Haunt Jaunting Hazards Part 2: Shady Haunted Places

Last week I wrote how one of the hazards of haunt jaunting is the paranormal posers I come across. But there’s also another kind of paranormal poser. The shady ones. The haunted places that aren’t even actually haunted and falsely advertise their paranormal activity for publicity and profit. Those kind aggravate me to no end.

THE CASE OF THE PIERPONT INN

What got me thinking about this was after reading “Is It Haunted or Not?” on Phantoms & Monsters. Lon had received an email from an employee of the Pierpont Inn in Ventura, California. The employee shared some experiences she’d had with a ghost she calls Mattie. (I actually don’t know if the email was from a male or female. I’m assuming.)

Lon responded by thanking the person for taking the time to send the email and share the info. Next day he gets another email from the hotel’s GM stating the hotel is NOT haunted, even though because it’s of a certain historical age people fancy it must be. The GM asked Lon to refrain from exchaning further emails with employees so as not to encourage the rumors.

Here’s the thing: if it’s not haunted and the GM is acting responsibly in trying to dispel the rumors, bravo! I’m all for people maintaining integrity.

The trouble is, there’s evidence suggesting otherwise. Lon shared how the Los Angeles Paranormal Association had investigated the property in 2009 –with results. There was also an article in The California Chronicle about the inn’s haunted activity, which Lon also shared.

So I can appreciate his confusion as to whether the Pierpont Inn is haunted or not. I also respect that Lon tried to clarify it all. Here’s a snippet from that exchange: 

I wrote back to the General Manager and asked…”you’re telling me, in light of these articles, there have never been any hauntings at this location?”

A few hours later I received the following email:

That is exactly what I am telling you, a few years ago some advertising agency decided it would be a great advertising campaign for the inn. The inn is absolutely not haunted period end of story!!!!!!!

Aw, that poor foolish General Manager. Not the end of the story. Sadly, the rumors won’t be so easily dismissed.

SO WHAT IF IT IS HAUNTED?

Say the inn truly isn’t haunted. That’s a sad thing. Well, good, because no Earth-trapped spirits are lurking about. But bad because now we’ve got a location listed on several haunted places lists that really isn’t. Very hard to change that perception.

But you know what? Serves ’em right for listening to an ad agency to draw in business that way. Karma, as they say, is a bitch. Proof positive right there! (Not that this GM was involved in such shady shenanigans, but now they’re stuck paying the price.)

However, if it is haunted…for shame. Fess up, Pierpont. There’s nothing wrong with capitalizing on paranormal tourism –as long as it’s done respectfully and responsibly. It can be good for business. (And from the sounds of some other info Lon dug up and included in the article about the inn, good business is something that might be lacking at the Pierpont. Or, rather, good customer service.)

At any rate, the moral of this story is that, yes, sometimes haunted places concoct ghost stories for business purposes. Shady, unfair, but not illegal. At least the Pierpont Inn admitted to it.

Courtney Mroch

Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, as well as obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.

Speaking of healing, to learn how she channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.