For Gloria Mendoza, a ghost tour guide based in Austin, Halloween isn’t the only time for spooky spirits.
Her passion for the supernatural started when she was living in Hawaii, on the island of Oahu.
“While I was there, I did have an experience. Something came up right over my ear. And I just heard, like, three loud breaths,” she said. “You know, like, when you’re trying to clear or fog your glasses so you can clean them? I heard that three times, straight up in my ear.”
Mendoza has had experiences in Texas as well – including one at a restaurant in a San Antonio hotel.
“The spot that I was sitting in was right in front of this door that went to, like, this closet. Halfway through that meal, the door behind me started kind of vibrating,” she said. “The bartender that I talked to, I told him I was a ghost tour guide, and he was like, ‘Oh, yeah, this place is definitely haunted’ and ‘Well, I would give you a tour of the upstairs bar area’ – but he said he was the only one there and he couldn’t leave the bar. And I was like, ‘Oh, that’s OK. I’ll just sit here and enjoy the area, the space.’ And then the door behind me started vibrating. And I was like, that just doesn’t feel right, you know? So that’s fun.”
Mendoza recommends visiting a haunted spot, either alone or with a friend, and not letting cost be a barrier.
“If you can’t, you know, go on a ghost tour or do something that costs money, just do it on your own,” she said. “I think it’s very important to just understand what happened in these places that are haunted – just little tidbits of history that you learn when you go to these places.”
And Mendoza will continue to share her experiences while leading ghost tours in Austin.
“Now I get to lead people downtown, and I get evidence on my own,” she said. “I really enjoy communicating with people, and I’m passionate about it. So it’s always fun. Every night is different.”
