The Unsung Spirits of Antioch, California

When exploring potential areas of interest that could be haunted on the West Coast, there is a small town nestled among the big cities and the valleys and desert making up one of the most haunted areas in the state.  The name of the place is Antioch, and it is one of the most unsung centers of paranormal activity along the west coast.

Among the strange beings seen there is an old woman who is rumored to fly through the night over the Antioch marina.  The woman has been spotted by more than a handful of fishermen who refuse to return for fear of the screaming floating woman.  It’s generally accepted among the locals that the worst time to find yourself caught out in the area under a full moon is between the hours of 11:00 PM to 3:00 AM.  The woman has been allegedly seen by several people, and is even alleged to have been photographed by the ghost hunting society T.A.P.S.  The woman’s appearance is similar in nature to the appearance of the Banshee in Ireland.

There is also an urban legend coming out of the area surrounding two girls who were grieving the loss of a friend.  As midnight rolled around, they heard the front door open and close.  Since they were the only two in the house, they went to investigate and see if their parents had come home.  As the story goes, the girls saw nothing, but as the night progressed the girl awoke to find her dead friend standing in the doorway.  The girl isn’t sure if it was a dream or not, but the girl approached her and told her to stop grieving and that it was time for her to move on.  Since that event, the girl found it easier to cope with the loss of her friend.  Later that morning the girl’s sister was found outside laying on the grass with no memory of how she got out there.

There is also a story of an old gold miner who haunts a small white house on the edge of town.  The gold miner is said to walk through the house apparently unaware that he is deceased.  He is also said to occasionally interact with the living in an indirect way as though he were actually interacting with someone else who the living cannot see.  This type of ghost is generally called a “residual” haunting and is thought to be a person’s spiritual energy reliving the events of their lives long after death.

And these are only a few of the dozens of stories coming out of Antioch, California.  Though the woman of the Antioch marina is the most dramatic and certainly the most famous, there is no shortage of sightings of ghosts or the stories that follow them.