Author Randall A. Reinstedt is in search of ghostlore in California. During the ten years that have passed since he released his book, Ghost Notes, he has spent a lot of time driving around the Golden State visiting well-known haunted sites and interviewing witnesses of their phenomena. In California Ghost Notes, the results he documents are clean family fun.

This 2000 book is formatted along the same lines as Reinstedt's previous one, except that it explores the whole state of California and not simply his locale of the Monterey Bay Area. Since publishing his first article on local ghost folklore in the 1970s, people have been inclined to tell him their experiences with ghostly phenomena. Reinstedt records each report and, after doing a bit of research, subsequently writes them up for publication. This book takes those accounts--most anecdotal--and provides them in the chronological order he received them. He also supplies some photos of the haunted sites and an index.

In San Simeon, when a tour group stops in one of the bedrooms at Hearst Castle, a 12-year-old girl watches as a sleeping woman lies on the bed. The woman sits up, looks around, then beckons the girl to come closer. The girl ignores the invitation and soon learns she was the only one in the group to see the woman.

California's Mother Lode is home to an abundance of ghosts. The National Hotel, for instance, claims it has a female spirit who the staff calls Flo. According to Reinstedt, guests have to deal with "...doors slamming, lights blinking, the contents of suitcases being dumped on the floor, and the loud laughter of women coming from the hall in the middle of the night."

If any structure looks like it should be haunted, it is definitely the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley. It delivers as promised. One couple checks out in the middle of night after being awakened from a sound sleep. Both had felt an invisible presence hovering over them and neither is comfortable sharing their room with it.

Reinstedt's collection of ghost folklore moves up and down the state and he includes some of California's most famous haunted sites in the mix, including the Winchester Mystery House, Queen Mary, Whaley House, and Hotel Del Coronado. He also documents phenomena occurring around the Jack Ranch Café on Highway 46, the site of James Dean's death. Considering Sarah Winchester's story is so well known that it was borrowed for the Liam Neeson-Catherine Zeta-Jones movie, The Haunting (which happened to show at the first-run theater located right next door to her home when the vehicle was first released), this reviewer has more appreciation for Reinstedt's efforts to procure fresher tales to share. This is the first published documentation this reviewer has found written on the Claremont Hotel. His information comes from primary sources with no heavy reliance on material that has been previously published.

To his credit, Reinstedt tastefully deals with adult subject matter at the rare time or two it occurs. While exposing little children to the "boogie man" may frighten them from sleeping alone at night, this book can be handed to older children without parents worrying about explicit sex or violence.

Like his previous book, Ghost Notes, Reinstedt refers to others he has written, but the amount of references have scaled down. He is nowhere near as monotonous in that regard as he was previously.

All in all, California Ghost Notes is fun to read for anyone interested in ghostlore or local legends from the Golden State. It's definitely not for skeptics.


More California ghost folklore:

Ghost Notes, by Randall Reinstedt

The Incredible World of Gold Rush Ghosts (The Big Picture), by Nancy Bradley and Robert Reppert

Ghost Hunter's Guide to the San Francisco Bay Area, by Jeff Dwyer

Ghost Stories of California's Gold Rush Country and Yosemite National Park, by Antonio R. Garcez

Ghost Hunting in Mother Lode Country, by Hilber H. Graf
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977542028&nav=MyGather

Haunts of San Jose, by David Lee

San Francisco Ghosts, Mark Lyon

Haunted Houses of California, by Antoinette May

Ghost Stories of California, by Barbara Smith

Ghosts of San Francisco, by Kathryn Vercillo


Documentary:

Ghosts of California

Recommended: Yes