It’s that particular time of yr, when the nights get darker, grotesque gourds proliferate, and we pay cash to get misplaced in mazes of corn – a lot corn. Sure, Halloween season is upon us, and with it, an abundance of creepy and supernatural methods to rejoice this most ghastly of holidays.
California has no scarcity of ghastly historical past and eccentric wildlife, so it’s becoming that these adventures and day journeys characteristic a ghost story from the Nice Earthquake, a forest pervaded by turn-of-the-century tragedy, a nocturnal bat-watching tour and a tarantula competition.
RELATED: The highest 10 spookiest spots within the U.S. embrace one proper right here
Whether or not you prefer chilling tales or unusual sights, listed here are seven spooky locations to discover in October and past.
The ghostly Woman of Stow Lake, San Francisco
Each father or mother’s nightmare haunts Golden Gate Park’s fashionable Stow Lake. You flip your consideration out of your little one for only a second, after which that little one is gone.
Based on legend, the Woman of Stow Lake ended her life after struggling this ordeal. And ever since, the apparition of this distressed mom has appeared on foggy nights, desperately looking out the shores of the lake, even approaching passers-by to ask, very like “mad” Carlotta Valdes in Hitchcock’s “Vertigo,” “The place is my little one?’ Have you ever seen my little one?”
Like many San Francisco ghost tales, this one dates again to a time earlier than the 1906 earthquake. A younger girl took her child for a stroll alongside Stow Lake, which was accomplished in 1893. She ran right into a pal and started chatting. When the mom turned to verify on her child, the buggy was now not beside her. Panicked, she ran across the lake, screaming for her misplaced little one.
Maybe believing her child had drowned, the girl bumped into the lake and was by no means once more seen alive. In one other model of the story, the mom and child went for the boat trip. When the mom’s consideration briefly shifted, her child fell into the water. The mom jumped in to rescue her child, however each drowned.
A sighting of the girl’s ghost was first reported on the entrance web page of the San Francisco Chronicle in 1908. Mounted police stopped a automotive rushing by means of the park. Its terrified driver and different occupants advised the officer {that a} “skinny, tall determine” in a “luminous white gown” had approached their automobile.
“It appeared to shine,” the motive force mentioned. “It had lengthy, honest hair and was barefooted. I didn’t discover the face. I used to be too frightened.”
Through the years, investigators have appeared into whether or not the legend has origins in a real-life tragedy, however the search has been hindered by the earthquake’s destruction of so many official data. And particulars are scanty if you wish to seek for the phantom your self. Printed accounts of sightings don’t establish a selected location; they solely counsel the distressed Woman of Stow Lake may flip up alongside the shoreline or on the Pioneer Mom Memorial close by.
Take a stroll and who is aware of? You may glimpse a ghostly specter, otherwise you may merely spend a splendid day in lovely environment speaking about one.
Particulars: Stow Lake Highway, which is off Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, circles the lake and affords road parking. Two bridges grant entry to the lake’s island, the place you’ll be able to go to Huntington Falls and the picturesque Golden Gate Pavilion or hike to the highest of 430-foot Strawberry Hill. The boat home additionally rents pedal and row boats, and its cafe serves breakfast and lunch. https://stowlakeboathouse.com/
The pythons of the East Bay Vivarium, Berkeley
Some people won’t suppose an albino reticulated python that’s pushing 18 ft and 100 kilos, and eats complete rabbits and chickens for breakfast, is “cute.” They’re unsuitable. Lemondrop, because the East Bay Vivarium’s resident slitherer is understood, has the enchanting persona and languorous grace of an animal who simply needs to be beloved. Heck, if you happen to have been to hit upon it within the jungle, it would even attempt to offer you a hug!
Billed because the nation’s oldest reptile store, Berkeley’s vivarium is stuffed with scaly associates who’d prefer to make your acquaintance. Beady eyes observe you across the retailer, tongues flick out to scent you thru cages. There’s an enormous African spurred tortoise named Dusty Rhodes, after the skilled wrestler, and Boris, the 6-foot Asian water monitor.
“He’s only a huge, big lizard who’s fairly mellow – until it’s feeding time,” says proprietor Kevin Luzzi.
The vivarium has many creepy touches that make it a real Halloween delight. Cages are artfully embellished with human skulls. A big glass-topped freezer, akin to what you may discover in an ax assassin’s storage, is full of lifeless rats. And the useful employees is all the time prepared to supply further data on the creatures.
“You must lookup ‘crocodile monitor cranium’ on-line,” one dude mentioned on a current go to. “The enamel are crazier than another lizard species on the planet – belief me.”
The shop isn’t meant to be a free zoo, so if you happen to aren’t fascinated by buying a lizard or snake, take into account selecting up a uncommon plant or betta fish. (Or perhaps a frozen rat – they gained’t ask what you’re going to do with it.) And for folk who actually crave the reptile expertise, know the store affords touring reveals for birthdays. How is that higher than hiring a clown?
“Each little boy needs a dinosaur,” says Luzzi.
(Tip: Little ladies do too.)
Particulars: Opens at 11 a.m. every day at 1827 Fifth St. in Berkeley; eastbayvivarium.com.
Spooky actions at East Bay parks
The invisible flutter of bats within the air, tarantulas scurrying from darkish holes, the sudden growl of a coyote following your path… generally nature supplies the creepiest experiences of all. And there are many methods to get pleasure from spooky nature this October, because of a packed schedule of actions from the East Bay Regional Park District.
The main points on these occasions and others – dates, occasions, parking, charges, registration – are posted at ebparks.org/calendar, however right here’s a spooky sampling of hair-raising sights. (Be aware that some refill early, so plan forward.)
Make (Not So) Scary Scarecrows: 11 a.m.-noon Oct. 8 at Fremont’s Ardenwood Historic Farm. Farmers have lengthy used scarecrows to guard their crops. Study that agricultural historical past and fashionable lore, then make your individual scarecrow.
Cemetery Stroll: 2-3:30 p.m. Oct. 14 at Antioch’s Black Diamond Mines Regional Protect. Costumed docents will lead this guided stroll to Rose Hill Cemetery, the place you’ll hear tales of miners and tragic tales.
Haunted Railroad: 7-9:30 p.m. on Oct. 20-22 and 27-29 at Ardenwood. Take a spooky — however not scary — nighttime practice trip ($15) by means of a haunted forest at this occasion designed with youngsters in thoughts.
Tarantula Hike: 9:30-noon on Oct. 21 at Black Diamond Mines. Be a part of a 2-mile, naturalist-led hike to study these fascinating creatures.
Bats on the Bay: 5:30-7 p.m. on Oct. 29 at Fremont’s Coyote Hills Regional Park. Be a part of a naturalist-led, half-mile hike to be taught concerning the scientific facet of those iconic — particularly at Halloween — animals.
Creepy crawlies at a Tarantula Pageant, Morgan Hill
For greater than 40 years, Henry W. Coe State Park has celebrated its most well-known residents every fall — initially with a tarantula-spotting hike, and extra lately with a barbecue and full-on Tarantula Pageant recognizing these furry-legged spiders, whose mating season runs from late August by means of October.
The California ebony tarantula — or Aphonopelma eutylenum — is native to the Diablo vary, which runs from Martinez to San Benito County. As you may guess, these spiders are inclined to have the most important populations in areas the place highways don’t lower by means of — locations like Morgan Hill, says John Verhoeven, a ranger at Henry W. Coe. Throughout their mating season, the male tarantulas go “questing” for the females, who keep put of their webbed dens.
This yr’s Tarantula Fest will characteristic tarantula hikes, geocaching, a raffle and different actions. Arrive on the early facet, if you wish to partake within the meals, Verhoeven says. The occasion usually begins winding down by 2 p.m.
Particulars: Admission is free, parking is $8 per automotive and meals — burgers, veggie burgers and scorching canines — can be obtainable for buy. The competition runs from 10 a.m. to three p.m. Oct. 7 at Henry W. Coe State Park, 9000 E. Dunne Ave. in Morgan Hill; coepark.web/fall-tarantula-fest.
Haunted excursions at Winchester Thriller Home, San Jose
Sure, it’s a vacationer attraction that’s celebrating its a centesimal yr. Nevertheless it’s full of latest surprises.
The Winchester Thriller Home’s new “Stroll with Spirits” tour ($20-$42) highlights areas all through the mansion the place guests and employees declare to have witnessed paranormal actions. You’ll be taught concerning the historic Spiritualist motion of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and a few of the influential Bay Space residents who have been a part of it, from Jane Stanford (sure, that one) to Sarah Winchester, the heiress to the Winchester rifle fortune. Based on lore, an East Coast psychic advised Winchester that the one option to keep away from being haunted by the ghosts of Winchester rifle victims was to maneuver West and inhabit a unique sort of hell: perpetual residence renovation. The tour features a reenactment of a Victorian seance and a lollipop take a look at mentioned to gauge whether or not spirits are current within the basement of the mysterious home.
Want one thing even spookier? This yr’s “Unhinged: Homecoming” ($65-$70) affords an immersive haunted home walkthrough with two routes, based on tour information Brenda Ellis. An R.I.P. possibility ($90-$100) contains each.
Particulars: Open weekdays from 10 a.m. to five p.m., till 7 p.m. on weekends at 525 S. Winchester Blvd. in San Jose; winchestermysteryhouse.com.
Get misplaced within the mazes of Half Moon Bay, Livermore
Few issues are spookier than getting misplaced in a real-life maze. Listed here are three:
Arata’s Pumpkin Farm, Half Moon Bay: This maze attracts its inspiration from the Greek delusion – and even has a minotaur on-site. However, says Chris Gounalakis — Half Moon Bay’s personal Daedalus, if you’ll – “Our minotaur is a pleasant minotaur.” As a substitute of consuming youths and maidens, this one passes out golden pumpkins to youngsters navigating the labyrinth’s twists and turns.
Whereas this maze has a smaller footprint in comparison with different, bigger corn mazes, it’s deceptively difficult, Gounalakis says. When you enter the maze, with its hay bale partitions that soar 5 to 6 ft excessive, you’ll need to hold making an attempt till you discover the exit. The farm additionally affords a haunted barn, a petting zoo and pony rides.
You’ll discover the Minotaur’s Labyrinth Hay Maze (open every day, $18 throughout the day, $25 at evening) at Arata’s Pumpkin Farms, 185 Verde Highway in Half Moon Bay; aratapumpkinfarm.com.
G&M Farms, Livermore: Now in its twentieth yr, Livermore’s G&M Farms corn maze is in-built an elaborate sample depicting a friendly-looking corn-shaped character with the message “We Develop Reminiscences.” This yr’s maze ($9-$10), which runs by means of Oct. 29, is open Wednesday-Sunday at 487 E. Airway Blvd. in Livermore, and affords spookier “haunted” periods from dusk to 9 p.m. on Oct. 21 and 28; gmfarms.com.
Cool Patch Pumpkins, Dixon: To say this maze is huge is an understatement. At one level, it held the Guinness world report. This yr’s 33-acre corn maze design is the results of a partnership with 9 Line, a pro-gun, veteran-owned attire model. Put on good strolling footwear and be prepared for uneven surfaces – the furrows used for planting the corn make the maze a tough trip for strollers or wheelchairs, based on maze designer and social media supervisor Tayler Cooley.
The maze ($22) is open every day by means of October at 6150 Dixon Ave. in Dixon; coolpatchpumpkins.com.
The Ghosts of Sutro Forest, San Francisco
Stroll a number of ft into Mount Sutro Forest, and also you’ll be arduous pressed to imagine that you simply’re in the midst of a significant metropolitan space. This 61-acre open area reserve, which rises 900 ft above UCSF’s bustling medical middle, feels just like the enchanted setting of a fairy story, as you’re shortly engulfed in a panorama of towering eucalyptus bushes and a flooring that’s thick with lush ferns, twining ivy and blackberry brambles. (These brambles additionally carry very huge, sharp thorns, so don’t let the fanciful setting distract you an excessive amount of.)
When the fog rolls in, the tangled, topmost tree branches convey the looks of spectral creatures, not in contrast to Harry Potter’s Dementors. Even on clear days, sure turns — particularly alongside the aptly named Thriller Path — result in darkish, damp corners of foliage that exude the texture and scent of an imagined crypt.
Mount Sutro Forest’s status as a haunted place stems from the quite a few tragedies that unfolded right here on the flip of the twentieth century, based on OutsideLands.org, a San Francisco historical past website. The forest turned a magnet for folks in despair. One of many distressed was a once-wealthy businessman who fell on arduous occasions, misplaced a baby and ended up within the metropolis’s Almshouse, which is now the location of Laguna Honda Hospital. One other was a baker, who immediately bought his Church Road enterprise, turned withdrawn and disappeared from his residence in November 1904. His spouse searched town for weeks earlier than discovering his physique.
Sadly, some who died within the forest have been by no means recognized, together with a person in a chinchilla coat. When you actually wish to scare your self earlier than your forest hike, learn up on the poor mushroom hunters who stumbled upon him – or what was left of him – in 1903.
Particulars: Owned by UCSF, the forest affords quite a few, well-marked paths, accessible from trailheads that begin from the campus and surrounding neighborhoods. For a straightforward stroll to the highest of Mount Sutro, catch the East Ridge Path from a trailhead alongside Johnstone Drive, on the forest’s southern finish. UCSF has a path map, and extra ghost tales may be discovered at OutsideLands.org.
