Skagway Stories – The Tale of The Red House

Three bedroom, two bath home for sale. Includes shed, furniture, and malevolent entity.

Here at M&M Tours blog headquarters, we strive to bring you all sorts of factual and interesting information about our favorite town in the whole wide world, Skagway Alaska. While offering quality discount tours is our business, we are starting this new Saturday blog series focused on some wild local stories.

And away we go!

Every single building in Skagway is haunted by at least one ghost. The Red Onion Saloon has something like four ghosts with Lydia and the Smelly Man being the most famous. No ghost in Skagway is more renowned than Mary at the Golden North Hotel. The Fraternal Order of Eagles Lodge has a couple of ghosts too. While bartending at the Eagles, a friend of mine saw an evil apparition walk through a wall. He didn’t enjoy the experience.

Still, a bunch of naughty ghosts aren’t going to stop people from living in any of those houses because Skagway has a terrible housing shortage. After a while, you just accept that there’s a ghost in your house and get used to  strange things happening, like toilets flushing on their own and lights flickering on and off.

“I know that’s you, Ghosty McGhostface! Put the white sheet back on the bed because you’re not scaring anybody!”

I’ve never seen a ghost but I think I know why. You see, I am not afraid of ghosts. If I ever saw a ghost standing at the foot of my bed in the middle of the night, it’s going to quickly meet both Smith and Wesson. I don’t suffer apparitions of any sort, so if you’re a ghost, consider yourself on notice.

What about The Red House?

Oh, right. I mentioned there is a terrible housing shortage in Skagway but what if I were to tell you that one two-story house remains empty year after year? It’s true. Now, you may think that the house is empty because it’s got black mold or something, but you would be wrong. The house is kept in perfect condition, both inside and out. It also happens to be painted bright red.

Some years ago, I asked a long-time local why the house sat empty even though it was furnished and maintained.

His eyes widened and he said in a whisper, “We probably shouldn’t talk about the red house.” Then he hurriedly turned and walked away.

Still, I had to know the story of The Red House so I waited until I saw my local friend a few drinks deep at the saloon and broached the subject yet again. His eyes narrowed as he moved to the edge of his barstool. Tilting his head, he began to whisper in my ear.

What follows below is the story of Skagway’s empty red house. But beware! Anyone that hears the story may have an unwanted visitor that very night!

The Tale of the Red House

A newlywed couple moved into the red house back in the early 70s. I forget their names. They were young and in love and ready to start a family. At first, everything seemed fine. The husband worked construction and sometimes had to travel out of town. One night while he was away, the wife woke from a terrible nightmare where her husband fell from a rooftop and was killed.

At that moment her phone rang.

The pinnacle of 1970s telephone technology!

When the wife answered and realized it was her husband on the line, she was greatly relieved. Her relief soon turned to dread when he explained that he just woke from the same exact nightmare. The wife went back to bed but couldn’t sleep. While she lay restless in bed, the wife thought she heard something scratching beneath the house. It was faint so she assumed it was an animal of some sort.

Suddenly, the mattress on which she lay was pulled away from some unseen force. Then it was on top of her and she was pressed between the mattress and the box spring. The force was so great, she couldn’t breathe. The wife was able to free one hand from the mattress trap and when she did the force pushing against it was gone. So was the scratching.

When the husband returned they immediately moved out of the house and away from Skagway forever. In the days between the bed incident and when they moved out, something else happened in that house but they never spoke of it. Seemingly overnight, the young wife’s hair had turned gray and her eyes were consumed with fear. The husband looked no better and trembled at the mere mention of his name.

After moving down south, they sold the house to a fella that had just moved to Skagway and was working for the bank. That’s when the real terror began.

Come back next Saturday for Part Two of The Tale of the Red House!