San Antonio is filled with ghosts. From Spanish soldiers to conquistadors to the ghost of the fonder of King Ranch, if you're seeking eerie activities this Halloween, here's where to look.
The Alamo
This one goes without saying. The Battle of the Alamo left hundreds of Texas soldiers dead, but before the historic battle, the grounds served as San Antonio's burial ground. Aside from ghosts of soldiers, there's also the ghost of a small child who wanders the site.
The Emily Morgan Hotel
Recently named among this year's Top 25 Most Haunted American Hotels, the Emily Morgan Hotel is known for its paranormal activity, which the hotel's general manager, Kole Siefken, told TPR is connected to the hotel's former days as a hospital.
The hotel was built in 1924 and features Gothic gargoyles suffering from a series of medical ailments. Siefken told TPR that guests report spooky sights, sounds and smells during their stays.
In 2015, the hotel was named the third most haunted hotel in the world by USA Today. Read more about the Emily Morgan and its haunts here.
The Missions
If you're looking for ghosts, you might try your luck at one of San Antonio's Missions. Several of the historic sites report paranormal visitors, like ghostly Spanish soldiers or conquistadors.
Missions Espada, San Juan and San Jose are your best bets.
The Train Tracks
Legend has it, back in the 1930s or '40s, a bus filled with school children was crossing the tracks at Shane and Villamain Roads when it stalled. The driver tried to get the children off the bus, but a train soon crashed into it, killing all of the students and the bus driver.
It's said that if you park on the tracks, the ghosts of the children will push your car across. Some say if you dust your car with baby powder before setting off to the tracks, tiny handprints will appear after your car is pushed to safety.
The Menger Hotel
Any old hotel you visit will be a little creepy, but the Menger Hotel has a different feel to it. Like anything close to the Alamo, the Menger Hotel is on the site of the original battlegrounds. On top of that, Richard King, the Confederate riverboat captain who founded King Ranch, died in one of the hotel's rooms.
Although he died from stomach cancer, some say that room is the most haunted of all in the hotel.
Woman Hollering Creek
Just outside San Antonio, on the way to Seguin, there's a creek where you might spot La Llorona. In Latin American folklore, "the Weeping Woman" has recently given birth and drowns her child. After killing her child, the woman screams in anguish and haunts the site of the drowning.
There are a few reasons San Antonians give as to why the woman killed her child: her husband didn't want it, the family was attacked and so the woman decided to kill her family to spare them a worse fate, and so on.
If you decide to visit the creek, keep your distance from the creek. Though the woman cries in grief, some say she's also enraged and will pull you under if you get too close.
Brian Kirkpatrick contributed to this story.
