In eager anticipation, we await the start of our Spooked in Seattle tour. Joined by our dear friend Jim, and a small group of people we gather outside the Ye Olde Curiosity Shop on the Central Waterfront of Seattle. The weather is sunny with a chill breeze that rattles the old signboard outside the shop, our guide a twenty-something girl dressed in black with a portable microphone and speaker grabs our attention.
Our first stop is in front of Ivar’s Acres of Clams on Alaskan way, it is said that the ghost of the late Ivar Haglundhaunts the restaurant and at night waiters can hear him sing, frightened by the tale of Ivar with a look at the eerie looking statue in front of Ivars, the group moved slowly on to the Ferry to Bainbridge.
It is said, that at dusk you can see an old woman with her cane wander onto the ferry, sitting down to rest her weary feet she remains there, perfectly still and then vanishes, old folklore says she might be Princess Angeline trying to visit the village of her people.
As our little group gathered across the street from the Pioneer Square Hotel and a few staring onlookers, a cold wind fills the air from the sea, this time the reports are overwhelming. Visitors seeing floating people, televisions switching on and off during the night, even when unplugged and it is said that the hotel is haunted till today.
When the hotel fell into despair the owner used the social grants from the homeless in exchange for a place to sleep, as they died he buried their bodies in the basement and kept claiming their grant money, these restless souls are ever restless. Pulling our coats closer, is it the cold we trying to escape or the cold feelings of doom.
At night below the Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory you can find an old mine worker, can this stranger also be the man that haunts the underground vault located below the streets of Seattle? It is said that if you go down at night you can hear his breath and even feel his cold hand on your shoulder.
Up the street we enter a dark bar, called Merchants Cafe, which founded in 1906, the decor has not changed and the bar still holds its rustic look. Merchants Cafe is one of the oldest Restaurants in Seattle and it started as a saloon and served 5-cent beers to the miners awaiting their turn for the brothel upstairs.
Employees have experienced the water turning on and off by itself and it is said that the basement is haunted. After closing one night the bartender saw a women sitting by the bar having a drink as he approached her she just vanished. One time the cook rushed upstairs and declined to ever go back down to the kitchen.
But nothing is as well documented and eerie as the event that occurred at the Seattle Mutual Life building on 10 September 1985 when the famous Sankai Juku Dance company of Tokyo, Japan was performing “The Dance of Birth and Death” on the side of the building and Takada’s rope broke, he plunged six stories to his death. Every year on the 10 of September you can see a ghostly white figure twisting and turning above the building, it is strongly believed that the artists want to complete his last dance.
Grr, built in 1914 the Smith Tower was one of the highest buildings in Seattle, and is also believed to be haunted. The furniture and the hand-carved ceiling were gifts from the Empress of China. They include the famous Wishing Chair. It is said that a single woman who sits in the chair will marry within a year. The legend came true for Smith’s daughter, who married in the Chinese Room itself. But deep beneath the foundations lies the remains of the previous owners and their daughter, before the Smith Tower was built the old building burned everyone alive during the great fires.
Spooked! Our last stop was at the Spooked in Seattle offices, they have a section under the street. The girl in blacks’ section of the underground is unique and it was restored to keep it the way that it would have been in the late 1800s and is claimed that a young girl haunts the space, some visitors especially bond long hair girls can feel their hair being pulled as they navigate the gloomy corridors.
We could hear the audio recordings of real ghosts which will chill you to the bone “What are you doing here?”
