Exploring San Antonio’s supernatural side.

Some see strange men in fur coats checking their pocket watches in the hallway. Others wake up to look at their children talking to people that aren’t there. Some hear furniture moving, and others see strange things that they can’t believe–or just want to.

San Antonio has always had ghosts, but lately, it seems things are a little more spooky than usual.

“A lot of people think Halloween brings on more of an influx of the spiritual movement… I believe there’s more activity at this time,” said Ernesto Malacara, public relations Director and ghost expert of the Menger Hotel for several decades.

The Menger Hotel is known for its ghosts, including permanent otherworldly guests such as Sally White, a hotel maid seen in the halls by guests carrying a stack of towels. Another ghost, Captain Richard King, creator of King Ranch and others known by affectionate terms like “Frisky.”

The Menger isn’t the only haunted hotel. Other famous stories include the story of Room 636 at the Sheraton Hotel, formerly known as the Gunter Hotel.

In this horrible story, a man murders a blonde woman (believed to be his mistress), chops up her body and processes it through a meat grinder, leaving blood all over the room and bathroom. When police caught the man, he had taken his own life.

Randy Felts, of Ghosts and Legends Tours, believes that San Antonio hotels draw ghosts for particular reasons.

“The bar at the Menger Hotel hosted many famous people. More colorful stories happen in bars and hotels than at Walgreens. There are a lot of hotels in SA that are over 100 years old,” said Felts.

It doesn’t seem to matter if you’re downtown, out at one of the Missions or in the outlying areas, you’re never far from somewhere haunted.

Beyond just the hotels, you can’t talk about the most haunted places in San Antonio without mentioning the Alamo.

Not long after the Battle of the Alamo took place, the people of San Antonio began telling stories about ghosts and hauntings.

Those ghost stories haven’t slowed since.

If you are a San Antonio local, you’ve probably spent a night or two driving out to the haunted railroad tracks at Shane Road, putting your car in park, waiting and hoping to feel your car roll up and over the tracks.

But who is pushing you over? That particular urban legend has been told over and over again, until the truth and the fiction blend into a haunted tale of ghostly children, suicidal nuns and the living.

It’s said that some of the most haunted places in the world are theaters. The former Alamo Street Theater (now a hot dog restaurant called Frank) is no different.

With a ghostly former actress who sings off key, this old theater turned restaurant is also one of the most haunted places in San Antonio.

San Antonio is full of haunted spots to explore this Halloween.

Grab your friends, get out and stay spooky!