Does a secret vampire underground society exist in Fresno?

Cleaning up my inbox this evening I came across an email I received back in June 2011 from a local paranormal investigator. In it they asked me if I had every heard of an underground society in the Fresno area that possibly had vampiric practices. The person also mentioned something about a door on Belmont Ave under the overpass that's east of Roeding Park and it being a possible entrance to an underground area where the society supposedly meets.

From the description they gave me the door is sometimes locked, but is usually left ajar. The investigator asked around and was told it was nothing more than a maintenance room but decided to investigate for themselves. They parked their car a bit away and walked to the door. Unfortunately the door was padlocked but the way the lock is set up you can somewhat squeeze in to have a look (if you look at the photo I posted you can see what the person meant). They were able to shine a light inside and saw a set of stairs going down and nothing that would portray the room as being something for storing maintenance supplies there.

The door to a secret undergound society? Or to a broom closet?

Now I wrote the person back but never received a response. Could the person be trying to pull a fast one on me? Perhaps. Or the conspiracy theorist would say the person who contacted me was "taken care of" by the underground society (I like to think they have their own version of Luca Brasi). But if that was the case, why not me as well? Most likely this was just some rumor the person heard and knowing that I like to keep track of all things strange in Fresno, contacted me to see if I knew of anything. And when I said I didn't, they probably lost interest in the subject.

But that doesn't mean there aren't secret societies in Fresno. There's a Freemason Lodge on Shields Avenue, and I believe there is also a Odd Fellow's Lodge in the area too. I know these aren't that secret anymore; but they still are clouded in mystery, especially the Freemasons. As for any vampiric secret societies in the Fresno area, I doubt they exist. But if they do, please feel free to have a member contact me. But just don't drink my blood. I imagine with the amount of nachos I eat it would be like drinking Tapatio.

UFO seen over Clovis in October 2012

I thought I would delve back into UFO sightings for a bit, mostly because the ghostly aspect of Fresno has been quiet as of late. I decided to check out the Mutual UFO Network's (MUFON) website as they list sightings by county and see if they had anything interesting. And as luck would have it something strange was reported in Clovis on October 21, 2012. Here's the report as it was filed with MUFON:

I received a phone call tonight from my Mother around 9:30 PM telling me about the UFO that her and my Father just saw. My parents were driving in their car, making my Dad the driver and my Mother the passenger. As they were heading WEST on the streets of Eighth and Pollasky my Mother told me she noticed a bright orange snowflake/star shaped UFO hovering around above a Catholic church(Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church). She told me this occurred around 9:10pm or so. These streets are located in a neighborhood so when they came to a stop sign my Mom pointed the UFO out to my Father who then looked and saw the same bright orange UFO who he also described as being bright orange especially being against the night sky. My Mom said the object was just hovering over the church for a little bit. But my Father became scared and drove a little down the street aways from the object. My Mother was not scared but intrigued by the sighting and told my Father to stop on the side of the street. She told me they were both looking at the object from inside the car pulled over on the side of the street. When they were parked looking at the object my Mother said the UFO started slowly hover towards their car and then became dim in color but was still slightly visible with a more transparent shade of orange. My Mom kept her eyes on the object as she said it started moving away in the opposite direction of the moon (East). At the time they were the only ones driving on the road but then another vehicle turned on the street from Minnewawa onto eighth and when this happened my Mother said the UFO disappeared. When the UFO was visible my Mother also tried to tell my Father to take a photo with his cell phone but my Mom said he was so shocked he couldnt sum up the courage. Both my parents are devoted Christians and to get this phone call from my Mom really took me by surprise thats why I felt I had to report this myself since my parents arent technologically inclined as me with using computers. I was bummed though that they didnt get a picture.

My first inclination was to think that this was another Chinese lantern mistaken for some sort of aerial craft. But the description of the UFO is different than the characteristics that a Chinese lantern portrays; the lanterns usually drift up slowly as they are carried aloft by the wind currents. This hovered over a church and then moved towards the witnesses' car before disappearing. Lanterns don't hover, trust me, seeing that I've seen one myself (and misidentified it as a UFO). So what was seen over Clovis that October night? Perhaps Fresno is the UFO hotspot that some claim it to be.

Is a hundred year old tavern in Tracy haunted by a former owner?

The Banta Inn located in Tracy, California

Photo courtesy of Running Wolf Productions

About two hours north of Fresno is the town of Tracy. Though it was incorporated into a city in 1910, the city's history goes further back. In the late 1890's it was a small, but growing town, and a two story saloon was built. The first floor was the actual saloon and the upstairs acted as an inn of sorts. It was said the owner of the place was associated with Joaquin Murrieta and the saloon also acted as a gambling parlor where the upstairs inn doubled as a bordello. The inn was a popular stop on the stagecoach line and was also a known place for gold miners and panners to trade in their tired mules for a pair of fresh ones.

In 1937 tragedy struck as the Banta Inn nearly burned to the ground. No one knows what started the fire, but when it was finally put out the bodies of a mother and her child were found. Despite this tragedy the inn was quickly rebuilt, but this time as a one story general store. Given it's history, the owners decided to keep the original name of Banta Inn despite the fact there were no longer any rooms used as lodging.

Sometime in the 1960's the owner's daughter and her husband Ton decided to turn the general store back into a bar and restaurant. Tony's favorite place was behind the bar and he was known for stacking coins at the register and playing poker by himself when business was slow. One day in 1968, while tending bar, Tony had a heart attack and collapsed and died.

Even before Tony's death the Banta Inn was said to be haunted; the mother and child from the 1938 fire were said to have been seen around the Inn for years. Soon after Tony passed away workers would find money stacked by the bar's register even though it was locked and no one was in the room. Ashtrays and other times would be found in locations different than where they had been left. And sometimes the TV would change channels even though no one would touch the remote.

What are the reasons behind these hauntings? With Tony it seems that he is still at the bar where he was the most happiest. And it seems he still likes to make his presence known. But what of the mother and child, why do they haunt the Banta Inn? Witnesses have heard the voice of a child crying and as stated before both mother and child have been seen. Could these two not realize they are ghosts and are trying to reach out for help? Or is it just part of the incident replaying over and over like a video recording, fading as the years go by? One thing is for certain; the place is definitely haunted and is one of the more known spots in the country for having paranormal activity.

Last I checked the Inn was still open as a bar/restaurant and they are very open to their history, both regular and paranormal. Perhaps next time I head up that way I'll stop by for lunch or dinner and say hi to Tony.

The top five really really really bad horror movies ever made

I love a good horror movie and I'll watch pretty much anything. And I do love a bad movie as well, which is usually of the horror genre for some reason. But yet there are horror movies out there so bad that even I can't watch them. Given all the crap Hollywood has pumped out lately mislabeled as a horror movie, it was hard to chose the top ten. After drinking a metric ton of alcohol last night to numb the pain I narrowed that list down to what I consider the five shittiest horror movies. Ever.


Number 5: Darkness

Let me preface that I fucking hate this movie. Why do you ask? Because it's what made me form the theory that any PG-13 horror movie is pure shit. When the trailers first came out for it I was stoked. Creepy kids always scare the shit out of me. Plus who isn't afraid of the dark? Yeah this movie killed it for me. As typical with any horror movie these days, they show all the scary scenes in the trailer to lure you in and then you are stuck for 90 minutes watching people running around acting scared when you know the reason why. And the ending just pissed me off, was so abrupt and made no damn sense. What makes me even more mad is I found out years later that it was originally unrated in Spain but was edited to be shown here in the States. And from what I read it was pretty damn scary. But of course we get the dumbed down version that leaves everyone at the end wondering what the fuck just happened.



Number 4: Troll 2

Oh Troll 2 where do I start? First there aren't any trolls in this movie, but goblins. And these goblins are vegetarians that want to eat people but first transform the people into plants so they can then eat said people (yeah I don't make this shit up). A family decides to head to Nilbog for summer vacation (can you guess what nilbog spelled backwards is? This movie has some fucking geniuses writing for it). I won't go into detail about plot (mostly cause there isn't much of one), but this movie has some of the worst acting ever seen. Proven beyond a shadow of a doubt by this clip.



And if you think that's bad, it gets worse. Early in the movie when the family arrives at the house they are staying at they notice a vegetarian style dinner laid out for them. As they are about to eat the main antagonist is visited by the ghost of his grandfather and is told the food will turn the family into plants for the goblins to eat. Grandpa then freezes time allowing our young hero to figure a way to stop his family from eating the doomed dinner. I could explain what happens, but watching the clip makes more sense. Or something like that. Thankfully it gives one of the greatest movie lines at the end.



Number 3: Hobgoblins

Never after watching a movie have I wanted to take a shower so hot it melts the skin off of me. This movie does that. Trying to capitalize on the success of Gremlins, Hobgoblins is a cheap knock off that involves shitty hand puppet monsters, actors probably straight from community college (except for the dude that played Maynard in Pulp Fiction), more parking cars scenes then you can count, and the most epic garden tool fight scene you'll ever see (and probably the only one). But this movie is a whole new level of skeeze. Never before have I wretched while watching a movie and yet this one made me do it at least half a dozen times. Watch the trailer below and share in my pain.



Number 2: Birdemic: Shock and Terror

I love Hitchcock, one of my favorite directors and to me the master of suspense. So when I first heard of Birdemic: Shock and Terror (yes that's it's actual title) and that the director did it as a homage of The Birds (of of my favorite Hitchcock films) I was curios  After watching just the trailer I made the assumption that the director had apparently did all the known cocaine in the world and then procured a Commodore 64 computer to do all of his special effects. Seriously I didn't know movies could be this bad. Horrible acting, horrible pacing, horrible editing, the shittiest special effects you've ever seen (I've seen swedes with better ones, no joke). I just want to know who finances these damn things. And apparently this movie has developed such cult following there there is a sequel in the works. All I can say is grab your coat hangers.


Number 1: House of the Dead

Oh Uwe Boll, what a piece of shit you directed. For those that don't know Uwe Boll is a German "director" (and I use that term loosely) that has a pension for making movies vaguely based off of video games and then shitting out the worst piece of crap on celluloid ever. I don't even know where to start on this thing. Ever play the video game? Remember when a zombie attacked you there would be slashes across the screen letting you know that you were hit? Apparently Boll felt compelled to insert said clips into the movie to inform the audience that a character was indeed attacked by a zombie. I shit you not. And I love that the actors in this movie, who are teens headed to a rave on an island (really?), have combat training in the use of fire arms as well as training in martial arts. Yeah.

And then there is the over use of slow motion special effects. I swear there is so much use of bullet time that the directors of The Matrix should have received a cut from this film. Though given how shitty it did at the box office I think that would add up to about enough to buy a grande white mocha frap at Starbucks. And even Michael Bay would have told Boll to tone it down on the slow motion. There are so many things wrong with this movie and no redeeming values what so ever. So of course they made a sequel just to say "fuck you" to all of us. This movie does have one shining moment in it though. You see the chick who played Lois Lane on Smallville topless. That has to count for something. But given this piece of shit movie, not much.

I looked for a while to find a clips that showed everything, figuring I'd have to find one for the video game clips, slow motion and bullet time, and teenaged Jack Bauers. Imagine my surprise when I found one clip that had all of that plus some shitty hip hop music blaring loudly. Enjoy. :)



So that's my list of what I consider the 5 worst horror movies ever. Yeah I could have included "Manos" Hands of Fate or Plan 9, but that would have been too easy. Sad thing is given the amount of shit Hollywood pumps out each year under the cheap pretense of a horror movie (Paranormal Activity 4 I'm looking at you) that next year could be an entirely new list.

Is the old Sanger High School haunted by a pair of star crossed lovers?

Apparently schools are a popular haunting spot for star crossed lovers. There's a story that the old Sanger High School (now the Washington Academic Middle School) has a pair of ghosts that haunt its theater area. Sometime in the 1990's there was a young couple madly in love like only teenagers could be. The girl's parents were very strict and she hid the fact that she had a boyfriend from them for several months as she knew they would not have approved. One day her mother finally found about the boyfriend and demanded the daughter break up with him immediately and never see him again. Defying her mother and apparently taking inspiration from Romeo and Juliet, she met her boyfriend at the high school and both committed suicide in the theater by hanging themselves.

Why they chose the theater to take their lives is never said. Perhaps it was their favorite place to spend time, or maybe they met there and it held a special place in their heart. What is known is that both ghosts have been seen in the theater since their deaths. The girl is usually seen on the second floor near the area where the balcony used to be located. A more gruesome vision of her has also been seen hanging from a rope in front of the stage. As for her boyfriend, he is usually seen near the main entrance to the theater. No one knows why he is seen here, some think he may be waiting for his love for some unknown reason.

Now whether this story has any merit to it or not is hard to say. Someone e-mailed me the story, saying they had heard it when they went to the old high school. I did the obligatory internet searches, but it's not like Google is going to find me a website with this story on it (well I guess it will now once their bots scan this page). Hopefully someone reading this will know something and it will be able to add to the story. Still an interesting story and adds yet another legend to the area.

Is Fresno's Chandler Airport haunted?

A few weeks ago I received an e-mail from a person who has an office at Fresno's Chandler Airport and is researching the history of the place. In the e-mail I was told the place had several ghosts in it and was asked if I would like to meet and investigate. I had heard stories for years that Chandler was haunted, but was never given any details so I jumped at the chance to visit.

A brief history on the airport before I delve into the paranormal part of it. Chandler Airfield started unofficially after World War I when pilots would land on an empty field owned by then State Senator Wilbur Chandler and his wife Edna. For several years the Fresno Chamber of Commerce tried to pass bond measures that would allow them to purchase land for use as an airport but with no luck. In 1929 the Chandlers gave 100 acres of their farm to the city to be used as an airport and in November of that year the airport was officially dedicated and soon after several buildings were erected to service the airport. In March of 1930 the airport received a famous visitor when Charles Lindberg and his wife landed at the airport and were greeted by a crowd of over 20,000.

In 1936 construction began on a terminal building and was designed in what was called Streamline Moderne (an architecture style popular in the 1930's). Planes flew in and out of Chandler daily (except during World War II when it was used as a military base) up to 1947. At that time airlines refused to land at Chandler anymore saying that the runway was too small and the amenities of the airport couldn't service the new type of aircraft coming out. For the most part flights ceased to occur at Chandler and most traffic was diverted to the newly built Fresno Air Terminal.

Though Chandler isn't as busy as it used to be, it still does see some traffic. The old terminal building now is the administration building for the airport. Of all the buildings there, this is the one that received the most foot traffic over the years as it would be the place passengers would enter to board their flights or the first thing one would enter after exiting a plane upon landing.

And it seems some of those that passed through its doors have never truly left.

The staff that works there have seen a variety of phenomena, but it seems the main terminal area is where most of the activity takes place. One of the workers has seen several figures emerge from a wall near where you would buy tickets, only or them to walk across the room and then vanish oblivious to the fact that he was observing them. Others have seen a figure of an older man in the old control tower (which is on the second floor of the administration building) staring out onto the field as if he's watching invisible planes taking off and landing. And still others have reported while they were outside of the building, seeing figures moving inside and upon entering the building finding it to be completely empty.

The main terminal isn't the only area that has activity. There is a restaurant that is adjacent to the terminal area (same building) and from what the staff told me it is active in its own right. They have heard voices late at night while they were closing, yet there was no one else there. Even more interesting is that several of the kitchen staff were cleaning up one night when they heard a rattling noise. They looked to the direction to where the noise was coming from and saw a plate wobbling across a counter top until it fell over the edge and onto the floor. This was late at night and there was no aircraft or any other vehicles in the vicinity that could have caused this. And interestingly enough the plate didn't break when it hit the floor.

It's hard to say what could be causing all the activity here. Given the age of the place and the countless number of people who passed through its doors it's possible that some have decided to stay here even after death for whatever reason. This is a place I definitely need to visit again. Not just to investigate, as this does need to be done, but to interview all the witnesses as well. The stories I heard briefly were interesting and definitely need to be documented. From there the history of the location needs to be researched more. Not just from a paranormal point of view, but a historical one. I didn't even know Lindberg had landed there until I was told. It makes me wonder what other secrets the airport is hiding just waiting to be uncovered.

Strange flying creature seen near Delano

Searching one of my favorite sites for weird and strange tales I ran across a creature sighting near the small town of Delano.

The creature is described as having a bat like body with a head similar to that of a crow and covered completely in feathers. Witnesses estimated it to be about three feet tall and about the size of a large dog (between 40 and 60 pounds). It's been seen mostly near Avenue 8 between Delano and Richgrove for the past seven months or so.

Locals also think that it may be eating stray dogs as many mutilated carcasses have been found in the area with feathers similar to that seen on the creature found next to it.

As to what this creature could be, I don't know. I wish there was a description of the wing span, not the height of the creature, as that could help explain things more. My first thought is it's just nothing more than a vulture, but the description is a bit different. That and I don't think a vulture would leave feathers as it's head and neck are featherless to begin with.

So this had me thinking about a story I wrote about sometime ago of another large flying creature spotted in the Central Valley, this time in Fresno. This sighting was of a large bird like creature with a 12 foot wing span seen flying over Fresno. Could this creature and the one seen in Delano be somehow related?

To be honest I think the creature is just a misidentification of a regular bird (perhaps a hawk) and not some strange dog eating creature roaming the country side. As for the feathers found by the dogs, could be any type of bird. Crows are scavengers and the feathers could be from them.

Or I could be completely wrong and there is some unknown creature flying around the country side in the southern part of the San Joaquin Valley. I'll keep my eyes and ears open for anything else regarding these sightings.

North Fresno hotel rumored to be haunted by ghost of suicide victim

I was recently contacted by a reader asking if I had heard of the R.S. Gibson story. Apparently Gibson committed suicide at a local hotel and is said to haunt the very room in which he died.

From what I was told the incident occurred sometime in June of 1972. Gibson was having an affair with a woman named Marilyn (who was said to look like the legendary Marilyn Monroe) and they would have their rendezvous at a hotel on the outskirts (of then) Northern Fresno near Herndon and Blackstone. Gibson, who had owned a used car lot on Abby Street, had met Marilyn when she was a cocktail waitress at the old Tropicana and their affair lasted for over four years.

But their torrid affair was not meant to last. One night Marilyn met with Gibson in the hotel room they frequented and told him that she didn't want to see him any more. Distraught after she left, Gibson grabbed a pen and paper and wrote a final note to his love before grabbing a gun and ending his life with a self-inflicted gun shot to the head.

Since then guests have claimed to hear whispers in the very room where Gibson ended his life. A hoarse voice would cry out the name Marilyn over and over again scaring any guest that was in the room. Most would check out the next morning not wanting to deal with whatever is in the room.

The e-mail stated that the hotel in question is the Roadway Inn, which does lie on the corner of Herndon and Blackstone. They were unable to tell me the exact room where Gibson committed suicide but claimed that an article ran by the Fresno Bee in June of 1972 would have more information. Unfortunately I was unable to find anything to back up this claim in the Fresno Bee archives or any other online news archive. So I decided to head to the hotel and talk to the help there to see if any of these stories were true.

When I arrived at the hotel there was a lone worker at the front desk. I introduced myself and told her what I knew of the story. She told me she hadn't hear of anything in particular, but that she had only been there for four months. I left my card and thanked her for her time, but I definitely want to go back and talked to someone who has worked there longer.

So is this story true? It's hard to say. The person claimed that the story could be found in the Fresno Bee archives, but I couldn't find anything. Doing a Google search of the name "R.S. Gibson" did come up with an auto dealership, but the address was on Broadway not Abby as I was told. To verify this story I'm going to have to dig further. But still the story is an interesting one. And if it is true it is a tragic one.