Top Ten Haunted Places In Los Angeles

Posted: 01.17.2025 | Updated: 01.25.2025

Los Angeles embodies a version of the American dream. It’s a place where nobody can become somebody, where the destitute can stumble into wealth and fame. That’s what we see on the surface, at least. 

Within the underbelly of the City of Angels, secrets fester that claw at Hollywood’s picture-perfect perception. Death and murder are embedded in the city’s foundation, the spirits of the lost forever bound to what was meant to be their vision of paradise. From these horrors, real haunted houses take up residency in Los Angeles.

If you were to pull up a map of haunted places in Los Angeles, there’d be little unoccupied space. From desolate hospitals to luxury resorts rotting at their core, many of these buildings house a number of restless souls. So, surely, there must be a hierarchy of spots that are more haunted than others.

Ghost tours in Los Angeles are the best way to experience the frightening reality of what lingers beneath the city’s surface. While you make plans to explore Tinseltown’s ghost-infested locations, take a moment to brush up on the top ten haunted places in Los Angeles.

What Is The Most Haunted Place In Los Angeles?

Being the most haunted isn’t just about how many spirits may have accumulated over the years. One must factor in activity levels, the types of haunts, and personal accounts. With that in said, the Cecil Hotel tends to top these lists with its sordid past riddled with the decay of death. From suicides to playing host to brutal serial killers, the spectral energy within the hotel is all but welcoming.

The Cecil Hotel

So much death has occurred under the roof of this iconic Los Angeles property. Though converted into a low-income housing complex in 2021, its history as a most unfortunate hotel couldn’t just be willed away. 

Death quickly became commonplace within the 1920s hotel. Suicides plagued the property, dating back as early as the 1931 death of one W.K. Norton. The hotel was a refuge for the deadly “Night Stalker,” Richard Ramirez, and Australian serial killer Jack Unterweger. Both of which still have a ghastly presence within the walls of the Cecil.

The Cecil Hotel’s infamy skyrocketed in 2013 when 21-year-old Canadian tourist Elisa Lam mysteriously vanished. Three weeks after her disappearance, her body was discovered in the hotel’s water tank. 

It was a feat that seemed impossible without a second party. Video footage of Lam acting erratically circulated the Internet, spurring stories of possession and run-ins with a ruthless haunt.    

Linda Vista Hospital

Defunct in 1991 and converted into a senior living facility in 2015, Linda Vista Hospital could easily be Los Angeles’ second most haunted location.

After closing, the hospital attracted countless paranormal investigators with its tales of forlorn spirits, shadowy entities, and full-bodied apparitions. To many, it was a rite of passage to survive a night with your sanity intact. 

As gang violence skyrocketed during the 1970s, the haunts compounded. The surgical room and third floor were especially active with a pair of young spirits. Visions of a former orderly, along with ghostly activity like disembodied voices, black shadows, and inhuman howls in the night, have been commonplace. 

Today, the hospital may be gone, but the grounds still retain their haunting energy.  

The Entity House

On the outside, 11547 Braddock Drive looks like any other home. No one would suspect that in 1974, it was the site of a gruesome attack on a divorced mother of four. 

Doris Bither’s story is a horrid tale of the true power of a malevolent entity. Over a period of days, Doris was sexually assaulted by a vicious entity while held down by two others. Leading up to her sudden death in 1995, the entities continued to torment her. 

Even when she and her children moved to San Bernardino, the wraiths followed. Though never attacked, the Bither children stated they, too, could see the light grey fog the fiends manifested as. The 1982 film The Entity chronicles Doris’ terrifying experience. 

The Hollywood Roosevelt

A treasured hotel brimming with Hollywood history, The Hollywood Roosevelt was a frequent haunt for Marilyn Monroe, both before and after her tragic death. She was so connected with the property that even after her overdose in 1962, she returned to it. 

Her presence became so jarring for guests that management eventually removed a mirror she was said to appear in from her former room, 1200. Another Hollywood icon, Montgomery Clift, also calls this haunted hotel in Los Angeles his eternal home, his sorrowful spirit bound to room 928.    

Yamashiro Hollywood

An unsettling weeping pours out from the second-floor bridal room. The cries echo the distress of the mournful ghost, forever reminded of the choices that led to her demise. Who the woman is remains unknown, but it’s believed she killed herself within what is now the upper-scale Yamashiro Hollywood restaurant. 

Formerly a brothel, the woman may have been unable to come to terms with the life she was forced to live. Maybe there’s something even more sinister behind her presence. Could her assailant have been the man in a long coat and bowler hat spotted so often near the ladies’ room?

The Wonderland House

On July 1, 1981, four bodies, beaten and bloodied, were discovered in a shocking display of violence at 8763 Wonderland Avenue. Three of the four were members of the nefarious Wonderland Gang, making the list of potential suspects quite extensive. 

To this day, no one knows who was behind the slayings. Save for the victims, of course, who call out from the beyond in this haunted house in Los Angeles. Disembodied voices have been reported at this haunted location, calling out to anyone who will listen.

The Greystone Mansion

One night in 1929, the 18-acre property that the Greystone Mansion was built on absorbed the tragic killing of Edward Laurence Doheny, Jr. and the subsequent suicide of his friend, Hugh Plunkett. 

While the circumstances leading up to the murder-suicide are a little muddy, one thing is evident: the incident left the stately Greystone Mansion haunted. From disembodied voices to phantom smells, something unsettled remains part of the Greystone. 

While it may be either Edward or Hugh, reports of a female voice have been heard. Possibly, it’s Edward’s wife, Lucy, wanting to find her husband in the afterlife.

The Comedy Store

Emotionally charged energy acts as a conduit for the dead, giving them the means to manifest in all manner of ways. Even immense joy can generate enough to keep a location haunted. This is probably why The Comedy Store has played host to a number of spirits for years.

The specter of Steve Lubetkin, who killed himself at the nearby Continental Hyatt House when his career ended during the 1979 comedian strike, joins victims of the mafia who used to make their residency at the joint. The comedy club, which was once a brothel, is as infested with ghosts as it is with the strong imprint of decades of laughter.

The Silent Movie Theater

The movies may have been silent, but the spirits who remain within this antique icon certainly are not. A pair of ghosts are said to wander the former silent movie house, both having met tragic ends connected to their careers at the establishment. 

The first loss was John Hampton, co-founder (alongside his wife Dorothy) of the theater. Years of exposure to the chemicals used to preserve 16mm prints led to a cancer diagnosis that Hampton would not survive. 

In 1991, Laurence Austin took ownership of the theater. Six years later, an alleged hit on his life left him dying and bloodied on the theater’s floor. Both Hampton and Austin still watch over the theater, especially after its grand reopening in 1999.

Pico House

When it comes to haunted hotels, Los Angeles definitely has no shortage. The Cecil and the Roosevelt may be the most notorious, but the 19th century Pico House does give them some competition for most haunted. 

The neighborhood that blossomed around the Pico House was imbued with a Wild West attitude. Brothels and saloons attracted villainous characters and vigilantes who took to lynch mobs to exact justice. 

Along with the wealthy businessman who once owned the Pico House, Don Pio Pico, this property is said to be haunted by several victims of the tense racial conflicts and the 1871 slaughter of around 20 Chinese immigrants. The basement is especially active, with footsteps heard by anyone brave enough to explore the nearby underground tunnels.

Los Angeles Haunts

The City of Angels is an apt name for California’s biggest and likely most haunted city. While this list only encompasses ten of Los Angeles’ most haunted spots, the city is brimming with spectral horrors and wretched phantoms whose search for stardom ended suddenly and tragically.

To hear more about the city’s ethereal entities, book your Los Angeles ghost tour today. 

For more haunting tales, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok and read our latest blogs about Los Angeles haunted houses.

Sources: 

• https://www.discovery.com/exploration/Cecil-Hotel-LA-Haunted-Reasons
• https://www.travelchannel.com/shows/ghost-adventures/articles/linda-vista-haunted-history
• https://frightfind.com/the-real-entity-house/
• https://patch.com/california/hollywood/haunted-history-behind-hollywood-roosevelt
• https://backpackerverse.com/yamashiro-restaurant/
• https://allthatsinteresting.com/wonderland-murders
• https://beverlypress.com/2023/09/the-ghosts-of-greystone/
• https://www.laweekly.com/death-laughs-and-a-comedian-strike-looking-back-at-45-years-of-the-comedy-store
• https://strangestrangestrange.com/paranormal/ghost/silent-movie-theatre/
• https://scarepop.com/2010/09/03/pico-house-ghosts-of-los-angeles/