Strange Townhall

I live in the PNW, Washington State. One of the things the state is known for is cryptids, like Sasquatch. I'm always a bit surprised when folks tell me they think Sasquatch is a creature of imaginary folklore, such as fairies and non-internet trolls. Everyone can believe if they wish, and I admit, ignorance is bliss.

So when squandering time on YouTube I ran across an advertisement for Strange Town Hall, a 'lets talk about all things scary' meet up - soon to be held in Port Angeles, barely 20 mins from my house. . So I was counting the days up to the event! 

I was kindly greeted at the door by the host Tobe. I touched and wondered about the casts of Sasquatch tracks were at the entrance. Just below on the left you can see a Sasquatch foot print cast. To the left is a branch twisted into a circle. It is the believed to be the handiwork of a Sasquatch. On the right I have my hand on a Sasquatch handprint. 

My paw on a Sasquatch hand

The bottom footprint is an original cast

Show and Tell Table
 

This on the left, is a bit of fun artwork (CUTE!) at the doorway, crafted by one of the event hosts. The blue skinned being is an Icelandic Elf. I bragged a bit, telling the artist I've seen the colorful little elf houses many Icelandic folk have in their gardens for the elves.

The hosts of the event started off the presentations, followed by several other presenters that all had intriguing stories to share. It was fun actually meeting several folk I've watched on YouTube for years. 

So! The Strange Town Hall had a group called A Flash of Beauty on hand with camera equipment for filming all those present whom following the meeting, had experiences to share. Sadly, or more likely luckily, I have no Sasquatch experience to share. Those with experiences were invited to be filmed after the Town Hall. 

I feel the need to preface the following video, in 2 parts.

First, I believe most people do not believe in the paranormal, UFOs/UAPs, Sasquatch and other things 'off the norm'. When people have an experience with any of the above, it is so far from what they were taught to believe, that it opens their minds to 'uh.. what if I haven't been told everything?' In my case it was seeing a UFO in broad daylight, in the Bronx, when I was about 11 or 12 years old. Also in addition to the UFO, my previous home of 23 years was 'somewhat haunted'. Once you've had a paranormal experience & you come to grips with the fact that it really happened, your mind opens up quite a bit. 

Pictograph of Hopi Ant People

Secondly, think on this. I grew up most of my life reading, and being told through the media, text books, even National Geographic specials on TV, that the Indigenous peoples around the world are wrong.
That. Indigenous lore has long been excused as nothing more than mythological tales at best, or ignorance at worst. The Hopi and the Navajo of the southwest spoke of the 'Ant People' that came down from the sky, saved the Hopi people, after which the ant people retreated to live underground. The Dogon tribe of Africa had advanced astronomical knowledge including presence of stars you can not see with the naked eye, and they knew the star location before modern European scientists did - where did that knowledge come from? lastly, on almost every continent on earth, indigenous tell of 'hairy men', that go by names: Sasquatch, Skunk Ape (North America), Yeti (Nepal), Amas (Russia), Orang Pendek (Indonesia). For ages, Indigenous people around the world, shared their knowledge only to have it thrown back in their faces, ignored because: Modern science. 

What I'm getting at is that there is a world wide game going on where Indigenous people, as well as ordinary people myself, don't know what they're talking about. Saw a UFO in Viet Nam in the 60s? No, you saw swamp gas or weird light reflections. Saw a 12 ft tall, man/ape covered in shaggy 'hair' in Minnesota? Naw, you saw a bear on its hind legs, and hey, you been drinking or smoking the funny weed, right? The first time I actually believed there are Sasquatch was... let me explain. I used to watch that gawd awful TV series Finding Bigfoot. Those guys would hold town meetings all over the States. They'd ask people who saw Bigfoot to raise their hands. There'd be maybe 20 to 50 folk in the room and about 25 to 40% of the hands would shoot upward. I'm sorry, but no way in hell all of those raised hands were attached to folk who all saw 'bears on their hind legs'. If even a mere 1% of those folk's stories could not be explained away, there MUST be something out there. 

So here's the YouTube shot by A Flash of Beauty (one of my favorite YouTube Channels) featuring the folk at Strange Townhall telling their strange - very strange - tales. Lol, at the start of the vid, there is a brief view inside the meeting house during a presentation, a bald pated gentlemen & his long-haired lady sit in the 2nd row, with me in the first row, as difficult to view as a Sasquatch. 

The Stanley Hotel, Redue

The Stanley Hotel - BWAH HA HA HA HA!

There are some days you would commit MURDER to have your day actually take place on October 31st, Halloween night, instead of a lazy August afternoon. Today, was such a day, because I was signed onto the scheduled Ghost tour at the Stanley Hotel.

I've stayed at the Stanley before, back in 2011, October but not on Halloween.

That's me at the Stanley in 2011; looking perhaps a little stressed.







Arriving at the Stanley today, I had to bug staff for the meet-up site, and that got me down to the lower level. There, participants of the tour gathered.

I think the TV series of The Shining was on the telly

Our tour guide - quite the character!

Our tour guide told us the safety bits then lead us out of the Stanley and over to the Stanley's Concert Hall.

Headed for the Concert Hall, dead ahead

We trekked through the front doors and right on  up stairs to a seating area. There our guide told us the basic history of the Stanley, which revolved around the romance between the  inventor of the Stanley Steamer car. Yes, a steam driven car, which environmentally, might come in handy again about now. The Stanleys couple built the original Stanley building for themselves. There they entertained loads of guests seasonally. Eventually the Stanley being morphed into a hotel so anyone could visit there and have a great time. The cool part is that ghost there are not there because they had a miserable time, but because they having had the time of their lives at the Stanley their spirits seem intent on continuing that fun in the hereafter. Happy Ghosts to you too!

I took lots of photo 'bursts' as instructed by our guide, in hopes of catching a spook or three digitally. Had no such luck of course.

Back downstairs we were able to roam about the grand concert hall and I even did a little inspection and ghost chasing up on the big stage. 

Where we first sat up in the nosebleed seats can be seen over the green exit light 

The tour continued with our guide leading us deep down into the bowels of the Concert Hall building. There we stood where the coats and costumes were hung before performances, and where performers must have practiced their lines or ran their voice exercises. There is a ghost cat, a ghost handyman and several others including a little girl and a homeless woman. Hey, I'm passing this along, as I didn't see a one!

The guide had many phone pix taken by people on ghost tours. This one on the right here, is of a ghost cat. If it is the white blob at the top or the white blob at the bottom (which sort of has a tail) I don't know. I always guess you had to be there.

My favorite 'v. haunted item' in the Concert Hall basement is this old mirror which I understand isn't even an original furnishing of the Stanley Hotel. It is famous for people taking photos of it, and others - not there at the time of the photography - show up in the photos. Holy crap! Is that people behind me... Yes. It is. They were there at the time though. Rats. 

Taking my own photo in the famous haunted mirror in the Concert Hall Basement

On the left here is one of the famous photos our guide showed us. In it you can see in the bottom left hand side, a squatting person with mobile phone in hand. The bright light is the reflection of the camera flash on the mirror. And the standing people in the photo were not there when the photo was taken. At least they weren't there with the photographer. 

Quite peculiar and pretty obviously not the sort of thing a normal person would even begin to believe happened, unless they themselves have seen such so can take someone's word for it. 

The next stop was just outside the front steps of the Stanley. We heard real stories about the hotel, including one of a maid that was blown up by a gas leak and somehow managed to live. You can see where all that happened in the part of the building below on the left, with the balcony (rebuilt).

We were also told by the guide, that because of the movie The Shining, visitors to the Stanley often ask where the maze is, that people can walk and get lost in. There was no such thing at the Stanley - so they recently built one. The maze is in its infancy, as the trees/shrubs are still quite small. 

A bit of the new garden maze

Next we headed back into the Stanley, stopping in one of the big ballrooms. 

We were told the room hosts many weddings and receptions. Once, a nervous groom was sweating up a storm, near ruining his wedding clothing. A stately gentleman in old fashioned clothing entered the room and struck up a conversation with the groom, giving words of encouragement and he told the young man how he himself had married the girl of his dreams and they had a wonderful fulfilling marriage. Following the wedding, the groom asked hotel personnel if someone could lead him to the character actor who had calmed him down prior to the wedding. "What character actor?" was the response. "There no character actors here at the Stanley." So by now you may have guessed the stately gentleman was Mr. Stanley himself, the original, the long dead original owner of the Stanley Hotel. Cool story and certainly not the only one I heard this afternoon.

That flag is haunted... it has an unexplained face on it,

Can you see the face of old Mr. Stanley's face with a long
white beard?  If not, have a drink and try again. 

Beautiful dining room whose ghostly claims 'I fergits'

Our last stop on the ghost tour was the underground tunnels. The tunnels were used for personnel to get quickly and unseen from one local of the hotel to another. The tunnels are haunted by ghostly voices and a chef or two. 

 Below is an ancient safe dating back to the origins of the hotel. 

Lots of pipes line the tunnel ceilings 

That ended the haunted ghost tour of the Stanley Hotel. The daylight tour wasn't the least bit scary at all. Maybe next time I'll work up my nerve to go on the night time tour in the main hotel.

A Model of the Stanley in the hotel basement

A distant photo of the Stanley I took earlier in the day

All Hallow's Eve at the Haunted Myrtles Plantation

Myrtles Plantation

Since I was 'in the neighborhood' I drove over to St. Francisville, Louisiana. I'd decided to spend my All Hallow's Eve at the famous Myrtles Plantation. The plantation is now mostly a lovely inn where honeymooners and other guests can stay in genuine antebellum accommodations. I've heard tell of the plantation while rotting my brain watching ghost chasing & otherwise haunt riddled TV fare. Arriving at the plantation I was a good hour early for my 6PM pre-paid tour time. I decided to take a short stroll on the grounds. As I've been cursed by a witch with laziness, it was quite a short walk.

Autumn Color on the walkways

As I walked up the cobbled lane towards the 'big house' a pair of twee little girls stared at me, eyes wide as saucers. "Happy Halloween', I cheerily called to them. Just then, I recollected that atop my noggin I wore devil's horns, procured at the Renaissance Faire years ago. No wonder their eyes bugged - guess the tots had never met a real 'she-devil' before. Interesting fact, all day, with me trepsing all over central eastern Louisiana and I saw not a single person - adult or child - in Halloween garb. In my California home town you only have to step outside and shake a dead black cat to be overwhelmed by your fellow citizens in full on Pirates of the Caribbean or Star Wars garb. I'd have thought Louisiana, with its voodoo history would have overridden its bible belt sensibilities. Seems to be quite the opposite. No Halloween shenanigans here.

Ghost of Chloe...?

Shortly thereafter I froze in my tracks as I espied a ghostly white figure, floating in the air - OHMYGOD, is that the ghost of Chloe? It wasn't even dark yet.... um, no - I concluded it was a white umbrella.

Nevermind.


Didn't take me long to wander over to the Plantation's general store/gift shop. There I checked in for my tour time, and then greedily eyed all the shop's merchandise. Had to use all the behavior modification skills in my arsenal to evade buying handspun Shetland Wool, which would only end up in my spare bedroom, with the bales of other 'pedigree' wools, hand spun & unspun. I did buy a tiny flask of Praline liqueur/spirits... for later...

For the knitting dilettantes such as myself

I suspect I will be cremated in a hand spun, hand knit casket. I should get to work on that as soon as I return home.

Looking past corn shucks is the courtyard &
door to the gift shop (Valhalla for 'moi')

At six sharp, the tour began and everyone gathered on the porch of the second plantation building, unseen to the right in the photo above.

The notorious haunted mirror has a sort of T-rex jaws
with a few ribs on it... that's what I see anyway...

Our tour guide explained we would only be allowed to photograph a restricted area of the inside of the building. Not because of fear we would photograph the plantation ghosts, scare ourselves and wet the beautiful original flooring throughout the building, but because the effing insurance company wouldn't insure the plantation & it's inn & rooms otherwise. Bugger the insurance mongers, eh?

The mirror macabre

Entering the building, we received a talk on the history of the plantation mansion, and were told, to our delight, we could photograph in this entrance way to our hearts content. Several took photos of a mirror, from which it seemed impossible, despite professional cleaning, to remove stains, of dripping... blood.

OH CRAP! A GHOST... erm... no, that's actually one of the inn's guests shooting up the stair well to his room. Damn, I need to get a grip.

patriotic mirror

Here's a brief of the plantation's most notorious, and frankly, innocent-ish ghost. The plantation has had many owners over the centuries and one of them had carnal feelings for a v. young enslaved girl on another plantation. He bought her, so she might baby sit his children & provide him with a mistress.

The enslaved girl was named Chloe. She was a nosey body in that she listened through closed doors when the master had meetings with important male type guests. Thus nosey Chloe fell out of favor with her master, and even lost credence with the other plantation slaves.

Foyer chandelier

But young Chloe had a cunning scheme (cue Black Adder music here) in which - with an oleander laced birthday cake no less - she poisoned the master's little children. She wanted to nurse the stricken children back to health & thus, regain the master's good graces. Her scheme failed when the kiddies died. Poor misguided Chloe was hung by the Mississippi River, her lifeless body fung into its waters. 

But the cat came back - as a ghost. The children came back too, perhaps seeking more of that yummy  oleander cake.

Another Ghost in the haunted mirror... . nooo... that's me. Sorry. 

 Did I see any ghosts? Nope. All of us in the group were taken into the bedroom of the master & mistress & there, on the crimson bedspread we all saw the tiny handprints of the plantation's ghost children. I felt rather uncommitted to the idea the prints were ghostly, I mean there were a couple of deep indentations but I figure they could have been placed there before we entered the room. One appeared while the guide spoke to us - telling us spooky plantation tale after spooky plantation tale - but um... maybe we just hadn't noticed it before he pointed it out?

The AWESOME haunted bedroom and it's creepy bedspread - not my photo

The tour took about an hour, during which the guide gave great details on the antebellum aspects of the building. We toured the gentleman's smoking room, the dining room and other rooms. Thoroughly enjoyed the the tour. 

The Plantation dining room - not my photo

The haunted stairwell 

This is the famous haunted stairwell. This photo faces the entrance. One of the plantation owners was shot, then famously died on the 17th step.

At the end of the entryway, stands this piano, said to play all on its own, without the benefit of anyone - alive - actually setting fingers to keys. Of course as with any well behaved haunted instrument, it ceases to play the second anyone enters the room. Good piano. Here's a piano biscuit.


During the last bit of the tour, we were told the story of how the plantation got its history of haunting started. It began when a modern day owner bought the plantation, planning to make it into a bed & breakfast. She was on the property by herself one day, photographing it with the goal of providing the photos to an insurance company to insure her property & business. She'd been told to provide photos with no one shown in them. After turning in the photos, the insurance people insisted she retake one of the photos, as clearly, the woman wasn't alone on the property that day. WHAT THE...!

Our guide showed us the infamous photo. The inset to the left shows a close up of the alleged, transparent Chloe. Professional National Geographic photographers examined the photo and negative and said they could not find any trickery in the photo. They also pointed out that over the porch on the right, there appear to be two small children crouching. You know... ghost children.

The photo that started it all. The house on the right is the one we toured. 

It is said Civil War soldiers march around porches and bricked walkways.

What fun to get to visit the haunted & hallowed grounds of the Myrtles Plantation, known to be haunted by at least a dozen spectors. How many did I see? Thank heavens, none! Whew. Hope my luck continues to hold out. Below are two episodes from the annals of Ghost Adventures, if you're hankering for a little seriously spooky viewing.