Walking L.A. #31, El Pueblo de Los Angeles and Chinatown, 3.4 miles.

The Red Line took us to Union Station for our second annual Haunted Hike in honor of Barbara's Halloween birthday (HB,BB!). In 1939, Union Station displaced Old Chinatown—one of the most haunted sections of L.A. because of the horrific 1871 Chinese Massacre, the racially motivated, worst mass lynching in American history. From the station we crossed Alameda to El Pueblo de Los Angeles and Paseo de la Plaza, the original town square and gallows of 1781 Los Angeles. At Pico House on the south end of the square, it's rumored you can hear the footsteps of the spirit of Mexican California's last governor, Pio Pico, as he wanders the 1870 hotel's abandoned halls. We paid our respects at the Day of the Dead altars circling the gazebo at Paseo de la Plaza, and then strolled Olvera Street's shops and stalls decked out with Day of the Dead merch. The DOTD face painting stands were sooo tempting. Any voices, thumps, or doors opening without help at Casa La Golondrina Mexican Cafe could be "The Mistress" who haunts the restaurant at #17 Olvera. Who cares? Their food is great.

A short walk from Olvera on Alameda took us to Philippe the Original, home of the French Dip. In 1908, the building's upper floor was a brothel, and when Philippe's relocated there in 1951, second floor dining room patrons reported ghostly scents of perfume. And then there's Georgina, the former waitress who promised to come back and haunt the place—and does. Next stop Broadway, for a walk on New Chinatown's main drag of shops, sidewalk fruit & veg vendors, and malls filled with clothing and jewelry vendor stalls (fun stuff on the cheap.) Turning in to East Gate, the gorgeous entryway to the Central Plaza, we stopped at the 1939 fountain to toss in a few coins for luck, paused for a look-see at the five-tier pagoda topping the 1941 Chinatown landmark Hop Louie restaurant (no ghosts, but a notorious past), and then made our way back to Union Station for a cuppa pumpkin-spice latte and the ride home. A spooktacular hike! *Special nod to James Bartlett's excellent Gourmet Ghost book, for some of the ghostly background.