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BY JOAN MILNE
| Tuesday, November 05, 2002 | (No comments posted.)
Times Correspondent
Halloween is the prime time for goblins, spine-tingling tales and things that go bump in the night.
So it seems fitting at this spooky time of year to offer a selective list of reputedly haunted hotels where it is said travelers can share space with some permanent ghostly guests.
Those who check into room number 3327 or room number 3519 at the 114-year-old Hotel del Coronado near San Diego, Calif., have a good chance of encountering the famous ghost of Kate Morgan.
The mystery began in November 1892, when a beautiful 24-year-old woman checked into room 302 (now 3327) alone, without luggage, and under an assumed name. Her husband never joined her. A few days later, she supposedly committed suicide, setting off a surge of public interest and speculation that continues today.
Since her death, according to believers, there have been stranger-than-fiction happenings in the two rooms. Curtains billow in a non-existent breeze. Lights flicker. A woman's face appears on a blank television screen. The television turns on and off by itself. Doorknobs rattle. Bedcovers are pulled right off sleeping guests.
Even our government's Secret Service agents aren't immune from supernatural experiences. According to legend, an agent unwittingly spent a night in a haunted room. The next morning he complained someone had made so much noise walking back and forth in the room above him that he could not sleep. He was on the top floor -- there were no rooms or hallways above him.
Another time, it is said hotel staff members were showing off the haunted room to some visitors. Although the room had been serviced and was ready for a new occupant, there was a figure's imprint on the bedding. Someone must have taken a nap and didn't smooth out the bedspread when she got up, it was thought. The baffled employee tugged on the coverlet. The impression remained, just as if someone were still lying on the bed.
But the strange shenanigans are not limited to rooms. Witnesses reportedly have spotted the figure of a woman with long dark hair wearing a vintage black lace dress strolling along the beach and in various parts of the hotel.
This month The Del's heritage department published a book entitled, "Beautiful Stranger: The Ghost of Kate Morgan and the Hotel del Coronado,'' to dispel myths and set the record straight about this legend.
The ghost that haunts the Story Inn, a bed and breakfast near Indiana's Brown County State Park, has been dubbed the "Blue Lady.'' According to Richard Hofstetter, co-owner of the inn, she hangs out in the four rooms, one of which is named for her, above the general store/restaurant.
Visitors from far and wide have written accounts in the guest books, which were then stored in the attic and could not have been seen by later visitors. Yet written descriptions of ghostly encounters have been consistent.
"Reports of sightings had poured in even before the ghost was announced on Story Inn's Web site -- and before we put complimentary bottles of wine in the rooms,'' Hofstetter said.
"I am a true skeptic,'' Hofstetter said, "I never saw the ‘Blue Lady' myself, but everybody around here accepts her.''
Hofstetter said there have been some unexplainable incidents. A candle moved by itself. A plate of food exploded in a waitress' hands. And some guests checked out early claiming there was "something weird'' in their room.
A previous owner reported seeing a young woman dressed in a flowing white robe at the bottom of the basement stairs before the phantom vanished.
As a manager and a waitress were closing one night, they playfully bounced a Super Ball down the steps from the kitchen to the basement. The ball bounced right back up the stairs toward them.
"They got out of there real fast,'' Hofstetter said.
When Audrey and Orville Orr bought the Buxton Inn in Granville, Ohio, in 1972, they apparently got more than they bargained for.
Two previous owners still inhabit and haunt the place, according to reports. Major Buxton (Major is his name, not a military title) owned the inn from 1865 to 1905 and Ethel "Bonnie'' Bounell was innkeeper from 1934 to 1960.
One day, Audrey Orr was painting the pantry when she saw a man out of the corner of her eye. When she turned, he was gone. At first, she thought it must have been her husband. But after this happened several times, she was unnerved and said she didn't know what was going on, but it was scaring her. She hasn't been bothered since.
Orr said that Room 9, which originally was part of Bounell's quarters, has the most activity. Witnesses have reported smelling perfume, feeling a presence, and have been chilled in a warm room. Some say they have awakened to see a woman standing at the foot of their bed even though their door was locked.
At first, the Orrs kept quiet about the eerie escapades, fearing the news would hurt their fledgling business. Instead, business boomed after the story hit the papers in 1979.
Orr said that October always brings a bumper crop of sightseers.
At the historic Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee, people have seen a stout, well-dressed man in turn-of-the-century clothing standing at the top of the grand staircase overlooking the lobby. Witnesses have identified the portrait of Charles Pfister, the hotel's founder, as the affable spirit who is so interested in the lobby activity.
The consensus is that the benevolent hotelier just wants to make sure his guests are happy.
That also may be the reason for a ghost's appearances at La Posada de Santa Fe, a popular resort in downtown Santa Fe, N.M., which was built on the site of the 1882 Staab house.
Those who reportedly have seen the apparition of fashionable 19th-century socialite Julia Staab say she has dark eyes and wears a dark gown and a hood. Perhaps the attentive hostess is returning to keep an eye on her home and her guests.
Travelers booking a room at The Menger Hotel in San Antonio, Texas, may want to think twice before talking to a maid in the corridor.
In 1876, Sallie White, a chambermaid, was killed by her husband, reportedly for staying at the hotel with another man.
As the story goes, Sallie's spirit still roams the halls.
A few years ago, a hotel visitor complained to the front desk that a maid on his floor had ignored his request for extra towels. He described the rude maid's uniform -- it was one worn in the 1800s.
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