Haunted Ghost Towns of the Wild West | Bodie, Calico, Tombstone, St. Elmo & Goldfield

Dusty streets, gunfights, and restless spirits… these ghost towns aren’t just abandoned — they’re still alive with echoes of the past. In this episode of the Deep Woods Paranormal Podcast, Matt and Amanda take you deep into five of the most haunted ghost towns of the Old West:

🏚️ Bodie, California — cursed relics, ghostly miners, and whispers from empty buildings.
💀 Calico, California — laughter and footsteps still echo from the old silver mine.
⚰️ Tombstone, Arizona — spirits of lawmen and outlaws walk Allen Street after the O.K. Corral gunfight.
👻 St. Elmo, Colorado — haunted by Annabelle Stark, the ghostly shopkeeper who never left.
💣 Goldfield, Nevada — home of the infamous Goldfield Hotel, one of the most active paranormal sites in America.

From tragic history to firsthand ghost stories, these towns prove the Old West never truly died. 

🎧 Join us as we explore the paranormal legends of America’s most haunted ghost towns — where history meets the afterlife.

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There’s no judgment here — just open-minded discussion. Deep Woods Paranormal. Making the paranormal, normal.

🔔 Don’t forget to subscribe for more paranormal investigations, interviews, and mysteries from Deep Woods Paranormal.

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🕯️ From Bigfoot to ghosts… what lurks in the shadows of the Deep Woods? 👻 Follow. Listen. Believe. 👣 Subscribe for weekly encounters with the unexplained. 🎙️ Available on YouTube & all major podcast platforms.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:17):
Hello, my paranormal peeps, and welcome back to another Deepends
paranormal podcast. My name is Matt Harvey. I am the
founder and the investigator with Deep Woods Paranormal and also
the host of the Deep Boys Paranial podcast. So tonight
we're going to talk about five haunted ghost towns. We've
been down the road, over haunted bridges, we've been through

(00:40):
scary cemeteries, and tonight we're gonna kind of continue on
with that theme and we're going to talk about some
of the five most haunted ghost towns. Now, these are
all pretty much out west. Uh, there's ghost towns across
the whole United States and across the course across the
world too, but we're gonna talk about these. These are
the ones that popped up when I did the five

(01:02):
or the fifteen most Haunted. And again, if you guys
want to comment down below, let us know what your
favorite haunted ghost town is. But I'm going to cover
these and if you guys like this series, feel free
to comment down below let us know if you like
it or not. Where you'd want to investigate. Have you
had an experience at any of these little towns. We've

(01:24):
had some of these towns that I'm going to talk
about tonight, Body, and Tombstone, Amanda Da and I think
also we've been to the Goldfield in Nevada, so we'll
be kind of sharing some personal stories about this too.
But all right, so we're going to talk about these five.
So it's Body California, Calico, California, Tombstone, Arizona, Saint Elmo

(01:47):
and Colorado, and the Goldfield in Nevada. And each of
these basically has z own dark legends, ghost stories, and
history of birth that's buried beneath the dust. All right,
So let's start out with Body, California. This was once
a booming gold mine town that nearly ten thousand people
actually lived at, but now just it's frozen in time. Essentially,

(02:10):
it's what they called arrested decay, meaning that it's basically
people still are keeping it up, but it's just basically
not a place where very many people live anymore. So
you can still you can still peer inside the windows
and see life as it was back in the day.
There's still plates on the table, toys on the floor,

(02:30):
even beds still made as if families just vanished overnight.
But not everybody's left. Actually, people still often appear footsteps, voices,
and seeing faces staring at them through windows an event,
and then in the abandoned homes. I can't talk today.
I don't know what's going on with my brain. Okay,

(02:53):
all right, So there's also a Body curse. The legends
says that anyone who takes as much as a rock
from Body will be haunted until they return it. Park
rangers are constantly getting packages from every year, every year
from people mailing things back hoping the curs will final lift.
All right, So let's look a little bit more into
the hauntings of Body. So let me just give you

(03:17):
guys some more detail about Body. It's a preserved ghost
town in California in the High Deserts. It was once
a thriving gold mining boom town with nearly ten thousand residents.
As I said in the late eighteen seventies, it's a
protected it's protected as a state park. It still has
about one hundred remaining buildings that are preserved and as

(03:39):
they said, in a state of arrest arrested decay, meaning
that they're still kept from collapsing but not restored, offering
visitors and authentic look into the past. You can actually
go out here, and I think you can spend the night.
You can't stand in the buildings, but you can park
an RV or whatever. I think. Now double check that

(04:01):
because they may have changed the laws. I know I
followed a few people that actually have gone out here
and stayed the night. Excuse me, is it going to drink?
So the history of Body, this was discovered in eighteen
fifty nine, and basically it was a location where they
found a lot of gold in the area. The severe

(04:22):
winter actually killed Body, but the remaining mini mining camp
was named Let's say, as a severe winter blizzard killed Body,
who was actually the founder of Body, California, they built
a new mining camp as his name in his honor,

(04:43):
and then changed the spelling to Body. So his name
was spelled b O d E Y, and Body, California
is spelled b O d I E. If you're a
history buff, okay. So it says after a lucrative gold
discovered a lucrative gold discovery in eighteen seventy six, Body

(05:06):
rapidly expanded, becoming a notoriously lawless and violent town. So
anytime I talk about ghosts and stuff like that, I
was to refer back to you know, history like this.
Anytime you have a bunch of things like that happening
where people are are being killed or whatever, always leads

(05:28):
to ghosts, you know, people getting killed untimely and stuff
like that. The town had numerous salant saloons and rough characters,
so it also had a thriving China town as okay,

(05:50):
so sorry, somebody's talking to me. I was starting three
to one, okay. So body began its decline in eighteen
hundreds as a goal right out, and then the miners
moved on. A major fire in nineteen thirty two destroyed
much of the downtown area, pushing a few of the
remaining residents to leave, and then mining officially ceased in

(06:13):
nineteen forty two, so basically that by that time people
were pretty much gone from that place. So in nineteen
sixty two it was designated as state Historical Park to
protect the town as it was left. So it's in
the Bodhi Hills east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains near

(06:33):
the Nevada border. So let's see, let's get into the hauntings.
So it says it's steeped in ghost stories and legends
of paranormal activity towns violent and tragic passed, along with
its eerie state of arrested decay, contributes to its reputation

(06:54):
as one of the most haunted ghost towns in America.
So the curse of body of the most famous legend
associated with Body is the Curse of Body. The legend
the story claims that the taking anything from the park,
even a pebble or piece of glass or rusty nail,
anything will bring you bad luck, misfortune, and tragedy. Okay,

(07:17):
So let's get into reported hauntings. Says many spectral locations,
I'm sorry, many specific locations within the park are said
to be handed by spirits of the former residents. JS
Caine House. This is one of the most famously haunted locations.
It's reported reportedly haunted by the ghost of a Chinese

(07:38):
maid who dislikes adults but loves children. So if people
feel like they're being suffocated or pushed while some children
praying that the nice lady read abed in them a
bedtime story. The men in Sunni House this is a
report hearing laughter of a ghost, ghostly children, and smelling

(08:02):
Italian cooking coming from the house. Let's see what else
the body cemetery. There's another cemetery for you, guys. The
cemetery is said to be haunted by the Angel of Body,
the spirit of the young girl named Evelyn, who is
ass accidentally killed by a miner's pick. Ooh, that sounds sad.

(08:24):
They've reported that they hear giggling near her grave. This thissabaucci.
I'm sorry I could pronounce this. Some visitors have claimed
some visitors have seen a ghostly femina figure peering out
from a window upstairs in this former hotel. And then,

(08:45):
of course those to miners. A minor exposed a minor
explosion killed a miner, and his ghostly voice is reportedly
heard calling out to people near the mine shaft. A
phantom white mule which died in the mines also said
to haunt the tunnels. Weird, So I guess there's ghost

(09:06):
tours and paranormal investigations up here. You guys can look
into that if you're interested. Let's move on to Calico,
because I've actually never been to Body. I've wanted to
go to bodh It just we got snowed out the
day when we went up there. All right, so let's
talk about Calico. Kelica ghost town. It's basically associated with
launtings with alleged phenomenon including disembodied sounds, a phantom dog,

(09:32):
a dog, a sighting and sighting of a grieving woman,
small children, and floating red light in the schoolhouse. Okay,
so people often feel spirit presence and it's often linked
to the town's tragic past and decline after the silver

(09:52):
mines were closed in the late eighteen hundreds. So here's
a report of phenomenon. Male carrying dogs, a spirit of
a male carrying august said to roam the grounds. Lucy
Bell's Lucy Bell King Lane, a spirit identified as Lucy
Bell Lane, a resident who lived in the house Lane
House is frequently sighted, sighted, phantom school teacher and child.

(10:19):
Visitors reported seeing a phantom school teacher and a small
child who may pinch ankles and grab legs. Floating red lights.
So there's a frolling red light that has been seen
inside the schoolhouse as well. And then sounds and feelings.
Visitors claim to hear sounds and forgotten music or all

(10:39):
feel presence of spirits throughout the town. History and haunted links.
The boom and bust calicoes of booming Silvertown in eighteen
hundreds and attracted the population of over twelve hundred people.
Abandonment following the decline of silver prices and the closure

(11:02):
of the mines in the eighteen nineties, the town was
basically abandoned in nineteen oh seven, becoming a true ghost town.
So basically, the owner of knotts Berry Farm bought the
town in nineteen fifty three. And if you've ever been
a Knotsperry Farm, that little town that have in Knots

(11:23):
Sperry Farm is also said to be honto Fyi and
the town and restored much of the town in nineteen
fifty three, and then he turned it into historical park
and a tourist crash it. The ghost town's dark past
and deserted nature contribute to its haunted reputation, is what
it says. So Calico, I've been to Calico. We've been

(11:47):
on a ghost tour down in the mines. It was creepy,
especially because they do it by candle light, and at
least this guy did. And you do feel like you're
pen of watch. You can hear noise is like clinking
of you know, shovels and stuff like that. Will like
it sounds like somebody's walking. You can hear footsteps down there,

(12:09):
and you do you hear like whispers of old miners
down in there. We didn't actually stay in the night,
but we essentially stayed in and we're in a saloon
and you just felt like you're being watched the whole time,
and it wasn't good. Like I'm feeling like I'm being
watched with like eyes were on you, like you know,
what are you doing here? And the feeling of, at

(12:30):
least for me, the feeling of you shouldn't be here,
you know, kind of thoughts came to mind when I
was at this location. So if you ever get the
chance to go to Calico, go for it and see
for yourself. You know, I always tell everybody you have
to have experience it for yourself before you should believe.
Have you actually been to Klico? Did you experience anything?

(12:53):
You know, calm it down below, let us know, all right,
So Tombstone is don't but he knows Tombstone from you know,
so many shows and all these other things that have
gone on through there with a paranormal. So if you
haven't been to Tombstone Arizona, or you're not from the
United States, and you know you have never seen any

(13:15):
of the wide RBS movies, or you do not gut
into gunslinging movies, then you might not know about this place.
But it's really an old historic town that they've redone
crazy cool town. They've done a great job of keeping
it alive. It's not completely a ghost town anymore. It's
essentially restored. A lot of it is, and it's very

(13:39):
much a tourist attraction now and they do ghost tours
and stuff like that, which are really cool. We'll get
into a little bit of that here in a minute.
So it says two Stone, Arizona is around for its
ghost tales and onto locations, drawing its violent and storied
past as nineteenth century mining boomtown. The city's historic history

(14:00):
is filed filled, excuse me, with gunfighters, disease, and hardships,
all of which contribute to the legends of the restless
spirits that linger in many of his historical buildings. So
the Bird Cage Theater, if you and I have not
seen the video a man and I made on that,
we actually went in there and we had a lot,

(14:21):
a lot of activity when we were there. We had
a lot of we just I don't know why, but
we had a lot of activity and uh he actually
made the tour guide mad because she thought we were
messing with her and we weren't. We weren't. We weren't
our kade two's kept going off and she's like here
a man who took the one other one from her.

(14:42):
The same thing started winding up. Something was very interesting
enous for some reason. But anyways, so the bird Cage Theater,
known for its wild history, is the Saloon Theater in Brothel.
The birch K Theater is considered be one of the
Tombstone's most haunted places, and that's where we went. We
went and toured the Burke Age and we had a
lot of cool experiences there. Again, Kat's lit up and

(15:06):
stuff like that. We did this basically, we didn't do
a ghost box session because she didn't want us, but
we did a lot of activity. We had a lot
of activity there. So you guys can go watch that video.
But anyways, auntings visitors report reported hearing disentbody voices, seeing
ghostly apparitions of prostitutes and cowboys, and experiencing cold spots,

(15:28):
which all pretty much have does notable spirits. The spirits
of a man and a top hat and a woman
in a red dress are frequently sighted. Food Hill the
Graveyard there another graveyard. This historic cemetery, where many of
the Tombstone outlaws and Tornus figures were actually buried, is

(15:51):
another hotbed for activity. People have reported capturing unexplained photos
and videos and reported seeing full body app persons walking
through the greenstones, so notable spirits. Some believe that the
ghost of participants in the ghost of the participants of
the famous gunfight at the Ok Corral are buried here,

(16:15):
though they died elsewhere. All right, So let's see. You've
got Big Nose Kate's Saloon, and this is the original
brand hotel. This establishment was a refuge for many of
Tombstone's characters, including Doc Holliday and his lover Big Nose Kate.
And then it's also home to several other ghostly entities.

(16:40):
All right, So in this hotel, people report, guests and
staff report I'm seeing a ghostly figure believed to be
the former hotel's janender and spectral woman thought to be
Big Nose Kate herself. There's also port of polar guys
activity reported, and all polar guys means is noisy ghost.

(17:01):
It's a German word that basically is poulter is noisy
and geist is ghost. So the reports include moving objects,
flickering lights, and the sound of bantam music. Blah, I
can't again, I can't talk to the guy's bear with me.

(17:22):
So the Tombstone Courthouse, now, I imagine with all of
the you know, criminals and stuff that we're being arrested
and stuff like that in the day, and all the
hangings and all the stuff, this place will probably be
heavily haunted. So it kind of goes back to the
Whaley House too. I mean, the Whaley House has lots
of ghosts of people that were hung there. So okay,

(17:46):
so it's now state Park. The courthouse has a grim
history of trials and hangings, as I just said, so hauntings.
Most people I've seen a shadow of figures and hearing unexplained.
The noises, especially in the courthouse and jail cells, notable spirits.
There are tales of man ghostly wandering in the courthouse,

(18:10):
possibly one of the men who was hanging there. Yeah,
I just basically everything I just said. All right, So
the Crystal Palace Saloon This establishment is said to be
haunted by a cowboy cowboy's ghost who sometimes appears in
the mirrors, and Occidental Hotel. Occidental Hotel the sight of

(18:35):
several gunfights and murderers. The hotel and now cafe is
rumored to have several numerous spirits that haunt them, And
of course there's ghost tours and stuff like that. So
Calico is a really cool town. I would highly recommend
if you get a chance to stop by there, even

(18:56):
just for a day trip, go check it out. Let
us know if you experienced anything there. Not Calico. It
says Calico, but it's Tombstone. If you get a chance
to go to Tombstone, go for it. I don't know
if it's worth staying the night. We'd spent the night there,
and we've actually done that a couple of times. A
man has done it with her mom. I don't think
any of us actually experienced anything that at night, but

(19:19):
we definitely experienced things when we went to the places
that are said to be haunted. So I would highly
recommend going to those locations and seeing like the Birch
Cage theater and stuff like that. Book a ghost tour
see if you guys can experience anything, or if you've
experienced something again comment down below. Let us know what
you you guys have experienced. All right, maybe one second,

(19:42):
we take another drink here, all right? Saint Elmo, Colorado. Okay, So,
hauntings of the ghost town in Saint Elmo's, Colorado primarily
center around the tracked story of Annabell. No, not that Annabel.

(20:03):
Her name was Dirty Annie and Dirty Annie Stark and
the Stark family remained remained in the dying town. Annabel's
spirit is said to continue to watch over the town
after her death in nineteen sixty. So sounds like Nnabel
was the daughter of Anton and Anna Stark, one of

(20:26):
the most prominent families in Saint Elmo. Her mother, Anna
was a harsh and controlling woman and sheltered her from
rough townspeople, and she rebritted her from socializing with other residents.
So Annabel kind of grew up lonely and isolated and
developed a fierce love of possessive and possession of the town. Essentially,

(20:50):
she was very possessive of the town. So the town's
decline as the mining industry collapsed and the railroad shut
down in the nineteen twenties, it became a true ghost town.
Along with most of the residents leaving in. The Stark
family was among few who remained the last residence. After

(21:12):
the death of our parents, Annabel and her brother Tony
became the sole occupants of Saint Elmo. There was no
electricity in the running water, lived in the crumbling family
hotel and store, and Annabel's health actually began to deteriorate.
The townsfolk began calling her dirty Annie due to herd

(21:35):
bath again. I can't talk again due to her unkept
hair and felthy clothing, so says arm protector. Annabel is
known to be patrol the town with a loaded shotgun
slug over her shoulder, protecting her property from vandals and trespassers.

(21:59):
So Annabelle, unfortunately, and Tony were eventually committed to a
mental hospital hospital due to their own for their own safety.
Through a friend help them get released, Tony died and
then Annabel. They later died in a nursing home in
nineteen sixties, So it sounds like they lived a pretty

(22:20):
tragic life. The town basically just deteriorated around them, and
they kind of deteriorated with the town unfortunately, and so
they still haunt the town because they love it so much,
which is amazing. So I guess the visitors have reported
seeing Annabelle's ghostly figure through Saint Almo's continuing protective watch.

(22:42):
It says home Confront, Sorry, Home Comfort Hotel, which is
Animal's most often associated location, and her old family home
and store. Witnesses have described as sudden, drastic temperature drop,
and a one skier said they saw a white woman

(23:05):
in a white dress standing outside of a second story window.
The ghost they figure reportedly nodded in approval, and after
the skier told the group of snowboards that they were truspassing.
So I guess they were in there illegally. And when
he told them that they were trespassing, well, his friends

(23:25):
probably they all pretty much probably left. We probably too,
so doors and windows. On one occasion, children playing at
the hotel reported that all the doors and windows suddenly
slammed shut, and that was accompanied by a sharp temperature drop.
In the streets of Saint Elmo, Animal spirit is also
said to roam the town streets and carrying her phantom shotcut. Wow, okay, well,

(23:52):
she's just protective of the location. So that's pretty cool.
All right, So have you guys been there? Have you
guys been to Saint Almo? Have you seen Annabelle? Did
you experience annabel Did just experienced anything like that? You know?
Did you see her carrying her going? That would be
interesting to find out. Calm it down below. Okay, let's

(24:13):
talk about the Goldfield in Nevada. So the Goldfield, Nevada
has a long history of paranormal activity, most notably Alpha
the notorious Goldfield Hotel. The former boomtown, which also once
attracted thousands of during the nineteen hundreds gold rush, is
now a living town with many believing spirits of its

(24:34):
early residents are still lingering. All right, So in the
gold Hotel itself, it was considered to be by many
the most haunted place in Nevada. It was built in
nineteen oh eight. The abandoned building has been the subject
of numerous paranormal investigations. And basically that's where one of
the teams that's very popular on TV right now got

(24:58):
it start. I can't mention the name because I I
want to have an issue. But anyways, so one of
the ghosts that said is said to haunt the Goldfield
is Elizabeth. She's the most famous ghost, and she's a
pregnant woman who was allegedly murdered by the original owner,
George Winfield. The story says that Winfield, who was the

(25:20):
father of Elizabeth Child, tied her to the radio in
room one oh nine and left her to die. Her
spirit is said to haunt the room and the hall
is moaning and sorrow. That's pretty sad. The phantom Polder. Guys,
this has been witnessed and has been reported. Witnesses have
reported seeing a malevolent, unseen entity thrown objects are trying

(25:44):
to push people on the lower floors and in the bar,
so I guess there's some children children's ghosts here too.
The apparitions of two children and a man have been
seen on the third and fourth floors. So there's other
haunted locations in Goldfield as well. The Goldfield High School,

(26:06):
the historical Goldfield High School, which closed his doors in
nineteen fifty three. I had a trouble pass that paranormal
vestaers I have explored. People have reported seeing a male
apparition and their reports describe him as appearing in the
buildings in auditoriums. There's also whispers and strange noises that

(26:32):
come from the vacant school. Here we go another cemetery.
So the historic cemetery is the Goldfield Cemetery. The historic
cemetery is the final resting place of many Goldfield's earlier inhabitants,
which includes miners, outlaws, and prostitutes. There are reports of
mysterious voices, and if you stand among the graves, you

(26:58):
can hear the voices of deceased on the desert wind.
Pleading to not be forgotten is what it says. There's
many many of tombstone's. Many of the tombstones tell morbid
and cautionary tales of the past, including the story of
the paste eater who died after consuming library paste out

(27:19):
of the out of hunger. Another grave belongs to J. F. Meager,
a grave digger who was killed by rock during a
blast while digging a grave that was substituently subsequently buried
in the very plot where he was preparing. That's funny.
So he was buried where he was trying to dig up.

(27:40):
Oh boy, talk about karma, right, all right, guys. So
that's five haunted ghost sounds essentially that you guys can
go check out. I would definitely recommend that you guys
go check this out and see for yourself. If are
haunted again, if you've been there before, calm it down

(28:04):
below let us know. I'd love to hear your stories
and go from there. But anyways, with that, I'm gonna
wrap this up and we will catch you guys on
the next one.