Ghost of a Chance (New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung)

Following is a feature article that appeared in the October 31, 2015, edition of the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung, one of the local newspapers in the title area of my new Ghosthunting San Antonio, Austin, and Texas Hill Country travel guide. 

   

The Driskill (Downtown Austin)

"There is a lot to recommend the Driskill hotel and any number of things that might make it appealing to visitors. It is the oldest operating hotel in the state capital of Texas, is steeped in history, has any number of colorful stories associated with it, and is beautiful and luxurious. As one might expect from its inclusion here, of course, it is also widely reputed to be haunted, and the hotel does nothing to discourage this belief. 

When my wife and I visited the hotel and had brunch in its 1886 Cafe and Bakery one Sunday in November 2014, in fact, and I asked our waiter if the property was haunted, he immediately responded that he believed it was. He then also went and got us a couple of handouts provided by the hotel, one that listed some of the hauntings associated with it and another that described its mundane history." 

Those are the first two paragraphs of my chapter on the Driskill hotel for Ghosthunting San Antonio, Austin, and Texas Hill Country! One person who went on the record about their supernatural experiences at the Driskill was Johnette Napolitano, lead singer for the alternative rock band Concrete Blonde, who commemorated her encounter in the 1992 song "Ghost of a Texas Ladies' Man." 

Ye Kendall Inn (Boerne/Kendall County)

"One of the most impressive and welcoming of the many haunted establishments that can be found throughout Hill Country is, without a doubt, Ye Kendall Inn, the sprawling hotel, restaurant, and event complex that dominates the main square in the town of Boerne. 

Ye Kendall Inn is well known in the local area for being haunted and I was well aware of its reputation before visiting it for the first time. I was therefore both amused and took it as an auspicious sign when I walked into the hotel bar that the barmaid and a patron were discussing the odds that some items that had ended up on the floor in the kitchen had been flung there by a ghost. My wife and I were also struck by the irony that some of the patrons in the bar at that point were having a few drinks ahead of a wake that was about to start there for a local man who had recently died. Perhaps his spirit will join those that have long been noted in this historic hostelry that has its roots in the mid-19th century and the early days of settlement in the rugged hills northwest of San Antonio." 

That is an excerpt from the chapter on Ye Kendall Inn that I wrote for Ghosthunting San Antonio, Austin, and Texas Hill Country! Above, a view toward the front of the inn, with a Texas state historic marker in the foreground; below left, a glimpse at some of the more than a dozen historic cabins and cottages that are available to guests at the inn; below right, a rare picture of me in the field, to include my bag of investigative equipment. 

 

Faust Hotel (New Braunfels)

"In the western literary and occult traditions the name 'Faust' has an ominous connotation, and many people assume that the historic hotel in New Braunfels bearing this moniker received it as a tribute to the paranormal activity associated with the site. It is, however, named for its founder, flesh-and-blood local businessman Walter Faust Sr., rather than a figure out of German legend. 

Over the past few decades, the Faust Hotel has increasingly gained a widespread reputation for being haunted and has attracted the attention of various paranormal investigative groups. I have visited the hotel a number of times since 2009 and, among other things, have spent the night at it and conducted investigations on or around Halloween twice and appeared as a guest on the PSI-FI Radio show from it. It has, in fact, become one of my favorite sites in the Greater San Antonio area, not just for the strange things associated with it but also for its colorful history." 

Those are the opening words of my chapter on the haunted Faust Hotel for Ghosthunting San Antonio, Austin, and Texas Hill Country! I have investigated it a number of times and even appeared on the Psi-Fi Para Radio show from it and it is one of my favorite sites in the area. Above right is the lobby of the Faust Hotel as it appears today, below left is a historic image of the hotel as it appeared shortly after it opened in October 1929, and below right is developer Walter Faust Sr. 

 

Old Bexar County Jail (Downtown San Antonio)

"Presumably, we will never see a commercial in which someone, when asked if they are a ghosthunter who spent the night in a haunted jail, replies with 'No, but I did stay at Holiday Inn Express last night!' On the other hand, it would be quite reasonable for someone to answer that question in the affirmative if they had just spent the night in the Holiday Inn Express Riverwalk Area, which is located in what had been the Bexar County Jail for nearly a century. 

... One of the most common phenomenon is rooms that remain unnaturally cold, even during the summer or if the heat is turned on. Other activity includes beds that are indented as if someone is laying on them, but then abruptly have the indentations disappear; people hearing whispering in their rooms that stops when the lights are turned on; objects being pulled out of people's hands and thrown across the room; and the breakfast area being rearranged and disheveled during the night. Most horrifying among the things people have reported, however, are in the rooms where the gallows were once located, where people claim to have seen apparitions fall through the ceiling as if just hanged!" 

That is a preview of my chapter on the old Bexar County Jail for Ghosthunting San Antonio, Austin, and Texas Hill Country! People can become inmates for the night at the former detention facility, which is now a hotel in the heart of downtown San Antonio. 

 

Above left: Allison Schiess of Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours talks about the Old Bexar County Jail from the parking lot of Penner's, an iconic San Antonio clothier. Above right: Brutal murderer Apolinar Clemente, who lived in the jail for a year-and-a-half before dying there at the end of a rope. 

Menger Hotel (Downtown San Antonio)

"In an old and storied state occupied by the ghosts of a colorful and bloody past, one might think that the title 'Most Haunted Hotel in Texas' would be a tough one to live up to. With some three-dozen spirits identified in it, however, give or take a few, the sprawling Menger Hotel has a strong case for making this claim. These reportedly include the ghosts of conquistadores, Indians, Texian and Mexican soldiers who fought in the Battle of the Alamo, cowboys who drove cattle on the Chisholm Trail, a land baron, a U.S. president, a murdered housekeeper, a 'lady in blue,' and a little girl who died by misfortune. As anyone investigating the site quickly learns, the mundane and supernatural histories of the hotel are inextricably linked and span the centuries." 

That is the first paragraph of my chapter on the Menger Hotel, a beautiful San Antonio landmark that has been welcoming guests, and enticing the spirits of some of them to stay indefinitely, since 1859. At right is a picture of the original lobby of the hotel as it appears today. Below is a picture of the current lobby, added during one of the hotel's many expansions. At bottom is a photograph of the Menger Hotel as it appeared in 1865, the last year of the Civil War. 

Sheraton Gunter Hotel (Downtown San Antonio)

"Since 1837, travelers and visitors to San Antonio have often found one of the nicest and most convenient hotels in the city to be located at a particular corner about a hundred yards from the bank of the river. Over the years, this establishment has had many different names, occupied successively larger and more elaborate buildings, been controlled by the armies of four nations, and collectively contributed to a fascinating and colorful history. One of those colors, however, has been that of blood, and gruesome events that have occurred at the hotel are among the things that have led to it becoming a reputed venue for hauntings and paranormal activity."

That is the opening paragraph of my chapter on the Sheraton Gunter Hotel for Ghosthunting San Antonio, Austin, and Texas Hill Country! Below left is bluesman Robert Johnson, who is said to have made a pact with the devil for musical ability and who recorded an album at the hotel in 1936. Below right is Walter Emerich, who shot, dismembered, and ran a prostitute through a meat grinder in a room at the Gunter Hotel in 1965.  

 

Emily Morgan Hotel (Downtown San Antonio)

Located in one of the largest and most imposing buildings in downtown San Antonio, the Emily Morgan Hotel is one of the city's quintessential lodgings — all the more so in that it is the "official hotel of the Alamo" — and at the same time stranger and much different than any of the others. Its merits as a beautiful luxury hotel aside, it has both a unique and atypical history and as its namesake the woman who may well have inspired the classic song "The Yellow Rose of Texas." 

"The Emily Morgan Hotel was originally developed as a hospital and then in 1984 it was converted into a hotel," Allison Schiess of the Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours told me. "It is named after the woman, an indentured servant, who was 'distracting' Santa Anna when the Texans attacked the Mexicans during the Battle of San Jacinto. So, she helped us win our independence." 

Those are the opening two paragraphs of my chapter on the Emily Morgan Hotel for Ghosthunting San Antonio, Austin, and Texas Hill Country! Among other things, it explores the history of one of the most colorful and controversial figures in Texas history, the woman known variously as Emily Morgan and Emily D. West. 

Crockett Hotel (Downtown San Antonio)

"One of the oldest hospitality establishments in San Antonio, the historic Crockett Hotel is also one of the most haunted and has a wealth of ghostly lore and paranormal phenomena associated with it. When one considers where it is located, of course, this is not overly surprising. The Crocket Hotel is right across the street from the Alamo, is located on the grounds of the battle that centered on it, and can often be spotted in photos of the famous mission or news stories about it. It is, in fact, believed to be built on the very spot where David Crockett and the last of the Alamo defenders were killed, on what had been the southeast palisade of the fortified mission. Crockett was one of at least 189 Texian revolutionaries who were ultimately overrun and killed by some 1,800 Mexican troops under the command of General Antonio López de Santa Anna at the end of a 13-day battle that ended on March 6, 1836." 

That is opening paragraph to my chapter on the historic and haunted Crockett Hotel for Ghosthunting San Antonio, Austin, and Texas Hill Country! Legends and more recent tragic events combine to make this an exceptionally interesting site and one anyone interested in the Alamo in particular will not want to miss (and the photo below shows the proximity of the hotel to the walls of the mission compound). 

An Evening with Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours

SAN ANTONIO -- Had a great time with Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours and guide Allison Schiess on Saturday, January 25, visiting haunted places downtown in the Alamo City! About half of them were places that I have investigated previously in the course of my research for Ghosthunting San Antonio, Austin, and Texas Hill Country, the title I am currently working on for the America's Haunted Road Trip series of travel guides. A number of the sites were completely new to me, however, and I learned a number of interesting things about all of the ones we visited. 

We kicked off the evening by enjoying a great steak dinner with our guide and fellow tour goers in the elegant formal dining room of the famous and very haunted Menger Hotel. We then proceeded to explore the haunted histories of it and several other sites, including the Alamo, Casino Club Building, Cathedral of San Fernando, Spanish Governor's Palace, and old Bexar County Jail. 

Above left, Allison set the tone for the tour by being attired in authentic 19th century garb. Above center, Diane Varhola checks out the spot on the outer wall of the Roy Rogers Suite that was once used to give fodder to Rogers' horse Trigger! Above right, the original bedstead in the King Ranch Suite where Captain King died and around which his spirit is sometimes seen. 

Above one of the sumptuous lobbies of the Menger Hotel, as viewed from the third floor. Above right, I have no idea what is causing this particular anomaly, but am well aware that a heavy spiritual presence can wreak havoc on electronic devices. 

Above left, this particular photographic anomaly caught me eye because it affected only Allison -- clearly a spiritual magnet of some sort -- and not our two friends from Canada or anything else! Above right, a view of the Riverwalk in which can be seen a couple of orbs, one left and the other above of center. 

Above left, outside the Casino Club Building, a historic structure now used for private apartments that has any number of ghosts sharing space with its living residents. Above center, a statue associated with the old Aztec Theater -- I have no reason to think it is haunted but think it would be cool if it was! Above right, front of San Fernando Cathedral, built in the 1700s by Canary Islanders and today the oldest continuously-operating cathedral in North America. 

Above left and center, the exterior of the 18th century Spanish Governor's Palace, once the seat of government for San Antonio and a bastion against Comanche and Apache raiders. Above right, the old Bexar County Jail, which now houses visitors to the city in the guise of a Holiday Inn Express! It remains haunted by the spirits of men executed on its third floor. 

All in all, we had a great, informative, and sometimes spooky evening with Allison and Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours! Anyone interested in learning more about the sites we visited should do the same and check out grim sister Lauren Swartz's terrific Haunted History of Old San Antonio (and, of course, my own book when it comes out in October).