Nightmarks in California
22 nightmarks documented
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.
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.
Hotel del Coronado — the beautiful stranger of San Diego's grand hotel
Kate Morgan checked in on Thanksgiving 1892 and was found dead five days later — her ghost in a black Victorian dress still haunts Room 3327.
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.
Hollywood Sign — the ghost of Peg Entwistle in the Hollywood Hills
Peg Entwistle jumped from the 'H' in 1932 — hikers near the Hollywood Sign still smell her gardenia perfume and see a weeping woman in 1930s clothing.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Bright object observed over Yosemite National Park, California (1964)
A bright unknown over Yosemite's granite cathedrals — America's most iconic wilderness harbored a mystery of its own.