Unsettling Disturbances
Page 1

By Greta Smoke

Jacci Crandall, owner of Jacci’s Fish and Chips in Fairhaven, says she caught a glimpse of a reflection of a young woman with brown hair and a pink shirt standing behind her in a restroom mirror. Crandall turned to hold the door for the woman, but to her surprise, no one was there.

Crandall says this terrifying experience happened five years ago in the American National Bank building across the street from her restaurant. She believes the reflection she saw in the mirror was one of a ghost.

The Fairhaven district in Bellingham has a history of ghost sightings and strange occurrences that sometimes are passed off as urban myths by skeptics of the paranormal. But, many locals — like Crandall — testify of ghost activity in Fairhaven.

Stranger on the bus

One of Fairhaven’s spirits often haunts Jacci’s Fish and Chips, located in a 57-year-old double-decker bus. Since Crandall opened her restaurant six years ago, odd noises have continued to occur in the morning.

She heard the metal door to the bus open and slam shut before the sound of footsteps made their way up the stairs to the second floor, getting louder as they neared her.

The first time this happened, a nervous Crandall yelled out “Hello,” but received no response. At least, not in human form.

“I’d hear clunk, clunk, clunk and the door would slam,” Crandall says. “I was so freaked out, but pretty soon, I just ignored it.”

Lurking in the dark

Just up the block from Jacci’s is the site of an old brothel dating back to 1929; now the home of Dos Padres Restaurant.

Debbie Hollingsworth, a Dos Padres waitress, says she has witnessed too much to deny the existence of ghosts. Since working there, Hollingsworth has seen and heard of numerous supernatural acts — from water faucets turning on high blast to the safe turning and locking by itself.

Her most recent ghost encounter happened this past Fourth of July as she was closing the restaurant.

She entered the dining room and saw a translucent, black figure of a man standing in front of the salad bar. The ghastly figure disappeared before her eyes, but left her alarmed and shaken, she says.

Hollingsworth often senses she is not alone.

“It’s the feeling like somebody’s touching you, but no one’s there,” she explains.

One evening a customer who claimed to be psychic asked Hollingsworth if she believed in ghosts. She replied, “Yes,” and explained the suspicious activity at Dos Padres. The customer then told Hollingsworth a spirit was following her as she worked.

“I teared up right away because it confirmed my worst fear,” Hollingsworth says.

<-Back :: Next-> :: Page 1 :: Page 2