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By Dahlia Anzaldua

More than 40 weekend ghost hunters traveled to San Antonio in October for a truly haunted experience. I packed my bag for what would be my sixth trip.

I have attended the Ghosts & Ghoulies class almost every year since Continuing Education began offering it seven years ago.

“We started offering the course because we had requests from students wanting to know if we offered classes on the paranormal,” says Community Programs Director Sharrion Jenkins.

Each fall, 40 or so believers and skeptics travel to San Antonio to take in the city’s history and haunts. We spend two nights in one of the city’s famous – and hopefully haunted – hotels with hopes of leaving with spine tingling tales that may make the hair stand up on the backs of our necks.

This year we stayed at the Crockett Hotel, where moving curtains and an unexplained apparition in the executive offices have been reported. The hotel sits just east of the Alamo chapel, and guests on that side of the hotel have reported hearing sacred chants.

The Ghosts & Ghoulies program incorporates a discussion or workshop with a paranormal expert. This year we met Guillermo Fuentes, director of San Antonio Paranormal Investigation. He spoke to our group about studies on afterlife and spirits, or beings that manifest themselves as ectoplasmic orbs. He also discussed how his organization researches, and occasionally debunks, paranormal sightings in Central Texas.

A moonlit tour around the Alamo capped our last evening. We were given equipment that can sense temperature changes and take electromagnetic readings – both considered indications of a ghostly presence. We found cold spots around the battlefield area, signaling that ghosts may be present.

Pinnacle Campus Counselor Linda Caplin, also on her sixth trip with Ghosts & Ghoulies, says during her first tour she encountered a ghostly image in a mirror that looked like Geronimo, the famous Apache chief who was once imprisoned there.
“I’ve learned a lot about paranormal,” Caplin says.

Originally a skeptic, Jenkins had a nighttime encounter at the Bullis House Inn that changed her mind. “I saw what looked like a little girl with red hair with a white gown going in and out of my room,” she says.

The owner of the Bullis House later told Jenkins the girl has been sighted many times and the room had been the girl’s bedroom.

“I am now a believer and look forward to the course every year,” Jenkins says. “I never want to go back to the Bullis House though. …”

After seven years, Ghosts & Ghoulies is a hit. So if you want to witness a paranormal sighting, remember … classes fill fast, so register early.

Dahlia Anzaldua is senior administrative assistant III in Public Information and College Marketing.