Border's, a fabulous store for books and music located in "Old Town", seems to have two ghosts of its own.
The stories about these ghosts are that one is a small boy and one is a man in his 20s or so, wearing jeans, I believe a pullover sweater and a baseball cap.
Who are they? We're not sure. The young man is a complete mystery, at least to this writer. But there is a rumor about the child, that he fell off a balcony when the building was a school. (This was the site of the town's school from the 1880s until the 1950s. Later it was developed into a shopping center. For awhile, the old auditorium was a theater. That spot is now Border's.)
If you ask the people who've worked there a long time about the hauntings, some will say they don't believe, and some will say they've heard things. When it is a matter of the books moving off the shelves, you can argue that they were squeezed in too tightly and were pushed by natural force.
I did, though, meet a few people myself over the years who told me of their own personal experiences in the store. One gal told me that she and two other employees were chatting one day when they all saw the apparition of the grownup spectre out of their peripheral vision. When they turned to look straight on, he vanished. But all three had seen him. And a person I know well had an experience of the child ghost when we visited the store one day which could not be explained away.
And no, they weren't actually scary happenings overall. Just weird. And that is normal for hauntings - they are usually more weird than anything else.
Borders is arguably one of the very best places to hang out in town. There are books, magazines, and papers of course. And there's a coffee bar, with seating both inside - at tables or comfy leather chairs - and outside on a sunny deck. It's got a comfortable ambiance, a bit of history, and that "little something extra". I have never felt that it was a creepy place in the least. If the place is indeed haunted, which I believe it is, they are not bad ghosts. Nothing to fear.
So go to Borders, buy a great book and have a seat in a comfy leather chair. Who knows, maybe you'll learn something about the place...and if so, fill me in!
Well, Los Gatos is rocketing up on my families radar of places we have to visit. My hubby Mel is a major ghost/otherworldly afficienado. When we get to your neck of the woods, we will have to head to Border's and see what we can find.
And when you come down to my neck of the woods here in Claremont, I will be happy to take you to all the local "haunts".
Tisza, you have a deal! We are only an hour south of San Francisco. Way back when, San Franciscans had "summer homes" down here (SF gets socked in with fog in the summer - be warned if you come in July/August!). The climate here was considered very "healthful" so many people migrated here to get well from tuberculosis and other things. Homes were simply opened to the sick. So the small town became something of a health resort-convalescent town. Some (many?) didn't actually get better - despite our great weather. Hence there were two mortuaries in this then very tiny town.
In San Francisco, there's a haunted hotel (The Queen Anne) in which the resident ghost, Mary Lake (yes, they know who she is) actually does NICE THINGS while people sleep - like tuck them in or fold their clothes. Seriously.
I know a woman who lives in a home with a lady ghost who once moved a sharp knife while two people watched it so that a child would not get hurt when running by.
And I know a gal who was pushed while walking down some stairs in a home by a very unfriendly ghost.
Ghosts are just like people, only without bodies. Some are nice - most are nice enough, anyway - and some aren't....
I went to high school in Los Gatos and always thought that many places in town were a little on the spooky side, one of them being Old Town. Do you have anything on Los Gatos High? I use to get odd feelings there.
Old Town is haunted - Borders has two ghosts. Haven't heard anything about Los Gatos High but I would trust your instincts! I have a blog on haunted real estate - see www.HauntedRealEstateBlog.com and would love you to add any stories of hauntings and even creepy feelings there!
A blog about Los Gatos real estate, homes, houses, condos, townhomes, housing market, neightborhoods, history, events, businesses, parks, schools, photos, issues, and lifestyle.
Mary Pope-Handy
Realtor, CRS, ABR, SRES, E-PRO
Luxor Real Estate Group
Mailing Address for Mary: PO Box 440 Los Gatos, CA 95031-0440
877 397-5391 (office/toll-free)