HAUNTED RANCH
BUY NIGHTTIME EVENT TICKETS NOW!
Book your group of 20 or more and save 20%! Call 831-637-4704
2012 SEASON RUNS SEPTEMBER 28th - OCTOBER 31ST
Opens after dark week-ends only.
Check calendar for dates and times
Located deep in the cornfield is the haunted Conover Mystery Ranch. This haunted event is not for sissies so enter only if you dare. The pathways are dark and aren't paved but once you get to the ranch you'll be able to see everything you need to see, that is if your eyes aren't closed out of fear. You know you'll be scared, you know you will.....
The History of Conover Mystery Ranch
1872-A young inventor from England, Abraham Conover, purchased a 40 acre parcel in the newly incorporated city of Hollister, California. He built a homestead and grew corn to supplement his inventing. He was married to Gloriana, an Indian from the Ohlone Tribe, and they had 3 children.
June 1897- Hollister experienced a 6.3 magnitude earthquake. The earthquake was large enough to rip a large fissure through Conover ranch and along what is now known as San Felipe Rd.
About this time, some of the children and natives in and around Hollister began to go missing. At first it was generally thought that an animal like a mountain lion was to blame. But a thorough search revealed no evidence to support that theory and it remained a mystery.
October 31st1897-When no one from town had seen the Connover’s for a few weeks, the local sheriff, town butcher and posse of local men went to the ranch to investigate. There they found the wife and children murdered and strung up in the corn field like scarecrows. Abraham was cornered in the barn he and set off a kerosene bomb that produced an explosion which leveled the entire complex. The Sheriff and butcher didn’t survive. Abraham’s body was never recovered.
The site of the ranch was abandoned, many locals believed that Abraham was himself to blame for the disappearances of the local children. Weapons and surgical tools along with human bone fragments were found in the ruins. Many also believed that all of the trouble started after that fissure opened up. Some zealots believe that it is a portal to Hell itself. The corn still renews itself every year, as if tended by and unseen hand…
1933-A traveling carnival and freak show is granted permission to use the site of the ruined Conover Ranch. At first they were very successful, but the shows turned darker and more sinister and so people became afraid to attend. One day, the carnival was gone. They were never heard from or seen again.
1975 to present-The land was sold to a Newton Viney, the great, great, grandson of the butcher Thaddeus Viney who lost his life the day they tried to apprehend Abraham Connover almost 80 years before. The local gossip was that Newton was completely obsessed with the parcel. He told people that voices were telling him to make the purchase. That it was his destiny. He was dismissed as the town oddity, a freak who mumbled insane things. But somehow, he did manage to purchase the land. He continued to grow and harvest the corn on the property and rebuilt the house and barn. The mysterious fissure, long forgotten, was overgrown and swallowed up by the land. After awhile, a small compound of sorts sprung up with a junkyard and rickety shanty town. Conover Ranch became a gathering place for an assortment of odd misfits who would find their way to town. It still remains the same to this day.
Footnote:
Nowadays most people think that the history and happenings on the Conover property were, and are, all a coincidence. They believe that the mysteries of the ranch are just the superstitious ideas of gullible small town hicks. But those small town hicks stay away from the area. They say they can feel the evil when they drive by the ranch. They believe that the ghosts of all that were lost still inhabit the area, and maybe even the bodies of the new tenants. So, what do you believe? Are you curious, morbidly fascinated or total unbeliever? Well, every year after harvest the current inhabitants of the ranch open their doors to the general public. Perhaps you should come for a visit. Maybe you will decide to stay, or maybe it won’t be your decision to make. If you’re brave enough, come on over and check it out. But don’t say that you weren’t warned.
We try not to over stay our welcome at the ranch. As not to disturb the inhabitants too much we only visit on the week-ends or at special times.
To learn how you can be part of the show follow SCREAMWORKS PRODUCTIONS on FACEBOOK or go to their website WWW.SCREAMWORKS.COM
