The El Cortez

After the incident at Villa Montezuma we drove downtown to clear our minds about what just had happened. I bring up the El Cortez story and Neo tells me it again emphasizing his disdain for the place and how much he hates it as we drive toward the Coronado Bridge. Most of the night he had been getting headaches whenever we encountered something paranormal and then we stopped at a red light.

He complains about his head again and I look outside my passenger window and non-chalantly say “Oh wow, there goes the El Cortez”. We both were shocked that we ended up there, it’s like something had guided us there or he drove there subconsciously. He did not want to be there or open up to any spirits so we quickly got onto the freeway. Maybe the little boy in Neo wanted final answers.

*****

-Neo’s Story-
“Growing up I went to the El Cortez which I believe was in the early 90’s during the renovations. I went with my sister to visit her husband’s family member who was working on the El Cortez during its renovation. I remember being in an open area which I later found out to be the ball room. I was around 7 years old wandering and looking around, but for some reason I felt I wasn’t alone.

I remember the hairs standing up on the back of my neck as I noticed a presence of a little boy around the same age as me wanting to play. It seemed like an anxious presence, excited to see someone his own age. At the same time I felt that there was another spirit, a woman that was older; around late 20’s to early 30’s but I couldn’t seem to tell if there were a relation between the two. Being young I paid no attention to what I was feeling. I was probably afraid to see something I didn’t want to.

So we went about our visit and soon left and I didn’t put much more thought into it after that. About four years later I was talking to my sister and brother in-law and somehow we began to talk about the El Cortez as we passed it on the freeway. To my astonishment they began speaking of stories they had heard of it being haunted. But to me it was like I already knew.”

Neo believes the young boy is around 6 and the woman may be his mother. It’s possible they died in the 80’s and have stuck around for unknown reasons. Neo believes it may have been a suicide on the woman’s part. People who live in the apartment buildings are said to have stories as well but most are unreliable.

The El Cortez was opened Thanksgiving Day in 1927 and hosted stars, celebrities, and even presidents but by 1981 the grand hotel was no more. It fell into disrepair and anytime before 2000 you could find news of how haunted the El Cortez was. Thanks to renovations in the early 90’s until 2002 the real estate companies covered up the fact that several bodies were found on several of the top floors after it had been a crack house, drug haven and homeless retreat. Now the former hotel is a condo complex and even though you can have events there such as weddings and runway shows you’d have to be someone special to investigate if it’s haunted.

Elfin Forest & Questhaven

The Elfin Forest was rumored to be inhabited by Gypsies and their social kin at the turn of the 19th century and well into to the 20th century, legend has it that when other natives of the land and citizens of local communities came in and drove off the Gypsies, slaughtering those who stood in their way, the Gypsies cursed the land of and around Elfin Forest.

Apparently it was this curse that has caused many of the urban legends and paranormal activity that has been reported throughout the years. Coincidentally, there are also accounts of native Northern Diegueno Indians who once inhabited this land, dating back 9,000 years.

There are legends of abandoned insane asylums, gigantic owls that come down and swarm on helpless humans, and a witch that marks you the first time you enter the forest and if you return will kill you without hesitation. Even though all these are clearly fables there is something in that forest that you can feel just driving on the crooked roads as the deformed and gnarled trees reach out for you from the side of the road. You get the feeling something’s watching you somewhere in the darkness, and they may not be alive.

You start on Harmony Grove Rd which leads into Elfin Forest Rd and that’s where things got creepy for us. The highway goes from an obscure road near home depot and travels all the way to San Marcos.

The sun was painting a golden picture on the Elfin Forest Rd. when Neo and I drove down it. It was dusk, during late summer and the leaves were beginning to change. We were on the hunt for the Questhaven Insane Asylum. Rumor has it that one day the crazy people got out of their cells and murdered their torturous attendees and burned the place down.

The internet says Questhaven is a church for born again Christians or some sort. So we drive and drive until we see a board with Questhaven on it and drive down a dirt road with trees encasing us and blocking out the golden light.I was instantly uncomfortable. I felt someone was watching us from the right hand side of the road. I tried to work past my fear but the further we went down the road that seemed to lead to no where, the more freaked out I felt.

Neo said he felt a presence of a Caucasian male in his early 50’s watching us; possibly a former owner of the property. We drove pass him again when we were leaving the road that really did lead to no where and we decided to come back later that night.

11 o’clock it was almost pitch black on the road. With only headlights to keep us from driving off the cliff we drove until Neo felt like he drove through something. It seemed like a presence that was lingering around and shook him up pretty bad. He said even though it wasn’t negative it saw him and he felt it. Maybe someone died on the road and it haunting that one spot replaying getting hit by a car like it did many years ago.

We drove down the dark dirt road again and noticed that the male presence that was there earlier was gone. It seems he only appears at dusk. We then drove down the road more but Neo felt if we kept going something bad was going to happen. A fog had began to roll in and there was nothing but dark trees and foliage to both of our sides. The deeper we got the less we could see and it felt that at any moment something could pop out and scare us off the road.

Neo pulled over and sat there for a while, he hadn’t told me what he felt but he said in a whisper to me, “I think we should turn around”. I said why and he told me about the bad vibe. I didn’t argue with him and we headed back to where we came, the ominous feeling lessing the farther we got away. The mountains were glowing in the moonlight and certain creases in its fold seemed to be smirking at us calling us scarredy cats.

A few weeks later we drove the road again at 1 o’clock in the morning. We made it through the area that was covered in fog and after being turned around a lot found Questhaven. Low on gas and not knowing where we were kind of freaked us out but when we saw the Questhaven gate and the large security light came on we instantly felt settled.

Neo felt the presence of a living security guard watching us just beyond the light and when we made a u-turn I saw the vehicle. We parked there a bit and took some pictures but it didn’t seem like there was anything spooky going on.

Coronado Bridge

We drove across the Coronado Bridge with the stars in the sky and the city lights reflecting off the large bay. I urged Neo to open up to the hundreds of people that took their lives by jumping from that bridge but he would not let the spirits in. On the way back though, he finally agreed and saw something that freaked him out a little.

He didn’t say anything to me until we had cleared the bridge and were on the freeway going in a complete opposite direction. I asked him if he saw anything and he said he saw a woman standing on rail as she grabbed onto a light pole. She looked like she was about to jump. Neo said she had long dark hair and a brown coat. He could feel her sadness and hopelessness. I tried to find any news reports about a woman committing suicide by jumping from the bridge while wearing a large brown coat to no avail. My grandfather had told me he had a fellow veteran friend that had jumped from the bridge with her baby in her arms in the middle of the day. The baby survived-she didn’t.

But when I asked for a more detailed description the stories didn’t quite add up. So many lives have been lost on that bridge but it’s all cleaned up on the internet. You have to get lucky to find a story, and I’ll keep looking, but she could be anyone of hundreds. Maybe if we find out who she was we can help her get where she needs to be.

William Heath Davis House

The William Heath Davis House is the oldest surviving structure in Downtown San Diego (New Town). He never actually lived in the house that now bears his name, but it is the same age and style of his house that was located at State and F streets.

As far as apparitions go a lady has been seen on the second floor landing of the home ready to give tours to awaiting groups, the gold ropes used to keep visitors out of certain rooms have become unlatched with no one around, there is a picture that shows some odd mist in the background that was not present when the picture was taken and the old style gas lamps in the building have been turned on with invisible hands.

The house is now a museum and one of the oldest places in the downtown district.

One night I walked pass the place with a friend and the entire curve of the corner that the house sits on I felt there was a presence walking to my left a little bit behind me. It was like when you go to a haunted house where people are in costumes and invade your space until you freak out and scream. No matter how fast I made my friend walk to keep up pace with me we could never go fast enough. It was always in step with us until we cleared the house. At the time I had no idea that the house was rumored to be haunted so I was caught completely off guard.

When Neo and I walked by he felt a possible faint presence there but you feel creeped out and like your being watched when you walk by. Neo said it was like the owner didn’t realize they were dead; they’re just watching over their land. Nothing was really grabby or attracted to what we were doing that time.

Heritage Park

When the expansion of downtown San Diego after WWII threatened the buildings that now reside in Heritage Park with demolition seven buildings were acquired and relocated to Heritage Park over a period of 25 years. The former homes are: Bushyhead House (1887), McConaughy House (1887), Sherman-Gilbert House (1887), Christian House (1889), Temple Beth Israel (1889), Burton House (1893) and Senlis Cottage (1896). All seven buildings are unique in their structure and color scheme. It’s a creepy beauty in the day time and night.

If at night you walk down the asphalt streets with the houses on all sides of you, you’ll get this eerie feeling that eyes are on you. You may hear invisible footsteps in the well manicured grass that’s just out of sight in the shadows or see a shadow in the form of a person peeking curiously from behind a tree at you.

When we went we felt a presence that wasn’t too strong probably the people who lived there prior watching over the neighborhood. The housings were pretty dark and the presence wasn’t anything evil.

Villa Montezuma (Jesse Sheppard's House)

Jesse Sheppard’s house was built in 1887 and Neo and I decided to pay the beautiful, colorful, castle like structure a visit one dark and spooky night. Sheppard was a musician known for channeling spirits and would play Mozart on one hand and Chopin on the other. That night we drove to the front of the Sheppard house and didn’t really feel much of a presence, just a lady.

Then Neo decided to drive to the back of the house where you could see the rear tower. As soon as the dark silhouetted tower came into sight he felt this dark and evil presence that was extremely angry.
I felt the negative vibe as well since my side of the car was facing the tower. I was overwhelmed with fear and couldn’t look out the window. I think my window was down and I could feel an icy breeze tickle my cheek.

He didn’t stop the car, he drove further down the street and did a u-turn and came back around to see if the presence was really there. He did this against my will. I wanted to get away from the place. I was getting bad vibes. I didn’t want to look at the area, I kept her eyes closed and looked away from the house. He drove by again anyway and once again he felt the same presence exactly how he felt it the last time.

We started driving away from the house and I slowly started losing my breath. I felt like hands were slowly wrapping around my neck, getting tighter no matter how much I clawed at my throat the invisible hands kept clinching tighter and tighter.

My heart was beating out of my chest and I felt I was slowly being suffocated, losing focus and about to black out. I started crying, I was overcome with emotion. It wasn’t just fear that was running through my veins; I felt my heart drop into my stomach, I was utterly devastated.

I started hyperventilating and grabbing more frantically at my neck at invisible hands or rope, whatever was stealing my breath from me. I couldn’t feel my hands scrapping at my throat anymore. My neck was numb and the lights were starting to fade. It felt evil, so evil. Just when I thought I might lose consciousness the hands slowly loosened, feeling came back to my neck, and I was becoming more aware of my surroundings.

We were on the freeway rapidly putting distance between ourselves and the Villa. The presence had made itself known and it was going to mess with me as long as we stayed near it. So to clear my mind we drove downtown.

Months after this experience I was doing research for my story about the Villa Montezuma and I found out that Jesse Shepard had a servant that hung himself in the south tower after his wife died. Was the servant’s spirit making me feel his pain, had I angered him, did I remind him of someone? I may never know the answer but I do not like going by that house at night.

A unique modern castle-like home, Villa Montezuma is extreme in its appearance and in the ghosts that haunt it. Jesse Shepard (the owner) was a spiritualist musician and writer when the house was built in 1887 and would hold séances channeling Chopin on one hand and Mozart on the other. But when you open up to good spirits you sometimes get the bad as well. Jesse Shepard himself is said to haunt the villa as well as a woman and his former servant who, tormented with grief, hung himself in the tower after his wife passed away. Visitors have heard piano music coming from the locked séance room and a sad, mournful apparition is seen peering through the window of the cupola.

Rosecrans Cemetery Park

To get the Point Loma Lighthouse you have to go through the Rosecrans Cemetery (where the veterans lie to view the beautiful scenery for eternity). To get to Rosecrans Cemetery you have to pass a park. If you go at the exact right time, when the sun is setting and has a warm golden glow hovering over the park’s well manicured grass and warm full green trees you’ll feel a horrible feeling. A feeling that makes you ill, makes you want to throw up, something so negative that you shake in fear and choke on the evil.

Neo and I only drove by there once but we knew we didn’t want to go past that place again at the time of day. From those brief moments Neo picked up on a male figure and a boy in the age range or 4-6. Possible 7 years old. He felt that the older male was an angry presence but he wasn’t exactly sure what happened on that land. But the presence alone was strong enough to draw undivided attention.

It’s possible it was a traumatic spot for that child or for them, or something that has them attached to that spot. He feels that there was an abusive relationship or an abused situation that happened in that specific area. The boy and man seemed connected maybe a father/son, step-dad/son or someone close. The disturbing part is that we BOTH felt the nasty energy in large quantities and I’ve only felt something that strong only one other time, and that was at Villa Montezuma.

Living on a Cemetery: Neo’s origins

Imperial Beach House and Cemetery

I was a 4 year old living in a two story house in Imperial Beach and during my time there my family and I experienced several unexplainable events. I didn’t know very much of what they or it could be, but I knew it had to be something paranormal.
Falling asleep at night was difficult when you would look out the bedroom door and catch a glimpse of something passing by, or even a shadow in your room that vanishes before your eyes. These were all common occurrences that happened frequently, not only experienced by me but by my parents and my siblings. Not knowing much of the history of the house, we began to question exactly what had happened at our home to cause such extreme events.

I had a cousin who lived down the street who seemed to also have been having the same experiences. One day he was going to the park and my aunt asked him to clean his room before he had left, which he didn’t, so she went ahead and started doing it for him. As she started putting his things away in his closet, she noticed a little boy sitting in the corner, in a ball naked. She asked the little boy who he was and got no response so she went downstairs to use the phone and call the police and as soon as she went back upstairs to where the little boy was he was no longer there.

Another incident happened when my oldest brother was home with a friend of his hanging out downstairs in the living room watching TV. No one was in the house but them when my brother and his friend saw something walking behind the back yard sliding door curtains that draped to the floor. They immediately thought that one of my other brothers had stayed behind and gone unnoticed in the house. My oldest brother thought it would be funny to run up and grab him from behind the curtains to scare him but found himself the one scared, as he grabbed to find there was nothing there.



Now an incident that has been scarred into my memory is one night when we were all home except for my father. The family was downstairs watching TV and our dog had peed on the rug. As punishment we put the dog in an upstairs restroom with the door closed, then about ten minutes later the dog came running down. We then again put him back in the bathroom closing and locking the door this time and returned downstairs.

The dog came back down.

By then we were already scared and knew what we were dealing with through our the numerous with the paranormal. So we called my dad to come home and ran outside waiting till he showed. As we were outside awaiting his arrival, I was in my mom’s arms and I remembered looking at the house into the window of an upstairs bedroom. I noticed a dark figure staring back down at us.

Hotel Del Coronado

Hotel Del Coronado is known for its ghost Kate Morgan. During my visit one starry and windy night to the Del Coronado we walked on the side walk that separated the beautiful gazebo like hotel rooms from the white sand and midnight blue ocean whose waves were unusually silent.

As Neo and I walked down the side walk I was immediately on edge, every little thing made me jump, including the security guard who drove past us in his little jeep. Neo finally calmed me down so that I could enjoy the view a lot more but when we saw that the sidewalk went on forever we decided to head back to the car.

As we started walking back Neo immediately said we were being watched. Even though I told him I didn’t want to know or hear anything about it until we were back safely in the car he would stop and look behind us saying “I just want to see her.” After the second time he looked back and saw no one there we both heard long skirts rubbing against the concrete of the sidewalk. I said it could be the wind hitting the leaves but I knew the leaves were silent.

Neo looked back again and said he saw her. She was about 100 feet behind us and blurry but he felt she was around the age of 27 with dark hair and a long black dress with some sort of white material on the dress as well. It seemed to be a late 1800’s type dress, and once we got back to the car her energy had disappeared into the strong ocean winds.

Old Town San Diego

Old town San Diego isn’t very big, but it’s rich with history. You walk into the Whaley House and feel the age of it, inhale it in through your nostrils because it’s in the air. You walk down the cobble stoned streets where they have bead shops, the old post office and a huge tree right in the middle of the promenade that looks like it’s been around since the beginning of time. The few acres may be small but it’s enough to make you feel like you’re in another world.



Neo and I went one chilly dark Saturday night to see what we could see. One spirit in particular showed its irritation to us even though we were virtually alone.

We were walking toward the Robinson-Rose house that’s at the end of the street that has old houses and businesses on both sides. We took pictures as we stood in front of the house and I began feeling a little light headed and like eyes were tickling the back of my neck with a glare. I wanted to run to the car, but to avoid looking peculiar we walked-at a fast pace.



Neo kept getting mad because I was in a hurry but when we heard footsteps in the grass he quickened his pace. We didn’t want to show fear so I looked back near that huge tree and saw a cat. I suggested the cat had made the noise and Neo just shook his head no. I constantly was looking over my shoulder because I felt we were being followed. We had got to the end of the road where a quaint shop stood to our left with a large white light blaring into our eyes when we looked that way.

Neo decided it’d be a nice place to stop and take a picture and I looked at him as if he was crazy. As I looked at him my back was facing the shop and I noticed it got extremely dark all of a sudden. When I turned back to face the shop the blaring light was off. No other light randomly went off just that one and I felt we had to go. We finally get to the car and drive past the shop. The light was back on.



Neo felt there was a presence that was irritated with us being there and followed us to make sure we left. I believe I was picking up on the presences urgency to make us leave, which is why I was more adamant to get out of there. By the time we got to the shop I can only imagine the presence reached its boiling point and wanted us to know we weren’t welcome and things were going to get serious if we did not leave.

A Haunting Near You...

I've been interested in ghosts and the spirit world since i was 7. I'd choose ghost stories over romance and watch scary movies even though i couldn't go to sleep that night. It's always been an addiction and I was lucky enough to find a friend we'll call "Neo" who is sensitive to the spirit world and can pick up on energy from the living and the dead. There have been several situations where he's been right including the way the female Yale student was murdered three days prior to the police releasing that she had been asphyxiated. Since Halloween is fast approaching I thought it would be interesting to share a few real life ghost stories and welcome anyone to tell any of their own.