Photo by Karissa Beltran-Jimenez, staff reporter.
Ghosts, ghouls and goblins are lurking in the Orange Circle. Since 2009, Haunted OC has led patrons on tours through the historical woes of Orange.
What began as a blog for Ernie Alonzo, the Orange resident’s passion project has since expanded beyond Old Towne, hosting ghost tours in Santa Ana and Black Star Canyon, and seasonal tours in Hollywood and the Walt Disney Mansion in Los Feliz.
To get in the spirit of All Hallows' Eve, The Panther took a stroll with the spirits of Old Towne Orange.
As people began gathering around the Royer Mansion’s porch, the congregation was made up of fall enthusiasts, ghost whisperers and perfectly pointed witch hats.
Photo by Karissa Beltran-Jimenez, staff reporter
Photo by Karissa Beltran-Jimenez, staff reporter
Reporter last seen: 7:00 p.m.
The Meeting Spot: Royer Mansion
If you stray just five minutes from campus, on the corner of Chapman and Grand, a weary gray colonial home sits. Today, tenants have resorted to bolting down the furniture or ducking for cover as water glasses have seemingly moved on their own. What is now an office building was once the mayor’s mansion. After his death, his home was converted into a mortuary. Our tour guide nodded toward the side of the porch patched with red stained brick, pointing to the old passage that would see caskets come and go from the building. We all wrapped around the porch, peeking through the stained glass window, searching for lingering poltergeist activity.
Haunting No. 1: 7:15 p.m.
The Elks Lodge was once a coveted property of the Odd Fellows; the Great Depression and a failed loan ultimately led to its sale. They were forced to relocate across the street — where they still reside-looking upon their lost land. When it was converted into the lodge, the doorman told tales of a dishwasher and a not-so-dead leading soul from the Odd Fellows convocation. There was even a recent incident in which a UPS delivery man was found at the bottom of the steps. Mostly unharmed, he claimed ten fingers pushed against his back until he felt himself plummeting from the top.
Haunting No. 2: 7:23 p.m.
Play Coffee: The Bank of Orange
The first bank in Orange County looks upon the Orange Circle. On your next coffee run, while you’re in line, peek out through the window where you can see cars revolving the roundabout of Plaza Park.
Photo by Karissa Beltran-Jimenez, staff reporter
Haunting No. 3: 7:27 p.m.
Photo by Karissa Beltran-Jimenez, staff reporter
As of 2025, the fountain at the plaza’s center has seen 44 — and counting — crashes, but the first actually took place in the early 1900s when two boys were playing in the square. The two dashed into the street suddenly and were both trampled by a speeding carriage. As we walked on, we were warned to keep an eye out for their ghosts on our drive home.
Haunting No. 4: 7:31 p.m.
The trading company still stands, but we’re willing to bet the post-college tour stroll through the circle would never reveal it once functioned as a morgue. Instead of mannequins at the window, bodies would be strung from the sills in hopes they’d be identified. Our guide began recounting the story, when suddenly, a shriek sounded from Rutabergorz, as we turned from Matoska, the young girl who cried out returned to her food.
Haunting No. 5: 7:44 p.m.
Rutabergorz is more than a local lunch joint. The guests haven’t been scared away but the staff has been pestered by a ghost of a little boy — perhaps one of the spirits from the plaza — and arrive to work with mysteriously misplaced salt and pepper shakers, running faucets and jammed doors. So, next time you’re waiting by the hostess stand and see an empty table, it might still be occupied by some long-time regulars.
Photos by Karissa Beltran-Jimenez, staff reporter
Photo by Karissa Beltran-Jimenez, staff reporter
Haunting No. 6: 7:54 p.m.
Chapman University Elliott Alumni House
Named in honor of alumni Tom and Pat Elliot in 2011, the home now occupies alumni affairs and guests, but its first residents were William Granger (manager of the first Bank of Orange) and his family. The tour gazed upon the rose-vine covered balcony, as the story of a woman falling to her death on the front lawn was whispered to us in the dark under the dimming moonshine.
Haunting No.11: 8:19 p.m.
This hidden alcove is home to the oddities and artifacts of the dead, but thrifters shouldn’t fear – most of the eerie encounters take place in the basement. Employees work alongside past patrons and perhaps the item’s owners were just not quite ready to relinquish their possessions. The depot’s employees have witnessed dolls falling from shelves, records slipping from their crates and fanning out onto the floor.
Photo by Karissa Beltran-Jimenez, staff reporter
Haunting No.12: 8:22 p.m.
LMLMV: Parsons Motorcycles
Zenas and Linus, two beloved members of Orange, were working in the shop one night when a gasoline spill set the shop ablaze. The two were engulfed in flame and it is said by patrons that the smell of smoke remains in the brick and mortar.
Haunting No.13: 8:28 p.m.
Avila's El Ranchito: First Baptist Church of Orange
The tour came to a close as we rounded the corner of Almond and Orange street; our last stop took us to chain restaurant Avila’s El Ranchito. Unlike past tours, we did not encounter any spirits dancing about through the glimmer of the stained glass windows, but a chill crept in as the breeze grew colder as we stood before the old church. But like our guide had warned at the beginning of the tour, “When you’re in the element of fun and fear, things appear a lot scarier than they actually are.”
Photo by Karissa Beltran-Jimenez, staff reporter
For a full tour list visit and to book your tickets, visit Haunted OC Ghost Walks for year-round spooks. Who knows, perhaps one of Orange County’s many ghouls is reading this article over your shoulder at this very moment.