Tis The Season of Paranormal Activity

SAN ANGELO, TX – It’s that time of year where the early morning and late evening chill seeps into the skin, and pumpkins, vampires, skeletons and ghosts plague neighborhood homes like a witch’s wart on a nose.

It’s also the season of scary stories. Stories of the unexplainable that pass on from generation to generation. Of course many of these stories are urban legends and tales of fiction, but many of us know fiction is simply a distortion of truth.

Although many people believe the unexplainable is simply that of a great imagination, there are those individuals who have the experience to prove otherwise. It’s those experiences San Angelo LIVE! is seeking this Halloween season.

Last year, we kicked of our weekly tales of ghost stories from around San Angelo. At first, we weren’t sure how our readers would react, but we soon learned many people could relate, or knew someone who could. After all, San Angelo is known for being a “hub” of paranormal activity.

Because of reader interest, we’re continuing the storytelling this year. We are also officially teaming up with West Texas Paranormal to record events that may or may not take place at the locations we will visit in the area.

The reason we became interested in sharing these stories is simple: we’ve had our own experiences that have forever changed the way we view the paranormal. Now, these incidents didn’t happen in October, or fall in line with Halloween, but sharing the stories this time of year does lend an added chill to the air.

So to get things started, here’s a recap of last year’s stories (and the story links). We have also provided another story to set the mood for what’s to come.

Casper the San Angelo Friendly Ghost

In 2008, my family, after renting for several years in San Angelo, finally got an opportunity to buy our first home in the area. We fell in love with an older house in a nice quiet College Hills neighborhood.

However, within the first year of living in that home, we learned the neighborhood was indeed beautiful and quiet, but things were a bit different on the inside.

Shortly after our move, we found two large entryways into the walls, and within the year, we learned a little boy, approximately 7 years of age, with blonde hair and blue eyes also inhabited the home.

Click here to read more.

The Paranormal Encounters of Healthy Families in San Angelo

Healthy Families San Angelo provides some amazing services for young families, and the staff at the organization feel strongly about what they do.

However, over the years, many staff members have reported some “unusual activity” taking place in the organization’s building.

Being that the building has been around since 1929, survived the catastrophic flood of 1936, and once housed San Angelo’s firefighters and senior citizens, it’s not surprising that it’s a hub for “unexplainable” activity.

Find out more here.

Old Ballinger Hotel is a Hub of History and Paranormal Activity

When my colleague John Basquez and I set out for Ballinger on the morning of October 16, 2015, we had no idea what would take place that day.

Earlier that week, I had interviewed a Midland native, Wes Childers, who told the story of a life-changing experience at the Olde Park Hotel & Antiques on Hutchings Avenue in the town approximately 36 miles northeast of San Angelo. He was a student at Angelo State University at the time, and his story prompted John and I to take a road trip to investigate his story further. It was a pretty amazing story.

When we got to the hotel, we met owner Jeanette Findlay, who gave us a nice history of the hotel, and who introduced us to all its “interesting” inhabitants. Let’s just say we got much more than what we bargained for that day.

For that story, click here.

Exploring San Angelo’s Haunted Bridge

Another paranormal landmark we visited last year was the Lone Wolf Crossing Bridge in San Angelo. We heard several stories about that bridge. Also, because of the activity, members of West Texas Paranormal hold many of their training sessions there.

Thus, LIVE! staff decided to spend a night out at the bridge to see if we could repeat a similar experience as the Olde Park Hotel in Ballinger. Although we didn’t have quite the same outcome, we did learn a few interesting things about the bridge and its history.

For more, visit here.

The Ghosts of Fort Concho

It’s no secret in San Angelo that many unexplainable sightings have taken place at Fort Concho. Because of the sightings, night tours have become a popular event during the month of October.

Last year, LIVE! attended one of those tours and listened to many of the stories surrounding the different buildings at the fort.

During their investigations there, West Texas Paranormal members have recorded conversations with Edith Grierson, the young girl who many people reported seeing over the years. She is a nice young lady who wants to engage with visitors, but her mother, Alice, who many people have also reported seeing at the fort, doesn’t think that’s the best thing.

To learn more, click here.

No More Dolls!

My daughter Ariana hates dolls. She has felt this way since around the age of 2, and when she was old enough, I told her the story that helped develop that hate.

When I was a girl, my favorite doll of all time was the Cabbage Patch Doll. In general, like many girls, I loved dolls period. However, there was something amazing about the Cabbage Patch, so naturally, when the time came, my ex-husband Ruben and I bought two of them for Ariana.

We bought the dolls shortly after moving into a town house complex in West Phoenix. We were really proud of this town house. I was 18 and Ruben 20 at the time, and the new place had recently been renovated. The space was much better than the small apartment we previously lived in. It also had a small back yard with a small shed, and a double covered parking spot in the front. It was perfect for a young couple with a small child.

Since we had the small yard, Ruben and I took in a small dog. After doing so, we regretted it because every night, after 10 p.m., the dog would start barking like crazy, and we had no clue why. During the day and early evening, the dog was fine. He was calm and sweet, and he loved Ari; but as soon as the clock hit 10 p.m., he went crazy.

One night, as the dog started his bout of barking, Ruben went outside to see what he was yapping at. I was in our room putting clothes away. A few moments later, he came back inside and said, “Hey Brandy, come here.”

I followed him outside, and said, “What’s up?”

“Look,” he said, pointing at the shed. I noticed the open door. We never had even been in the shed because we didn’t have enough things to put it to use.

“He’s barking at that, but I don’t see anything. Maybe there’s a mouse or something,” Ruben said.

After discussing a few more theories, we gave up and went back inside. The dog resumed his barking, and when I looked out my bedroom window, which was adjacent to the shed, I saw the dog standing a few feet from the shed door, which was now closed. However, he continued to bark at it.

The next day, Ruben and I decided to go through the shed to see what we would find. We found a box full of old photos and some old antiques. We figured they belonged to the landlord, so we simply put the items back. We thought nothing of it, and we didn’t find any signs of mice. We did find a few spiders in darker areas of the shed, but that was about it.

As time went on, the barking continued, and the most unimaginable thing happened. One day, as I was coming home from school (I was attending Arizona State University at the time), I came up to a police blockade. Police units lined the streets, and I had to turn around and find another way to get into the complex.

“Must be a drive-by,” I determined.

Drive-by shootings happened frequently in our neighborhood, and it wasn’t uncommon to come home to blockaded roads, but shortly after I maneuvered my way home, I learned the cops weren’t there because of a drive-by. They had found the bodies of three small children stuffed in garbage bags in the city drain hole close to our town house complex.

Later, we learned the mother of these three small children had drowned them, shoved their bodies in the garbage bags, and stuffed them down the drain hole.

This tragedy shook us up. We were both used to violence and guns, but to know a woman could murder her children in such a way had me and Ruben feeling a bit down.

It didn't help that after that incident, the dog’s barking continued and stranger things started happening. We're not sure if the actions of that mother played a role.

One night, Ruben and I were sitting on our living room couch watching television. Ari, who had been playing with her toys in her room, came screaming and crying into the living room.

“What’s wrong baby?” I asked, taking her in my arms.

Ari looked at us and put her small fingers on her eyes. “Doll’s eyes!” she said, pushing down on her eyelids. “Doll’s eyes!”

At the time, Ari was a few months shy of 2 years old, so she was still developing her sentences. We didn’t quite know what she was saying at first. Through her hysteria and gestures, we determined the Cabbage Patch dolls’ eyes had moved, and she said the dolls hit her.

Ruben and I stared at each other for a moment, not sure what to do. It would be one thing if Ari was an older kid who could make such things up, but at that age, it wasn’t likely. So we both got up and went into Ari’s room. We looked around, and we looked closely at the dolls, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

After that night, we put the Cabbage Patch Dolls up and continued with life as usual. A few weeks later, we decided to invite Ruben’s family over for Indian Fry Bread. All of Ruben’s siblings had kids Ari’s age. We figured it would be good for her to have some fun with her cousins.

All the adults hung out in the kitchen and living room, and the kids went to play in Ari’s room with her toys. We were in the middle of talking and joking around when the kids ran out of Ari’s room screaming and crying.

“The doll’s eyes!” one of the kids yelled.

“The dolls hit us,” yelled another.

Everyone was freaking out a little after that. One of Ruben’s brothers determined it was the kids’ imagination. Another relative figured they must have watched something scary. After the last incident, however, Ruben and I didn’t know what to think.

After everyone left, Ruben went to get the dolls and said, “I’m throwing them away!” I didn’t argue.

He threw them in our garbage can in the front of our yard. As he did so, I proceeded to clean up. I threw a trash bag filled with that garbage on top of the dolls about 30 minutes later.

We then grabbed Ari and left to the store. It was early evening time, so when we got back home, it was still light outside.

A few weeks prior to that day, Ruben’s dad had parked an old small two-door pickup he was working on at our house. As we made our way into the house, I noticed something in the front seat of the truck. When I got closer to the passenger side, I saw them.

The two Cabbage Patch dolls were sitting up staring straight ahead like nothing. Despite me throwing a bag full of beans and other food items on top of them, they looked clean and normal. I looked at Ruben in shock, and he said, “Screw this! I’m taking those things out of here!”

I don’t know where he took them, but he said, “Let’s just say there’s no way they can come back this time!”

True to his word, the dolls never came back, and we ended up tossing anything even resembling a doll from Ari’s array of toys in the garbage.

Unfortunately, things didn’t stop there though.

One night, when Ruben went to play basketball with his friends, Ari and I were hanging out in my room. We were watching one of her Disney movies. It wasn’t 10 yet because the dog wasn’t barking, but it was dark outside. The TV’s volume was low because I was trying to get Ari to bed, but when we heard the sound of shattering glass coming from the front rooms, we both jumped out of my bed.

I could hear more shattering glass, and thought maybe the mirrors that lined one of the walls in our dining room had somehow fallen. I told Ari, “Stay in here Mommas on the bed,” and went to investigate.

Ari looked at me with those big brown eyes, and said, “K, mommy.”

Not knowing what else to do, I slowly opened my bedroom door and went down the hall into the living room. It was dark, so I rushed to turn on the light. Everything was normal, however. There were no signs of shattered glass.

Freaking out a bit, I rushed back to my room, closed and locked the door.

About an hour later, after Ari fell asleep on the bed, I heard the living room television turn on, and within seconds, Super Mario Brothers music filled the townhouse and vibrated through my walls.

The dun, dun, dun, dun dun dun dun sound of Super Mario Brothers continued as I rushed back to the door and opened it. As soon as the door opened, it stopped. I went back into the living room, turned on the light again, but nothing.

It was at that point that I realized, “We don’t even have Nintendo or Super Mario Brothers.”

The next day, after learning what happened, Ruben decided to brave that look of criticism and approached one of our neighbors who was outside watering his plants.

Feeling a little strange and unsure, Ruben walked up to him and asked, “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” the man responded.

“Have you noticed anything strange, or out of the ordinary in your house?” Ruben asked.

Without flinching at the question, the man told Ruben, “Yes, we’ve seen some strange things. One day, after work, I came home. My wife and daughter were here, and my daughter was in her room. I went to go see her, and that’s when I saw them.”

“What?” Ruben asked.

“The books. My daughter’s books were floating in the air around her. When I opened the door, I saw them briefly before the dropped to the floor,” the man said. “I did some research on this place after that, and have learned that there have been other strange reports. This place is haunted. Why do you think the rent’s so cheap?”

Not too long after that, we learned other residents had experienced similar situations, and we made plans to leave that townhouse. And not long after that, Ruben and I separated and divorced.

Unfortunately, we had to find a new home for the dog that first told us in his way that something was wrong, but I still think of him to this day.

It feels like a lifetime ago since these events took place, but then we moved into this house in College Hills. Our experience with Casper brought the memories flooding back, so much so that I’m working on a book about it. It’s a work of fiction. But as I said previously, fiction is simply a distortion of truth.

Note: If you enjoyed last year’s story, and this one, check sanangelolive.com every weekend in October for more paranormal tales in San Angelo and the surrounding areas. If you have a story you would like to share, email [email protected].