The San Francisco Ghost Society's Haunted Haight Walking Tour

Now here is an email I received from fellow HPI Paranormal Investigator Lisa Carlson, she has an interesting tale to tell:

“They call it Tahoe Paradise now and it is a truly beautiful place. Nestled in the shadow of Angora Ridge it teems with life. Majestic conifers and Manzanita, black bear and coyote, Stellar’s jays and eagles bear witness to a way of life lost to the not so distant past. The Washoe Indians spent an incredible 9000 years living in the Lake Tahoe Basin during the summers fishing, picking berries, yet it only took a few short years to eliminate them from it.

Mona’s family bought the chalet style house in the 1980′s. Set in the national forest it is a quiet restful spot to go and unwind, most of the time. Soon after buying the house family and friends felt trepidation about the upstairs and loft area of the house sensing that feeling of not being alone. One friend over for Thanksgiving of all things, saw an Indian man standing on the landing. A seance held one year resulted in a very active spirit writing of the year 1842.

One of the most compelling experiences happened late one night while Mona was in bed with her infant son. The window was open and she heard an unusual sound outside. It was a sound like many human voices together that grew louder and louder as they lifted higher into the air. The pitch of the voices grew so strong that it began to sound inhuman. Years later Mona learned that her sister, too, had heard the same phenomenon on a separate occasion.

Could it be the energy of a spiritual people bound to a beautiful land? Nine thousand years is long time. Perhaps they couldn’t be forced off after all. Lisa Carlson”

Lisa, this is definitely a place I would love to visit and investigate, thank you for the enlightening story! Now, everyone who is reading this article is probably saying…”why is Paul talking about Midland/Odessa, Texas and Tahoe Paradise? When is he going to talk about San Francisco? Okay, okay, hold your durn britches….I got one other story to tell you. I correspond a lot with the legendary famous Nancy Bradley – Psychic to the Stars, who I met through Shannon McCabe. Nancy has so many stories and I received an email, in which she tells a very unique ghost story, that really grabbed my interest. The reason that this incident happened to Nancy is the fact she is a psychic and spirits are able to see a light and are drawn to that light. The light is Nancy Bradley. Of course, if the spirit knew Nancy in real life, they are drawn to that light even more. Here is what Nancy had to say:
 

When Vince died ( not anywhere near here) I was in the shower. I came out and he was sitting on one of my (then) big speakers. For whatever reason this did not surprise me even though he had not been to the enchanted cabin ever and I was naked. I said “Vincent – hang on, I am going to get a towel”. Totally comfortable with my old friend, glad he was there, I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around me and came running back into the living room. I never gave thought that he did not have a house key to get in. “What are you doing in town Vince, it is so good to see you!” I said. It had been 4 years since we had seen each other though we kept in touch by phone and letter. “I’m dead!” he said.

He looked perfectly clear and I refused to believe him. Not that he would lie, or I did not know, I just did not want to believe it. So I called Borderland Science Foundation where he lived and worked (founded), and said “Vincent is here.” They said “Vincent just died”.

So I went back to the speaker and he was gone, but we have had many conversations since. Nancy Bradley www.nancybradley.org“

Absolutely fascinating, thank you Nancy for sharing this story! Wow! This woman is incredible! Okay, I know everyone wants to know what happened on the ‘Haunted Haight Walking Tour’. www.hauntedhaight.com Let’s go for it! The date is Saturday, September 22, 2007. I pull up to Shannon’s house at 12 noon, jump into the Ectoplasmamobile and Shannon picks up one of her lead investigators Tim Hawkins. We’re off and running to San Francisco. I get a call from Donna Reynolds and Athena Quinn, they are already in San Francisco and they are lost. Shannon directs them to where they need to be and relieves Donna’s stress of driving through busy San Francisco traffic. I knew at this time we should have placed a HPI GPS tracking device on Donna’s car.

When Shannon, Tim and I, arrived we saw the HPI army of paranormal investigators sitting in on Sharon Leong’s ghost photography classes and Anne Leong’s dowsing rod classes. As I looked around the classroom, I was counting heads and saw that the following paranormal investigators showed up: Dee Pizarro, Lou Paman, Jean Paman, Marcus Stout, Julie Grissom, Chris Grissom, Mary Casiano, Alicia Perry, Athena Quinn, Jennifer Baca, Tony Baca, Joey Paman, Donna Reynolds, John Wachter aka Vlawde (he got that name Vlawde from some online video game, I always wondered about that), and Michelle Paykel. Marcia McCord of the Diablo Valley Paranormal was also there.

I went to the restroom to see if I had a nosebleed from Shannon’s erractical driving to San Francisco. As I walked into the restroom, I now knew what it was like to be a L39-C Albatros jet fighter pilot, that has been exposed to 4000 lbs of thrust, receiving the ultimate adrenaline rush. The G-Force in Shannon’s car the Ectoplasmamobile thrust my face into the side window of her car, maybe a dozen times. Drivers on the Bay Bridge must have thought I was making faces at them, as my face was contorted against the car window. Anyway, I survived.

Chris Grissom (video tech expert) and I, set up the camera for Shannon’s class on Hauntings in Placerville and the surrounding areas. Shannon, laid out some cute jokes and passed out candy to everyone. Her descriptions of the various haunted places was done with the expertise of someone who has experienced these places. Believe me, she has experienced these places and the class was very attentive to her stories.

After the classes, we were all ready to kill some time before the Haunted Haight Walking Tour was about to commence. Shannon lived in San Francisco for 5 years of her life and she knows the mean streets well. She even appeared on Nash Bridges as an extra. As we walked down San Francisco streets, I looked around me, especially in the Haight Ashbury district and saw the last of the hippies, Bohemian musicians and the Goth culture flourishing, I knew at this time, I was no longer in Kansas. At one point of time, I thought I saw Dirty Harry Callahan, Robert T. Ironside, Detective Mike Stone, Detective Steve Keller, Nash Bridges, Monk at some crime scene, along with Trapper John MD pulling up to check out the victim. As I look at the rooftops, was that the Charmed witches Paige, Piper and Phoebe looking down at us? There I go again, letting my imagination get away with me, it must have been that Red Victorian Punch and Orange House Punch I drank at Hobson’s Choice with Shannon and Tim.

It’s easy to kill time in San Francisco as Shannon interviewed people on the street and asked them if they ever had a paranormal experience. We stopped at the Cha, Cha, Cha and sampled their Sangria (Frutas para La Putas) which translated means ‘Fruit of the Whores’. We did some more interviews, Shannon interviewed some guy at the bar, while my ghostwriting apprentice Athena interviews another guy at the table. Tim, Donna and I grooved to the music Jamie’s Crying by Van Halen. While at the Cha, Cha, Cha, I met Kate and I asked her if she ever had a paranormal experience and she describes that when she visited the Joshua Tree Desert in 1999, she was with a group of people and she witnessed a cloud flashing red and blue lights for about 7 minutes. It was a bizarre cloud that had lights inside of it. This occurred around 9pm and as the crowd watched a blue streak go by, the cloud dissipated. From our interviews, it appears that many people have had paranormal experiences. As I look across the bar, I wonder is that Dirty Harry Callahan walking out of the bar? Ugh! It must be the Sangria! As we left Cha, Cha, Cha, we stopped at The Gold Cane, and finally stopped at the Coffee to the People, where we met up with Tommy Netzband, who wears many hats, he is the Tour Guide of the Haunted Haight Walking Tour, Paranormal Investigator of the San Francisco Paranormal Society, local historian and a sensitive.

First Stop/Entry to Golden Gate Park: Tommy describes on how 300 bodies were discovered by some developers in 1901 and they had to get rid of the bodies, some of the tombstones were used to build a sea wall and in 1867 at Buena Vista Park, they used the tombstones to build a sidewalk around the park. Tommy mentions that San Francisco is #7 most haunted place in America, with New Orleans being #1. Tommy mentions one of the top ghost sites in America called Haunted America Tours and that if anyone wants to know about some of the most haunted places in America, this is a website that they need to check out. www.hauntedamericatours.com

Second Stop: Panhandle Park: People at times witness a phantom man yelling for his dog. A man nicknamed ‘Pigeon Man’ who was known to feed his pigeons at the park all the time, was disturbed by a man nicknamed Buck Naked. He was given this name, because he had a band called the Bare Bottom Boys and they would perform naked to their audiences. Pigeon Man killed Buck Naked, because Buck Naked was harassing his pigeons. Buck Naked was shot in the back. People believe that Buck Naked still haunts this park. What is interesting is that there is no pigeons in this park, now that Pigeon Man is serving life behind bars.

Third Stop: 1660 Page Street. The home of Cult Leader Jim Jones of the Peoples’ Temple. Tommy describes the deeds of Jim Jones that lead up to the tragedy in Guyana. Tommy during this tour, has contests and gives out some of the coolest and scariest prizes during his tour, which made the tour even more fun!

Fourth Stop: Victorian Homes Built by Robert Cranston. Robert Cranston was the son of a prominent Senator and built gorgeous Victorian homes with unusable balconies, at one time his homes cost a mere $7000.00, they now cost in the millions. Robert built his homes in what was once called the Wastelands. As Tommy was giving his spill, a friend of Tommy says: “Don’t exaggerate Tommy”. It appears that everyone knows who Tommy is, as I walked past two girls, they smiled at me and said: “Tommy gives an exciting tour, we have been on it!”

Fifth Stop: Park Branch Library. One of the oldest standing libraries in America.

Sixth Stop: Golden Gate Park. Tommy describes the introduction of Golden Gate Park in 1870 by then Governor Haight. He talks of the mysterious Lady of Stow Lake, whose children died in the lake. When people see the ‘lady’, they describe her as wearing robes of all white and has flowing blonde hair.

Seventh Stop: The Kezar Pub. A place where the San Francisco 49ers hang out at. We took our break at this well established and very crowded pub. The place was jumping and people were grooving to Britney Spear’s song: Toxic.

Eighth Stop: 643 Cole Street (Corner of Cole Street and Waller): In this house, a little girl phantom rattles the shower curtains, she loves to place Christmas ornaments in the refrigerator. Lights blink off and on in this home. The homes were built over an old amusement park (water park). Tommy feels this may be poltergeist activity.
 

Tenth Stop: 635 Ashbury. This pink building is the home of Janis Joplin. People have heard the sounds of running boots going up and down the sidewalk in front of Janis’ former home. There were many suicides and murders that have occurred on this street. The running boots phantom was most likely a guy that was shot by a sniper across the street. The sniper for no apparent reason shot 4 people on this street, killing one. The person he killed was wearing boots. This is a typical case of a residual haunting. Some people felt a heaviness in the air as they approached Janis Joplin’s home. Karma Bennet, an empath smelled gunpowder in this area, before Tommy even told his story. My apprentice Athena alerts me to Karma’s insight of this location. I quickly interview Karma and discover that her mother Karel Bennett is also an empath and knew a tragedy would happen at a Led Zeppelin concert in Tampa, Florida. Her prediction was correct. As we go on, we stop at 1437 Trax Bar to refresh ourselves and Tim and Shannon tease me with this huge slice of pizza they purchased for a mere 3 bucks at the Fat Slice Pizza! Hey, you guys, you didn’t tell me you were going to get pizza! Ugh!

Eleventh Stop – The Last Stop. Stow Lake. Tommy has us all break up into teams. Each team leader would have a walkie talkie and it was up to us to conduct our own investigation and see if we can encounter the mysterious Lady of Stow Lake. I joined up with the Paman Stow Lake Task Force (cool name eh?), Joey Paman lead the investigation with Jean, Lou, Dee and I, in tow. I brought out my sound enhancement device and at one time, I heard a woman’s laughter and a man saying ‘no’. But, of course, I could have been picking up the sounds of the other team. Jean hears a woman humming, using the sound enhancement device. Joey uses his video camera and the rest of the team uses digital cameras for the investigation. We snap a lot of digital photos of small orbs. The team, especially Jean (who is a sensitive) feels heaviness near Strawberry Hill. Jean at one time feels like she is being pushed up the steps. As all of the teams reunite, many people from the various teams felt or witnessed something. Jean thought she saw a crossing shadow that moved across the lake. One of the paranormal investigators named Cathy Laswon told me that her mom’s ashes were thrown into this lake. Her sister would have nightmares, because the ashes weren’t delivered to the lake and when the ashes were finally thrown in, her sister’s nightmares ceased.

This was an outstanding and very enlightening tour. I give Tommy Netzband a standing ovation for this fun-fillled spooky tour, he is a great local historian! Everyone felt fulfilled with newfound knowledge about the dark side of San Francisco, a side of San Francisco that most people are either unaware of or are too afraid to discover. As I departed, Shannon blasted some old disco tunes in her Ectoplasmamobile driving Tim in the backseat nuts. I, again experience the G-Force and look at Shannon and tell her, “ya girl, whip it real good!” As we get to Vacaville, I looked at Shannon and Tim and say….”wasn’t Donna and Athena supposed to be behind us following us out of the City?” Shannon looks startled and says…”oh crap, we forgot about Donna!” Donna if you are reading this, I hope you and Athena made it back safely….yikes! There was a happy ending, Donna and Athena did make it home safely. Donna’s words: “You’re a dead man Paul!” Oops!

For more on H.P.I. Haunted and Paranormal Investigations of Northern California, go to their website at: www.hpiparanormal.net

Paul Dale Roberts,
Jazma Freelance Writer
H.P.I. Ghostwriter/Paranormal Investigator
www.jazmaonline.com
[email protected]