Walking Among the Dead at Linda Vista Hospital

Los Angeles, notorious for the vicious build/raze/build cycle that has cost the city so many of its precious historical landmarks, is not the most obvious place to look for a sprawling, abandoned and allegedly haunted hospital. But if you visit the Boyle Heights neighborhood near downtown L.A., you'll find just that in the guise of eerie, hulking Linda Vista Hospital. The building is, at this point, semi-famous; it's been featured on shows and movies (including the first season of Dexter), as well as a memorable episode of Ghost Adventures; you may remember Zak & Co. freaking out over the possibility of imminent gang wars. (LOLZ.)

Recently, the Boyle Heights Paranormal Project, a local paranormal research and investigation group that helps oversee the hospital and regularly organizes community events to allow the curious (and, perhaps, foolhardy) to sneak a peek inside, hosted an event called the "Walk Among the Dead." BHPP members lead groups on a flashlight tour of the hospital, with nefarious nurses and devilish doctors from the performance collective The Art of Bleeding lurking in the old hospital's morgue to add to the sinister, spooky vibe.

The end result was basically Halloween in March, a shivery treat for amateur ghost hunters, horror fans and Los Angeles preservationists alike. Here are some shots Mr. Spooky and I captured during our time at Linda Vista:









For more information on future events at Linda Vista, including BHPP's upcoming overnight investigation in mid-April, follow the Boyle Heights Paranormal Project page on Facebook.

Hexennacht

In case you're not up on your pagan holidays, allow me to inform you that tonight, April 30, is Hexennacht, or "Hex Night." (Also known as Walpurgis Night; check out the Wikipedia entry for more information.) As the halfway point to Halloween, Hexennacht has a reputation as the second most haunted night of the year.

Feel free to celebrate by building a bonfire in order to ward off evil spirits and usher in the Queen of Spring...or you could join me, along with other members of the Boyle Heights Paranormal Project (find us on Facebook!), for a ghost hunt on the Queen Mary in Long Beach tonight at 9 PM. Whether you're a seasoned paranormal expert or a complete newbie, you can observe a basic EVP session and BHPP investigative techniques.

The Queen Mary is located at 1126 Queen's Highway in Long Beach, CA.

"May Eve was Walpurgis Night, when hell's blackest evil roamed the earth and all the slaves of Satan gathered for nameless rites and deeds." - H.P. Lovecraft, 'The Dreams in the Witch House'

THIS WEEKEND: Ghostly meetups at the Linda Vista Hospital & the Old Spaghetti Factory

Time to get your ghost on: This weekend in L.A., you'll have not one, but two opportunities to check out haunted locations with fellow supernatural enthusiasts.

Tonight, the Boyle Heights Paranormal Project is holding a meet & greet to celebrate their recent website launch at the notorious Linda Vista Hospital (which, as you may recall, was the subject of a Ghost Adventures episode). Tours of the facility will not be given, but visitors will be allowed inside of the hospital. The event will begin with coffee and pastries in the lobby at 9 PM, followed by a slide show and presentation in the chapel. The event is free and open to the public.

Tomorrow night brings yet another opportunity to frolic with the good people of GHOULA (Ghost Hunters of Urban Los Angeles), a local ghost hunting group of which I am a Vice President. This month's meeting will be held at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Duarte, which used to be a schoolhouse in the early 20th century, and has several ghost stories associated with the building. We will be meeting in the "Hide-Away Room" next to the bar at 8 PM. Again, the event is free and open to all.

Visit ghoula.org for more information on both events. Happy haunting!