Halloween is almost upon us! Marin County has a few interesting haunted attractions you may not be aware of. Whether you’re looking for a good fright, want to go pumpkin picking, or simply look to create some fall memories, head out to Marin this Halloween season. There is something thrilling here for everyone - from families in search of kid-friendly fall fun, to friends looking to spend an evening at any of the following spookiest haunts.  Make sure to check out what Marin County has to offer this October - you won’t be disappointed!

Marin's Haunted History: Marin is home to several spooky stories which include Falkirk Mansion, Boyd Gate House, the Easkoot House, Lichtenberg Estate, Foster Hall at Marin Academy and more.

One noted tale from a 1928 Northwestern Pacific Railroad publication is of the Fairfax Ghost Train. It appears on stormy nights on an abandoned right-of-way of the Marin Shore Railroad over White Hill. The story says that White Hill used to be the home of railroad workers and an engineer named Mahoney who lived in their camp with his beautiful daughter. His daughter died in childbirth and many say the ghost train’s driver is Mahoney trying to hunt down his daughter’s unfaithful lover.
Resources provided by the Anne T. Kent California Room of the Marin County Library. 

Falkirk Mansion: The widow Ella Nichols Park at the Falkirk Mansion in San Rafael has not only been seen in the window, but during weddings she’s been heard wailing and moaning just as the officiant says “till death do you part.”

Boyd Gate House
This Victorian in San Rafael was built in 1879, by Ira Cook, the head of a gold prospecting family, who died in a fall on the estate. His son also died there, of tuberculosis. John F. Boyd received the house as a wedding present after he married Cook's granddaughter, Louise, in 1883. The Boyds had three children, but two died in the house at a young age. Several other people met their end in the house after the city took it over in 1905, including caretaker Esther Allen, and several family members of the following caretakers. Now home to the Marin History Museum, many have reported hearing a woman singing or talking in the house, and seeing the children.

More information on Boyd House haunts can be found at Lib at Large: A San Rafael mansion's haunted history By Paul Liberatore
Marin Independent Journal          

The Easkoot House in Stinson Beach has reports of paranormal activity coming directly from the owners of the private residence. Former owners say that every night at 2:00 AM, the ghost of the previous owner comes stomping out of his house to search the beach for his lost golden hook. The latest owners have reported several unexplained happenings, including the sounding of a burglar alarm at 2:00 AM. The alarm was completely disconnected but continued to sound for over ten minutes. Two years later a family of five bought the home and their youngest child died of mysterious causes. Resource: Wikipedia

The Marin Headlands has an Evil Force at a pre WW1 gun emplacement according to Stephen Wendell Gallagher.

Camp Bothin
The land once held a Native American reservation, and then later an old tuberculosis hospital took up residence there before it was made into a girl scout camp. It is said that at night you can hear and see the ghost of a nurse pushing her cart down the hallways and patients who died there moaning and groaning. It is also been said that Indian spirits have made appearances.
Resource: CBS Local report - Marin County          

The Fireside Motel in Mill Valley
Rumors of ghosts began in earnest when two skeletonswere found beneath the floorboards during a 1957 renovation. An archaeologist was called in to investigate and determined that the burials, on either side of the dining room, were American Indian. He noted that the owner, Paul Smith, was against any scientific excavation of the site.

The remains were presumably left in place, and the ghostly sounds have been heard at night ever since.
The Fireside has a colorful past as a former prohibition-era speakeasy and watering hole. A controversy has arisen recently after Fireside construction workers unearthed human bones in 2008, possibly those of area Indians, during a remodeling job.

Marin County Coroner Kenneth Holmes acknowledged recently that skeletal remains of American Indians were discovered in the ground beneath the brick structure during renovation work over the past 10 months. The bones may have been the same ones found during a renovation 51 years ago and then quietly reburied underneath the floorboards at a time when folks were less concerned about cultural issues. Resource: SFGate