Macabre Masterpiece

Getting Ready For The Spooky Season

By Rebecca Zimmerman

For the GPHN

Come autumn, phantom whispers of Wild West violence and mystery echo through the City of Denver. This is a place notorious for both lingering specters who relive forgotten tragedies amongst midnight shadows and mortal merrymakers who paint the town black with a phantasmagoria of fun for all ages. 

But when it comes to Halloween celebrations, Park Hill reigns supreme. The neighborhood, lined with old homes, old trees and hidden secrets, becomes a macabre masterpiece. Every street out-spooks the others, treats abound and neighbors conjure magic and safe streets together. 

Our true real scary stories are ripped directly from historical headlines and next-door neighbors’ attics.

In these pages in years past, we have shared a sampling of terrifying tales of the paranormal and true crime that keeps residents up at night.

Even in places familiar and mundane to most residents, shadows conceal the mischief and mourning of long-departed Park Hill denizens. Staff and students of McAuliffe International School (formerly Smiley Junior High), still report encountering a ghostly figure in a bathroom (perhaps some of them are manifesting the fictional Hogwart’s Schools’ “Moaning Myrtle”). 

Another haunting in the building, however, was not only captured in recent years on a cell phone, it has a verified historical backstory. One pre-dawn morning, maintenance staff recorded a disembodied female-sounding voice singing. Legend claims the song belongs to a mother and her daughters who perished in a 1961 plane crash at nearby Stapleton Airport; the old Smiley school gymnasium served as a makeshift morgue.

Up the street, some members at the stately Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church tell of a photograph showing the misty apparition of a ghostly boy sitting in a pew. Other strange occurrences have been reported, like breaker panels flapping without reason and groaning voices captured in the background of choir videos. Church staff have whispered of spectral dinner parties, smelling cigar smoke and old-fashioned perfume, and feeling cold spots throughout the building.

Longtime Park Hillian Bernadette Kelly tells a fur-raising ghost story of  Jeff the Sky-Diving Dog, a bull terrier who died in a jumping accident in 1924 when his parachute failed. The tragedy occurred during a Colorado National Guard dedication of Denver’s first Lowry Field, at the northern edge of Park Hill. 

Some say that — 100 years later — Jeff’s ghost still haunts the area and his spirit communicates with dogs in the neighborhood. So if you hear a ghostly howl some wild, windswept night, have no fear: Jeff is a protective and heroic presence.

In 1993, Halloween in Park Hill became a community rallying point after the tragic drive-by shooting of Carl Banks, Jr., a teenager who was chaperoning younger relatives as they trick-or-treated. His tragic death catalyzed the creation of neighborhood “Ghost Posts”—safe check-in stations where adults stood watch. 

Spearheaded by Dee and Steve Ciancio and continued by neighbors today, Ghost Posts provide warm drinks and a haven to wandering trick-or-treaters. The community’s effort to combine fun with safety also includes the tradition that trick-or-treating ends in Park Hill by 8 p.m. Residents leave porch lights on for safety, but put a sign on their doors to indicate that they are no longer giving out candy.

Decorations that are creative and terrifying enough to wake the dead may be as close as your own front yard. But a few houses have a reputation for taking autumnal festivity to the next level. One must-stop on your trick-or-treating route is the “Pink House” on the block of 18th and Leyden. Homeowner Kallista Hammer says she has “big aspirations” for huge-scale hocus-pocus to include a giant skeleton. 

The “Ash Street Halloween House” is so marvelously macabre that it has its own Instagram account at @tittigerhalloween. 

And Ann Lincoln’s Halloween-night extravaganza at 18th and Clermont includes music, magic and foam.

Newer, inclusive traditions may include a teal-colored pumpkin next to some front doors across Park Hill. These indicate that treats for kids with food allergies and dietary restrictions will be given — often they are non-food items like stickers, glow-sticks or toys.

Halloween is for everyone, and Park Hill is renowned for its ethos of being welcoming and inclusive. Children from all over the city trek here, knowing that the witching hour will indeed bewitch while they are trick-and-treating. 

The tragic story of Jeff the Sky-Diving Dog is detailed in historian and author Phil Goodstein’s book Park Hill Promise. On Aug. 16, 1924, the Colorado National Guard dedicated its new home at the edge of Park Hill — the city’s first Lowry Field. Among the day’s attractions were Jeff the Sky-Diving Dog, performing his 101st leap from an airplane. It turned out to be his last. The crowd watched horrified as the dog’s parachute lines got tangled around him, and he crashed to the ground. Jeff received a military funeral, and was buried at Lowry Field. One hundred years later, some say Jeff’s spirit continues to haunt the area. Standing with Jeff in this photo, left to right: Lowry flagman Jay Payment; Jeff’s owner James C. Ziegler; Pilot Daniel F. Kearns. Photo credit Denver Public Library