Spooky Business -- These Shops, Theaters And Inns Are Haunted By Friendly Ghosts, And Not Just At Halloween

It was a quiet, still July morning at the Oxford Saloon & Eatery, a popular Snohomish hangout.

Dorothy Johnson was bending down, putting quiche in the oven, when she heard someone calling her name.

"Jo," he said. (That's what they call her at work.)

But she was busy - she had to cook breakfast for a big party - so she didn't turn around.

"I said `What?' and he just said it again," she recalls.

" `Jo. Jo.' Not like he was mad, but just like he wanted my attention."

Exasperated, she spun around. "What?" she said.

But there was no one there. She looked all around, even looked outside.

No one.

"I thought, `Oh, this is too weird. I need a vacation.' "

At the Oxford, built in 1889 and a notoriously raucous place in its early years, it's not all that weird to hear someone calling your name in an empty room. Or see something fall off the bar when it hadn't been touched. Or walk into a room and find a picture hanging at an angle when moments before it had been straight.

It's just Henry, folks who work there will tell you. He's the ghost that haunts the Oxford. A policeman fatally shot while trying to break up a barroom fight sometime in the 1890s, Henry's hung around there ever since. But around Halloween, people seem just a little more sensitive to ghosts like him.

He isn't the only one around. There's Judy in Bellingham, Karl in Olympia, Cub and Catherine in Steilacoom . . . In fact, ghosts

can be found roaming down theater aisles, banging pans in restaurant kitchens and rearranging furniture in old inns all over Western Washington.

If the usual haunted houses - with their predictable pop-out ghouls and tape-recorded screams - fail to rouse you this Halloween, you might think about checking out one of these other real-life haunted places:

Mount Baker Theatre

Long after the curtains go down, Judy still lingers in this refurbished movie, concert and play house in Bellingham. People believe that Judy, a forlorn woman who lived in the early part of the century, never got over the loss of her home which was reportedly knocked down to build the theater. And since it opened in 1927, projectionists have been claiming the Spanish-style, 1,500-seat house is haunted.

The sounds of voices, skirts rustling, keys jangling and objects falling down empty aisles have all been reported in the ornate theater.

A hazy object hanging in a hallway near the balcony mysteriously appeared in a photograph taken during the theater's renovation three years ago. Was it Judy, out surveying her territory?

The Seven Gables Restaurant

Karl's heart still belongs to this Olympia establishment he once owned.

Glennda McLucas-Taylor and her husband took over the elegant Seven Gables Restaurant in 1994. They did extensive renovations, and one day McLucas-Taylor removed some shelving that covered a big mirror in front of the bar.

The next day, she went to survey her work. What she saw surprised her. It looked "like the mirror had lost its silver in the shape of a heart," she said. "So perfectly shaped, it was like a valentine."

Shocked and upset, McLucas-Taylor "cleaned it compulsively then finally figured out that it wasn't going to go away."

A few weeks later, mysteriously, the heart was gone. "That really had an impact on me," she says.

The Gothic Revival-style restaurant, named for its decorative gables, has also had its share of strange noises and flickering lights typical of haunted places.

Many believe it's Karl, who died in the building more than a half-century ago. "I think he cares deeply about the place and wants to make sure it's OK," McLucas-Taylor says.

The Bair Drug and Hardware Store; E.R. Rogers Mansion

Historic old Steilacoom is full of ghosts, locals say. Cub and Catherine are just two of them.

Stop in at the charming Bair Drug and Hardware Store and Living Museum for a real ice cream soda from its 1906 soda fountain, but don't be surprised if you see bottles flying out from behind the counter.

Sending objects crashing to the floor is just one of the ways the Bair ghost has been spooking customers and employees for decades.

The oven dials turn on by themselves, the hand mixer moves from place to place, the lights blink on and off. Many think such things are the work of "Cub" Bair, son of the original owner. Cub never liked changes to the store, folks say.

At the 106-year-old E.R. Rogers Mansion across the street, flickering lights, strange voices and glimpses of a long-haired woman with dark clothes are fairly commonplace.

"When I was hired, they asked, `Do you mind working nights? Do you mind working weekends? Do you mind ghosts?' " longtime server Sue Conklin recalls.

A worker once told her that one night, he heard chairs being thrown around in the attic. When the police arrived with their search dogs, the animals cowered and whimpered when they reached the attic stairs. They refused to go up.

Most think the ghost is Catherine Webster, the wife of E.R. Rogers. She died almost 100 years ago. Catherine loved the house and was devastated when they lost it in hard times.

She, like most of the other ghosts, is considered a generally friendly, if slightly mischievous, presence.

So you don't have to want to be scared to go to E.R. Rogers, or any of the other haunted places. Make them your regular haunts, even.

Just don't be surprised if you see something fly across the room, or hear a disembodied voice calling your name.

And don't be the last one to leave at closing time. ----------------------------------------------------------------- If you go:

-- Even if you don't encounter Henry, you can still get spooked at The Oxford Saloon & Eatery in Snohomish (913 First St.) by participating in one of its Wednesday night murder-mystery dinners, where diners help solve a fictitious murder. It's too late to reserve a spot at the Halloween-week dinner, but there's a second Halloween-themed event on Nov. 5 ($15 per person, costumes recommended). The eatery also features live music several nights. Take the Snohomish exit from Highway 2; follow Bickford Avenue south to First Street and turn left. Information: 360-568-3845.

-- You can attend musical performances, plays and movies at The Mount Baker Theatre in Bellingham (104 N. Commercial St.). On Halloween night, the theater has a triple feature of "Ghostbusters" (6 p.m.), "The Shining" (9 p.m.) and "Army of Darkness" (11:35 p.m.) for $10. Take exit 253 from I-5 and head west; turn right on Commercial Street. Information: 360-734-6080.

-- The Seven Gables Restaurant in Olympia (1205 West Bay Drive N.W.) serves dinner from 5-8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 4-7 p.m. Sundays. From downtown Olympia, drive west on State Street; turn right on West Bay Drive. Information: 360-352-2349.

-- The Bair Drug and Hardware Store in Steilacoom (1617 Lafayette St.) is open daily from 9 a.m to 4 p.m. Take the DuPont/Steilacoom exit from I-5 and follow signs to Steilacoom; turn right on Lafayette Street. Information: 253-588-9668.

-- E.R. Rogers Mansion (1702 Commercial St.) is one block down from the drugstore. They serve Sunday brunch and dinner (call for days and times). The lounge opens at 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Information: 253-582-0280.

More information:

To find out about more haunted places in Western Washington, check out Dennis Hauck's "Haunted Places: The National Directory" published by Penguin Books. You can also find it on the Web, at http://www.haunted-places.com/