Haunted Houses

The Historic Holly Hotel in Battle Alley is known for its unexplained sounds and visions, and is host to séances during the Halloween season.

  People are fascinated with the unknown, the supernatural. In October, hundreds of thrill-seekers of all ages flock to the manmade haunted houses and castles and take haunted hayrides through spooky woods.

  The historic Fenton Hotel has long been said to be haunted. Are the spirits there more than liquid? Stories of strange noises, doors slamming shut by themselves, water turning on by itself and eerie voices are among the hauntings.

 There are tales about Emery, the former hotel bartender, whose favorite drink was Jack Daniels (whiskey). This drink just happens to show up on a certain table in the bar area. But, when it is served, no one at the table has ordered it.

 A cleaning woman, early one morning after the hotel had closed, was scared out of her wits when someone (no one was there) tapped her on the shoulder while she was vacuuming. Other staff members have been frightened when entering a storage area.

 An artist from Pontiac once came to the hotel, sat in the dining room and sketched the ghosts he believed were trapped in the building.

 The historic Holly Hotel also has strange happenings, including the sound of a child crying, eerie noises and lights going on mysteriously.

 The Old Fenton Grain Elevator is another building besieged with eerie occupants. When it was being renovated, doors slammed and strange sounds echoed through the structure.

 A family lived in an old 1880s Fenton home on South Holly Road for many years without ghostly occurrences. However, when they moved to Grand Blanc to a home built in the ‘30s, it was a different story. Pictures on the walls began to tilt and keys disappeared, only to return a day or two later. One time, the missing keys were found outside in the mailbox. The television and stereo would sometimes go on "full blast" at about 3 a.m., awakening the household.

 One day, birdseed was found on the floor in a perfect symmetrical cone shape. While the woman of the house was sorting clothing one day, wild birdseed fell from the clean laundry. The family didn't have a bird.

 The piano in the music room would occasionally play unrecognizable tunes for about five minutes and stop. One day the china cabinet opened suddenly and a delicate crystal goblet fell to the floor undamaged. Family members decided to always say "good morning" to the spirit.

  Both apparitions and strange happenings have occurred at another Shiawassee Avenue home. The heavy front door has flown open; things have mysteriously fallen off walls and a rocking chair in a bedroom rocked by itself.

 The feeling of force pushing the owner down the staircase was experienced and drapes and sheers in the living room would whip out and strike those walking by, when there was no breeze or no window open.

 A Baptist minister who lived there more than a century ago was seen in apparition form on the front steps one evening when a teenage neighbor boy was walking his dog across the street. The dog stopped dead in his tracks until the apparition disappeared.