Australian owned travel company Paranormal Holiday offers guests the opportunity to venture through the wild west of the United States, taking in creepy destinations you may only otherwise visit through television shows such as Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures. “Group travel brings people together and forges friendships” says founder Rob Coad, “they can experience visiting destinations they may never organise themselves.”
San Francisco’s dark side
Our first destination was the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. Heiress Sarah Winchester’s lavish home contains curious architectural features such as winding stairways to nowhere, doors that open to walls, and a séance room for communicating with the spirits. Construction began in 1884, and didn’t stop until her death 38 years later in 1922. Legend has it that after a number of misfortunes, Sarah consulted a psychic. She advised her to continue construction on the property to confuse the spirits that were angry with their deaths at the hands of her family's Winchester rifles empire.

Next stop was the Alameda Naval Base where the famously haunted USS Hornet air carrier ship is docked. During her 27 years in active duty, more than 300 people lost their lives onboard, including many to suicide. Tour guides tell ghostly stories of moving objects and ghostly figures wandering the decks. This was the site of our first overnight investigation, as we lodged in the former sickbay bunks. Although not the 4-star accommodation some of us were accustomed to, it was a distinctive experience (let’s be honest: this is what we signed up for!).
No trip to San Francisco is complete without a visit to Alcatraz Island. The former prison records more than 1.4 million visits per year, revealing the dark fascinations we all harbour. Our extended night tour included access to some parts of the island normally closed to the public, such as the eerie hospital wing.
Before leaving SF, we ventured through the creepy concrete ruins of the Sutro Baths by night: a public bathhouse on the edge of the Pacific Ocean that was destroyed by fire in 1966. Ghostly lore surrounding the nearby Sutro Cave alleges that if you enter in the middle of the night and light a candle, a drowned spirit will materialise and cast it into the rushing water.
Old Sacramento Town
Old Sacramento was a hidden gem we were introduced to on our way out of California. These 28 acres on Sacramento’s historic waterfront were the site of both tragedy (fire and flood) and triumph (the founding of the Transcontinental Railroad and the terminus of the Pony Express). Following one of many devastating floods in 1862, a mammoth project was undertaken to raise the city above the flood level. Our group took a tour of the underground, hearing how thousands of cubic yards of earth was brought in on wagons in the audacious scheme to raise the street level.
The Ghosts of Virginia City
The highlight of the trip though, was Virginia City.
Virginia City is the kind of place where every building is allegedly haunted and everybody wants to talk about ghosts. Thanks to the largest silver strike in the world – the Comstock Lode – Virginia City was booming in the 1870s, and miners, prostitutes, gunslingers, performers and businessmen flocked to the area. The town’s wealthiest denizens wanted a place to meet, and formed the Old Washoe Club.
This towering building in the heart of Virginia City’s main street is believed to be one of the most haunted locations in all of the West. A ground-floor museum leads into The Crypt, which was once used to as a makeshift morgue overflow. Also renowned is its spiral staircase: the longest freestanding spiral staircase ever built, said to be haunted by a resident spirit named Lena. The upper floors are now condemned, but you can still spend an evening exploring the entire building alone… if you dare.
A more lovingly maintained property, The Mackay Mansion was built in 1859, five years before Nevada became a US state, and is a magnet for paranormal enthusiasts. William Randolph Hearst’s father, George Hearst, built the mansion and later sold it to John Mackay, the richest man to come out of the Comstock. Two bandits who attempted to rob its large vault are now said to haunt the lower floor, while a woman dressed in Victorian clothing has been seen sitting in the living room. Johnny Depp stayed at the mansion in 1995 while filming Dead Man, awaking to a ghostly spirit of a little girl sitting at the foot of his bed.
The Delta Saloon & Casino might draw you in with its large banner advertising the famous ‘Suicide Table’. At the rear of the saloon you will find the table in question on display, where heavy losses often led to gamblers losing their lives. A man named “Black Jake” reportedly lost $70,000 in one night before turning a gun on himself at the table.
Tonopah and Goldfield
Our accommodation was often a haunted attraction itself, withThe Mizpah Hotel in the old mining town of Tonopah voted America’s most haunted hotel. Rob agrees: “The amount of paranormal activity there is phenomenal.”

It’s easy to see why the spirits remain. Originally opened in 1907, The Mizpah Hotel was one of the first luxury hotels in all of Nevada, serving as a social hub for the booming mining town. It is a beautiful and inviting historical hotel that was lovingly restored in 2011. But it is not the only option for creepy accommodation in Tonopah.
In what might require a trigger warning for some, each room at the The World Famous Clown Motel is decorated with creepy clown murals, and the lobby is a veritable ‘clown museum’, with over 5,000 clown figurines and dolls on display. It is situated next to the Old Tonopah Cemetery, where many fascinating characters from Tonopah’s history are buried.
Nearby Goldfield is now merely a reminder of what once was. After a significant gold discovery in 1904, the town grew to be the wealthiest and largest city in Nevada. However, its mines were in severe decline by 1910, and its population dwindled down to about 1,500 as fortune seekers sought opportunities elsewhere. Today, fewer than 300 people call the town home, which gives it ominous ghost town vibes.

Remnants of Goldfield’s vast wealth still remain on display at a number of beautifully preserved buildings, notably the Goldfield Hotel. Opened in 1908, the Goldfield Hotel was regarded as the most luxurious hotel between Chicago and San Francisco. It was equipped with luxuries of the time, and the lobby was opulently decorated with rich mahogany, black leather furniture, gold-leaf ceilings, and crystal chandeliers. It is now renowned for being one of the “scariest places on earth”, drawing paranormal investigators from all over the world. The most famous ghostly resident is the spirit of a woman named Elizabeth who was chained to the radiator in room 109 while pregnant, before both her and her newborn were murdered. Many guests touring the hotel have claimed to see Elizabeth’s apparition, and some even claim to hear crying.
Last stop Las Vegas
The International Car Forest and the Area 51 Visitor Center were quirky stops along the road, but it’s hard to go past the natural and otherworldly beauty of Death Valley National Park. If there’s any place where myth meets reality it has to be here. Walking across sand dunes and salt flats, it’s easy to imagine you have been teleported to another planet. Steady drought and record summer heat make this below-sea level basin a land of extremes, and this natural oddity proved to be one of the most mind-blowing experiences of the entire adventure.

Our trip culminated in an extensive ‘RIP’ tour of Zak Bagans’ (of Ghost Adventures fame) The Haunted Museum in Downtown Las Vegas. Not for the faint of heart, the museum features many rooms containing serial killer artefacts, cursed dolls, circus ephemera and the notorious ‘Dybukk Box’: a wooden box Bagans’ claims contains a malevolent spirit (one that gained notoriety when rapper Post Malone blamed it for a spate of bad luck).

Fittingly, our tour farewell dinner took place at the eccentric The Golden Tiki bar. Featuring a quirky decor of shrunken heads, and an allegedly haunted ladies’ room, it was a fitting end to a weird and wonderful journey though the United States.
Visit paranormalholiday.com.au for more information on their coming trips.
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