Have you ever seen a ghost? There may be more paranormal presences in the Coachella Valley than you once thought. Ani Madanyan goes into detail on some stories of ghosts all around the valley and what she reveals is . . . chilling. – Editor Luke Sonderman

By Ani Madanyan

Palm Springs…It’s a perfect vacation spot. The pools, the sun, the heat, but what if I told you the desert is maybe a little haunted with … BOO! . . . Ghosts. They are my biggest fear. I’ve heard some local spooky stories. Let’s get into them.

This is a picture of the La Quinta Resort, the La Casa hideaway. The Palm Springs Paranormal Investigation Team checked out the spirits at the resort. The Coachella Valley Independent writes that the paranormal group had sightings of a “figure of a mysterious woman, cloaked in a white gown, gliding along the pathways of this local resort.” Also, The Coachella Valley Independent has hotel staffers describing “A mysterious tall man with a hat . . . wandering those same halls” (Coachella Valley).

This resort has been open since 1926, so it has lots of history. Donnie Thompson–ghost hunter, documentarian, and lead investigator of the paranormal team–went in for a checkup. Here’s a spooky video of a ghostly figure walking down the pathway that comes from the resort’s camera. The paranormal team wanted to release this video to the media, so here it is.

Donnie and his partner Gloria left this building alone because after interacting with the ghosts, they realized that they intended no harm. Phew!

Blog member and PVS student, Lilah Nick also has a local spooky story.

“I live in the mountains of Palm Springs, and, every so often, like once every two months, I hear a really loud scream that’ll go on for a few minutes coming from the mountains. I know it’s not a coyote because I hear them too. These screams have voice cracks. This is how I know they’re not coyotes; they have a sense of fear. It’s really weird, and the pitch changes a lot, but most of the time it sounds like a man screaming for help.”

Lilah Nick hasn’t done anything about this, besides hide under her blanket and sleep with one eye open…

Senior Jesse Denyer shares her experience with a ghost.

“One day I was home alone hanging out in my backyard, when I got a notification that my Amazon package was delivered. I went through the back sliding glass door, through the living room, and out the front door down to my gate to pick up the package. There was no wind that day, and I am 100% sure I left the door open, as I was going to turn around and come right back. I turn around, and the front door is closed. I assume it just closed by itself, but when I try to open it, it won’t budge almost like it was locked. My door has a deadbolt lock on it, and it’s also a little broken, so in order to lock it you have to jiggle it and put your whole body weight on it. There’s no way it could be locked. I just assumed it got stuck on the rug right next to the door. I walked around my driveway into my backyard and noticed that the sliding glass door was also closed AND LOCKED. Again I am completely home alone, and I know for a fact that I left it open. I took the screen off my kitchen window and crawled in to discover that my front door was deadbolt locked shut and my sliding glass door was also locked. I was so scared I didn’t know what to do with myself. I waited anxiously in my kitchen for my mom to come home. To this day I can’t explain.”

Susan Smith, former Tram employee, has the last ghost story for us.

“One of the old GM’s (general managers) roams the mountain top lodge and can be found at the bar having his favorite drink.” (She can’t remember what kind.) Nighttime Tram employees say this ghost is seen “wearing his infamous golfing hat.” That’s how they know it was him!

Chills. That’s all I have to say.