Haunted Austin Provides Halloween Fun

Halloween is just around the corner and many people are looking for a good scare. Legend has it that ghosts haunt many Capital City hit spots including the Governor's Mansion and the Driskill Hotel .

Located at the corner of Sixth Street and Brazos, the Driskill has a few ghosts haunting its halls.

Legend has it that a young girl fell to her death in the hotel. Some say children's laughter can be heard coming from the bottom of the stairs.

Another story says a woman hung herself after her fiancee called off their wedding. Some have seen her walking the halls, wearing a wedding dress.

Other say they've seen the ghost of Col. Peter Lawless, a Confederate soldier who lived at the Driskill from 1886 until his death in 1917.

According to the Austin ghost tours Web site , staffers see Col. Lawless as they perform mundane tasks like shampooing the carpet. They'll get the sensation that someone's watching them.

The Web site says the staffers will then see Lawless peer at them, glance at his pocket watch, turn and walk through a wall or closed door.

Over at the Governor's Mansion, some say the nephew of former Governor Pendleton Murah's killed himself in one of the mansion's bedrooms after his girlfriend refused his proposal.

The governor sealed the room after strange sounds were heard coming from the room. It stayed shut for 40 years before being reopened.

Other rumors say Sam Houston's ghost haunts the mansion.

Some say Metz Elementary in East Austin is haunted.

Legend says that when the school was demolished in 1990, workers saw child-like writing appear on blackboards and ghosts in the bathroom.

Some say things got so bad, an exorcism was performed.

StrangeUSA.com says shortly after that, a wall fell and killed a worker. It is said that there are still reports of restlessness at Metz.

Local lore says the creation of Zilker Park's Moonlight Tower is rooted in a murder mystery.

Legend says that a young housemaid named Mollie Smith was found murdered in her bedroom.

According to the Houston Press , this murder started a chain of killings that terrorized the city for a year. Author O. Henry referred to the killer as "The Servant Girl Annihilator".

The murders stopped on Christmas Eve 1885 and the killer was never found. Some say he jumped the pond and continued his work in England -- becoming the legendary "Jack the Ripper".

The murders led to many changes throughout the city, including the building of 31 towers, including Zilker's Moonlight Tower, to light the city.

Another haunted attraction is the Bremond Block Historic District located downtown between San Antonio and Guadalupe.

According to Austin Ghost Tours, the ghost of Nina Bremond can be seen on the upstairs porch of her former mansion.

Chateau Bellevue, home of Austin Women's Club, has its own secrets.

Some say they've seen a young girl play a piano. Others say they've seen her standing by a window or balcony.