October's SPIRITS with SPIRITS

GHOULA meets for cocktails in haunted places on the 13th of each month. “SPIRITS with SPIRITS” is a casual gathering of regional ghost hunters and those that just like ghost stories. Open to all, from the curious skeptic to the passionate phantom pursuer. Make friends, and toast a ghost! Let's put the “Boo!” back into “booze.” All those who attend will receive a free G.H.O.U.L.A. button. If you already have one, please wear it so others can find you.

THE DATE: October 13th, 2010 (Wednesday)
THE PLACE: Gallery Bar, Biltmore Hotel
(506 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles) Map
THE TIME 8:00pm to 11:00pm

THE GHOST(S):

When the Biltmore Hotel opened in 1923, it was the largest hotel west of the Mississippi. Five years later they expanded, and built the world's largest ballroom. Everything about this place is big and ornate, from the repeating angel motif carved into the moldings (to represent Los Angeles) to the hotel's nautically-themed health club and indoor pool, which was modeled after the decks of the (famously haunted) Queen Mary. Even the ghost stories are numerous and bigger than life.

Most famously the ghost of legendary murder victim, Elizabeth Short (better known as "The Black Dahlia") has been seen (wearing a black dress) through out the lobby, elevators, and halls of this famous hotel. The bar is said to be last last public place she was seen alive.

There is also a lost little girl that has been seen in the lobby, who vanishes into thin air when staff approach her to help.

There are two ghosts trapped in the basement, a young red-haired woman, and a solemn nun, who probably dates back to the late 1800's when St. Vincent's College occupied this land (which later became Loyola Marymount University). Or, could this be two sides of the same ghost? Could the nun actually have red hair under her habit?

The oddest apparition that has been reported in the hotel is that of a well-dressed male phantom that loiters on various floors, but always near an ice machine. When a hotel guest approaches (and steps around the "man") to fill his ice bucket, he will feel a hand slide into his pocket (as if an attempt to steal it contents or "pick-pocket"). Once caught in the act, the phantom man vanishes into thin air.

Additionally, there is a man in a tuxedo that has been seen by bartenders over the years, but only in the reflection of one of the many mirrors in the bar room. When they look at the actual part of the room where he should be standing (or sitting) there is no one, but when they look back at the mirror, there he is.

There have also been reports of knocks coming from inside the walls. Apparently during a renovation, rooms were combined to create larger suites. In such cases, the extra bathrooms were walled in, instead of removed. So, every now and then, someone will hear desperate pounding on the other side, as if someone was trapped inside one of those hidden rooms.

The most well known ghost story amongst the employees is that of "Mrs. Baker," who it is said lived in the hotel for over sixty years. She apparently had a deal with the management, that she would only pay the prices (including all hotel services, food, and even rent) as they were set sixty years previous, when she originally moved in. This agreement was supposedly written into every contract for sale for every subsequent owner of the property. The legend goes that when she was old and senile, a previous owner (who wanted more money for her suite), unceremoniously moved her into retirement home, where she died shortly there after. Ever since then, her elderly ghost continues to occupy her old suite.

Why do so many of the spirits that reside in the hotel seem to be trapped here?

Is it any mystery that when the film Ghostbusters needed a location for the very haunted "Sedgewick Hotel" (the home of "Slimer"), the location mangers turned to the very haunted Biltmore?

(to see last month's location...)