Old, historic buildings often come with stories of ghosts. While spooky tales certainly exist in some local places in the Truckee Meadows, others are trying to get rid of the myths.
At Sundance Books and Music, the site of the historic Levy House, thousands of books tell stories of fact and fiction from this world and others. Within the walls of the old Levy House are stories of another kind, the type that will make your hair stand on end.
“The back office, a gentleman was sitting there and very clearly heard a door open and close in the wall next to him where there is no door,” says Danilo Thomas, Managing Editor of Sundance Books.
To this day, customers will come into Sundance and claim a suspicious feeling in the air.
“There have been people who have come into certain rooms and will stop dead in their tracks, they feel something,” says Thomas.
There's no hard evidence to back the claims, these are just tales passed down from one generation to the next. Thomas says these ghostly stories help to define the 100 year old building that creaks and rattles as you wander the halls.
“Stories that are attached to it only build to that aura, they're all rooted in place, they bring in history to people that may not know about this house,” says Thomas
About 20 miles south of Sundance Books sits the old Bowers Mansion. Claims have been made that hauntings happen here too, but those who run the property say these are nothing more than myths.
“We haven't seen or heard anything in the mansion to make us believe that it is haunted in any way,” says Nick Steuer, Park Ranger at Bowers Mansion.
Steuer says rumors like these don't surprise him given the age of the building and the cemetery that overlooks the mansion. He says instead of looking for a scare that isn't there, find value in a piece of Nevada’s past.
“This mansion plays a vital role in the history of Nevada, and so come out here and enjoy that history, learn that history and just be respectful to the family,” says Steuer.
The Bowers Mansion is closed for the season, but will be open again in the spring for tours. As for Sundance, they're open for business from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. all week and close at 5 p.m. on Saturdays.
