When the Ghost Screams(14)
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GADSBY’S TAVERN MUSUEM
134 North Royal Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703) 838-4242
Ghost on the Green
In Victoria, British Columbia, a golf course is said to be haunted by the troubled spirit of Doris Gravlin. Locals say that the victim of a murder-suicide takes many forms as she stalks the Victoria Golf Course. She is reportedly most frequently seen at night during the month of March. Some witness a misty figure, while others are startled by a hovering bright ball of light.
Many claim to have seen the apparition of Doris, floating along in a long white wedding gown. Others report that the murdered woman’s ghost runs into the road and has even tried to climb into cars.
Strangled by her husband, Victor, in the 1930s and buried in a sand trap, Doris is believed to be searching for justice. Perhaps she does not realize that her husband took his own life, too. If he is serving time for his crime, it is not in this world.
The Victoria Golf Course is located on Gonzales Point and overlooks Oak Bay in Victoria, B.C.
Permanent Guest
Does the disgruntled ghost of a murdered man haunt the Stagecoach Inn Museum in Newbury Park, California?
Yes. No. Maybe.
It depends on whom you ask. While the museum’s Web site mentions the legend, it takes a skeptical tone. Others insist the place is home to many spirits.
Years ago, renowned psychic Sybil Leek claimed to make contact with the spirit of victim Pierre Duvon, supposedly killed in 1885 when the site was occupied by the Grand union Hotel.
If Pierre is there, he is not alone. Some say they have encountered the specter of a tall woman and have heard the voice a small boy. Legend has it that the child disappeared while staying in the hotel in the late 1800s.
Some say he wandered off and was lost in the wilderness. Others believe he was kidnapped and killed.
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THE STAGECOACH INN MUSEUM
51 Ventu Park Road
Newbury Park, CA 91320
(805) 498-9441
Web site: www.stagecoachmuseum.org
Dressed to Kill
When the grand jury ruled that the demise of a famous actress was a suicide, many believed they had made a mistake. And others insisted that it was the injustice of that decision that brought the victim back from the dead.
Thelma Todd immediately won fans when she made her first film in 1926. Nine years and forty movies later, the blond bombshell was decidedly famous. Fans adored her in her funny roles in the Marx Brothers’ movies, Monkey Business and Horse Feathers.
When she opened her own restaurant, Thelma Todd’s Sidewalk Café in Pacific Palisades, California, people visited as much for the brush with fame as for the food.
The movie star resided in the swanky apartment upstairs and, to outsiders, it seemed to be an ideal life. Yet Thelma had troubles. In 1935, friends said she was depressed. She had endured a tumultuous marriage and divorce and was teetering toward bankruptcy. Was it enough for her to take drastic measures?
On December 16, 1935, Thelma’s body was discovered in her 1934 convertible, her beautiful face resting on the steering wheel. The car had become a death tool, the lethal carbon monoxide snatching her breath away. Clad in a mink coat, mauve and silver evening gown, and shimmering jewelry, Thelma was dressed to kill. But did she kill herself?
The mystery of Thelma’s death still captures the imaginations of backseat detectives, who pick at the decades-old puzzle as they try to make the pieces fit. At this late date, the nature of Thelma’s true fate will likely never be known.
Today, the building that houses Thelma’s old café is home to Paulist Productions, a company dedicated to making religious films.
Thelma Todd is still seen.
The ghost of the glamorous movie star is said to materialize on the outside steps, which once connected her apartment to her café. The specter moves down the stairs before vanishing.
Visitors to the garage where Thelma died sometimes get a taste of her last moments. Witnesses insist that an inexplicable, overpowering odor of carbon monoxide has sent them running from the area. It is almost as if Thelma’s ghost is sharing her last horrible experience in an effort to make others understand.
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THELMA TODD’S SIDEWALK CAFÉ
once occupied the first floor of a building at:
17575 Pacific Coast Highway
Pacific Palisades, CA
It’s the Principal
Students of the Michelago Primary School in Australia have more to fear than pop quizzes if they believe the stories of the specter who haunts their halls. Legend has it that the school’s principal was murdered in the late nineteenth century. His wife was responsible for his demise but was declared insane.
When windows, which normally glide open easily, become inexplicably stuck, the ghost of the slain principal is blamed. Objects are moved about during the night, and someone leaves items scattered about the floor.