Today’s BLOGOWEEN host is Camilla @ Reader in the Attic, and you can find her prompt post here. I was initially so nervous about this prompt, but then I remembered that Sacramento was big during the Gold Rush and likely has a lot of history… so I took to Google and was not disappointed!
In case you aren’t sure what Blogoween is, you can check out the information post here, and a list of all the prompts can be found here.
Banner by Anthony @ Keep Reading ForwardToday’s Blogoween Prompt
Prompt Title: Local Supernaturals Who Demand A Book
Explanation: Share your local stories of ghosts, supernaturals and what happens round your area. Either where you live, or nearby; can also share your own personal scary experience. These are the stories which you think, deserve their own novel – could add a blurb to the story. Can share as many stories as you wish as long they’re: horror/supernatural/scary/ghostly etc.
Haunting Sacramento Legends
Originally I was going to say The Vampire of Sacramento, Richard Trenton Chase, tormented the city for about a month in 1977. But uh… that is dark. Read more at your own risk. Apparently, the houses of his murder victims are haunted to this day with reenactments of the murders. No thanks.
The state capital of California was built at the confluence of two rivers, The Sacramento and American Rivers, during the height of the Gold Rush. The storms of 1861-62 caused the city’s rivers to flood from the 45 days of rain (wow, what’s that like) and a “giant inland ‘lake’ — more than 250 miles long and 20 to 60 miles wide — submerged the streets of what is now Old Sacramento for three months.” [Source]
Everyone that survived the floods didn’t want that to happen again, so they went to the politicians and agreed to self-tax to raise the town… so modern Sacramento is actually built on top of Old Sacramento to raise the city below water level! What remains of this era is an underground network of tunnels and a town down below. “The tunnels are said to be one of the most haunted places in Sacramento, so much so that many of the transient people who take shelter down there actually refuse to sleep in certain sections of the tunnels.”
I know what I will be doing this month…
⛏️ Here’s a list of the top 11 haunted places in Sacramento in case you are interested in more, which includes a haunted Burger King!
A Spooky Ghost Experience in Edinburgh
I like to think of myself as a skeptic that is open to being proven wrong. And to this day, five years later, I do not know how to reconcile what I experienced in the Underground Vaults of Edinburgh on that summer night with that skepticism. In case you haven’t heard of the Vaults, they are rated one of the most haunted places in the UK and have a rich & interesting history!
One summer night in 2013 we went on a night walking tour of the Vaults. Dank, musty, and claustrophobic, the atmosphere instantly is electric with history. Our guide told us about the various ghosts that have been encountered in the past, the only one that I remember is who she referred to as The Watcher: a malevolent spirit that simply watches and doesn’t like people entering the Vaults. I remember thinking to myself that the guide was a really good storyteller and that the tales she told seemed typical of ghost tours.
We went through the rooms, the cubby room where the graverobbers are said to have stored bodies had a noticeable chill to it that I attributed likely to walkways. The room right after I tried to take a photo – #2 below – but the flash refused to go off.
But the worst was the last room (first picture below). I went to the back of the room on the edge of the group (would be facing the camera location) and I got this intense feeling that someone was standing behind me. I looked over my shoulders and no one was there. Then I started feeling breathing on my neck. My pulse began to race and I wasn’t even listening to the guide anymore at this point because I heard something whisper “GET OUT” in my ear… and I ran out of the room. It turns out that is the most haunted room in the Vaults and that it was the Watcher’s Room; the guide then said she was about to tell the story of something similar happening on another tour and I about fainted.
Do you have any local legends or haunted stories? Or maybe some supernatural experiences? I would love to hear around them in the comments below!
Eeek! Definitely a scary rabbit hole! 😝
Scary rabbit hole indeed, haha! Thanks for stopping by!
OHMYGOODNESS, these are the stories I live for. As much as I love ghosts, I would have freaked out so bad, haha. I like to pretend that I can handle it, but if something whispered ‘GET OUT’ to me, I’d be like kbye.
I love stories like this, which is so weird to me because I am also a huge skeptic! But every time I think about that night in the Vaults I get chills down my spine. I noped out of there so fast you don’t even know.
omg, a haunted burger king xD
oh wow! spooky, Id so wanna go there – though I do am claustrophobic so eh. maybe not a good idea x) in a haunted house once I nearly panicked as they had made a super one person tight pathway.
Potentially one of the worst place to have a panic attack in, along with deep diving, as the air is kind of “limited” in a way ..
I KNOW, I so want to go there! I might tonight if I have the energy to go out there, actually.
I am also a little claustrophobic, not too bad but I get a little anxious. I think a tight one person pathway would freak me tf out though!
How cool!
I think i went on the same tour in Edinborough! We went to the cemetary and some underground places <3 It wasn't as ghosty as i though but it was really fun 😀
There are a bunch of different spooky tours in Edinburgh, and I went on a couple! We didn’t do a cemetery tour though, although I visited them a lot because I am weird!
You and me both then 😀
Omg this post is so spooky!!! There’s this “haunted” old nunnery up in the mountains in my town that everyone claims is haunted because nuns would *supposedly* drown babies and kill pregnant nuns and young girls. They shut it down because of some creepy things and I need a story!!
Um holy crap that nunnery definitely needs a story, STAT!
Wow I’ve always wanted to go to that tour in Edinburgh! I’ve heard it’s so good and you’ve really brought it to life!!
You definitely should, it was so much fun and absolutely terrifying. I think it was with Mercat Tours.
I also did a walking ghost tour that was during the day and was more of ghost stories and the guides were in costume and it was hilarious. 11/10 would recommend.
Oh cool!!
This is great! I love local legends and I have a thing about ghost/ old towns so the story about Sacramento is really interesting. I looked up the Vampire of Sacramento link and… wow. He reads as a Psychological case study in all respects from childhood onwards and this is why clear indicators in people need to be monitored because the things he did… I have no words.
It’s also really sad that there was no support or monitoring of him after his schizophrenia diagnosis but I could honestly go off on one about mental health and the lack of support for pages so I’ll refrain.
I’ve been to Edinburgh but haven’t done the vaults, I don’t know whether I feel like I’ve missed out or not.
Just for fun I looked up any local creepy legends from where I live…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Pool
https://www.surreylife.co.uk/out-about/places/surrey-s-most-haunted-15-spooky-locations-to-visit-1-5221504
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil%27s_Punch_Bowl
I love England most this time of year because I love how old and spooky some places are.
Local legends and ghost stories are some of my fave, thanks for sharing links to some where you live! I would love to go to England sometime during this time of year because there’s just so much to see and be spooked by. And if you go back to Edinburgh, I’d recommend the vaults. it was a fun experience!
I agree that the whole situation with the Vampire of Sacramento is just kind of sad, the indicators were all there and one can only wonder if these truly heinous acts could have been avoided if better systems were in place. Thanks for stopping by!
Oh dear, imagine going to sleep in and on a legit ghost town despite everything looking quite modernized… plus that vampire is SCARY AF. 11/10 would read a novel retelling of the legend though… I’m sure it’ll give readers CHILLS.
I totally would read a book about the Vampire of Sacramento and would probably have nightmares for days. 11/10 DO WANT
MHMM. I want it as well. Write this book. 😂
OKAY MAYBE I WILL DO NANO
YOU MUST NOW
Okay well now I’ll need to sleep with all the lights on.. ugh I don’t do ghost stories and neither do my kids. My husband just laughs at me. The last haunted house thing we did a spooky ghost person followed me around because I’m an easy target and I screamed so much I lost my voice. My husband laughed so hard… yup not for me. You are brave!!!
Oh man, I honestly don’t like being picked up when in a haunted house… it’s kind of terrifying.
there are a lot of old buildings in my city that are haunted, one of the buildings at the university (it has since been knocked down) was haunted.
back in the 80s and 90s, the city I live in was famous for having a ton of Elvis impersonators, some of these guys were uncannily good at their craft. A silly local urban myth is that the ghost of Elvis lives on the 6th floor of a particular office building. that building? it only has 5 floors.
Maybe he haunts the invisible and ghostly sixth floor of the building? Or the floor on exists in an alternate dimension? OR MAyBE IT Is A MANDELA EFFECT! I am really intrigued by this for some reason… thanks so much for stopping by!