Around Oakley: City has rich history of spooky tales

By Roni Gehlke
THERE ARE MANY stories of ghosts and spirits that haunt Oakley. Some stem from the history of the town, while others are sheer products of the imagination fashioned to delight audiences at this time of year.

While Oakley is celebrating only its 10th year as a city, the history of the town dates back nearly 120 years.

Back in the days when the only thing that kept refrigerators cold were large blocks of ice, the old Oakley Hotel, and the local bar attached to it, had a large refrigerator unit. When residents of Oakley died, mysteriously or of natural causes, their bodies were taken to that large refrigerator for storage until they could be buried or county officials could come and take them away.

Decades later, members of the community who worked in the building talked of spirits haunting the old hotel — especially one woman who was rumored as dying under unexplained circumstances.

One local ranch family reported that it had moved into a house that had been built in the beginning of Oakley's history. In the home, a young boy had died of a childhood disease, and all those who had lived on the land are said to have seen the boy happily riding his tricycle in front of the barn on clear Saturday afternoons.

One of the more ghoulish stories is of a man who reportedly hung himself in front of the church on the corner of Live Oak Road and Main Street in the dead of winter in the early 1900s. Some
who drive down Main Street on stormy nights say they can still see the shadow of the body swinging from the tree. Many others report that the tree has long since died and been chopped down.

Of course, the stories are exaggerated and get more and more extraordinary this time of year, which is part of the fun of Halloween. Many people in the area go all out with decorations. Early in the month, lots of homes were already in full swing decorating for the coming holiday. Many decorations are for the benefit of young children who love to see sparkling pumpkins, witches and a black cat.

Others like Andreina Sanve and her partner Yvonne Fee go all out with the decorations and set up a full-scale haunted house for the neighbors and friends to enjoy. Sanve's haunted house on Carpenter Road started out as decorating for fun, but when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and the people needed so much help, Sanve decided to go a step further, opening her house to anyone who wanted to check out her decorations for a small admission fee or a donation to help those in need.

That was just the start to what today the family calls "Sanctuary of Evil Haunted House and Maze." The haunted house has come a long way over the past few years.

Since finding out how much fun it was to open the house to others, she decided to help look for another organization to assist and found a local Girl and Boy Scout troop. Each group is run, respectively, by husband and wife team Yvonne and Bill Fee.

The Girl Scout Troup, number 31437, and Venture Crew 152 Boy Scouts have been working on helping with setup. Many members of both groups dress up in costume and participate with working up the scares. The group keeps the haunted house open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays throughout October and will continue to do so this weekend, even staying open on Sunday for those to enjoy for one more day after this year's Halloween.

New to the exhibit this year is a coffin ride called the "Last Ride" that Sanve purchased this year at the Transworld Home and Party Show in Las Vegas. The motion ride is sure to be a treat for die-hard haunted house fans.

A friend of Sanve's, Robert Moss, also helped this year by building a Western town so that they could host an Old West ghost town. There also will be the same great features from the past, including a pirate ship, a tour through a horrifying haunted house and a 7,000-square-foot corn maze.

The Sanctuary of Evil is located at 936 Carpenter Road in Oakley. Hours are 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $5 for the haunted house, $3 for the simulated coffin ride, or $8 for both.

The Venture Crew will offer snacks and refreshments. For more information, call 925-206-3339.

Roni Gehlke is an Oakley resident. Reach her at ourbackyard@comcast.net.