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0 With an infamous past that reaches back to the 1920s, The Sunset Strip is no stranger to scandalous and tragic events. From illegal “rum running” during prohibition, to a mob haven during the 1940s, and later the deaths of acting legends John Belushi and River Phoenix, many events have left an indelible mark on the landmark buildings that line the notorious stretch of boulevard.
To quote Stanley Kubrick’s horror masterpiece, The Shining, “some places are like people. Some ‘shine’ and some don’t…When something happens, you can leave a trace of itself behind. Say like, if someone burns toast. Well, maybe things that happen leave other kinds of traces behind.”
With these eerie thoughts in mind, three Sunset Strip staples share their experiences of spine tingling ghostly encounters…
Dayle Gloria (The Cat Club)
“When I was working at the Viper Room, I was always told about the ghost who lives in the downstairs bar…. The story goes that he was a gangster lawyer back in the 1920s, during prohibition, who either got his hand ‘caught in the cookie jar’ or didn’t get someone off on a murder charge. Whatever it was, he did something to piss off the bosses and was killed in the downstairs bar…
So I’m sitting at my desk alone in the office, when the room got very cold and all of a sudden a voice whispered my name in my ear! I turned around quickly but there was no one there. And there certainly wasn’t enough time for someone to tiptoe that quickly and quietly in and out of the office. It freaked me out! Especially that he liked me enough to leave the downstairs bar to come upstairs and flirt with me!”
Alf LaMont (The Comedy Store)
“Our former talent coordinator Duncan Trussell tells the story of his terrifying encounter with one of the sometimes aggressive spirits that have been known to haunt The Comedy Store.
According to Duncan, he had messed up again. He had forgotten a document that Mitzi (the club’s owner) needed, and she was yelling at him in that sort of way that only someone who has spent 30-plus years dealing with comics, can.
Terrified for his employment, and of Mitzi, Duncan rushed upstairs to our third floor offices. Duncan rushed in, unlocked the second door to his office, and began shuffling through papers. Just then, he heard a loud THUMP on the wall. He peered out the door to see if someone had followed, but there was no one there. He continued his search…all the while, the thumping became louder, more aggressive and more alarming.
As he was sifting through papers he thought to himself, ‘Great, my first haunting happens when I can’t really pay attention.’
Having found the paper and run back downstairs to deliver it to a fuming Mitzi, Duncan recalls the affair by saying, ‘I was far more afraid of what Mitzi would have done, than any ghost at The Comedy Store.’”
Sascha Rasmussen (The Sunset Trocadero)
“It was a windy Monday evening and not much was happening at The Sunset Trocadero. There were a few regulars, but it was about as slow as it could be. Still there was a strange feeling in the bar that put everyone on edge. The howling wind told an age old story of a time when people passed through Trocadero with cold martinis in their hands and murder on their minds.
Two of our daily regulars, Bob and Josh, were chatting at the bar, enjoying their cocktails when suddenly a look of horror swept across their faces… The sound of the wind had creepily turned to a chilling moan, an eerie sound that raised the hairs on the back of my neck.
I proceeded to head towards the ominous groans with an air of confidence, but with caution coursing through my veins. It seemed to be coming from the back door, but as I went to open it, I could hear the moaning of someone in agony coming from the bathroom. I slowly opened the door, with fear stabbing at my heart, only to find two dancers from our neighbors The Body Shop, on the floor, in the throes of passion. Oh well, just another Monday night at The Trocadero.”
–Brent X Mendoza
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