Top 5 Houston haunted buildings

October 26, 2022

Here are the top 5 Houston haunted buildings as researched by Jeffrey, our giant skull in our Spellcaster escape room, who thinks he’s real scary!

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Now, haunted Houston spots are more common than you might think. Usually around Halloween, news reports come out concerning ghost sightings or other paranormal activity.

Insert corny escape room ghost joke here —> How does a ghost unlock a door? With a spoo-key.

Being that Jeffrey is a giant skull, he’d probably say –> What is a skeleton’s favorite instrument? A trombone.

If Jeffrey had a body, we’d pull him off stage by now…

So without further ado, here are some of the top 5 haunted Houston locations Jeffrey wants to scare tell you about.

1

Spaghetti Warehouse

Spaghetti Warehouse has to be number one because it’s always mentioned by the Houston media as a spooky place. The restaurant left its downtown Houston haunts at 901 Commerce after Hurricane Harvey was worse than any ghost in terms of damage. The longtime Italian eatery is now at the Marq’E Entertainment Center on the Katy Freeway, but its old and we do mean old, building still remains. The building was apparently built in 1912 as the Desel-Boettcher Warehouse and at one time housed a pharmacy. A young pharmacist reportedly died by falling down an elevator shaft. Less than a year later, his distraught wife died too. While some were eating their spaghetti, customers and employees would see weird sights like floating objects and orbs.

2

La Carafe

La Carafe in downtown’s Market Square at 813 Congress is considered Houston’s oldest bar. According to accounts, built in 1847 and rebuilt in 1860 after a fire, the building has reportedly housed everything from the Kennedy Bakery to a Pony Express station. As for Houston haunts, apparently a long gone ghostly bartender named Carl still is around to tend bar, who may or may not, knocking drinks over and playing other tricks. Why didn’t the bartender serve the ghost? Because they don’t serve spirits.

3

The Battleship Texas haunted

The Battleship Texas moved in August 2022 from its usual dock of La Porte to Galveston’s Pier 21 to be repaired for things such as leaks in August 2022. But can modern tools remove the supposed ghosts onboard? Commissioned in 1914 according to the ship’s website, it was the most powerful weapon in the world and is the last surviving Dreadnought. No surprise that it saw combat in both World War I and World War II. Fast forward to when the public could recently board it, visitors apparently heard odd noises and even saw a smiling ghost figure sometimes reported as redheaded sailor. What might be scary to the Houston-area is that Beaumont wants to be the ship’s new home when it is repaired!

4

UTMB Maurice Ewing Hall Galveston

The face that appears on the side of the UTMB Maurice Ewing Hall Galveston is our next spot. Galveston has plenty of haunted spots, like the often mentioned Hotel Galvez, but this one is unique because a man’s face shows up on the side of the building. Even after sandblasting, the face moves to another part of the wall. The legend goes the face is of a man who was the previous owner of the land. He told his family to never sell the property, even after his death or he would be back. Guess they took him at his word after that.

5

Houston haunted library in downtown

Today, it sits across from the current main library building in downtown Houston, but from 1926 to 1976, the Julia Ideson Building (550 McKinney Street) served as the main Houston library. Today, the Ideson Building, named after Julia Bedford Ideson, the system’s first head librarian, houses the Houston Metropolitan Research Center…and maybe something else! According to reports, night watchman Jacob Frank Cramer often played his violin from the top floor just a few years after the building opened. His dog Petey accompanied him in his duties. In November 1936, Cramer was found dead in the basement. Now Cramer’s and Petey’s ghosts continue to patrol the Spanish Revival style building. The only trace of their nightly work come from the occasional eerie violin notes and the click, click sound of Petey’s toenails hitting the marble floors.