Random Creepy Stories And Urban Legends From California (16 items)

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  (#3) Creepy Clowns Haunt Central California

  It all began with the Wasco clown. In 2014, residents of Wasco, CA, noticed a creepy clown standing around, being generally terrifying. Police were called, an investigation conducted, and, eventually, it was revealed the clown was involved in a photography project, so, no harm, no foul. Although the project is pretty f*cking creepy.

  It all could have stopped there, but it didn't. Inexplicably, copycat clowns began showing up all over southern and central California, and they weren't out to take spooky pictures. Instead, they were weaponized. Yes, multiple armed clowns terrorized small towns, for no reason anyone can discern. One 14-year-old was even arrested for running around as a clown and chasing children. 
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  (#11) Gravity Doesn't Always Work Right In California

  We're not just talking about the Santa Cruz Mystery Spot, pictured. In California, phenomena called "gravity hills" exist. For unknown reasons, gravity works differently in these spots. For example, on gravity hills in southern California, you can put a car in neutral on the hill and the car will inexplicably appear to roll uphill. Many gravity hills have spooky stories, such as horrific car accidents or roadside deaths.

  Is it some supernatural force at work? Or just a trick of perspective, as many suggest? Well, you'll just have to try it and find out.
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  (#2) Alcatraz Might Have Kept A Demon In Its Cells

  Alcatraz is extremely haunted. There are ghosts of prisoners who died there and ghostly security guards. The place is full of spooky rooms, like those in the medical ward, which creak and groan like any good haunted prison should. There's a room called "the hole" in the depths of the prison that was used for solitary confinement, and it is the source of one pretty unnerving legend.

  According to legend, sometime in the 1940s, a man was put down there and, throughout the night, screamed to the guards about a demonic creature with glowing eyes in the cell that was trying to kill him. The guards ignored this as an excuse to get out. When they opened the cell in the morning, they found the man strangled to death. No one knows exactly how he died.
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  (#5) The Black Dahlia Remains A Gruesome Mystery

  On the morning of January 15, 1947, police in Los Angeles made a horrifying discovery: a woman, sliced cleanly in half at the waist, posed such that onlookers thought she was a mannequin. The murder victim, identified as Elizabeth Short, was a young actor, and the public became entranced with the murder, nicknaming her The Black Dahlia. A massive manhunt ensued, but no one was ever charged, and the murder remains unsolved.

  Almost 70 years later, we're still searching for the person who performed this gruesome and bloody murder, and their motive.
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  (#12) Joshua Tree Is Home To Skinwalkers

  If you ask Native Americans of Joshua Tree about Skinwalkers, you're unlikely to get answers. These not-quite-human exiles of the native faith are said to be malicious witches or medicine men who don't like being looked at or intruded upon. Even speaking of them brings bad fortune, thus the silence on the matter. Sometimes, they shapeshift, taking the form of coyotes or wolves, or imitate injured children to lure people in. At night, they're known to terrorize campers and kill people. They've been rumored to frequent Joshua Tree National Park.

  All this wouldn't be so terrifying if it wasn't for the fact people are found dead in Joshua Tree fairly regularly, and some go missing without a trace. Is it heatstroke, or maybe something a little darker?
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  (#14) There's A Ghost In Stow Lake

  There are plenty of ghost stories in the San Francisco Bay area, and haunted buildings are pretty much everywhere. That said, there's one ghostly tale that's been around for over a century, and it is rather tragic.

  The story goes that a woman pushing her baby in a stroller near Stow Lake in Golden Gate State Park sat down to take a rest. Another woman sat beside her, and they had a nice, relaxing chat. They were so engrossed, they didn't notice when the stroller rolled away, into the lake. After a while, the lady got up to leave, and saw the stroller missing. She raced around the park, asking everyone she could find, "Have you seen my baby?"

  At long last, there was no other place to check but the lake, so she waded in, all the way under the water, in search of her child. She never resurfaced. There is a statue in her honor by the lake, and you can supposedly summon her using it. Of course, she might kill you if you do, so summon at your own risk. 

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