Whether it's Halloweedn or true crime, frightful stories are popular year-round. Before there were podcasts, paranormal activities have long been rumored at these Pacific Grove-area spots.
Monterey area Lighthouses
Lonely, foggy and situated by turbulent, killer waters, lighthouses can be both beautiful and creepy. Maybe its the many souls lost in those areas even before they were established, the ones who still met their demise after, or the unusual personas who could live in a place like that for long, loney periods of time...but lighthouses tend to be surrounded by death.
Point Pinos Lighthouse
Although many lighthouses along the ocean have been shuttered, the Point Pinos Lighthouse, above, is still active and is famed for being the very first one on the West Coast. It sits out on the coastline towards Asilomar and is nestled into the Pacific Grove Municipal Golf Links.
Perhaps the best-known lighthouse keeper is Emily Fish, who served between 1893 and 1914 may still keep an eye on things as visitors have reported smelling the scent of perfume, hearing footsteps go by or seeing the figure of a woman.
Point Sur Light Station
When you visit (tours are first-come, first-serve on Wednesdays at 1pm and Saturdays at 10am), keep an eye on the window facing the waters where locals claim to sometimes see an old man staring steadily out to sea, even though the living quarters have been vacant for many years. Check out the Travel Channel's *Ghost Adventures* episode from Season 8.
El Carmelo Cemetery
Across the street from the Point Pinos Lighthouse, this cemetary has been open for nearly two centuries, since the 1800s. The grounds are open dawn to dusk. The cemetary's oldest section has wooden markers and upright monuments. The more recent sections have engraved markers in the grass.
Big Sur's "dark watchers" in the mountains
You might only see their shadows, but these giants have been reported by explorers, hikers and writers of the area for centuries. As the legend goes, they are giants...10' tall and wear dark cloaks and wide-brimmed hats, and they are said to give people the sensation of being stared at. They may be seen at dusk, and be warned that those who approach them are never seen again.
Author John Steinbeck, who grew up along this coast, told the tale of his mother, Olive Hamilton, leaving gifts of fruit and nuts in on her way to school in Big Sur. On the way back, there would be flowers in their place.
Poet Robinson Jeffers, whose Tor House and Hawk Tower are also reportedly haunted, described the Dark Watchers as “forms that look human to human eyes, but certainly are not human....They come from behind ridges to watch” and can appear in “the quiet twilight” melting into the shadows.
If you get a chance to hike out to the giant kilns at Limekiln State Park, takes of mysterious giants will take hold in your imagination. Enjoy that twilight Big Sur hike!
Tor House
Robinson Jeffers, American poet famous for his book *Californians,* was written the same year that our Jewelbox Cottages were built in Pacific Grove, 1916. Jeffers built the stone house and Hawk Tower from chunks of granite collected from the Carmel beach below. The house tower were feature on the Travel Channel's *Ghost Adventures* from Season 8, and you can read more on Atlas Obscura.
Stokes Adobe
In 1833. proprietor James Stokes, lived and worked out of his home as a pharmacist, who unfortunately seems to have killed many patients in addition to healing others. The home was converted into a restaurant, and there are reports of women's voices calling for help, furniture and things being moved around and strange silhouettes — sometimes in Victoria-era clothing — around the property. Some have even experienced being tapped on the shoulder.
Colton Hall
Stately looking Colton Hall was built in the mid-1800s as a school and town hall. California's first Constitution was drafted there 1849, and it was a much-favored meeting place than then state-capital, San Jose.
But it was likely the hall's history as jail and place-of-execution, where many soldiers from the Presidio fort met their end by hanging on the second-floor porch balcony. Visitors report feeling cold spots, hearing footsteps and eerie whispers and having the distinct feeling of being watched closely.