One of several huge monsters awaiting visitors to the 2014 Haunted Trail.
Warning! Some of the upcoming pics are pretty darn scary! You’ve been warned!
Runner in Balboa Park passes behind a grinning ghoul!
This morning I was nearly frightened out of my wits. I was taking a nice brisk walk up the west side of Balboa Park, enjoying the fresh air and at peace with the world…when I found myself surrounded! I couldn’t escape from silent ghosts rising from the cold ground all around me! A catastrophe! The horror! I had met my doom!
Oh, thank goodness, I realized at last. It’s just the Haunted Trail. You know, the yearly outdoor “haunted house” that’s extremely popular in San Diego around Halloween.
The spooky attraction, which brings in thousands of thrill-seekers on dark Autumn nights, is under construction once again. It’s larger than ever and looks super spooky. I walked around the perimeter and tried to get a bunch of cool daytime photos for you to enjoy. Here they are…
Black-robed ghosts and grim reapers are rising in the popular Halloween attraction.A ghost town in the mournful trees contains many grisly and horrible surprises!Welcome to Silent Hill, where nightmares rise from a well.Props piled on ground behind a school bus filled with Halloween frights.In late September, the Haunted Trail is a work in progress.Mangled cloth mannequins lie limp and lifeless on dead leaves.Artists creating the scary park trail use gallons of paint each year.Entrance to Haunted Trail rises again this year, as do many spooky old props.Close look at skulls embedded in the castle-like entrance.Structure made of skeleton bones beside a Haunted Trail sign just inside entrance.Here’s that huge bloody yeti I took a pic of last year, just as frightening as ever!This poor guy has sat in that electric chair for so many years he must have a stiff back.Surprise! Another zombie, ghoul or creature ready to scare a nice fun-seeking visitor.This prop lying on the ground is quite eerie and realistic.A ravenous, hellish hound prowls among tombstones in a dark cemetery.I suppose all the undead have risen from this scary graveyard on the Haunted Trail!
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The historical Villa Montezuma is a Queen Anne Victorian mansion.
Here is a cool sight that I walked past yesterday! Check out the absolutely fantastic Villa Montezuma mansion! You can find it nestled in Sherman Heights, an old, semi-decayed neighborhood just east of downtown San Diego.
Also called the Jesse Shepard house, this architectural marvel was built in 1887. It’s considered by some to be the finest example of Queen Anne architecture on the West Coast, plus it’s rumored to be haunted by two ghosts! In the more recent past it was a museum, but eventually fell into disrepair. It’s currently being renovated. Hopefully it should reopen next year!
Jesse Shepard, born in London in 1848, was a famous, flamboyant European musician. While performing for Alexander II of Russia, Jesse was introduced to the Czar’s medium who taught him how to conduct seances. Shepard became obsessed with spiritualism, and after moving to San Diego at the suggestion of a local spiritualist society, built the Villa Montezuma to his own exact specifications.
Included in the amazing house are highly ornate towers and stained glass windows. It’s interior is just as imaginative, and is said to contain secret passages. Several gargoyles can be spotted should you walk down the sidewalk. Just the sort of place to hold seances! And Shepard held many! He claimed to have spoken with the spirits of Mozart, Beethoven and Shakespeare, just to name a few.
Today it’s rumored that the Villa Montezuma is haunted by a man who hung himself in the observatory tower. And by Jesse Shepard himself! Unexplained piano music is said to be heard coming from the historical mansion late at night!
Fantastic house in Sherman Heights is supposedly haunted.Musician and writer Jesse Shepard worked in the high tower.A closer look at detail on Villa Montezuma’s east side.Gargoyle head on a famous San Diego mansion.Another gargoyle is perched on the roof!
Here are two sunnier photos I took on a later date…
An excellent example of Queen Anne style architecture in Southern California.Photo of Jesse Shepard’s Villa Montezuma in San Diego’s Sherman Heights neighborhood.
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Whether or not you believe in the paranormal, the world famous Whaley House is undeniably an interesting place!
This rather plain-looking house, located near the center of Old Town at 2476 San Diego Avenue, fairly oozes with history. And it is said by some to be the most haunted house in America!
Now a museum, the Whaley House was built in 1857 by Thomas Whaley, a New York businessman who originally came to California for the gold rush of 1849. It was the very first two-story brick building in San Diego, built in the Greek Revival architectural style. In addition to being the Whaley family residence, at different times it served as the location of a general store, a county courthouse, a commercial theater, a ballroom, a school and polling place.
Various murders, hangings, suicides and untimely deaths have occurred in and around the Whaley residence. Up to half a dozen different dead Whaleys are said to linger as ghosts. The place has developed such a reputation as a haunted house that the museum offers late night ghost hunting tours. Over 100,000 people visit the museum annually.
Several months ago I happened to find myself near the Whaley House with a little free time. Seeing a docent dressed in a period costume standing on the front porch, I made my way over to speak with her.
She was very friendly. She seemed sincere when she claimed to have had several ghostly experiences in the Whaley House. She claimed that she’s heard footsteps pacing in the upstairs theater when nobody was present. She’s also seen a strange shadow moving back and forth on an upstairs wall, with no perceptible source.
The cashier at the gift shop next door claimed to have seen the mysterious shadow, as well. I asked her if she believed in ghosts, and she carefully remained neutral. I was interested to see that many books and souvenir in the gift shop concern the museum’s spooky reputation, including shirts that read “Got Ghosts?”
Life Magazine and Travel Channel’s America’s Most Haunted have both called the Whaley House the most haunted house in America. The Whaley House has appeared on numerous popular television shows and firmly established itself in the popular culture.
Old Town’s historic Whaley House.Gazing toward Whaley House past gas lamp on San Diego Avenue.The luxurious Whaley House served as granary, store, courthouse, school and theater.Whaley House, built 1856-57, is the oldest brick structure in southern California.Boy ventures into supposedly haunted Whaley House.
Yikes! Look at the creatures I spotted lurking among the trees on the west side of Balboa Park! That big one looks like a gigantic bloody yeti with goat hooves. Watch out!
What are scary monsters, aliens and trolls doing in Balboa Park? They’re being created for Halloween . . . to populate The Haunted Trail! Sunday afternoon I spotted the huge creatures under construction behind a fence. Look how high that bloody monster stands compared to the step ladder! I also observed a human dummy in an electric chair and loads of more weird, grotesque scenery.
San Diego’s unique Haunted Trail has been raising goosebumps for years now. Looks like visitors to this dark outdoor “haunted house” will be in for a lot of screaming!
Here’s the spooky castle-like entrance to The Haunted Trail!
Cool San Diego Sights! 