Haunted Happenings at the Knickerbocker

Before the neighborhood had gone downhill and the hotel was riddled with drug addicts and prostitutes, the Knickerbocker Hotel in Los Angeles, California, was the place for the toast of the town to gather. In this article, you will learn about some of the romantic gestures that took place at the hotel, including an infamous honeymoon between an actress and a baseball player.

Romance at the Hotel

Romance was constantly in the air at the Knickerbocker Hotel , whether it was in secret or for all the world to know. For example, the hotel welcomed Marilyn Monroe and Joe Dimaggio as they honeymooned during 1954. Author William Faulkner and a script girl from the Fox studios named Meta Carpenter started a continuous affair at the hotel, which would last for a lengthy 18 years.

Seances at the Knickerbocker

The rooftop of the hotel served as the location of séances that Bess (Harriet) Houdini would conduct , in an effort to make contact with the late and great magician Harry Houdini. Every year, the séances continued on every year of the anniversary of Houdini’s death. He had passed away on Halloween in 1926. She had a secret code word that they were to use between one another. She continued the séances for 10 years until she gave up in 1936. Although Houdini did not agree in the Spiritualist movement, he still made an agreement with his wife and friends that if he were able to make contact from the “other side”, he would.

Houdini never made contact with his wife and friends, but a curious event did take place during one of the séances. After trying to contact the magician for more than an hour, participants finally gave up. However, just after they finished, a violent thunderstorm brought terrifying lightning and thunder , drenching his wife and friends in the process. The storm was mysterious in the fact that it did not occur anywhere else in Hollywood except for above the Knickerbocker Hotel. Some thought that this was a way that Houdini tried to make his presence known on that night.

The Haunted Hotel Bar

Since a couple of deaths had taken place at the Knickerbocker, the property was looked at as haunted, and ghost stories usually included the hotel bar. Because of this, this area was actually boarded up and not used for nearly 25 years. When it reopened in the 1990s, it became a coffee shop called “The All-Star Theatre Café & Speakeasy.” It is here that film shoots and studio wrap parties have taken place. It was not uncommon to see the likes of Sandra Bullock or Leonardo diCaprio at the Café. After losing its lease, the Cade moved to the Vogue Theatre, which also has reports that it too is haunted.