For over 30 years, Crystal Magic has supplied Flagstaff's tarot cards, candles, aromatic oils and, of course, crystals. The shop sits across Route 66 from the train station in one of the oldest buildings in town. Before its present incarnation it served as a saloon, a pool hall and a restaurant, with a big all-purpose room upstairs rented out for community dances and meetings. The structure dates to 1883, when it opened as the Parlor Saloon, one of the first commercial buildings on Railroad Avenue in New Town. After the great fire of 1888 destroyed the original wooden building, owner Jim Vail rebuilt it in brick and stone. It has outlasted nearly everything around it.
Is Crystal Magic haunted?
People who have worked there say yes, and their reports were compelling enough to bring a national TV crew to town. According to employees, a malevolent presence resides in the basement, generally accepted as a male entity who does not care for humans invading his domain. One woman described him as a "dirty, old miner…he gives me the creeps." A second male entity moves through the whole building and favors the upstairs book loft. That one has been described as angrier and more violent than the miner, and neither is above staring down an employee or a customer. Locals also talk about several gentler female spirits inside the old walls, at least one of them carrying an aura of fear. It ranks high on any list of the most haunted places in Flagstaff.
Decades ago there were rumors that a young girl was stabbed to death and buried in the basement. I have never found a documented murder tied to the building, so treat that one as legend. But the Parlor Saloon stood right in the middle of town, and Flagstaff was a rowdy place back then. Plenty happened on Railroad Avenue that never made the papers.
The building that brought The Dead Files to Flagstaff
Crystal Magic's basement activity is what drew Travel Channel's The Dead Files here. The episode, "The Haunting of Flagstaff" (Season 14, Episode 12), aired April 2, 2022, and psychic Amy Allan sensed several malevolent spirits hiding out in the building. As the Arizona Daily Sun covered that March, our co-founder Nick Jones underwent paranormal testing on the episode, and I told the Walkup story on camera. I'm Susan Johnson, the other co-founder, and you can read our full account in Dead Files Came to Flagstaff and Dead Files Part II.
Questions people ask
What was the Parlor Saloon?
An 1883 saloon on Railroad Avenue, one of the first commercial buildings in Flagstaff's New Town. Rebuilt in brick and stone after the 1888 fire, the building later housed a pool hall and a restaurant before Crystal Magic moved in.
What episode of The Dead Files features Flagstaff?
Season 14, Episode 12, "The Haunting of Flagstaff," which aired April 2, 2022. The investigation centered on the activity reported in the Crystal Magic building.
Walk this story
The Crystal Magic building sits across from the train depot, right in the heart of the blocks our guides cover every night. What Amy Allan found in that basement, and what happened after the cameras left, gets told on the Flagstaff Haunted History Tour, nightly at 7 PM with an extra 8 PM walk Fridays and Saturdays, 75 minutes, $29 for adults. Some spirits keep shop hours; ours prefer the evening shift.
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