The Scariest Locations in Ventura County

It’s that time of year again. Everyone is searching for the perfect costume, hanging their faux spider webs, carving pumpkins, and satisfying their sweet tooth. Halloween is an exciting time, but originally, it was more than just fun and games.

“Halloween was the old Celtic New Year, when ghosts were said to walk the earth” said Richard Senate, a renowned paranormal expert in Ventura County. “It was a scary time and people locked their doors in fear ghosts would come in. Its now a fun time to mock death.”

Considered by its residents to be one of the most haunted cities in America, Ventura County is full of unexplained phenomena. With its long, twisted, history Ventura County is the ideal place to go back to the roots of Halloween and discover the supernatural side of the celebrated holiday.

According to Senate, the Olivas Adobe is the scariest place in Ventura County.

“The Olivas Adobe [is] where a ghost lady in a black dress has been seen walking on the balcony late at night, [she] could be Dominga Olivas who died during childbirth on Halloween Night 1890,” said Senate. “ There is also a ghost girl in a white nightdress seen in the second floor window.”

Surrounding the grounds of the compound lays a well-groomed rose garden, but within its walls, you enter a dark, deserted courtyard with a neglected two-story adobe on one side and a beat up back house on the other side. For more information, visit the official Olivas Adobe website at www.olivasabobe.org.

Beyond its eerie beauty, a lingering question hangs in the air. Is the Olivas Adobe actually haunted?

“My best sightings are ones where I have had more than one witness. We had an event in 2006 when over 100 people saw a ghost girl appear and vanish at the Olivas Adobe,” said Senate. “I could have hallucinated [alone], but a group is evidence.”

Another spot believed haunted is the old Justin Petit house in Oxnard’s Heritage Square. The restored Victorian home is now used as a playhouse and tourist attraction, but has been said to be haunted by its past.