One question comes up on nearly every walk through downtown: which building do you think is the most haunted? There is no official answer. Each of our guides has a personal pick, built from second-hand stories, first-hand exploring, and the eerie incidents that happen on tour. Around the shop we joke about awarding a trophy for it, the FLASH, short for Flagstaff Arizona's Scariest Haunt. Here are the leading contenders.
So which place is the most haunted in Flagstaff?
Most votes go to the Hotel Monte Vista, with its phantom bellboy of Room 210, the crying baby in the basement, and the bank robber who bled out in the cocktail lounge. But our co-founder Susan Johnson, who has researched these buildings for years, keeps circling back to two quieter candidates: the Doris Harper White Playhouse and the Flagstaff Public Library.
The case for the playhouse
Full disclosure: Susan has been involved with Theatrikos, the theater company at the Doris Harper White Playhouse, on and off since 1996, so there is a slant here. The building practically begs for eerie phenomena. Steep, narrow stairs drop into a basement partitioned into shadowy rooms, and volunteers from the late 1990s remember not wanting to be down there alone. The surprise is that most of the reported activity happens upstairs. Actors, directors, and staff have described apparitions around the stage, unexplained technical failures, falling books, even flying toilet paper. Some of those accounts are first-hand, others live in newspaper archives, and several are hard to wave away.
The case for the library
The Flagstaff Public Library has a darker pedigree than most people realize. It stands on the site of the old Emerson School, where a janitor murdered his family and then hanged himself in the basement. Local sources have shared chilling stories about the property, and two separate tour groups have captured EVPs and orbs in its parking lot, including one orb that appeared to chase a teenage guest. For a building full of quiet, it generates a lot of noise.
The other contenders
The Monte Vista's reputation is well earned, and it anchors Flagstaff's haunted history for good reason. Crystal Magic belongs on the ballot too. Activity in its basement drew Travel Channel's The Dead Files to town, and the episode that came out of it gave the whole downtown a close look. The Flagstaff Train Depot rounds out the list with serious hauntings reported over the years. And the building Susan actually believes is the most haunted in town? That one cannot be named yet. Someday, we hope.
Questions people ask
What is the most haunted hotel in Flagstaff?
The Hotel Monte Vista, by popular vote. Room 210's phantom bellboy, the basement's crying baby, and the cocktail lounge's bank robber give it three resident stories, and the Weatherford Hotel's White Lady of the Zane Grey Ballroom keeps the race close.
Can you visit these haunted places?
Yes, all of the buildings named here are public-facing, and all of them are stops or story points on our walking routes. The hotels and Crystal Magic welcome visitors during normal hours; the tour is how you get the stories that the front desk will not tell you.
Settle it yourself
The only fair way to pick a winner is to stand in front of each building after dark and hear what happened there. The Flagstaff Haunted History Tour covers the contenders in 75 minutes, nightly at 7 PM with an 8 PM walk Fridays and Saturdays, $29 for adults. Bring your own verdict.
Keep reading
- Will We See a Ghost?
- Dead Files came to Flagstaff
- Discover the Haunted History of Flagstaff
- Is Flagstaff the Most Haunted Town in Arizona?
Boo.
