One thing people love about Halloween is ghost stories, and there are plenty to go around locally.
Manitou Springs is rumored to be haunted. Some businesses and places say they have spirits living there.
The Miramont Castle in Manitou Springs attracts visitors each year because of its rich history and strange occurrences. Kelley Ruyle-Engman has been working at the Miramont Castle’s gift shop for nearly seven years.
“It's Halloween time here almost year-round,” Ruyle-Engman said. “When you work here, you are going to experience something, it depends on when,” Ruyle-Engman said.
Originally built in 1895, The Miramont Castle In Manitou Springs has had several spiritual encounters.
Throughout its time the castle has served many different purposes.
Ruyle-Engman said in 1907 the castle was transformed into a medical hospital. It was used to treat people for tuberculosis, heart issues, and stomach issues.
In the 1930s, people began renting out rooms that the hospital was no longer using. By 1946 there were apartment units inside.
According to Ruyle-Engman, in 1972, a fire burned many rooms when a gentleman left his items too close to a space heater. She said not all of the rooms were damaged.
Since 1976 the castle has been an artifact museum and tea house.
“It's just a magical building, just the history from the construction till now, there is just so much history in here,” Ruyle-Engman said.
Kelley Ruyle-Engman and Jennifer Girardeau work on the top floor of the castle. Jennifer Girardeau has worked in the gift shop but she also is a paranormal investigator.
“Spirits, we love the word spirits. When people ask if the castle is haunted. I don't care for the word, haunted, it (the castle) is inhabited and we have residents here,” Ruyle-Engman said.
Ruyle-Engman and Girardeau shared many stories of the time they encountered spirits.
“I am walking, the window is there, but there is no wind or air conditioning or anything. My hair is long and it is down, and all of a sudden this whole side of my hair was picked up and dropped. I was like "yo!,” Ruyle-Engman said.
Ruyle-Engman explained that there she typically will see the same few figures.
“There is sweet pea, the little boy, the lady in black, there is the white miss lady and then we have a gentleman that has a top, hot and heavy boots, and the puppy dog. We hit the footprints in the great hall. I will feel the ghost puppy rub up against my leg,” Ruyle-Engman said.
Ruyle-Engman grew up behind the castle. Every morning she would walk down the staircase, outside the castle, go through the castle's garden, and then get on the school bus.
“I would see a little boy and a little girl playing in the gardens. It made me mad because I was getting on a bus going to school, why aren't they, well they were not real. They were wearing weird clothes and playing with weird toys,” Ruyle-Engman said.
She said many of the castle’s visitors will ask her about the boy and girl in the yard.
“They describe them extremely the same as when I saw them when I was seven, eight, nine,” Ruyle-Engman said.
Ruyle-Engman decided to name them Sweet Pea and Charlie. Every time Ruyle-Engman and Girardeau enter the Castle or leave they always greet the spirits by saying hello and good morning or bye and goodnight. Girardeau one night, a voice responded.
“We were leaving one night, I was walking down the hallway right over there and we always say goodnight to everybody, and I hear the little girl say, bye, it was as clear as day,” Girardeau said.
Girardeau said one time she saw a tall man standing behind her daughter, she asked her daughter who that was, and when she turned around the man vanished.
Girardeau and Ruyle-Engman there are many more stories and encounters with the spirits that they have experienced and others have told them about.
Ruyle-Engman said the spirits are too evil rather than mischievous.
The Miramont Castle is not the only place in Manitou Springs with a few ghost stories.
‘“There is some hauntings that go on, especially here,”
Just down the road is a restaurant called Armadillo Ranch.
“There are some hauntings that go on, especially here,” Jenna Gallas said.
Jenna Gallas is the Co-owner of the Armadillo Ranch.
She said sometimes when she is in the restaurant by herself, strange things will happen.
“Bottles from the top of the shelves have fallen down, glasses have come off the rack and flown across the bar, light turns on, noises are heard on a regular basis,” Gallas said.
Gallas said these weird occurrences are one element that makes Manitou unique and a little spooky.
“There is that element of spirituality that will happen that I think drives people to Manitou,” Gallas said.
People can take a tour of the Miramont Castle. To find more information visit their website.
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