Skidoo is just like Bodie or Calico in terms of its reputation as a classic American ghost town, and just like the others, it too has a reputation for the dead lurking around. A barkeeper named Joe “Hooch” Simpson was responsible for the murder of the town banker. Joe met his fate at the end of a rope from a lynch mob, but his story didn’t end there. A doctor reportedly removed Joe’s head for medical tests; now, Joe is seen throughout the town as a headless figure. The cemetery is also said to be a hot spot for paranormal happenings.
(Submitted by Chris Berglund)
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Geographic Information
- Address:
- Skidoo, CA
United States
Get Directions » - GPS:
- 36.43556, -117.14666999999997
- County:
- Inyo County, California
- Nearest Towns:
- Furnace Creek, CA (16.3 mi.)
Darwin, CA (27.3 mi.)
Beatty, NV (39.1 mi.)
Keeler, CA (40.6 mi.)
Searles Valley, CA (48.3 mi.)
Olancha, CA (49.0 mi.)
Cartago, CA (49.6 mi.)
Lone Pine, CA (52.2 mi.)
Shoshone, CA (58.3 mi.)
Pearsonville, CA (59.3 mi.)
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Disclaimer: The stories posted here are user-submitted and are, in the nature of "ghost stories," largely unverifiable. HauntedPlaces.org makes no claims that any of the statements posted here are factually accurate. The vast majority of information provided on this web site is anecdotal, and as such, should be viewed in the same light as local folklore and urban legends.
The headless ghost may be Headless Hooch, but in 1958 grave robbers took the skulls of three other bodies. The headless ghost wandering Emigrant Canyon is most likely Hooch’s. I detailed the story on YouTube, called Headless Hooch.