Below are photos from Ft. Bliss in El Paso, Texas, including their “Old Town” that shows what the original Fort looked like.

We did go on a ghost tour in downtown El Paso, but my pictures aren’t anything worth posting. We were all but “guaranteed” an apparition, knock, voice or cold gust of air in a couple of the locations…and then nothing happened. I don’t doubt the places are haunted, but you  never PROMISE anything on a ghost tour — as if it were in your control!

After that are pictures from El Paso’s “Mission Trail” — three Spanish missions near El Paso that are still serving as Catholic churches today. Each of these missions had contained a church on the site since the 1600s; however, most were rebuilt in the 1800s, which is what stands today. One of the churches sells small wooden crosses made from the wood floor that had to be removed from the 1840s “version” of the church. That church also had a huge cemetery across the parking lot. The oldest graves Char and I could find dated to the early 1900s, but some stones were so worn that we couldn’t make out a date. There were also lots of plain, unmarked, hastily constructed white wooden crosses. The cemetery appears to have a lot of poorer people buried there, but there are some stunningly elaborate graves as well.

I had the “most haunted” room for two nights (including Valentine’s Day), but it was a pretty uneventful stay. In reading the room’s “ledger” left behind by other guests, it seems former owner Byron T. Mills occasionally plays harmless pranks on guests in that room — knocking on the walls or sitting on the bed at night or emitting a whiff of cigar smoke. Nothing too extraordinairy. However, the housekeeping staff told me that Mr. Mills most certainly does not confine himself to that room. While two housekeepers were changing the bedsheets in another room one day, the clock radio suddenly came on. Amused (and familiar enough with Byron’s pranks to not be afraid) the two finished making the bed, at which point the radio promptly turned itself back off!

The bartender (young male, probably early 20s) told me that he and his friends had recorded some EVPs in the room the previous week. However, as it was Valentine’s Day night, he was extremely busy and we didn’t get a chance to talk more. All of the five locals I chatted with at the bar were very familiar with the haunted room (“Oh, she’s staying in 310!”) and its legacy.

Mr. Byron T. Mills didn’t make an appearance for me during my stay (although I did catch a few stray orbs in some of my photos, and some odd EMF readings the night of the 13th that weren’t there in the morning. Haven’t reviewed the audio recording for EVPs yet.) Both dogs acted just fine in the rooms.

One odd occurance: On one of our many trips outside to potty, Belle flat-out refused to go down one set of stairs. She planted herself like a little bull and wouldn’t budge (see pic below). Lilly, however, wasn’t afraid of the stairs and didn’t see any reason to be upset. But Belle wouldn’t change her mind. So we walked over to the other identical, “twin” stairwell. No prob. Belle bounded right down them. To see what she’d do, we walked over to the other set of stairs (the one that she wouldn’t go down a few minutes ago). She was just fine with going UP them…whatever “it” was that was on the stairs before must have been gone by that time!

Also pics from the haunted St. James Hotel in Cimarron (where I’m not staying because they don’t accept dogs, but the people are super friendly and helpful). The St. James hosted famous guests like Jesse James, Wyatt Earp and brothers, Black Jack Ketchum, Doc Holiday, Buffalo Bill Cody and Annie Oakley. 26 people died there…it was a rough and rowdy place. Check out the original 1872 bar and the bullet holes in the tin ceiling.

Random pics of a buffalo and cactus thrown in (hey, this is New Mexico).

This year, I attended six events in Colorado:

• The Central City Creepy Crawl
  
•  The Golden Cemetery Tour
  
• Victorian Horrors at the Molly Brown House
  
• Halloween Tea at the Molly Brown House
  
• The Haunted Times’ Capitol Hill Ghost Tour
  
• Lumber Baron Inn & Gardens’ Haunted House Hunt

 I’ll go into each in detail below….many of these events are held every year, so be sure to catch one next year!

Central City Creepy Crawl 

Best thing about Central City’s Creepy Crawl ghost tours: They’re FREE. That’s pretty uncommon. But do count on traveling through the historic downtown with a group of 50 people, which sometimes makes it difficult to get close enough to the tour guide to hear the stories and limits your mobility (and ability to wander and explore) when inside buildings. 

The Gilpin County Museum is plenty spooky at night, and my friend experienced a playful ghost tugging at her hair as we stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the main exhibit room on the first floor to listen to stories. Once upstairs, we filed into a dimly lit room where what I had assumed was a mannequin dressed in old western wear and part of the exhibit suddenly “came to life” and told us “his” story – a man who murdered his wife and young son in the 1800s. His delivery was well done and full of historical details.

Afterward, we progressed to the upstairs of a business where we heard a story about a woman who had hung herself in that very room and a couple of other stories.

The tour lasted only an hour and seemed a bit short for my taste. I would’ve been disappointed had I paid $20 or more, but for a free tour and the chance to go inside the museum and the business after hours, it wasn’t bad.

I would love to see them add the Central City cemeteries to their tour in the future. Supposedly, they’re not located all that far from town, although not within walking distance, so it would be difficult to add them to the tour. The cemeteries are clustered together and include the Catholic and Masonic among others. It’s now known simply as the “Central City Cemetery” and is supposed to be one of the most historic and beautiful in all of Colorado.

 I got a few orbs in my photos, but nothing spectacular.

The Golden Cemetery Tour

 There are so many ghost-oriented events in Colorado and even just the Denver area during October that there was no way I could fit them all in. But that’s OK – it’s something to look forward to next year. And I now know which of the tours are worth attending again, and which aren’t.

The Golden Cemetery Tour was one I’d pass on. Unfortunately, the promotions I read online about the tour didn’t say much. I expected a historic cemetery tour, maybe some stories of hauntings.

The event seemed geared toward children, and there were a few on hour tour. Our tour guide led us through the cemetery and pointed out headstones of historic figures in Golden history.

Perhaps half a dozen of the headstones were accompanied by “actors” dressed in period clothing, who told their stories for themselves. The history was interesting, but the acting was sub-par. Each “ghost” seemed determined to speak in a low, wailing voice, which quickly got old and seemed just too hokey, at least to the adults. Instead of just telling their stories, they tried to recite carefully memorized lines, word for word, and tended to forget portions and stumble over their words.

I’m sure they are all unpaid volunteers, and their sacrifice of two Saturdays from 2 p.m. until 8 p.m. is appreciated. The cost was $15; I would pay no more than $5 now knowing what to expect. 

Halloween Tea at the Molly Brown House

Also a bit disappointing. With a Halloween theme, I expected to hear a few ghost stories, but the first docent gave me a placating smile and said “It depends on who you ask; I don’t believe it is,” when I asked her about the hauntings in the house. I couldn’t bring myself to ask the curator in front of the crowd during our actual tea, having a feeling I was likely to get the same dead-end response. The tea did include a tour beforehand, but we were rushed through it; however, there was time afterward for additional wandering and questions after the tea.

I have only attended a full tea the Brown Palace Hotel before, which is around $30, versus the Molly Brown House Museum’s $20 – which also included the tour. But the tea was just a clear glass plate at each place with a few “savory” items – chicken salad flattened on bread, a cucumber “sandwich” and cheese and crackers, along with some deserts – a lemon bar, some fruit, and a brownie that tasted like it was from a Betty Crocker mix. Table decorations included a well-used fall flower arrangement on each table with Hershey’s kisses placed in a circle around it.

Our tea was served from fancy silver pots and the cream and sugar cubes were also presented in this manner, but while we could admire the beautiful china nearby in glass cases, we weren’t treated to such fancy accommodations. Tea was served by two hospitable women wearing Victorian maid’s costumes. The museum curator herself welcomed us and offered to answer our questions, but she didn’t seem to have any real presentation or speech planned, and we didn’t know enough about Margaret Brown to know what to ask.

If you do go, be aware that it’s more of a “Tour and Snacks” and not really a full tea at all. I advise you to spend your money on the Victorian Horrors event at the Molly Brown House instead.

 I first attended the Victorian Horrors event in the historic (and haunted!)  Molly Brown House Museum in 2008, where friends and I enjoyed five theatrical readings from the works of H.G. Wells and others. The highlights of the evening were a spine-tingling reading of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s account of one woman’s descent into madness in The Yellow Wallpaper (read it here). I remember being chilled by the story when I read it in my first summer English class at the University of Kansas. The last story of the evening was an intense reading of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven.

 Unfortunately, the scariest part of that evening was having our car towed and then taking a cab ride into one of the worst parts of town to pay $180 cash to what looked like thugs without so much as a branded uniform. My shaking friend was forced to walk alone into the barbwire-fenced lot to retrieve her car, hurrying past the pit bull lunging at her. Halfway there, she had a stroke of courage, stopped, whirled around, and asked the thugs, “Do you even FEED that dog??”

Lesson learned: Always arrive early to find street parking near the Molly Brown House Museum, especially for evening events – and if the sign in the lot says “Residents Only” – they mean it!

 This year, we were treated to readings by Sarah Orne Jewett (the feminist writers certainly had an affinity for horror!), and selections from Dracula and Frankenstein – where a “Dr. Frankenstein” delivered an engaging account of being reunited with his horrifying creation in a moonlit swamp.

Halfway through the reading, we heard a groan from behind a curtain, and one of the tallest men I have ever seen entered the room and spoke the monster’s lines. He had no green make-up or bolts in his neck – just long, wild gray hair and conservative attire that could pass for Victorian. I found this much more convincing than any Hollywood-ified presentation of the monster could’ve been. I also thought it a likely a representation of Mary Shelley’s original conception of the monster. I recall from my English class that Shelley was only nineteen when she began composing the novel as part of a contest with her husband, Percy Shelley, and the infamous Lord Byron, during their stay at the Villa Diodati in Switzerland during the rainy summer of 1816.

 The evening concluded once again with Mr. Poe, whose The Premature Burial  enticed my English-Major friend to comment, “THAT is the way that Poe was meant to be read.”

 No true ghost stories about the house were shared, but we were too engrossed in the fictional stories to have paid much attention if anything paranormal had occurred anyway. Still, for the true Halloween lover, I highly recommend the Molly Brown House Museum’s Victorian Horrors event.

Central City’s Creepy Crawl, FREE Haunted Tour

7 p.m. (lasts 60 – 90 min)FREE but you must RSVP!

Central City’s 150 years of history add up to one legendary ghost town. Explore Central City’s most infamous haunts with free walking tours of the town’s ghostly hot spots. The 60 minute walking tours are hosted by The Gilpin Historical Society. Tours will leave from side entrance of Century Casino on Gregory Street. Reservations required: Go to www.centralcityparkway.com/creepycrawl, or call 303-327-2255.

 Friday, Oct. 15; Saturday, Oct. 16; Friday, Oct. 22; Sat., Oct. 23:

Molly Brown House Victorian Horrors

 at Molly Brown House Museum, Denver

Beginning every 15 minutes from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m.

Cost: $18

Be spooked for the first time or return and be spooked again by a fresh selection of wicked writings of long-dead authors. Classic stories are brought to life in the dim, flickering candlelight as Edgar Allan Poe, HG Wells and others haunt you with tales of the macabre. Bring someone to hold on to! Go to https://store.mollybrown.org/store/fall-workshops-and-events/ to purchase tickets.

Friday, Oct. 22; Saturday, Oct. 23; Friday, Oct. 29; Saturday, Oct. 30:

 Ghostlight: Colorado Homegrown Tales

 at Byers-Evans House Museum (1310 Bannock St, Denver)

7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Cost: $10

Colorado Homegrown Tales, a small theatre company located in Denver, is exclusively committed to exploring the work of local writers, through the medium of readers theatre. We present programs of selected short stories, organized around a theme, and read aloud by professional actors. You’ll discover stories that will surprise, touch, and delight you – written by talented and award-winning authors from our own backyard. It’s like story time for grown-ups!

Join us as we float from room to room in the historic Byers-Evans House, with a reader’s theatre presentation of spine-tingling theatrical ghost stories based on real-life events. Excerpted from a full-length script by Colorado playwright Michael R. Duran, this year’s production will be a new mix of favorite thrillers from past years, plus the premiere of a new story! Our actor/readers will include Mary Ann Amari, Annie Gavin Li, Debbie Knapp, and Guy Williams.

Subject matter is adult in nature and not recommended for those under 14; running time is 90 minutes.For reservations or information, call 720-233-0811 or go to www.homegrowntales.com.

Friday, Oct. 22:

Paranormal Party

Highlands Ranch Mansion, Highlands Ranch, CO

6:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m.

Cost: $30

Spirit PI has conducted paranormal investigating at the Highlands Ranch Mansion and uncovered spooky findings! Discover for yourself whether or not ghosts inhabit the mansion. Explore the mansion during cocktail time then attend a presentation of “Things That Go Bump in the Night.” They will present paranormal evidence gathered during prior ghost- hunts. Then it is on to ghost hunting with the professionals! Wine, beer and Absinthe will be available to purchase. Phone: (303) 791-2500 to RSVP

Saturday, Oct. 23; Saturday, Oct. 30:

Golden Cemetery Toursat Golden History Museums, Golden, CO

2 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Cost: $15

Golden Cemetery Tours are back for two Saturdays only! The 60-minute tour includes many ghosts from Golden’s past. Oscar Goetze ran the Astor House and worked at the Transcript newspaper with George West. Goetze was given the task of pacifying another Golden founder, Edward Berthoud, when he came storming into the newspaper office asking why his long-winded articles weren’t printed. You’ll also stop by the grave of Willie Russell and hear about his tragic death at the Golden Paper Mill. Come listen to some of the humorous, and not so humorous, tales dug up from Golden’s history. Advance registration required.

Call 303.278.3557 to reserve.

Thursday, Oct. 28:

Mt. Vernon Ghost Town Tales

at Matthews/Winters Park, Golden, CO

6:30 p.m.

Cost: unknown

Lookout Mountain Nature Center at John Steinle from the Hiwan Homestead Museum will lead a twilight hike to the Mount Vernon Cemetery. Enjoy colorful stories about the ghost town of Mount Vernon and its human, bat and snake citizens! Call Lookout Mountain Nature Center at 720-497-7600 to RSVP.

Saturday, Oct. 30:

Halloween Full Tea 

Molly Brown House Museum, Denver

11 a.m. & 1 p.m.

Cost: $20

Halloween was a favorite Victorian holiday! Come explore our traditional decorations, enjoy special tea treats and show off your spookiest or wackiest costume. Best costumes win prizes! Our teas include a tour of the Museum and the entire event lasts approximately an hour and a half. Purchase tickets online at https://store.mollybrown.org/store/fall-workshops-and-events/halloween-full-tea-molly-brown-house-museum-denver/ 

Saturday, Oct. 30: 

Firehouse Ghosts / Ghost Hunters

at Denver Firefighters Museum

7 p.m. – 8 a.m

Cost: $30

Special evening designed for adults. Visitors will enjoy a traditional firehouse spaghetti dinner, participate in a presentation by paranormal experts that have been investigating Historic Station No. 1 for three years and then pair up for a night of ghost hunting with the professionals. Bring your sleeping bag, a flashlight and camera. A light breakfast will be served. Reservations required.Call 303.892.1436 to RSVP.

The St. Cloud Hotel has been closed either continuously since at least 2007 , or off and on since then. Whenever it closed, it must have been Christmastime, or shortly after, based on the two lone holiday decorations that still hang in the windows. According to one website I found, the St. Cloud Hotel is currently for sale for $1.2 million.

The hotel sits on a street corner in downtown Cañon City. The 35-room hotel was originally built in Silver Cliff, some 40 miles away from Canon City, and then moved, brick by brick, to it’s present location. The hotel is reported to have been built in 1883 during the Gold Rush, but I could not find out whether 1883 was the year it was built in Silver Cliff or the year it was re-assembled in Canon. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places. In the 1930s, the hotel housed a print shop that printed a Ku Klux Klan newsletter.

Haunted or not, there’s something eerie about a historic building that has set empty for a considerable amount of time. I’ll share pictures of the Ludlow, Colo., ghost town in this blog in the future, and I’m sure you’ll have to agree with me — old abandoned buildings = creepy. The odd pieces of furniture and antiques strewn randomly about the lobby only adds to the effect.

A thick layer of dust has collected on the tables in the bar.

'Fresh Hot Coffee' no more... the empty coffee maker and vacant pastry case sit in the St. Cloud Coffee Shop.

At one point, a 'Grand Opening' was perhaps planned 'Soon,' but those plans may have been abandoned, just as this sign leaning up against the counter in the lobby apparently has.

A helpful sign warns non-existent (or perhaps only invisible) guests against using the elevator.

Dainty victorian wallpaper indicates the decor of the upstairs,which is unfortunately inaccessable to the street photographer.

However, it turns out the St. Cloud Hotel IS haunted. A quick internet search turns up reports of prankster ghosts who like to hide objects from guests and turn on and off the television, lights, bathroom faucets, etc.  Reports of the ghost of a girl wandering the halls looking for her mother and a boy playing with a ball are also noted.

The hotel is not currently open to the public. All of the photos above were taken from the street level, looking in. Unfortunately, this means I don’t have any pictures of the guest rooms.