By Khalida Sarwari
The tale of the Winchester Mystery House is familiar to many Valley residents, but it’s still a favorite one that often gets recalled around Halloween along with other scary, lesser-known urban legends .
The biggest mystery in that legend is whether Sarah Winchester, the widow who resided in the mansion following the deaths of her infant daughter and husband, was motivated to build the property out of desperation, necessity or pursuit of a hobby.
As one story goes, Winchester visited a medium in Boston who warned that her family was being haunted by ghosts, and the only way to keep them at bay would be to continuously build a home that was never to be finished. So she moved to San Jose and did just that. “When will I die?” she once asked a medium. The answer was: “When your house is done.” And so construction continued up until she died on Sept. 5, 1922.
In more practical versions of the story, Winchester, who had married into an affluent family, either wanted to build a mega-mansion to house other family members who had moved to the Bay Area or she enjoyed playing architect and designing her own home, much like another well-known female architect of the time, Julia Morgan.
Nearly 100 years after her death, the legend of Sarah Winchester and her eccentric house continues to enthrall guests who flock in droves to the famous residence at 525 S. Winchester Blvd. to draw their own conclusions about what drove her to build doors and stairs that go nowhere, windows overlooking other rooms and miles of twisting hallways among other architectural oddities. While the Winchester legend is the most popular one in the area, there are numerous other tales worth revisiting this time of year.
San Jose has no shortage of them, according to an extensive 2014 CBS article titled “Haunted Bay Area.”
For one, there’s the Mount Hamilton Grandview Restaurant at 15005 Mt. Hamilton Road. According to the sleuths at CBS, the restaurant has been known to light up on its own when empty, and both guests and employees have reported seeing lights flicker on and off in the dining area. It gets creepier: They’ve also reported seeing a young girl standing on the lookout balcony.
Another possibly haunted location is East Quimby Road, where people have reported seeing “the Quimby Jogger,” believed to be the ghost of a jogger who runs only at midnight.
And next time you plop down in your seat at the AMC Saratoga 14, you might want to check for ghosts first. According to the article, visitors have reported hearing muffled whispers and laughter and seeing the house lights go on and off, a shadowy figure in the projection booth, and armrests mysteriously lowering and raising themselves. Or maybe those oddities can just be chalked up to mischievous guests and the theater’s state-of-the-art seating.
Some schools also made the article’s list of popular ghost haunts in San Jose.
At Arbuckle Elementary, for example, people swear they still see a boy who was stabbed to death in the late 1970s. And yes, he still has a knife in his back.
At Burnett Academy Middle School, cheerleaders in the girls locker room have reported hearing the ghost of a girl who tripped while running up the stairs and died.
Not that anyone would have a reason to be at Del Mar High School at 3:15 a.m., but that’s about the time people have reported hearing the screams of a boy who was murdered by his best friend in 1942. Some have even seen blood running down the bleachers.
And despite there being no records of any deaths at Dove Hill Elementary School, both students and teachers have reported seeing a mysterious student hanging out at the basketball courts. He wears a name tag that says “Michael T.” and has no face.
Hanging out at San Jose State University’s gym late at night would not be a good idea. People believe the old gym was once used as a collection area for Japanese internees during World War II, and voices and crying can be heard there at night.
Legend has it that a nun at Notre Dame High School hung herself from a balcony because she was pregnant. The balcony and a gym that is no longer in use is reportedly haunted.
While no one has died in the large theater at Independence High School, there is a shadowy presence named George who reportedly haunts the theater and plays tricks on actors.
Other haunted locations in San Jose dug up by CBS are the Chuck-E-Cheese off Tully Road, which is reportedly haunted by a little girl on the third floor, and Dottie’s Pond, where people say a girl named Dottie was pulled under the water by a giant hand. They say her screams for help can still be heard at night.
A creek at Happy Hollow Park is believed to be haunted by a lady wearing a short red dress with a black belt and long black hair. Some claim she is the ghost of a woman murdered there in the 1970s.
Sightings of ghosts have been reported at Foxdale Apartments, which is believed to have been built on top of an old cemetery. The kicker: It’s believed not all of the graves were removed.
Campbell is also home to a few urban legends. Some say Securitas Security is one of those spots to steer clear of at night. That’s when you’re bound to hear a figure run down the hall and around the corner and slam doors in different areas of the first floor. Visitors have reported getting chills and having their hair stand on end.
Could it possibly be the ghost of any of the six people James Dunham brutally murdered in 1896? It’s a stretch, but … . According to Kerry Perkins, senior museum specialist at the Campbell Historical Museum & Ainsley House, Dunham infamously killed his estranged wife, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, ranch hand and housemaid at his home on McGlincy Lane, sparing only his infant son before he fled by bicycle and was never caught.
The ghost of 14-year-old Thora Chamberlin might also be floating around somewhere in the city. Thora was kidnapped in 1945, and her body hasn’t been found to this day. Thomas Henry McMonigle was blamed for her death and in 1948 met his in the electric chair, Perkins said.
The West Valley appears to be a hotbed for brushes with the other world. At Bella Saratoga in downtown Saratoga, for example, diners have reported a few strange occurrences. Some say they’ve seen the faucet handle turning by itself in the restroom.
In nearby Los Gatos, according to the CBS article, apparitions have been reported at Beaux Cheveaux Hair Salon, where several visitors witnessed mirrors falling from walls, and at Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad and Bill Mason Carousel, where employees heard doors being shut and gates opening and closing as well as lights being turned on and off.
According to local legend, people believe Green Valley Disposal Company is haunted by a ghost named Julius, who appears to be a bit of a mischief maker. He’s been seen playing with the electric calculator on one of the desks, even while someone is sitting there. Some say they’ve heard a chair rolling across a wooden floor upstairs, even though it’s carpeted. In the cold storage room, the filing cabinets sometimes open and close rapidly, then stop. When a new phone system was installed, it was reportedly shut down within a week, and even engineers could not explain why.
Los Gatos residents might also be familiar with the story of a biker who died on Hicks Road and now haunts the roadway wearing a trench coat and riding a bike with missing wheels. It’s believed the only way you can see him is in your mirrors. A girl of about 17 or 18 has been seen sitting on the side of Old Santa Cruz Highway or walking at twilight.
Unlike most ghosts, the one at the old opera house on Main Street doesn’t appear to be very shy. It has been caught on camera and is known to pull instruments from musicians playing at weddings in the banquet hall, the CBS article notes.
In Sunnyvale, there’s a strange toy story. The ghost of a young farmer named Jonny Jonson roams the aisles and wreaks all kinds of havoc in the Toys ‘R Us store there, some locals believe.
Elsewhere in Sunnyvale, people have reported poltergeist activity at Bishop Elementary School and Homestead High School. They say the former is haunted by Mr. Bishop, the school’s namesake, while the latter has a ghost who opens and locks doors and roams the second-floor hallway. Teachers and parents have reported encounters with the ghost.
Some people believe the Quality Inn Suites on Weddell Drive in Sunnyvale is also haunted. They say a man died of a heart attack there, and now his presence haunts the room.
David Stanek, the son of Jeanine Stanek, co-creator and curator of the Sunnyvale Heritage Park Museum, recalls a few urban legends from his years growing up in Sunnyvale. There was the Collins-Scott Winery at 775 Cascade “that was haunted,” he said; the house that backed up to that same property at the end of Nelson Court off Fremont Avenue near Hollenbeck “that was definitely spooky;” and a rumored house for albinos at Rancho San Antonio.
“They’d all come out at night,” he said.
According to Cupertino resident Donna Austin, something might be up with the Snyder Hammond House. She said the man who lived there always claimed there were ghosts, but no one ever saw or heard anything and most people thought he was joking. Her experience was different.
“I feel a little creepy when I’m there and will not go in the house at all, but I’m just being cautious,” she said.
Austin also has her suspicions about the old Emporium at Vallco, which was later converted to a Macy’s. She said people claim there were ghosts there at one point.
For those looking for a thrill, much like Stanek when he was growing up in Sunnyvale, perhaps this Halloween weekend is the perfect time to pay one of these places that have inspired some imaginative urban legends a visit.
