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The Driskill Hotel is among six haunted places in Austin. (CC)
Austin's got some serious spook factor: The capital city boasts a slew of haunted digs to send a year-round shiver down your spine—including the most haunted spot in Texas.
Austin's Driskill Hotel topped Yelp Texas' Top 20 list of the most haunted spots, with the Driskill Bar clinching the No. 2 spot. Four other local properties made an appearance.
The list, released Tuesday, considered businesses in the restaurant, food, travel and arts categories with a large concentration of reviews mentioning relevant keywords like "haunted," "spooky," and "ghosts." It then ranked those spots using a number of factors including total volumes of reviews and ratings.
Here's how the city's creepy properties landed on the Lone Star State's list of frightful destinations:
No. 1 The Driskill Hotel
It may seem only fitting that the state's most haunted spot has a storied history. Determined to construct "the finest hotel south of St. Louis," Missourian cattleman Col. Jesse Driskell built the infamous Driskill Hotel in 1886. Located at 604 Brazos St., guests have long reported supernatural activity there, including alleged poltergeist sightings and encounters with the spirit of Driskell himself.
No. 2 The Driskill Bar
Long known as a power meeting spot for politicians, the Driskill Bar lies within the hotel itself. But it turns out the rich mahogany wood, plush chairs and live piano music aren't enough to mask the spook from its haunted hotel counterpart.
No. 3 Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill
This southern cocktail bar, located at 303 Red River St., began in 1852 as a trading goods store, before expanding with a saloon and domino parlor. In 2003, Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill opened its doors, though it evidently still has strong ties to the past (and spirit world)—it's said to be haunted by people killed in a flood in the early 1900s. It's been said customers dining in will feel tapping on their shoulders or air blowing on their neck.
No. 5 Clay Pit
The celebrated contemporary Indian restaurant, at 1601 Guadalupe St., is located within the historic Bertram Building, named after German immigrant Rudolph Bertram. The building's cellar is allegedly haunted by a murdered prostitute's spirit, and one Yelp reviewer recalls "a sudden dizziness, nauseousness hit me like a ton of bricks" when he entered the upstairs rooms previously inhabited by the Bertram family.
No. 13 1886 Cafe & Bakery
This quaint Victorian-style café's traditional Texas comfort foods may not be enough to keep the scary at bay. Just like the Driskill Bar, the 1886 Cafe & Bakery sits within the Driskill Hotel's haunted walls.
No. 15 The Tavern
At 922 W. 12th St., The Tavern used to operate as a secret brothel in the 1920s. When one politician was caught there, local legend says he murdered the head madam's daughter Emily in retribution. Her spirit is said to have stuck around, sending kitchen drawers flying open and switching TVs off in the dining room. According to Austin Monthly, a pair of shoes were found buried within the walls during renovation in 2006, which the bar then put on display as evidence of Emily's continued presence.
The full list
- The Driskill, Austin
- The Driskill Bar, Austin
- Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill, Austin
- Menger Hotel, San Antonio
- Clay Pit, Austin
- Miss Molly's Hotel, Fort Worth
- Monteleone's, El Paso
- The Emily Morgan Hotel, San Antonio
- The Adolphus, Autograph Collection, Dallas
- The Alamo, San Antonio
- Jefferson Hotel, Jefferson
- The Tremont House Hotel, Galveston
- 1886 Cafe & Bakery, Austin
- St. Anthony, a Luxury Collection Hotel, San Antonio
- The Tavern, Austin
- Faust Brewing Company, New Braunfels
- Faust Hotel, New Braunfels
- The Esquire Tavern, San Antonio
- The Crockett Hotel, San Antonio
- VFW Post 76, San Antonio
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Popular
John and Brenda Wilson won the Great Christmas Light Fight that they have put on for over 20 years. (Great Christmas Light Fight)
Known as "Christmas sweethearts," John and Brenda Wilson were awarded $50,000 after going up against fellow Texans, including a family in Amarillo and two families in Corpus Christi, in the ninth season premiere of the lights show.
(Great Christmas Light Fight)
Their holiday display featured a hand-built sled, a train called the Peppermint Expressway with actual peppermint smoke coming out of it and Santa's reindeer "in training." Designer and judge Taniya Nayak noted the linework of the lights displayed on the roof and the positioning of the red and lime green color palette.
"Right off the bat when the lights turned on, I couldn't believe how beautiful these peppermint lights were... it's just such a fun, happy, yummy, delicious vibe to it," Nayak said when she announced the Wilsons were the winners. "It really made a smile go from one ear to the other on my face."
Judge Nayak said she also enjoyed that their display had different stories behind each section.
(Great Christmas Light Fight)
John, or "Mr. Christmas" as Brenda called him, said he has been putting on a Christmas lights display for over 20 years—and it's only got better since he met his Mrs. Clause 12 years ago. The two said they met online and were 98% compatible.
"Brenda and I grew up back in the 50s when things were very simple, so we wanted to create something from when we were growing up," John said on the show.
And their efforts paid off: along with their monetary prize, the couple earned a light-bulb-shaped trophy.
KSAT reports the home got the attention of the show's casting directors last year, who encouraged them to apply to be on the show. The show was then shot last year, but the couple didn't learn they won until this year.
While being on the show is their intro to stardom, locals are familiar with the Wilsons' yearly display in the light-centric Windcrest. Each year their home is part of the Windcrest Light Up, a decades-old tradition where residents go all-out with their holiday light displays. They've won at least three grand prizes in the Windcrest contest and several other category first-place prizes.
The Windcrest Light Up kicks off Dec. 4.
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