Monday, September 22, 2014

Paranormal Road Trip: Destination San Diego with Eileen Wilks


Come on boys and ghouls!  It's time to hop on Route 666 for a spooktacular Paranormal Road Trip.  This week's stop is San Diego and our special guide is Eileen Wilks author of the World of the Lupi series.

The World of the Lupi series is set in San Diego, California, so it seems fitting that our guide for this week's Paranormal Road Trip be the amazing Eileen Wilks.  Let's see what terrifying places Eileen has planned for our tour.

San Diego's Top Five Spooky Places

William Heath Davis House
At the oldest house in San Diego, ghosts started playing with the lighting before it was wired for electricity.  Residents reported  lights going on or off mysteriously—and these were gas or coal oil lamps.  Officials of the Gaslamp Historical District talk about lights coming on at the old house—when no one is there.  And a Victorian woman has been seen at or near the top of the stairs.

El Campo Santo Cemetery
What's a list of spooky spots without a graveyard?  Cars parked along the street adjacent to this cemetery are actually resting atop graves that were paved over—and apparently indignant ghosts set off their car alarms from time to time.  Vistors who walk the grounds speak of cold spots, and some report seeing pale, glowing specters—of a Victorian woman, an Indian or Hispanic man, and less identifiable figures.

Hotel Del Coronado
One of the oldest buildings in San Diego is said to be one of the most haunted.  The Hotel Del Coronado's most famous resident ghost is Kate Morgan, who checked into her room in 1892.  But Kate's new husband never joined her, and after five days her body was found on an exterior staircase.  She'd been shot in the head.  At the time, it was ruled a suicide . . . though some had their doubts.
Kate is a lively ghost, appearing to many and occasionally indulging in pranks. The hotel gift shop seems to suffer from poltergeists—or an excess of Kate's antics.  Glassware flies of the shelves and pictures fall from the walls.

Presidio Park
There have been reports of paranormal activity here since the 1760s, when Presidio Fort occupied the land. People speak of mysterious chanting at the cross monument and a dark presence at the witches' tower.  Cloaked and hooded shadows are supposed to circle the museum at the park.  On the lighter side, some insist they've see the ghost of Lucy, a deer who lived in the park in the 70s.

Whaley House
This may be the most haunted place in San Diego.  The Travel Channel's America Most Haunted thinks so.  In fact, they called it the most haunted house in America because reports of hauntings here are so numerous.  Perhaps visitors see the ghosts of the men who were hung on this spot before the house was built.  Perhaps it's the ghost of Violet Whaley, who killed herself at Whaley House in 1885, who lingers.  No one knows—but the reports continue to come in.

Whaley House is now a museum, and a popular one at that, with over 100,000 visitors annually.  It's also a key location in my October release, UNBINDING . . . and in my world, bad things continue to take place in this unhappy spot.

Thank you Eileen for giving us such a haunting tour of San Diego!

To learn more about Eileen Wilks and her books, please visit her website. You can add her World of the Lupi series here on Goodreads.




Readers, was this your first visit to San Diego?  Have you experienced anything supernatural in and around San Diego?

What did you think of Eileen's picks for spooky places?

Last week on Paranormal Road Trip we visited Manhattan with Melissa de la Cruz.  Next week we'll be traveling to Jacksonville, Florida with Rinda Elliott.

Join us for another spine-tingling Paranormal Road Trip...
if you dare!

Readers: What do you think of this new weekly feature?  Your feedback is important to us as we strive to bring you fresh new content that you want to read. 

7 comments:

  1. Great picks, a few places I have heard of and want to visit.

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  2. a ghost of a deer sounds interesting

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    1. I agree. Most ghost stories are about human ghosts, so this one was intriguing.

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  3. I've never been but it sounds interesting, I love the stories

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    1. I really need to return for a ghost tour of San Diego. :)

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  4. Graves paved over? I would not liked to have been those workers!

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