Top 5 Scariest Sites in Monterey County

Monterey County is home to a number of famous haunted locations just as it’s home to world famous golfing, glitzy car shows, and a smattering of celebrities. Before the glamour of Hollywood and the wealth of Silicon Valley found the Central Coast’s attraction too charming to resist, families filled the land seeking a better life and many, while long since dead, still rattle the nerves of the living. Have you had a ghost encounter in Monterey County?

Let’s take a look at five of Monterey County’s creepiest spots, starting smack dab in the middle of Monterey at the old French Hotel, better known as:

1) The Stevenson House – Built in the 1800s, this grand old building and garden property is found just across the street from the Monterey Transit Plaza in downtown Monterey, and is currently operated by the California Department of Parks and Recreation in partnership with the Robert Louis Stevenson Club. While the author Robert Louis Stevenson is thought to occasionally haunt the place, though he only lived there a brief time, other spirits are also believed to inhabit the old building, including Manuela Girardin, who died of Typhoid Fever in the two-story structure. Ghostly tales have included the smell of disinfectants, the sighting of a female in a gothic, black gown, and a rocking chair that moves on its own.

2) The Lara-Soto Adobe – Like the Stevenson House, this unassuming little home was originally built in the 1800s. It’s often been a source for supernatural frights, virtually since the day it was built, which may account for it sitting vacant for years prior to a renovation in 1920. It was also the home of author John Steinbeck and his family for a short time. Many believed the home to be cursed, due to the legend of a toddler buried just outside the front door, and the home itself seems to be a magnet for the supernatural activity. Steinbeck himself heard these rumors and allegedly had the home exorcized before he moved in with his family.

3) Old Fort Ord – Now home to shopping plazas and California State University at Monterey Bay (CSUMB), the old base overlooking Monterey Bay was closed in 1994. It’s commonly believed the spirits of the soldiers once stationed there can still be found among the property. Sightings have been shared of ghostly souls wandering the wooded areas of the Fort Ord National Monument in the dead of night and even of strange incidents within the student housing buildings, such as ghostly footsteps, strange sounds, and disembodied voices.

4) Stokes Adobe – Constructed in 1833, Stokes Adobe has been reincarnated many times over the years, most recently as a popular local restaurant for those visiting downtown Monterey. Though the restaurant is now closed and the property is for sale, tales of paranormal activity in the building persist. Many have reported the sighting of a spirit at the top of the stairs, thought by some to be the ghost of one of the building’s early owner, James Stokes. Another owner, Hattie Gragg, has been spotted on the premises on more than one occasion. Unseen hands have moved items around on tables, tapped, and even pushed people who’ve visited the two-story former home.

5) Los Coches Adobe – Likely Monterey County’s creepiest spot, this former rooming house and stagecoach stop can now be found empty and abandoned in Soledad, a small town between Greenfield and King City. From the alleged murders of those staying at the rooming house (their bodies thought to have been tossed into a nearby well) to the death of more than 30 miners in the area, the property is thought to be a hotbed of otherworldly phenomenon. Stories of screams from the well, entities within the walls of the building, and sightings of numerous spirits (some hanging from a noose outside the building) are legion.

Read about these and other paranormal hotspots in Haunted Monterey County, coming September 30th from The History Press. Get your copy in e-book or print at your favorite retailer. Preorder is available!

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