Not every ghost is petrifying. We bet you’d love to meet the one named Mabel who haunts the historic rooms of the Menger Hotel, San Antonio’s oldest hostelry. A bedeviling phantasm intent on being helpful, Mabel returns to continue a job she loved and did well. A former housekeeper celebrated for her attention to detail, Mabel died decades ago in Room 217. She reappears to intuit guests’ needs from organizing their belongings to providing unsolicited wake up calls.
But, she’s not the only wraith wandering the halls of The Menger, a favorite amongst ghost hunters. As the oldest hotel in the city, set just on the boundaries of The Alamo, The Menger has welcomed the likes of Teddy Roosevelt, Oscar Wilde and Babe Ruth. While it’s unclear whether the ultra-famous walk the storied staircase without their corporal bodies, what’s certain is a plethora of less famous apparitions purportedly refuse to leave the premises.
There’s William Menger, the hotel’s namesake and founder, who lingers in The Menger’s original bar, his whiskey glass aloft, his Victorian suite neatly pressed. One guest reported being enveloped in a freezing breeze as Menger manifested to offer him a toast, before disappearing, and leaving a veil of frost on the bar’s glassware.
Stair climbers with a penchant for ghost spotting might want to ride the elevator at The Menger — though don’t expect a timely arrival to your floor. For years, guests have relayed details of mysterious elevator trips, during which the creaking car stopped again and again – but only on the third floor. When the door opened, they say, an indistinct visage made itself known, before evaporating into a hazy mist.
Texas royalty can be perpetually met in The Menger’s King Ranch Room. The suite, named for King Ranch’s founder, Richard King, a frequent visitor at The Menger before he died there in 1885, seems to be the ethereal domicile of the magnate. Guests tell ghoulish tales of King sightings, footsteps, voices and an overall air of foreboding.
Perhaps the hotel’s most-oft seen ghost is murdered chamber maid Sallie White, said to roam the hotel for eternity. Ghost hunters have recorded her voice, guests have seen her preparing her towel cart or dusting rooms and many have noticed an unexplained scent of lavender wafting through the halls
From phantom Victorian photographers to spooky dancers to muttering Alamo soldiers to a spectral pianist, The Menger reigns as a much studied hub of paranormal activity. A classic hotel awash in San Antonio’s history, The Menger offers an elegant retreat as pampering to the pusillanimous and non-believers as those intent on a jittery connection with unknown realms.
Read on to discover more of San Antonio’s most pine-tingling locations — and a couple of ghostly gatherings as well.
This glamorous Mediterranean Revival hotspot, which dates to 1929, was once the largest theater in the United States. That means there’s plenty of room for spectral beings. Look for patrons who relive their past lives as part of the audience, as well as one ghost who appears dramatically beside the stage.
The Emily Morgan Hotel
Built in the Jazz Age, The Emily Morgan soaree as the city’s first skyscraper and a hospital. You’ll quake upon seeing The Vanishing Nurse, who walks busily through the halls to simply fade into thin air. Room 810 seems particularly perilous — and not for the craven. Guests report all night whispering that disturbs their sleep. Beware gazing at yourself in the mirror here. Guests swear they’ve seen phantasms peering in their reflection.
This bustling arts district by day shows a spine-chilling side at night with beheaded Comanche ghosts, a “woman in white” who dons a white apron, a crying little girl who seems lost and loads of misplaced murmuring.
A Greek Revival mansion constructed on the historic location of the 1842 Battle of Salado, Victoria’s Black Swan Inn, built in 1867, serves as a popular wedding venue, the site of various art markets and a destination for avid ghost hunters. Buzzing with paranormal activity, it abounds with strange sightings, tales of terrifying encounters and generations of returning ghosts. If not planning your phantasm-filled nuptials here, join one of the ghost tours or “no slumber” parties, sure to rouse the sleeping spirits.
Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours
Ghost Tours for the Vexed and Timorously Inclined
Alamo City Ghost Tours (Experts on the city’s haunted hotels and bars; tours include ghost hunting equipment; for all ages)
Bad Wolf Ghost Tours (They host a haunted dinner at Emily Morgan Hotel)
Ghost City Tours (For all ages)
Nightly Spirits Ghost Tours (Ghost Tour and Pub Crawl)
RJA Ghost Tours ((Certified Paranormal Investigators)
Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours (Ride a ghoulish bus)