You walk up to an old deserted house. As you come closer to the steps, you glance back at your friends and see that they are not going to back you up. Before you place your foot on the first step, it creaks. You back away and the wind picks up. All the windows of the house burst open. There is a howling in the distance and the group you’re with runs off towards the way you came. Now you believe in haunted houses. All around California there are haunted places, whether it is a house, hotel or a ship. Three of the many haunted places in California include The Queen Mary, The Claremont Hotel, and The Winchester House.

In the 1930’s, The Queen Mary was a famous ocean liner, but after World War 2 she became a troop transport called “The Grey Ghost”. The first tragedy that may be the cause of some ghosts is when the ship tried to dodge an enemy ship, but managed to almost cut companion ships into two. As a result of this, 300 innocent people were left to die in the water. Some say the screams of the people that died about 60 years ago can still be heard. Besides these ghosts, there are said to be 150 ghosts haunting the ship. There are many locations in which people have encountered spirits. One area is the old swimming pool. Some sightings include splashing and wet footprints on the deck, although, no one is near the pools. However, the main disturbance is the ghost of a little girl roaming around the pool calling for her mother. She is the ghost of a little girl who drowned while the Queen Mary served as an ocean liner; or she may be the little girl who road down a banister and was killed when she got bucked off. This haunted ship is now used as a  

Museum and hotel. It is located in Long Beach Harbor and is open to anybody that wants to experience the presence of ghosts.

The Claremont Hotel, which resides in Berkeley, has not always been a resort. A Kansas farmer named Bill Thornburg struck it rich and then built a house. It was then sold to the Ballard family. In 1901, the house burnt to the ground. The property and what had survived was auctioned off and then four years later, construction began. The strange occurrences that take place at the hotel include people smelling smoke, although, they are staying in a smoke-free room. Some say the reason for this is because of the fire in 1901. Another phenomenon that occurs is on the fourth floor. People have reported the lights flickering and the television turning on and off. The one similarity between the Claremont Hotel and the Queen Mary is that they both have spirits of little girls. Some reports say that the little girl died when the old Ballard’s home caught fire. The Claremont Hotel is another haunted hotel in the list of spiritual places in California.

            Lastly, The Winchester House. This Mansion is located in San Jose California. It is not only a mansion, but a labyrinth in its own way. It has doors that lead to walls and some that open to almost three story drops. Also stairways that lead to nowhere and windows built into the floor. Many people have said that this house is haunted because they have heard organ music in the room where Sara died. Sarah Winchester was the owner. Also, people have reported seeing ghosts of her all through out the house. After her husband died Sarah was in so much sorrow grieving over her husband’s death that she stopped the construction of the house. Soon after she stopped building she started to report some of the first hauntings in the house, which led to believe that the reason they were haunting her was because she stopped building. But that soon lead to the building of windows in the floor and the stairways to nowhere, so she could just keep building.     

             Now, would you be scared to go into a haunted house? There are many haunted houses all over the world. Now that you have read about some local haunted houses in California, could there be a real haunted house in your neighborhood? The Queen Mary, The Claremont Hotel, and The Winchester House are all haunted sites that attract tourists and many paranormal investigators. Will you be the next to visit?

By: Tiffany and Chris #3 (Entertainment)