Clik here to view.
Banking on a Dead Horse in Silver Lake
Citibank, Silverlake. For all Citibank’s Silver Lake customers know, their branch safeguards a mythic lost treasure. But it’s not in the bank’s vault — at least not the one where the loot is kept....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Altadena’s Weirdly Mysterious “Gravity Hill”
Amazon.com image Recently your humble blogger picked up a copy of the wondrously offbeat Weird California (left), a “travel guide to California’s local legends and best kept secrets.” Written by...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Forest Lawn, the Ultimate Celebrity Neverland
Forest Lawn, Glendale. Photos: Michael Imlay This week it was announced that pop-singer Michael Jackson will be laid to rest at Forest Lawn, Glendale, on what would have been his 51st birthday, Aug....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Back From the Dead
StockXchng image. The pumpkins are carved, the skeletons are hanging from the rafters, dusk has descended, and the witching hour is upon us. Yes, it’s the Eve of All Hallows, and at long last the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ghosts and GHOULA at Olvera Street’s Casa La Golondrina Mexican Cafe
Los Angeles' oldest Mexican cafe. Photo: M. Imlay. Readers with a thirst for spirits — both the distilled and paranormal kind — should consider some monthly barhopping with GHOULA, the Ghost Hunters...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Corpse Flower Creates Big Stink at Huntington
Source: Wikimedia Commons This past weekend, crowds lined up at the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino, wanting to catch a glimpse of a flower known both for its humongous size (6 to 10 feet...
View ArticleClik here to view.
L.A.’s Ouija-Inspired Bradbury Building
L.A.'s Famous Bradbury Building. Photo: Michael Imlay “Take Bradbury Building. It will make you famous…” That was the message George Wyman supposedly received from his dead brother, courtesy a Ouija...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Time Warp: William Desmond Taylor’s Sensational Death Scene
The murder site today. Photo: M. Imlay. Today it’s a Ross parking lot, but on the evening of Feb. 1, 1922, the tract at 404. S. Alvarado was a Mediterranean bungalow court — and the setting for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Stowed Baby Mummies Spark Film-Noir-Like LAPD Investigation
StockXchng image. Sometimes it’s best not to snoop through somebody else’s old, abandoned luggage. Still, you can just picture the scenario as it unfolded Tuesday afternoon… Rummaging down in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
L.A. Coroner’s Little Shop of Horrors Now a Dying Business
L.A. County Coroner building entrance. Photo: Eric Gonzalez Considering how death rates trend upward during the holiday season, this macabre December 25 New York Times article profiling the L.A....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Grave Controversy Continues at La Plaza
Remembering the dead at La Placita. (Photos: M. Imlay) Novena candles glow gently in the courtyard of Los Angeles’ Old Plaza Church. They seem a fitting enough symbol, given news a little over a week...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Caution: Never, Never Wake the Dead!
StockXchng image. Not to beat a dead horse, but having unearthed numerous pioneer skeletons at the abandoned Placita churchyard, LA Plaza officials might want to think twice before messing with the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
If You’ve Ever Wondered How an Urban Legend Gets Started…
StockXchng image Here at Dateline>City of Angels we love to dissect and examine historic ghostlore and other longstanding urban legends. However, it’s not very often that we get to see a real,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
L.A.’s Forgotten Lizard People
(StockXchange image) The KCRW Shortcuts blog has a new post exploring the facts and fiction surrounding Los Angeles’ oft-ignored network of underground tunnels. The post includes links to several...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Can Haunted Los Encinos SHP Be Saved?
Garnier House. (Wikimedia) That’s the question raised by this March 2 Los Angeles Daily News article. (Well, the article doesn’t actually mention the “haunted” angle, but we’ll get to that below.) It...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Summer Reruns: A Few Favorite Ghost Posts
(StockXchange image) When it comes to sleuthing a good ghost story, I’m like Velma in the “Scooby Doo” cartoons: I prefer to start my search in the library. Over the years, this blog has paid a lot of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Summer Reruns: Murder and Mayhem Edition
(StockXchange) That’s right, folks! Once again we’re pimping the old Dateline>City of Angels archives to reacquaint readers with some of our all-time favorite posts. This week we bring you three...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Close-Up: Monrovia’s Scary Aztec Hotel
Monrovia's haunting Aztec Hotel. Built in 1925 in the Mayan Revival style, Monrovia’s sadly dilapidated Aztec Hotel is a notable example of the once-proudly offbeat motoring attractions that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Summer Reruns: Cryptic SoCal Edition
Angeles-Rosedale Cemetery. Like many history buffs, I find old cemeteries profoundly educational. Walking among the plots, statuary and epitaphs, you never know who (or what) you’ll stumble upon. But...
View ArticleWeekend Matinee: Old Town Pasadena “Haunt”
This has got to be some type of Halloween gimmick or hoax. During California’s Mission Era, meticulous records were kept by both civil and Church authorities documenting every phase of a mission’s...
View Article