By Cathy Spearnak/SDUN Reporter
The historic Whaley House Museum in Old Town has some “spirited” fun in store for visitors this Halloween season, including extended hours, period lighting and music, exclusive guided tours, Past & Presence Ghost Tours and after-hours ghost hunts.
“The Whaley House was built by San Diego pioneer Thomas Whaley to house his family and a general mercantile store, and is believed to be the oldest two-story brick building in Southern California,” said Dean Glass, administrative aide for Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO).
When completed in 1857, The San Diego Union called it the most elegant home in San Diego. Former California state senator James Mills has said that the Whaley House “has sheltered more history than any other building in the city,” Glass said.
The building served at various times as the county seat and courthouse, San Diego’s first commercial theater, a granary, store, kindergarten and Sunday school, party venue and ballroom, polling place, and meeting space for both the City Council and County Board of Supervisors.
“In addition to being one of the most historic buildings in San Diego, the Whaley House has earned its reputation as ‘America’s Most Haunted,’” Glass said.
Reports of its hauntings have brought visitors from around the globe, and in recent years have lead to numerous televised ghost investigations by shows such as “Most Haunted” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” In 2005, Life Magazine declared it “the most haunted house in America.”
Glass said spirits believed to inhabit the historic home include those of Thomas Whaley and his wife Anna, their daughter Violet, their great-granddaughter Marion, their fox terrier Dolly Varden, and “Yankee Jim” Robinson, a desperado convicted of attempted grand larceny who was hanged on the grounds where the Whaley House now stands in 1852, a few years before the building was constructed.
Legend has it that his spirit never left the spot where the gallows stood and now roams the Whaley House.
October schedule of events at the Whaley House
(Reservations are necessary for most special events, which usually sell out ahead of time. Special limited tours also often sell out in advance)
Oct. 21
Past & Presence Ghost Tours
10-11:30 p.m.
This unforgettable and entertaining excursion includes an exclusive after-hours tour inside the Adobe Chapel, El Campo Santo Cemetery and, of course, “the most haunted house in America,” the Whaley House.
$25 per person
Attendance is limited to 20 people per night. Advance ticket purchase is strongly recommended.
Ages 12 and older; tour begins in the Whaley House side yard.
Oct. 21
Scaryoke at America’s Most Haunted
7-10 p.m.
Join entertainer Laura Jane in the Whaley House gardens for a night of Scaryoke fun. Whether your singing voice is haunting or just plain scary, sing your favorite Halloween song for a chance to win a prize. Costumes are optional.
Oct. 22-23 and 28
Whaley House Ghost Hunting Tours
11:45 p.m.-1:15 a.m.
Join the Whaley House museum staff and the San Diego Ghost Hunters for an exclusive 90-minute paranormal investigation of “America’s Most Haunted.”
$50 per person
Attendance is limited to 20 each night. Advance ticket purchase is strongly recommended.
Extended hours
Oct. 25, 26, 28 and 30
Open 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
Daytime admission
$6 for adults; $5 for seniors (55+); $4 for children (3-12); 2 and under are free.
Evening Admission (5 p.m.-midnight)
$10 for adults; $5 for children (3-12); 2 and under are free.
Oct. 25-26
Exclusive Oil Lamp Tours
10:30-11:30 p.m.
Join us for a special hour-long, guided oil lamp tour of the haunted Whaley House, and learn about the history and the mystery of one of San Diego’s most historic and most haunted attractions. Interpreters for the deaf and hard of hearing are available with two weeks’ notice. Call (619) 297-7511 to make request.
$25 per person
Attendance is limited to 20 people per night. Advance ticket purchase is strongly recommended.
Extended Wednesday Hours
Oct. 27
5-10 p.m.
Admission
$10 for adults; $5 for children (3-12); 2 and under are free
Halloween
Oct. 31
10 a.m.-midnight
Daytime admission
$6 for adults; $5 for seniors (55+); $4 for children (3-12); 2 and under are free.
Halloween nighttime admission (5 p.m.-midnight)
Period music, historic lighting, & tales of paranormal encounters will raise your spirits.
$15 per person
Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)
Nov. 1-2
Free event
More than 25 Old Town San Diego businesses, museums and community organizations will participate in a community-wide celebration, creating traditional Mexican altars and ofrendas (offerings) to the dead. (Note: admission is required to enter the Whaley House.)
At 8 p.m. on Nov. 1, the public is invited to join a candlelight procession from the Whaley House Museum to El Campo Santo cemetery to decorate and make offerings to Old Town’s earliest families at their gravesites.
All the Old Town altars may be visited using a free self-guided tour map, available online at these locations: oldtownsandiego.org, otsdguide.com, whaleyhouse.org.
Print your own map and come join the celebration!
PURCHASE TICKETS
Online: whaleyhouse.org
In person: Whaley House Museum Shop, 2476 San Diego Ave. in Old Town
Info: (619) 297-7511
Other ghostly Old Town activities in October
This October Old Town is full of fun, frightening Halloween events that last all month long, including the “Séance at the Seeley Stable: Is Anybody There?” During this performance, audience members will hear scary, funny, and tragic stories of people who once lived in early San Diego during the 1800s. For reservations visit:www.brownpapertickets/event/12812 or for more information: (619) 220-5422.
There are also Ghost Tours lead by Michael Brown. During his walking tours, guests will get to visit various paranormally active places in Old Town State Park such as the Whaley House, a park that used to be cemetery, and a haunted brothel located on the Whaley House property. Tours are every Thursday through Sunday in October. For more info visit: http://www.oldtownsmosthaunted.com/.
Write Out Loud will present “Quoth the Raven” in the Old Town Theatre on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 16 at 12:30 p.m. and on Monday evening, Oct. 18, at 7 p.m. “Quoth the Raven” will feature stories and poems of mystery, fantasy and delusion brought chillingly to life by professional actors. Authors include Edgar Allan Poe, Ray Bradbury, Lafcadio Hearn, H.P. Lovecraft and Jerome K. Jerome. For more info, visit writeoutloudsd.com.
Presented by Cygnet Theater Company, “War of the Worlds” is a staged radio play that re-enacts the day of Oct. 30, 1938, when millions of radio listeners were shocked when news alerts announced the
arrival of Martians forging a ferocious and seemingly unstoppable attack on Earth. The “War of the Worlds” performance is on Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. at the Old Town Theatre. Tickets are $10 for all ages. For information visit cygnettheatre.com or call (619) 337-1525.
The newly opened Cosmopolitan Hotel and Restaurant is hosting the Old Town’s scariest party of the year, a Costume Ball at the old Cosmopolitan Hotel, on Saturday, Oct. 30 from 9 to 11 p.m. For more information, visit oldtowncosmopolitan.com or call (619) 297-1874.
Everyone is invited to get in the ghoulish mood with a free spooky movie night under the stars on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 29 and 30 at 8 p.m. both nights. Bring lawn chairs, blankets and your bravest face and enjoy a family-rated spooky movie under the stars in the Fiesta de Reyes courtyard. Before the movie on Saturday, there will be a costume contest for all ages featuring prizes. Admission is free.
Trick-or-treaters are invited to come out Saturday, Oct. 30, and Sunday Oct. 31 from 4 to 6:30 p.m. to collect goodies from participating shops and museums throughout the park. Admission for this is free.
The haunting will continue with a live storytelling of Old Town’s “Legend of Sleepy Hollow” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 28 and at 8 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 31. For more information about any of these events, visit Fiestadelreyes.com or call (619) 297-3100.
