Ghost Hunters of Urban Los Angeles

Monday, November 11, 2013

November's SPIRITS with SPIRITS

GHOULA meets for cocktails in haunted places on the 13th of each month. “SPIRITS with SPIRITS” is a casual social 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, without asking the staff about our group. (i.e. LOOK FOR SOMEONE WITH A GHOULA BUTTON)

THE DATE: November 13th, 2013 (Wednesday)
THE PLACE: El Cid
4212 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles (Map)
THE TIME: 8:00pm - 10:00pm

NOTE: This may be the penultimate "SPIRITS with SPIRITS."

THE GHOSTS:

"...No logic. No reason. No explanation. Just a prolonged nightmare, in which fear, loneliness, and the unexplainable walk hand in hand through the shadows..." ---excerpt from Rod Serling's intro to "Five Characters in Search of an Exits" (Twilight Zone episode)

In the 1920's, there was a popular prison-themed restaurant in Hollywood, where the waiters dressed like guards. When it closed, the space was converted into a theater. It was on this spot Ed Wood worked as an actor (and was paid in beer) before he directed "Plan 9" (the worst movie of all time). By 1963, some young people took over the then run-down theater in the canyon below Sunset Boulevard, and forever changed the cultural landscape of Hollywood.

Fiery flamenco-enthusiast Maragrita Cordova and her singer/guitarist husband, Clark Allen, with help from fellow dancers Marta Amaya and Armando Media, and very little money created a home for Flamenco dancing and Spanish (not Mexican) cuisine and culture when they opened "El Cid." It was named after a popular movie of the day, but more specifically it was chosen because of its limited number of letters (less letters meant a cheaper sign out front). Money was so tight in the early years, on rainy nights, patrons were given umbrellas because of the building's many leaks. But what their approach to Dinner Theater lacked in frills, they made up for with their spunk and some potent wine concoctions named after Spanish dances.

60 years later, El Cid still stands below Sunset Blvd, and Flamenco is still performed there (on weekends), and perhaps one of the troupes original members still lingers on that historic stage...

Staff claims that when the theater is empty, and during the day, they will hear the phantom strumming sounds of guitar music, as if an invisible guitarist were practicing on the vacant stage. The ghostly musical notes are generally attributed to the spirit of Clark Allen, one of the founders of El Cid, who passed away in 2008.

Interestingly, in addition to his possible ghost haunting this building, Clark Allen has achieved immortality in a different way with legions of Sci-Fi fans for his role as the eerie bagpiper in a Twilight Zone episode entitled "Five Characters in Search of an Exit." He played a musician stuck between ethereal planes in a netherworld. Could life (or rather the after-life) be imitating art?

Then again, maybe the ghostly guitarist is one of the many other musicians that have come through this space.

So, come out and enjoy one of this city's most unique restaurants, have a drink, and listen for the macabre melodies of a former guitarist... if you dare!

(to read about last month's haunted location... )
(to see a map of previous SPIRITS with SPIRITS locations... )

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Ghoulish Graveyard Gala

NOTE: This is not a GHOULA event. This is a ghost-themed event that GHOULA feels its members will enjoy.

San Fernando Valley Historical Society and
LA Mission College Drama Club present:

Voices of the Pioneer Memorial Cemetery
ALMAS
A Day of the Dead Celebration

Historical Re-enactments and Phantasmagorical Installations.
A fund-raiser to restore tombstones and preserve history.

DATE: OCT 25,26, NOV 1,2
TIME: 8pm, 9pm, 10pm, 11pm, Midnight
WHERE: San Fernando Valley pioneer Memorial Cemetery (map)
ADMISSION : $15 (in advance) $20 (at the gate)

http://tinyurl.com/pioneervoices (tickets)
http://tinyurl.com/voicesyalmas (donations)
www.voicesofpioneercemetery.com (info)

Monday, October 14, 2013

GHOULA's Haunted Red Line Tour!

When: October 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th,
(Every Sunday in October)

Time: Tours start at 7pm
(Except on Oct 13th, when the tour will start at 5pm to accommodate "SPIRITS with SPIRITS" that evening, which will be in North Hollywood at the end point of the tour)

Meeting Place: The palm tree-lined island in front of Union Station
800 North Alameda Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (map)

Price: FREE TOUR + Metro "[Day Pass" ($5 + $1 for a "Tap Card")
Please purchase the Metro Pass (not a "Metrolink" ticket) before the meet-up to save time.

Parking: See below.

Los Angeles' lore is filled with tales of secret tunnels. Whether its supposed opium dens, rum-running passages, discontinued "Red Car" tunnels, munchkin transports, celebrity/mistress escape routes, or simply chambers belonging to a race of subterranean lizard people, many buildings and homes claimed to be connected to other buildings and homes below street level (if only we could find their openings).

So, is there a better way to explore the haunted history of Los Angeles than by traveling underground from location to location via our very own (dead) Red Line Metro Subway with the other living dead of this city?

We will meet-up at Union Station (the starting point for the Red Line) and then travel through 13 stops to the North Hollywood Station (at the end of the line), getting off and on along the way. In addition to Union Station and the North Hollywood Station, we will stop at few other stations, step off the train, rise to street-level, and discuss the ghosts and haunted sites visible from that spot before going back aboard to the next stop on our tour.

Come out and hear spooky tales about a spirit solider, a vanishing padre, and a ghostly car. As well as many other phantom figures from our past that haunt our present.

Parking: Since everyone participating in the tour will need a Metro Day Pass to ride the subway, it is advisable to park at one of the FREE lots provided by the Metro at either the North Hollywood Station (our end point) or the Universal City Station, and then just take the Subway to Union Station to meet-up with the group (The lots around Union Station are expensive and they may close early).

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

October's SPIRITS with SPIRITS

GHOULA meets for cocktails in haunted places on the 13th of each month. "SPIRITS with SPIRITS" is a casual social 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, without asking the staff about our group.

THE DATE: October 13th, 2013 (Sunday)
THE PLACE: Saddle Ranch
1000 Universal Studios Boulevard, Universal City (Map)
THE TIME: 8:00pm to the witching hour
THE GHOSTS:

Much has been written about the ghosts of Universal Studios. Not only are there spirits and phantoms roaming the lot, but they also seem to invade the touristy theme park portion of the property as well. And yet, one never reads ghost stories about the entertainment and dining district adjacent to the Studio Tour's main entrance on top of the hill.

GHOULA is happy to report that even Universal's much maligned "City Walk" has a ghost...

Specifically, there is a sad woman dressed in an outfit similar to that of a pioneer woman (a simple long-sleeved blouse, with a dress that goes down to her ankles), who haunts the Saddle Ranch Restaurant at the west end of the "Walk" (next to the main gate). The restaurant is a huge place built to accommodate the summer crowds, but during the slower season, much of the restaurant is closed off to the public, and yet this woman will be seen wandering through the empty rooms. When a member of the staff goes to investigate, she will vanish.

Other than her visual description, no one seems to know anything about her, or why she is so sad, or why she haunts this tourist hang-out. When employees tell each other about the ghost, they use vague allusions to her untimely death due to an unexpected tragedy, and yet no one knows what that tragedy was.

However, what is interesting about her tale, like most theme park ghosts, is that because employees of this Old-Western-themed establishment wear obviously Western-themed costume/uniforms, its hard to determine weather her spirit is attached to this tavern, or does she predate the restaurant, and is psychically connected to something on the hill from over a hundred years ago.

This watering-hole/rib-joint began its life in the early 1980s (Before City Walk existed) as a last-resort restaurant, known as "Whomphoppers," but best known as the place where TV star John Stamos was a waiter before he hit it big. During its construction, in an attempt to make the inside of the building look old and weathered, actual 100 year old barns from California were used to build the structure's interior. Then, they decorated these historic walls (and ceiling) with Western Americana from the 1880s (like old wagons and farm equipment).

So is this mysterious frontier female phantom attached to the restaurant, or perhaps to one of the barns used to make the restaurant (Or maybe even one of the objects hanging on the walls)? we may never know the answer...

It is also worth pointing out that before City Walk came on the scene, and changed the layout of this area, The restaurant used to have the "Mark of the Beast." It's address was 666 Universal Terrace. Coincidence?

So, come out to probably the only restaurant in Southern California that sits on top of a hill, and yet has no view of the city below (maybe that's why she's sad), to toast Universal's least known ghost ... If you dare.

(to read about last month's haunted location... )
(to see a map of previous SPIRITS with SPIRITS locations... )