With all its glitz and glamour, it's easy to forget that the city of
Los Angeles is pretty haunted. Even today, it's not exactly the safest place in the world. Perhaps even more so back then, when security was largely scarce, everything was fairly new, and the world didn't have the techniques and technology it has now to keep people safe. To be blunt, this “City of Angels” definitely has a lot of hidden demons, many of which are likely in the most haunted hotspots in LA. These include places like the Colorado Street Bridge, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, the infamous Comedy Store on the Sunset Strip, and even the iconic Hollywood sign itself!
Hollywood Sign
Yes, you read that right! The most iconic sight in LA, the Hollywood sign, is purportedly haunted. How could it not be when this was where a lot of people took their own lives? Even to this day, legends remain of ghost apparitions of those who committed suicide by the Hollywood sign. The most famous was Ped Entwistle, a stage actress who likely moved to Los Angeles to try to become a movie star. Though she had her fair share of film credits and good reviews, she's said to have jumped from one of the sign's letters (many say it’s the “H”). Her body was then found by a hiker on September 18, 1932.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Colorado Street Bridge
How do you know that a place is possibly haunted? Simple: it's known as the “Suicide Bridge” of the city. The Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena, one of the
central neighborhoods in Los Angeles, is admittedly beautiful. It's not exactly as captivating as New York's Brooklyn Bridge, for example, but it holds its own as far as architectural marvels go. It was completed back in 1913 but it only took about six years later, in 1919, when the bridge had its first suicide. Since then, Colorado Street Bridge has seen countless deaths over the years. As such, there have been just as many purported ghost sightings here too.
Source: Wikimedia Commons/ Jason Hickey
Cobb Estate
Technically speaking, the Cobb Estate isn't exactly in the city of Los Angeles, It's still within the LA country, but not in the central metropolis. The estate is, however, near enough to the city and has connections to Hollywood history so it's widely regarded as part of LA. The latter related to when the Marx Brothers purchased the estate in the 1950s to save the dilapidated mansion inside. Since they never used it, the uninhabited land drew in squatters and delinquents. Heaven knows what sorts of mischief these sketchy characters got into around that time, but both the mansion and the estate itself have their fair share of ghost stories.
Source: Wikimedia Commons/ Copyright Dewey Paciaffi 2020
Cecil Hotel
You'd think that this city's hotels would be the cream of the crop, wouldn't you? Should such accommodations be as glamorous as the many
luxury homes in LA? Yes, they should be, but not all of them are. Some are infamous for being reported haunted, and the best-known of them all is Downtown LA's Cecil Hotel. The place has seen a lot of violent deaths over the years, resulting in a flurry of ghost stories and urban legends. However, none are as notorious as the mysterious case of Elisa Lam. Long story short: Canadian tourist Elisa Lam's remains were found on the main cistern of the hotel back on February 19, 2013, but there's security footage of her acting strangely by the elevator before her disappearance.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel
It seems like LA has a whole host of haunted hotels. While the most infamous today is the Cecil Hotel downtown, the prestigious Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on
Hollywood Blvd is just as eerie. Before, it used to be a famous haunt (pun intended!) for Tinsel Town's elite. They included icons like Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift, and more. Over the years, however, it's those same screen legends that now purportedly haunt the hotel. The lobby famously has a mirror that countless witnesses confessed that they saw Monroe's beautiful reflection hovering above them. That's enough to give you goosebumps!
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Comedy Store
With how infamously haunted the Comedy Store on the Sunset Strip is, it's weird that the place still operates as a comedy club. You'd think people would find it hard to laugh and giggle in a place supposedly filled with ghosts and spirits, no matter how funny the comedian is. Well, if people like it that way, that's them! Still, it’s worth noting that before the place became the comedy club it is today, it used to be Ciro's Restaurant, a popular hotspot in LA's social scene in the 1940s and 50s Unfortunately, this “social scene” included people in the mob, resulting in a myriad of murders and assaults committed on this very site.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Pantages Theatre
The Pantages Theatre on Hollywood Blvd is so beautiful and beloved, you couldn't believe that it's (purportedly) haunted! But just like many of the hotspots on this list, the ornate hall has its own urban legends too. The most famous is that businessman Howard Hughes, who once owned the theater, is said to haunt the place himself. A notorious workaholic, he was known for working for hours on end in the theater. He even had a door built to open directly to one of the balconies, allowing him to oversee what was going on no matter what.
Source: Rawpixel.com
It may be impossible to think, but there are several haunted hotspots in Los Angeles. Heaven knows what the city has seen and heard over the years so it's not far-fetched to consider that there's more to it than meets the eye!
