The Haunted Hearst Castle

Ghosts & the Supernatural – Before reading this article, please check out the Hearst Castle website at:  http://hearstcastle.org/
I have been interested in the paranormal, since I was a kid, living in a haunted house on Effy Street in Fresno, Ca. After my experiences in that house on Effy Street, I started researching the paranormal through Brad Steiger’s books on the paranormal. As I got older, I visited known locations that have a reputation of being haunted. Some of those places are: Alcatraz in San Francisco; Hearst Castle; Tombstone, Arizona; Old Tuscon, Arizona; Billy the Kid’s Grave in New Mexico; Napolean Bonaparte’s Tomb in France; Bridge over the River Kwai in Thailand; Red Square in Moscow; Tower of London in London, England; Stonehenge; Dublin Castle in Ireland; Eiffel Tower in Paris, France; Notre Dame in France; San Quentin Prison; Folsom Prison; Superstitious Mountains, Arizona; Area 51 – Rachel, Nevada and Las Vegas, Nevada. While I was in the Army, many of the places I was stationed at had history and much of that history leaned towards hauntings, the paranormal. Some of the places I was stationed at and heard stories of hauntings were: Yongson Barracks – Seoul, Korea; Merrill Barracks – Nurnberg, Germany; Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri; Ft. Huachuca, Arizona; Fort Ord, California; Fort Jackson, South Carolina; Fort Hood, Texas; Camp Beaugard; Fort Polk; Fort Knox, Kentucky; Fort Gordon, Georgia; Fort Benning, Georgia; Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Out of all of these places, I would like to take some time to talk about the very haunted Hearst Castle. This 20th century castle was commissioned by William Randolph Hearst. When I visited this castle, I was in awe. I could feel the history resonating from its walls. Architect Julia Morgan who was very much involved in the creation of this castle, received her certificate of architecture from L’ecole des Beaux – Arts in Paris. Hearst only hired the best and the result was something that was utterly fantastic. The Hearst Castle was originally called La Cuesta Encantada. Many lavish parties were thrown at the Hearst Castle. A slew of celebrities would frequent the parties that William Randolph Hearst would throw. One of his biggest parties was his 71st birthday party. The party was Civil War themed. Some of the celebrities that have visited the Hearst Castle are: Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Charlie Chaplin, Marx Brothers, Charles Lindbergh, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, James Stewart, Bob Hope, Calvin Coolidge, Franklin Roosevelt, Dolores del Rio and Winston Churchill. The guests would enjoy looking at the exotic animals on the property and watching the zebras roam about the property. To this day, zebras can still be seen roaming around the countryside at the Hearst Castle.

Hearst Castle with its beautiful surrounding property and lovely Neptune Pool took a long time to complete. In fact it took 28 years for Morgan and Hearst to complete the finishing touches of this magnificent castle. 6.5 million dollars was spent on the building of the castle and 3.5 million was spent in collecting artwork from all around the world to place in the interior of this castle. One of the things that attracted me to visit this castle is hearing the stories of paranormal happenings at this castle. I heard reports that caretakers have heard sounds of splashing in the pool during the evening and there was no one around. The sounds of music can sometimes be heard and no music is playing. Lester Shaw who was visiting the Hearst Castle said he heard the song Moonlight Serenade by Glenn Miller and asked the tour guide if he heard the song too? The tour guide said he didn’t hear the song, but two people in the tour heard the song, while others on the tour did not hear the song.

Sometimes late at night, caretakers have heard the shuffling of feet, laughter, music playing, talking as if there was a party in the house. They turn on the lights and the noises stop abruptly. When I visited the Hearst Castle, I did obtain an EVP of a man saying: “Everything will be fine, my dear.” I believe there is a lot of residual hauntings taking place at the castle and not necesarrily intelligent hauntings. The EVP that I captured most likely was residual and they are words that are imprinted into the atmosphere and being repeated over and over again. The only possible intelligent haunting that was reported is from Suzie Bilkins of San Jose who said that when she was visiting the castle with her husband, that she actually got pinched in the rear. She thought her husband did it and he denied the incident. As they went up the stairs she got pinched again and she could feel the palm of someone’s hand sliding down her buttocks. She felt very uncomfortable and left the premises quickly with her husband.

This is the only report I have received, that shows there maybe intelligent hauntings taking place at the Hearst Castle. If you hear any reports of intelligent hauntings, please let me know at the email below. If I get enough reports, I will revisit the Hearst Castle.

Paul Dale Roberts, HPI Esoteric Detective
Halo Paranormal Investigations (HPI International)
https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/HPIinternational/