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 (square) G.H.O.U.L.A. button. If you already have one, please wear it so others can find you.
THE DATE: March 13th, 2011 (Sunday "Bloody" Sunday)
THE PLACE: Maeve's Residuals
11042 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City (map)
11042 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City (map)
THE TIME: 8:00pm to Midnight
THE GHOST:
On March 13th, exactly twenty-five years ago this Sunday, "Residuals," a little bar catering to local actors opened its doors for business in Studio City. In the last 4 years, Maeve purchased the bar and gave it an Irish Pub atmosphere, and made it a destination for fans of the mixological arts, particularly on Sundays when gourmet "Bloody Marys" ("the best in the San Fernando Valley") are served for their "Sunday Bloody Sunday" celebration.
Like most neighborhood bars in the San Fernando Valley, it is a dark cave-like environment stuck in the middle of a sunny roadside strip mall. However, supernaturally speaking, there are many things that make this tavern special.
First, Residuals was built (and billed) as an "actor's hang-out." As such, many depressed, rejected, out-of-work, and down-on-their-luck actors have passed though it's doors and wallowed in their misery at this site, which are wonderful ingredients for a great haunted location. The name "Residuals" comes from the term for the reduced payments actors get when their work is rerun on television. Sometimes the checks mailed to them were less than the postage on the envelope. There was a time when one could give the bartender a residual check (valued less than a dollar) and receive a free well drink in exchange. As a result, the walls quickly became plastered with studio checks for minuscule amounts, as the actors themselves got "plastered." Although, these sad souvenirs of the acting profession were removed recently, some can still be seen on the walls of the restroom.
Secondly, Residuals is in the shadow of (and walking distance from) two famously haunted/historic studio lots. To the East, Universal (home to all the famous monsters of filmdom) and to the west, the old Mack Sennett Studios (now known as CBS Studio Center). Is there a better place for a haunted actor's bar to be located than in between these two vortexs of entertainment industry paranormal activity?
Thirdly, the land Residuals sits on top of has history and was part of the original alignment of the old "El Camino Royal," California's first road, dating back hundreds of years to when the Native Americans used this footpath to travel between tribes throughout the state. Later the Spanish Missionaries used it to connect their Missions. Eventually, it was paved over with the invention of the automobile, and this section is known today as Ventura Blvd. Needless to say, many hardships occurred on this well-worn trail thru the decades, and much of it is said to be haunted.
Lastly, the name "Residuals" is also coincidentally a ghost-hunting term for latent (non-intelligent) spirit energy left at a location of significance that manifests as a form that seems to repeat an action over and over again (and is always seen doing that same action).
Thus, is it any wonder that this unique watering hole has its own resident ghost in their attic above the actual bar? To hear more about this and other nearby ghosts come out for a drink this Sunday (Bloody Sunday).
