By Dearly Departed Tours
Discover California
Los Angeles, the City of Angels … and devils, demons and ghosts. A city this large is bound to have its skeletons and our job is to throw open the closet doors and acknowledge them. Here are a few of the scariest locations. Some are fictional and some are very, very real. Like it or not, these places will always be a part of our history. Proceed with caution.
American Horror Story House
1120 Westchester Place, Los Angeles 90019
“Welcome to … murder house.” An historic landmark, the Rosenheim Mansion was built in 1902. It was a private home until the Sisters of Social Service, a Catholic organization, owned the house for more than 50 years. When American Horror Story was looking for creepy houses, the castle-like exterior made it a perfect choice for the horrifying first season of the hit FX show.
Bela Lugosi’s Apartment
5620 Harold Way, Los Angeles 90027
Universal Studio’s legendary Dracula, Bela Lugosi died in 1956 in this modest apartment near Western Avenue. Lugosi would walk daily to his favorite cigar shop at 6423 Hollywood Blvd. When the hearse with Lugosi’s body drove from the funeral home, the driver inexplicably lost control of the vehicle and couldn’t regain it until he passed the cigar shop, convincing many that it was Lugosi’s final farewell.
Boris Karloff’s Rose Garden
2320 Bowmont Dr., Beverly Hills 90210
Frankenstein’s monster thespian, Boris Karloff was a gentleman who had a passion for gardening. He was especially proud of his rose garden. Legend has it that several of his friends willed their cremains to him, so they could permanently reside in his rose bed.
‘The Entity’ House
11547 Braddock Drive, Culver City 90230
The repeated abuse and violent assault of resident Doris Bither in this house by poltergeists in the early 1970s became the subject of the horrifying 1981 film, The Entity. Her sons witnessed these horrors. When the family fled, the force followed them.
Hollywood Forever Cemetery
6000 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles 90038
Founded in 1899, Hollywood Forever Cemetery is the permanent home of hundreds of Hollywood’s legendary players, from Cecil B. DeMille to Dee Dee Ramone. The weeping woman heard near the lake is said to be the spirit of young Virginia Rappe, whose death will always be linked to the infamous Fatty Arbuckle scandal from the silent era. Hollywood Forever was added to the National Register of Historic Places in May 1999.
Hollywood Pacific Theatre
6433 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles 90028
Located on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Hollywood Pacific Theatre originally opened in 1928 as the Warner Bros. Theatre. Sam Warner reportedly cursed the theatre when it wasn’t completed in time for the premiere of The Jazz Singer, the first talkie. Warner died from a cerebral hemorrhage the day before the film’s New York premiere. His ghostly figure has been glimpsed in the theater’s lobby and offices. Now closed, the theatre was declared a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1993.
Linda Vista Hospital
610-30 S. St. Louis St., Los Angeles 90023
A hospital had been at this site since 1904 — the structure that would become Linda Vista Hospital was built in 1937 for railroad employees. By the late 1980s, the use of the hospital declined and it closed in 1991. After the closure, it was investigated by almost every paranormal television program and group. Many spirits, including patients and staff alike, were seen roaming the hospital corridors. Its sinister appearance made it the perfect backdrop for the Day of the Dead and Insidious films.
Sanders House aka ‘Thriller’ House
1345 Carroll Avenue, Los Angeles 90026
This quiet Victorian house in Angelino Heights is the dilapidated shack that was savagely attacked by zombies in the 1983 music video, Michael Jackson’s Thriller. As a bonus, the house from Charmed is located two doors down, at 1329 Carroll Ave.
True Crime Locations
Wonderland Murders House
8763 Wonderland Ave., Los Angeles 90046
Porn legend John Holmes was implicated in the 1981 lead pipe Wonderland Avenue murders of four known drug-dealing thieves in this house. Revenge for robbing and embarrassing drug kingpin Eddie Nash was the inspiration for the brutal homicides, which were made infamous by the 2003 Val Kilmer film, Wonderland.
Ned Doheny & Hugh Plunkett — Greystone Mansion
905 Loma Vista Dr, Beverly Hills 90210
One of the most notorious, high-profile true crime mysteries of 20th century Los Angeles is connected to the Dohenys, one of the most famous oil families in the city. Oil tycoon Edward Doheny had the palatial Greystone Mansion built in 1928 for his son and heir, Edward “Ned” Doheny, Jr. and his young family. On Feb. 16, 1929, Ned Doheny and his close friend and sometime assistant Hugh Plunkett were found dead in a guest bedroom of the mansion.
Jack Parsons House — Pasadena
1071 1/2 S. Orange Grove Ave, Pasadena 91105
Jack Parsons, the Jet Propulsion Lab co-founder who dabbled in the dark arts, allegedly blew himself up in his Pasadena home in 1952. He moved into the house, nicknamed The Parsonage after he had lost his security clearance at JPL. It is said he tested his own explosives at home. There are those who say that his death might not have been an accident, and Parson’s end continues shrouded in mystery. The CBS All Access show Strange Angel is based on Parsons’ life and very peculiar career.
Los Feliz Murder House
2475 Glendower Pl, Los Angeles 90027
On Christmas Eve 1959, Dr. Harold Perelson, a cardiologist with money troubles, killed his whole family and then committed suicide.
Manson Family — Spahn Ranch
1200 Santa Susana Pass Rd, Topanga 90290
This is the former cowboy movie set that was occupied by the Manson Family during the height of their chaotic local “activities.” It is now a part of the Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park. Guided tours are s held there, where you can see a few artifacts including the vehicle that transported the Mansion Family.
