Weird Los Angeles: Satan on Beverly Boulevard
April 1970, 9:00 am. A teenager, walking down Beverly Boulevard with his brother and sister stumbled upon the old building. It must've been three-stories high. Despite heavy traffic on the streets, near the eerie looking structure there was no-one about. There was certainly nobody residing within the walls, the forlorn face of the building had blackened windows, and there were no signs to indicate it had been in use recently.
The kids found a door. Locked. Another. Locked. Another...it grinded open. They stepped into the gloom. The room was dark, empty and echoed even their whispers. Opposite, a stairway, leading to a door. Curiosity got the better of them. They trudged to the foot of the stairwell. The hum of the traffic outside no louder than the buzz of a fly.
Suddenly, the tranquility was punctuated with the tremor of fright. The kids screamed in union. For there on the stair, and descending, was a face. No, a head! The fiery eyes burning, gazing at them. The orange-red flames surrounding the head, a barrier-like mane belonging to this bodyless being. The smirk on its face, mocking, a sinister smile. The head, floating towards them, all huddled together and then finally, as the grinning ghoul almost reached them, they fled in terror, leaving behind the flickering entity.
A few years after the experience one of the witnesses returned, but the building was locked. Some twenty years after, they returned again, but the building was no longer there. Just what grim, foreboding spectre had the kids seen ? Or was it an April Fool played out by a patient trickster ?
Photo by yananine on flickr