pictured above.
At first glance it appears to be just another of L.A.’s ubiquitous 1930s Spanish Colonial bungalows. Beneath the whitewash and plaster, however, hides a landmark with a much more storied past — and perhaps even a [...]

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Friday Flix: Hollywood’s Fallen Star

Cryptic L.A.

This week’s choice for the most interesting, offbeat and/or entertaining web video sharing key words or themes with this blog…
Source: YouTube!
Search Criteria: “Los Angeles + Haunted”

The Result: A poignant film noir reenactment of Peg Entwistle’s legendary suicide by writer, director and producer Hope Anderson, creator of the documentary Under the Hollywood Sign. Unfortunately, the video [...]

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Pining for a Ghostly Companion?

Cryptic L.A.

Wish your house were haunted? Need to attract tourists to your creepy old hotel, museum or otherwise spiritless landmark?
Even if your place didn’t come with spooks of its own, you can remedy the situation with Ghosts in a Bottle. That’s right: For a nominal fee, ghost-hunter Jon Deese will capture someone else’s phantasm, bottle it [...]

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Tripping Out to SoCal’s Oldest Family Graveyard

Cryptic L.A.

Ready for another brief tour of L.A.’s haunting past?
Off the beaten track, in the City of Industry, you’ll find a small but significant cemetery, known simply as El Campo Santo. Part of the six-acre Workman Temple Homestead Historical Park, the graveyard dates to 1855, and is the L.A. area’s first private burial ground. Originally, it [...]

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Brief Video Commemorates 1928 St. Francis Dam Disaster

Cryptic L.A.

Poking around the web late last night, I stumbled on a brief but fascinating video by Tony Biasotti commemorating the infamous St. Francis Dam Disaster.
For those unfamiliar with the history, back in 1926, William Mulholland completed the dam to help ensure a steady water flow for a fledgling but rapidly growing Los Angeles. Townspeople celebrated [...]

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Talk About Ghosts in the Mirror…

Cryptic L.A.

This week I’ll be spending a lot of time in front of the mirror. Yes, I admit to a little vanity now and then, but I won’t be working on my appearance per se. Rather, I’ll be nervously polishing my delivery skills for a talk I’m presenting to a local historical group, March 17.
The [...]

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Seen Any Griffith Park Spooks Lately?

Cryptic L.A.

I’m probably going to regret this. An open call for ghost stories is a sure way to attract crackpots, who will likely respond in far greater numbers than serious eye-witnesses. Nonetheless, here goes…
It’s no secret that for a while now, the legendary Feliz Curse has been a passion of mine. Thanks to years of rummaging [...]

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Harry Houdini’s Mythic Haunt

Cryptic L.A.

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 [...]

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In Search of Firehouse Ghosts

Cryptic L.A.

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 [...]

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