This week, we have the honor of hosting Sally Carpenter.  She’s been an actress, theatre critic, college writing instructor, jail chaplain, and an author.  While completing a master’s degree in theatre at Indiana State, she wrote two plays, both finalists in the American College Playwriting Competition.  One, Star Collector, was produced in New York City. Her debut mystery, The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper, was a  2012 Eureka! Award finalist.  So, here’s Holly Ghosts by Sally Carpenter

            A popular hobby in Southern California is ghost hunting and no wonder—apparently nearly every old building is haunted. The most glamorous ghosts, of course, reside in Hollywood.

Spirits are said to be active at night in the Hollywood Wax Museum. I visited the museum once and the dummies were quite creepy even during the daytime.

            Down the street from the museum is the Roosevelt Hotel (the site of the first Academy Awards banquet). Marilyn Monroe had a room here. Years after her death the full-length mirror from her suite was moved to the lower level by the elevator (One online source that said the mirror is now in storage). People claim they have seen Monroe’s image in the mirror.

            Many years ago I worked at Paramount Pictures, the only major studio still in Hollywood. The northern edge of the studio lot is marked with a stone wall, which is also the southern border of the Hollywood Forever cemetery where many notables of the classic cinema are buried. The security guards at Paramount claim that spirits from the cemetery visit the lot at night—doors open, windows close, and footsteps are mysterious heard inside locked, empty soundstages.]

            At night sometimes a man in a trench coat walks through the backlot and disappears through the wall. Some believe it’s the ghost of Bugsy Malone, who’s buried in the cemetery.

            In 1991 comedian Red Foxx was filming the sitcom “The Royal Family” in Stage 31. On Oct. 11 he suffered a heart attack during rehearsal and died. Since then, spotlights in Stage 31 will suddenly switch on and shine on the spot where the actor collapsed.     

            Heather O’Rourke was a young actress who appeared in the “Poltergeist” films as well as the TV show “Happy Days,” filmed on Paramount’s Stage 19. In 1988 Heather died at age 12 from cardiac arrest and septic shock from a misdiagnosed condition. People claim her ghost haunts Stage 19; childish laughter and running feet have been heard inside the building.

One of my co-workers claimed that he and a friend were inside an empty soundstage—possibly Stage 19—and they felt someone—or something—touch them.

            In the Hart Building, one of the office complexes on the lot, men—never women—have smelled a strong rose-scented perfume and seen a woman in one of the rooms.

From a certain spot on the Paramount lot one can look north and see the famous Hollywood sign in the distance. In 1932 a young actress, Peg Entwistle, was distraught that she could not land an acting role, so she jumped to her death from the top of the “H” in the sign. Since then park rangers and tourists claim that at night near the sign they can see a young lady dressed in 1930s clothes. When they approach, she vanishes. Other claim they’ve seen a woman jump from atop the sign as well (one ghost hunter claims is this not the ghost herself, but “residual energy” from the tragic event.)

Other ghosts are said to haunt elsewhere in Los Angeles. People say they’ve seen Harry Houdini walk the grounds of where he once lived on Laurel Canyon Drive (the building burned down years ago and only some foundation and stairs remain). Actors George Reeves and Thelma Todd are said to haunt the houses where they tragically died.

Tourists who want the ultimate experience can take the Dearly Departed Tragical History Tour. A bus picks up passengers in Hollywood and travels throughout the city to the locations where Michael Jackson, Bela Legosi, River Phoenix, John Belushi and other celebrities breathed their last as well as sites of famous murders. It’s a daytime trip only and there are no reports of guests encountering ghosts along the route.

            My new book, “The Sinister Sitcom Caper,” is set at a movie lot. Former ‘70s teen idol Sandy Fairfax is the guest on a corny family sitcom, “Off-Kelter.” When one of the actors drops dead at his feet, he investigates the suspicious death with the aid of a dwarf, an animal actor and a Hollywood ghost who helps our amateur sleuth out of a jam. Available in print and Kindle ebook.

Sally Carpenter is a member of Sisters in Crime.  You can contact her at:  scwriter@earthlink.net

She blogs at:  http://sandyfairfaxauthor.com