The Scare Zone

During the Halloween season in Pasadena, CA, there is a haunted attraction that takes place on the corner of Colorado and Raymond. It’s known as the Old Town Haunt. For $20.00, you can experience this haunted attraction. However, it is more than just a haunted attraction. This old town haunt is the site of the Pasadena Catacombs.

Discovered in 2005, the catacombs were discovered under a grate. Body parts of at least 36 different human remains were found scattered throughout the catacombs. An old abandoned mission use to be on the corner of Raymond and Colorado during the Mexican war. The catacombs that were underneath the mission were used to keep prisoners locked up. Mysteriously, these prisoners disappeared under unknown circumstances and they were found crazed into insanity. People believe that an evil spirit roams the catacombs to this day.

The mission was torn down and bank was built. In 1901, the bank was robbed by three robbers. They blew open the bank vault and escaped with gold. Even though the police surrounded the entire building, the robbers were never found. What’s amazing is when they blew open the bank vaults, the dynamite also blew open a wall. The wall opened up a path to the sealed off catacombs. People think that the robbers tried to escape through the catacombs and died there. “The ghost of the bank robbers” are said to roam the catacombs.

In 1946, after the end of World War II, Pasadena started to expand, so a new sewer system was required for the growing population. The sewer workers discovered what was later believed to be the old Spanish catacombs. The discovery of human remains were found and it appeared that it was the missing bank robbers. The only thing unexplained is that the body parts were found scattered about, and found spread out over several different areas of the underground. Then, after several mishaps, collapsing caverns, and vanishing sewer workers, the city decided to abandon the sewer plans. They thought it would be best to move to another location. The catacombs were then sealed up again.

The most talked about story of the Pasadena Catacombs is the story of Sarah Winsor. She was the 7 year old daughter of the banks president. One day, she was drawn to the catacombs and went into a bank vault when suddenly the vault door closed on her. She was locked up in the vault for nine days. When the vault was opened, her remains were found.

I was recently their doing an investigation of the Catacombs to see if it really is haunted. It was an interesting night. Getting locked up in the vault where Sarah’s body was found, my group tried to communicate with her and any other spirits that were present. I asked how many spirits there were with the SB7 Spirit Box. A voice came through saying 34. What’s interesting about that is the number of human remains that were found was 36. The number is very close and it’s possible there were 34 instead of 36 human remains found in the Catacombs.

Before we asked if any spirit were present, a voice was coming through. We asked for the name of the spirit and numerous names were coming through. The names were difficult to make out, but I did make out a Ron and a Kim. In the middle of our spirit box session, one of my team members battery died on his video camera. He had fully charged it before the investigation. Suddenly, a voice came through saying hello, so it’s possible that a spirit used the energy from the camera to communicate with us.

We then tried to communicate with Sarah. One of the people that works at the Old Town Haunt guided us that night and asked if she liked it when they scare people during Halloween time. We heard a female voice say “yes.” Shortly after that, it started to get cold in the room. This took place on a warm June night and it was about 75-80 degrees. The temperature drop was at least a 10-15 degree drop. I could feel it immediately because I was sweating and suddenly it cooled down. Using an infrared temperature gun, we looked around the room. It was 75 degrees and we detected an area that was 61 degrees.

We then decided to do a rapid EVP session where you ask questions quickly in a 2-3 minute time span. My fellow teammate had plugged in his video camera to charge up his battery. After 30 minutes, it was full again. He claims that it takes at least 2 hours to get a full battery on his camera. Back to the EVP session, I asked if something lured Sarah down to the vault. After about 10-15 seconds, a female spoke into the recorder. It was hard to make out what she was saying, but it sounded like a D word. Listening to it repeatedly, I think she said demon.

On the last part of the investigation, we went to the front of the catacombs where shadow figures have been reported. We began another spirit box session and our guide said he saw a shadow of what appeared to be a little girl. We stopped the session for a moment to check out the area. We began again and asked if it was Sarah that showed up. After a few seconds, a female voice said “yes.” That was the last part of our investigation.

After the investigation that night, I’d have to say that the Old Town Haunt is an active paranormal location. If you’re in Pasadena during Halloween, be sure to go check it out. Just don’t get locked in the bank vault.