Halloween is three weeks away and you’ve already been invited to five parties on Saturday and another five on the 31st. Spread out the fun of Capitol Hill’s official holiday(tm) — the Capitol Hill Historical Ghost Tours have begun. Every October Saturday and Sunday night, you can take a walk across the Hill to visit the neighborhood’s spookiest spots with special tours slated for the 30th and 31st. Details, below. We suggest a few CHS X-Files stops for the tour.
Meanwhile, mark your calendars for Saturday, October 26th as the family-friendly Hilloween returns to Cal Anderson. You’ll want to update your costume idea, too — Lewis & Macklemore are so 2012.
Announcing for the Halloween Season in its eighth year:Capitol Hill Historical Ghost Tour– a guided historical tour ofSeattle’s most historically haunted locations, famous ghostsDiscover Capitol Hill’s secret prohibition history, as well as review of of the special architecture and restaurants in the area.Starts at the Elliot Bay Book Cafecorner of Pine and 10th.Every Saturday and Sunday!5pm-6:00pmHalloween Special ToursWed. Oct 30th and Thurs. Oct. 317-9pmJoin us on a guided walking tour around Capitol Hill’shistorical haunts, with dozens of local stories highlighting Seattle’s pioneersfamous person and other historical sites around Capitol Hill.Discover stories of Famous People and Ghosts of Seattle:Bertha Knight Landes, Kurt Cobain, Nellie Cornish,Frances Farmer, Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Lee, and more!The tour is approximately an hour and a halfwith an easy walking tour of the Pike / Pine neighborhoodfeaturing the Oddfellows Cafe then down Broadway withvisiting Jimi Hendrix’s statue, former Broadway funeral homesand Harvard Exit Theater – considered oneof the most haunted theaters in the Northwest.$5 sugg. donation (cash only please)Starting at Elliot Bay Book Co. Cafe at 5pm.Ends inside Harvard Exit TheaterPlease call ahead before 4pm day of tour: 206-523-6348Especially for groups or school classes.bring appropriate weather gearFor more information contact your Ghost Guide:Charlette LeFevreNorthwest Museum of Legends and Lore
In the meanwhile, here are our top 5 “haunted” Hill places:
So far, we’ve hooked you up with the best places to trick-or-treat and this year’s coolest Capitol Hill costume. Now we bring you the essence of what Halloween is really about — spooky chills.
Here are Capitol Hill’s spookiest spots.
1) Harvard Exit Theater
“When a second auditorium and screen was constructed on the third floor in the early 1970s, the ghosts of several women dressed in turn-of-the-century clothing began to appear. Most of the sightings were on the third floor and near a fireplace on the first floor.”
2) The Ben Lomond apartments
“Although she saw everything else, trees, the ground, bushes…everything where he was standing was illuminated but she he’d vanished. When she covered the light, there he was again.”
3) Lake View Cemetery
“so while we were hanging there just sitting there not so much in the dark since there was moon light giving us serenity. my girl caught a glimpse of a lady running about from tree to tree and from bush to bush and from grave stone to grave stone. watching us. and peeking over every obstacle in it s way.”
Here’s another account — complete with photographic evidence — of paranormal activity in the Capitol Hill cemetery.
Meanwhile, this page claims the The Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery cemetery near Lake view is haunted. It also notes reports of apparitions at the Daughters of the American Revolution building near the Harvard Exit.
4) The Burnley ghost
“In the 1960s, students and staff began reporting strange nocturnal events: doors opening by themselves, sounds of disembodied footsteps, phones dialed by unseen fingers, coffee percolating without human assistance (before Mr. Coffee!). People would arrive in the morning to find furniture mysteriously rearranged or stacked during the previous night, when the school was supposedly empty and locked.
Speculation over the cause focused on the story that a high school student had years earlier fallen to his death on the school’s steep rear stairway. There is no documentary evidence of such an incident, but most witnesses believe the apparition to be a young male.”
The page also has tales of spookiness at the Capitol Hill Methodist Church and more details about the haunting of the Harvard Exit.
For another account of the Burnley ghost check out Haunted America By Michael Norman and Beth Scott.
5) The spirits of the Baltic Room
From Ghost Among Us: True Stories of Spirit Encounters By Leslie Rule
This is cool! The Ben Lomond is a pretty spooky-looking building, perched on the side of the hill as it is.
That ghost hunter link brings up a ‘ERROR 403 – FORBIDDEN’ message.
Sorry — cool article is gone :( Removing the link
This is a great post! Thanks for sharing. We’ve actually drawn up a fun do-it-yourself ghost walk on Capitol Hill. It includes most of these haunted locations and several others. It’s a perfect way to get in the Halloween spirit! Be sure to check it out: http://seattlebloggers.com/capitol-hill-ghost-walk/