Haunted spots -- fact or fiction?

IN BYRON, the gutted, burned-out shell of a hotel stands blanketed in moonlight. In Antioch, leaves rustle in the trees of a dilapidated cemetery that stands in the shadow of a deserted old mine.

With Halloween just around the corner, we asked Times readers to tell us about their favorite East Bay haunted spot or ghostly encounters. Here, we dig into 10 of those rumored hauntings, trying to separate fact from fiction.

The claim: Kathy Ives, 54, of Antioch, has seen the "White Witch" and heard wind in the trees even though the night air was still. But her most chilling encounter occurred when she and three friends parked a convertible Corvette near the mines.

"We could hear picks and shovels digging and men talking in a strange language I was not familiar with," Ives recalled. "Then we could hear the coal cars traveling over the rails as if they were right by us. All three of us could hear the wheels pass over the rails, plain as day. When we heard that, we were terrified. We couldn't put the car in gear fast enough. And I never went up there at night again."

So say two Bay Area paranormal research groups and two books: "Haunted Houses of California," by Antoinette May; and "Haunted Places," a national directory by Dennis William Hauck.

According to May's book, psychic Nick Nocerino contacted spirits at the cemetery who were displeased by vandals' desecration of their final resting place. Among the spirits thought to haunt the preserve is Sarah Norton, better known as the "White Witch."

Sarah lived in the mining town of Nortonville, named for her late husband, Noah Norton. A midwife, she was summoned Oct. 5, 1879, to deliver a baby in Clayton. But en route, she was crushed to death when a runaway horse pitched her buggy into a ravine.

Her severe injuries were graphically detailed, based on a coroner's inquest, in the Contra Costa Gazette on Oct. 11. In part, the article told how the buggy was found, with "the mangled body of the poor old lady under it, with neck broken, left leg broken in three places, thigh dreadfully torn and a piece of the thigh bone entirely thrown out and lying apart from the limb."

Legend has it that Sarah Norton haunts the cemetery because she was laid to rest there without a Christian burial. This apparently occurred because two violent storms on separate days interrupted attempts to hold her funeral.

The Claim: Passersby have glimpsed a woman wearing a blue Victorian dress peering out from an upstairs apartment window. The pizzeria's Web site also details how owner Rob Earnest has seen her first-hand more than once. Evidence of one encounter can still be seen on a wall mirror located near the women's restroom door.

The Reality: The word "Boo" appears both horizontally and vertically on the mirror. That visual evidence, and the story behind it, are hard to ignore.

In the early '90s, Earnest brought his golden Labrador, Charlie, to the restaurant after hours. Charlie became agitated and began barking at the mirror.

"When Rob looked up at the mirror, he witnessed the word 'Boo' being inscribed in the mirror, by what appeared to be someone's finger wet with saliva," the Web site recounts.

The female apparition is said to be a former bordello madam. The restaurant was built in 1864 with 10 upstairs rooms for its travelers. Eventually, those quarters were transformed into a brothel. (The building housed a bar in the 1950s, which gradually shifted to a restaurant after installing a pizza oven in 1959.)

Earnest bought the restaurant in 1984. Having seen the "lady" up close, he has described her as wearing a saloon dancer-style dress with low cleavage and a feather boa around her neck.

The Claim: While cars are in neutral, drivers claim they are pushed up a gravity hill. According to legend, in the 1950s, a school bus skidded into a wash. The children onboard drowned and allegedly are the ones pushing the cars up the hill. Also, strange noises are reportedly heard and an apparition of an old man is seen near a building rumored to be an abandoned slaughterhouse.

The Reality: These rumors turned Empire Mine Road into a haven for curious teenagers, vandals and arsonists. The road was littered with trash and a favorite spot for target shooting, prompting the city and county to put up gates closing off access in May.

The gravity hill is actually an illusion -- a slight decline made to look like a hill by the surrounding land. The school bus accident is no more than a myth, especially considering there is no water in the vicinity deep enough to submerge a van, let alone a bus.

The Claim: John March, 24, formerly of Pittsburg, still remembers the night eight years ago when three friends dared him to sneak into the remains of the Byron hotel.

"I heard a clanging noise and then what sounded like feet dragging across the floor," March said. "At first I thought my friends were playing a trick on me. But they were as spooked as me, especially when we saw what looked like a young boy, maybe 8 or 9 years old, run down the hall and into a room. When we followed him, there was no one in the room."

The Reality: We're not sure if it's haunted, but its tragic history is fascinating nonetheless.

Built in 1878, the hotel was destroyed by fire and rebuilt twice, the second time using brick and concrete. (That facade remains today.) In its heyday, the hotel entertained celebrity guests, such as Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable and President James Garfield.

In 1902, a nearby train collision turned the hotel into a temporary hospital. The accident killed 28 people. Then, during World War II, the resort housed a secret interrogation center for German and Japanese naval prisoners of war.

In recent years, the abandoned resort fell into disrepair. It sustained additional damage in July 2005 when embers from a grass fire set the main and two outer buildings on fire.

The Claim: Room 219, also known as the Tower Room, is haunted by Henry Morse Stephens. According to historical accounts, the popular history professor moved into that room in 1919, and died there later that year at age 62.

Guests have reported seeing flickering lights, hearing noises and feeling extremely hot in the room during cold weather months.

The Reality: Stephens had taught at Berkeley since 1902, the same year the Faculty Club was built. He was said to love the Tower Room so much that he made it his permanent residence.

While staying in the room in 1974, Noriyuki Tokuda, a visiting scholar from Japan, woke from a nap to see a well-dressed man watching him from a nearby chair.

"It was quite strange," Tokuda told the Berkeley Daily Gazette afterward. "I opened my eyes then and saw a funny picture -- two heads with a body passing out of my sight and disappearing."

Later, when shown a picture of Stephens, Tokuda noted a resemblance between the professor and apparition he had seen.

The Claim: The decommissioned World War II aircraft carrier is believed to harbor more than a dozen permanent spirits of military personnel who served aboard the ship. Visitors of the ship-turned-museum have videotaped apparitions, photographed moving orbs, heard strange noises and seen unexplainable happenings, such as locker doors closing by themselves.

The Reality: The USS Hornet didn't earn the nickname "Ghost Ship" without reason.

Dozens of paranormal research groups spend the night on board each year. Some visiting psychics have felt a physical pressure against their chests as they entered the Central Intelligence Center Deck or Officer's Berth, which is said to be haunted by "The Admiral."

On a private tour, the grandson of a former sailor caught on videotape the apparition of a Navy medic, visible only when played in slow motion.

And more than 20 former sailors have reported a similar story of being attacked by an invisible presence while sleeping in the brig.

The ship was known for its dangers, from snapping flight cables to spinning aircraft propellers. Almost 300 men died on board during its 27 years of service. The USS Hornet also had the highest recorded suicide rate in the U.S. Navy.

The Claim: Apparitions walk the halls and noises have been heard late at night. Allegedly, when the building was Riverview Union High School, a student committed suicide and her spirit continues to haunt the first floor.

The Reality: School suicides and subsequent hauntings are popular urban legends. That seems to be the case here, too, as school records and newspaper archives reveal no reported suicides at Riverview Union.

But dispelling that myth doesn't dismiss tales of unusual sights and sounds encountered by employees for the Riverview Fire Protection District Headquarters, former occupants of the building.

Jojy Smith, a 20-year employee for Contra Costa Fire, heard several stories. Among them, a skeptical co-worker saw a woman walk into a restroom while the building was closed for lunch. When the co-worker entered the restroom, no one was there, Smith recounted.

"I have been in that building after dark and walked the long dark hall downstairs," Smith said, "and had the hackles stand up on my neck because it is so spooky."

Now registered as a national historic site, the building has housed the Antioch Historical Society Museum since 1999.

The Claim: It seems ghosts are quite fond of this private women's college. They allegedly walk the theater stage of Lisser Hall, turn pages and move books at the Ethel Moore Hall library and play instruments in the music building. A carriage ghost also has been seen traveling a service path behind Mary Morse and Ethel Moore residence halls.

The Reality: Alex Wright, son of faculty and staff members, grew up hearing stories about the Mills College ghosts. While he dismissed some as urban legend, he believed enough in the others to share them on his Web site "Mills College Ghosts" (www.artsfusion.com/millsghosts/stories.html).

He even experienced one first-hand at Lisser Hall. The theater hall is believed to house the ghost of either a former music teacher, Louis Lisser, or one of its founders and presidents, Susan Mills. The latter seems a credible claim considering Mills lay in state at Lisser Hall prior to her burial in 1912.

"I don't ever recall being scared by the ghost," Wright wrote, "but I will say that when the sound of footsteps began to pace the length of the stage, it usually was time to take a break or at least find a task elsewhere."

The Claim: The apparition of a woman is occasionally seen in a window facing the street. Some guests report having heard her talking or crying. Lights allegedly have flickered on and off.

The Reality: Historic furniture and decor add to the appeal of this hotel, built in 1882. It also adds to the mystique surrounding the hotel's "haunted" status.

Is it really haunted? Those with an interest in the paranormal seem to think so.

In 2003, Concord-based Bay Area Ghosts Inc. included the Union Hotel as part of its "Bay Area Ghosts" documentary. And Legends of America has featured the hotel in its "Sleeping with Ghosts in California." Legends goes so far as to offer an explanation for the rumored haunting. According to its write-up, "During the late 1800s, a young woman allegedly hanged herself in one of the rooms of this historic hotel."

The Claim: Some visitors and workers have seen unexplainable things, especially in the foyer by the staircase and in the home's attic. One former worker witnessed a young girl dressed in 19th century clothes who vanished before her eyes.

The Reality: "It's not haunted," said park ranger Nancy Pierce. Likely, the stories started because of a frightened boy's experience. While watching the vacant house, Pierce explained, a boy heard strange noises, which eventually led him to the attic and bell tower.

"There, he found an owl in the bell tower, making scratching noises and hooting," she added. "It scared the dickens out of him."

Ever notice ghosts hang at tourists attractions?
We never hear about the haunted Jiffy Lube.

Ain't no such thing as ghosts.

Zombies, yeah. Ghosts? no.

LISTEN TO GHOSTS!

Here are some recordings the Utah Ghost Hunters have made of "ghosts" in allegedly haunted sites. They couldn't hear any of these at the time, but the voices popped up on the audio tape later (think "Sixth Sense").

Enjoy!

http://www.ghostwave.com/kathy2.wav “I’ll be right back” (child)
http://www.ghostwave.com/ffield1.wav “Muchas Gracias”
http://www.ghostwave.com/9699-6.wav “hello” whisper
http://www.ghostwave.com/91998-9.wav “Elizabeth”
http://www.ghostwave.com/25may5.wav “Let me help you”
http://www.ghostwave.com/25may9.wav “Watch what you say”
http://www.ghostwave.com/Mc3.wav “Busted!” (after police car passes cemetery)
http://www.ghostwave.com/Imsad.wav “Oh, I’m sad”
http://www.ghostwave.com/Salem1.wav “Hey, you little b---h”
http://www.ghostwave.com/bedead.wav “I’m supposed, supposed to be dead”

25 POUNDS of candy, average???

Wimps. I clear at least 50 pounds before 8PM. Then people get more wary of a grown man coming to their house.

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