Nightmarks in California
20 nightmarks documented
Pioneer Park — San Diego's cemetery turned playground
They removed the headstones but left the bodies — this San Diego park was built over a 19th-century cemetery, and the dead make their presence known.
El Adobe de Capistrano — haunted restaurant in San Juan Capistrano
A woman in period dress haunts this 1812 adobe restaurant near Mission San Juan Capistrano — staff hear footsteps when the building is empty.
Winchester Mystery House — Sarah Winchester's labyrinth of spirits, San Jose
Sarah Winchester built 160 rooms to appease the ghosts of those killed by Winchester rifles — the spirits may have moved in permanently.
The Sausalito Hum — When Fish Made an Entire City Vibrate (2014)
An entire California city vibrated with a mysterious hum. The culprit: lovesick fish whose mating calls exceeded 100 decibels.
Golden Gate Bridge — phantom voices and apparitions at San Francisco's iconic span
Over 1,800 lives lost since 1937 — now phantom voices cry for help from the fog, and ghostly hands reach out to those crossing the bridge.
La Purisima Mission — Chumash ghosts of Santa Barbara County, California
Chumash people revolted against their Spanish captors here in 1824 — their chanting still fills the mission church and their figures walk the garden paths.
Queen Anne Hotel — headmistress Mary Lake's ghost in San Francisco
Headmistress Mary Lake unpacks your luggage, tucks you into bed, and fills Room 410 with lavender — San Francisco's kindest ghost never stopped caring.
Alcatraz Island — the haunted cells of America's most infamous prison
Al Capone's banjo plays in the shower room, Cell 14D stays 20 degrees colder, and screams echo from solitary — Alcatraz's inmates never got their freedom.
The 2008 Bigfoot Body Press Conference — Palo Alto, California (2008)
A press conference announced a frozen Bigfoot body. It was a rubber gorilla suit stuffed with entrails — one of cryptozoology's most spectacular frauds.
Lincoln Heights Jail — Los Angeles's abandoned haunted lockup
Cell doors slam and keys jangle in this abandoned 1931 Art Deco jail — a woman who died in custody still screams from the empty cells.
Yorba Cemetery — the Pink Lady of Yorba Linda, California
The Pink Lady glows softly among the graves of one of California's oldest cemeteries — jilted in love, she has wandered Yorba Linda since the 1800s.
Katie Wheeler Library — the Irvine Ranch ghost of Orange County
A figure in old ranching clothes watches from the windows of this Irvine library — built on the historic Irvine Ranch, the scent of horses fills the stacks.
The RMS Queen Mary — haunted ocean liner in Long Beach harbor
The retired RMS Queen Mary, moored in Long Beach, is haunted by drowned children in the pool, a crushed engine-room worker, and the 338 dead of HMS Curacoa.
The Patterson-Gimlin Film — Bluff Creek, California (1967)
The most analyzed Bigfoot footage ever captured: a large bipedal figure filmed walking along a creek bed in Northern California's Six Rivers National Forest.
Bluff Creek Footprints Discovery — Humboldt County, California (1958)
A bulldozer operator's discovery of giant footprints at a remote logging site in 1958 gave Bigfoot its name and launched the modern phenomenon.
Patterson-Gimlin Film — Analysis and Legacy (1967–present)
Decades of analysis by scientists, effects artists, and skeptics have failed to definitively prove or debunk the most important Bigfoot footage ever recorded.
The Naming of Bigfoot — Humboldt County, California (1958)
When a bulldozer operator brought giant plaster footprint casts to a local newspaper in 1958, the name 'Bigfoot' entered the American lexicon forever.
Black Star Canyon — Orange County's most haunted wilderness
Site of an 1830s massacre, this remote canyon echoes with screams after dark — hikers report shadow figures and an overwhelming sense of dread.
Cecil Hotel — Los Angeles's hotel of death and dark history
Serial killers stayed here and at least 16 people died within its walls — the Cecil Hotel may be the most genuinely cursed building in America.
Glen Tavern Inn — haunted 1911 hotel in Santa Paula, California
Silent-film era stars once stayed at this 1911 hotel — now a spectral boy roams the halls and phantom parties echo from the locked ballroom.