#haunted | Hopes & Dreams: My Writing and My Sons

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October 10, 2023 · 1:52 am

What Did We See?

by Lillian Csernica on October 9, 2023

TCL Chinese Theater, formerly known as Grauman’s Chinese Theater, is one of the most well-known landmarks in Hollywood. Like so many of Hollywood’s famous locations, it is said to be haunted.

The ghost most often associated with TCL Chinese Theater is Victor Kilian, a vaudeville performer who made the transition into motion pictures during the Golden Age of Hollywood.

In 1979, actor Victor Kilian was murdered in his apartment which was located one block away from Grauman’s Chinese Theater. He apparently had struck up a conversation with a stranger and they went back to Kilian’s apartment where it had been burglarized. The killer has never been caught, but the ghost of Killian can be seen on the sidewalk in front of the Chinese Theater where he is allegedly trying to find his murderer.
Haunted Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood

One night my best friend Pat and I were in Hollywood. We decided to go see The Last Samurai at Grauman’s Chinese Theater. The box office is at street level, then you take an elevator down to the floor with the actual theaters.

Pat was already standing at the ticket window, which meant she had her back to me as I hurried down the hallway toward her. To my left stood the bank of elevators. A man and a woman were walking away from the ticket booth, about to get into the elevator going down. I called, “Hold the car!” Pat heard me and glanced back over her right shoulder, then turned to her left to walk toward the elevator. The two of us reached the elevator at the same moment.

There was no one inside. Pat looked at me. I looked at her. I described the man. She nodded and described the woman. We had seen the same two people. There was nowhere at all those two people could have gone other than into that one elevator.

Pat and I took the elevator down. When the doors opened, after a total of maybe fifteen seconds, we didn’t see anyone in that lobby. The doors for the individual theaters were far enough from the elevator that we surely should have seen the man and the woman before they stepped through one of those doors.

Ever since then I find myself hesitating before I enter an elevator.

R is for Relaxation

by Lillian Csernica on April 21, 2022

As you may have gathered from some of my previous posts, my life is rather stressful. Finding reliable methods of relaxation is essential. Here are a few of my favorites.

Watching the wildlife

Various members of the local wildlife community who turn up in my back yard. I live on an acre of land with a creek that runs along the southern property line. The wildfires in California caused such a loss of habitat I’m happy to see the critters show up here. The regulars include ravens, crows, ducks, wild turkeys, woodpeckers, and two dozen species of songbirds. Squirrels both red ad gray live in the trees on both banks of the creek. There are two skunks who snuffle around late at night. Once in a while I’ll see a ‘possum.

Coloring books

Entangled Night Skies from Creative Haven uses Angela Porter’s wonderful designs. It takes some work to color in all the separate elements of each page, but it’s well worth it. There’s no particular deadline, so I can go at my own pace and linger over the colors I enjoy the most.

Bad ghost chaser movies

I find these entertaining if only because they’re so predictable. Ignoring all the warnings. Blowing off that creepy sense of being watched. The lights flickering. Will the problem be in the attic or the basement? The popularity of paranormal investigation movies has given me the opportunity to gain some insight into other cultures. Scandinavia, India, Poland, Turkey, France…. All over the world, things go bump in the night!