I remember that it was dark and foggy that night as I drove though the deserted campus. The place always holds a melancholy atmosphere for me and one that makes the stories of ghosts here all the more believable. I pulled into the central square with its impressive neo-Spanish bell tower and saw a group of cars parked in the lot. It was an eclectic group of vehicles from rusting heaps to new luxury imports. The cars reflected their drivers. They were here because of a single passion, an interest in ghosts and psychic phenomena.

The ghost hunters from all over had gathered here at the university to confirm or deign the stories of ghosts at this place. Were the stories true or were they the product of so much over imagination? It would prove to be an exciting night.

I joined the group and introduced myself. Many were old ghost hunting friends, others newcomers to the study. I was pleased that the well known Dr. Barry Taft had come out this night to join us from Los Angeles. The investigation wasn’t authorized by the university and we were fully prepared to suffer expulsion from the grounds or even arrest. Still, some things are too important when it comes to science, even a new study such as parapsychology. We hoped that something would happen tonight, and we were not disappointed.

The campus is both new and old. It was built in the 1930s as the Camarillo State Mental Hospital and in this capacity it served for many decades until many of the patients were released and mainstreamed into society. The buildings were then recycled into the new California State University and given a new name “Channel Islands” in hopes the new name would keep people from remembering it once was a mental hospital. Maybe this is the reason so many believe it’s haunted. Still, I have stories of ghosts here that date back to the hospital times.

The team members shook hands and exchanged greetings. There was an underlying excitement in the air as we made out way to the buildings, lugging our tools. Some of the group were psychics who used their own natural gifts to detect the presence of ghosts. My wife Debbie is a psychic but she declined to join us. She had visited the place in the past and experienced too many negative feelings and seen too many dark apparitions to want to step onto the campus again.

The new accounts of ghosts here come from many sources, tips sent to my web site as well as whispered stories from late night telephone calls. Such callers always hung up when I asked for a name. Were these true tales or mere hoaxers?

One compelling story told of encountering a man in a tan jumpsuit. The man appeared at a second story window and called down for help. The man insisted that someone was dying and needed help. The witness rushed into the building, searched the deserted rooms and found them empty. They went on to say several others had seen the man and heard his request for help over the last year.

Some of the stories focus on the ornate bell tower. One account says that a patient hung himself in the tower room and when the full moon is out passersby can see the shadow of the man. Another related story tells of a disturbed patient somehow gaining access to the tower and threw himself down to his death. A check of the records some time ago didn’t confirm these colorful accounts.

The group searched the deserted halls and wards to see if were could collect data that there were ghosts here. It was creepy, dark and cold but, try as I might, I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. One of the psychics took the lead. He’s a well-known man with a documented gift. He said that he could call ghosts too him. In one of the wards he began to act nervous. He said there was a ghost in a dark, far away, doorway. I peered into the dim light and couldn’t see anything that might be a ghost. He pointed at the doorway as video cameras rolled and flash snap shots were taken with blinding effect.
He then began to call to the ghost. “Come here,” he yelled. “We will not harm you. Come forth.” Everyone was stone quiet. Still I didn’t see anything. I was standing next to the video camera man who was documenting the expedition. This went on for some time, the psychic yelling and nothing happening. In time it all grew to become a bit silly.
Then the psychic man said the ghost had moved on.

We continued the tour as it grew late in the night. There were cold spots, and places where our equipment went off the charts. Several people did say they saw moving shadows but were they ghosts or imagination? It was creepy and several times I did feel the tingle I experience when ghosts are present but, it’s possible I was spooking myself out.

Before the team called it a night we reviewed the collected data. I watched the video tape with several others. I was surprised we caught something odd. In the section where the psychic was calling for the ghost there was a strange sound on the audio part of the video tape. At first I thought it was a glitch of some sort. It sounded like a slow whistle. Maybe caused by the flash cameras recycling after a picture was taken but, then the sound changed pitch and took on a more human quality.

It was a tune, a haunting melody that sent chills down my spine. I was right next to the camera man all night and I am confident no one was whistling or humming. I had never heard the song before or anything like it. It was truly mysterious. It did give me solid evidence that the old mental hospital was indeed haunted. The school tries to suppress all stories of supernatural events and has threatened staff if they “spread stories and lies.” Still, the ghosts didn’t get the memo and continue their nightly wanderings at what I like to call “Spook U.” If you have experienced anything at the Channel Island Campus at Camarillo, California, feel free to contact me at my web site www.ghost-stalker.com

Camarillo State Mental Hospital

Camarillo State Mental Hospital was a psychiatric hospital for both developmentally disabled and mentally ill patients in Camarillo, California.

It was located 3 miles south of Camarillo and was in use from 1936 to 1997. During its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, the hospital was at the forefront of treating conditions that in previously had been thought of as un-treatable. An example of this was the drugs and therapy procedures doctors at that institution developed for schizophrenia. Many of these programs initiated at Camarillo helped patients formerly relegated to a lifetime of warehousing in an institution or lobotomies be able to leave the hospital and move to less restrictive group homes or become (at least nearly) independent. The hospital continued to be a leader in the research of drugs and therapies in subsequent years. They also had one of the first units of any hospital to deal with autism.

Camarillo was no stranger to the abuses that regularly occur in mental hospitals. These included excessive use of restraints and poor supervision of patients. They long received controversy first over warehousing mentally ill people and then of releasing them to the community. Changing ethics over the years meant releasing more of these patients and putting them in community-based group homes rather than in large, costly, and remote hospitals. As a result, the number of patients at Camarillo dropped from 7000 in the 1960s to 900 in 1996. Due to its low patient number and the rising costs per patient, then California governor Pete Wilson announced in January of that year plans to close down the hospital in July 1997. Various members of the community, family members of patients, and employees of Camarillo made several last ditch efforts to keep the hospital open, arguing in part that the patients are already used to Camarillo and questioned where they would go. Some tried to get mentally ill criminals placed in Camarillo in an effort to save it, a proposal that had come up several times before, but again community members were concerned of the risk of criminals escaping into the community. Pete Wilson ended up standing his ground and the hospital closed down in late June 1997, with the patients and research facilities moved to other locations.

Originally it was intended to turn Camarillo into a prison, but community opposition in part and interest from the Cal State Universities led to its conversion into a university- California State University, Channel Islands (CSUCI). CSUCI had its first classes in fall 2002, four years ahead of the original schedule. Most of the buildings of Camarillo have been preserved and revitalized, including all the original 1930s mission-style buildings. The university is Ventura County's first public university and is quickly becoming a destination university. It has 2300 students in 2006, but is expected to grow to 15000 by 2025.

A popular rumor, especially among residents of Ventura County, is that the Eagles' song "Hotel California" was written about the Camarillo State Hospital, but this is most likely not true. Don Henley said in a 1995 interview that it was written about "the zeitgeist of the time", meaning about their lifestyle as celebrity musicians in L.A. in the 70s. Those who believe the rumor about it being about the hospital point to lyrics such as "You can check out anytime you want but you can never leave", While these lyrics could in theory refer to a mental hospital, they could also refer to being trapped in a certain lifestyle. However, Camarillo State Hospital has a "mission bell" which is referenced in the song, and the cover of the album is similar to that of CSH (it really is The Beverly Hills Hotel). Also, there are other lyrics to point out that the song may have been referencing the hospital such as: "the voices down the corridor", "we are programed to receive."

The Frank Zappa song "Camarillo Brillo" was also allegedly inspired by Camarillo State Hospital.

Legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker spent some time detoxing from heroin at the hospital. He wrote the composition "Relaxin' in Camarillo" in tribute to the hospital.
'N Sync's mental hospital-set video for "I Drive Myself Crazy" was filmed at Camarillo after the hospital closed.

After it closed, Camarillo was a popular destination for ghost hunters alleging that the hospital is haunted. A destination on the grounds for Ventura County youth was an allegedly haunted dairy used by the hospital known to locals as "Scary Dairy".

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