Ghosts in Los Angeles: There might be one in your home

Ghosts. It’s a word that strikes fear into the hearts of children — and some adults — all over the world. Their existence has been questioned ever since the beginning of time, yet some people swear up and down that they’re real. Despite never having been a steadfast believer, I do believe that for the most part anything is possible.

Southerners tend to be a bit more open to the idea, especially with respect to New Orleans. Magic and ghosts are a part of everyday life in that city, which lends it an exciting supernatural vibe. New Orleans, as well as many more places in the Deep South, seems to have embraced it with open arms, although this is probably because the city’s economy depends mostly on tourism. However, go for a walk around the French Quarter and then try to say you didn’t feel at least a glimmer of mysticism.

Apparently, ghosts have been documented in Los Angeles as well. This isn’t that surprising considering its vividly unique past. An historic home for runaways, misfits, and fame seekers, the city of Los Angeles has seen its fair share of tragedy, which seems to be the primary common denominator in hauntings.

Did you know that the Hotel Roosevelt on Hollywood Boulevard is supposedly haunted by Marilyn Monroe? A mirror from the room she rented used to be on display in the lobby, and people claimed her ghost could be seen in photographs of the mirror. I’ve been there before actually, and it does have a stiff, ominous vibe about it.

And there’s a second ghost at the Roosevelt: Montgomery Clift. It is believed he haunts room #928 on the ninth floor, playing his trumpet and reciting his lines from the film From Here to Eternity while walking the halls of the 9th floor. Clift lived in that room while filming that classic movie.

Also, The Comedy Store on the Sunset Strip, awesome and worth a shot by the way, was once a restaurant/club named Ciro’s. In the 1940’s and 50’s its owners were involved with the mob and the basement was used to “take care of problems.” Now voices, cries, and screams can sometimes be heard coming from the basement.

It all makes sense when thinking about it. People who felt they were cheated in life would certainly want to stick around afterwards. Perhaps they feel like they had so much more to say and do. Maybe they just want to be heard…

Well, let me tell you something. It’s coming in loud and clear at 1222 N. Olive Dr. in West Hollywood! Home to two very good friends of mine, this building has a beautiful facade and is quite large. I’ve spent a lot of time here in various states of consciousness, and I have to conclude that this building is haunted. What’s worse is the ghost hates only me for some reason.

In the past, this building has drained me of all of my energy before going “out and about.” It’s left me tired, moody, and quite frankly not very nice. But on Thursday night, it declared war. First of all, the elevator, which is not very big, broke between floors with five of us in it. It was so hot in there that I even began taking off my clothes because I was covered in sweat.

Finally after about ten minutes, it takes us back down to the first floor where we are forced to walk all of the way up to the fourth floor to get to a game night party.

There were probably about twenty people in this moderately sized apartment, and it was as hot as a Mississippi summer in there! Covered in sweat, which was disgusting by the way, I all of a sudden had difficulty breathing. It was actually kind of scary so I stood off to the side for a while to catch my breath.

Eventually, my breathing returned to normal so I joined my friends on the couch. This is fun for a while until my beer is empty of course. Standing up to get another one, my jeans rip from groin to belt loop straight up the back. What’s worse is I wasn’t wearing underwear. Imagine my humiliation! And, yes: all of the obvious jokes were made and need not be revisited. Fortunately one of the guys who lives there is my size, and he let me borrow a pair of jeans.

If that’s not the work of an angry spirit, then what is? That building has declared war on me and there’s nothing that can be done about it. Ironically, I wasn’t in a bad mood at all! I actually just had to laugh at myself. Of course, we left very soon after that though …