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Haunted America
Haunted History of Old San Antonio
As the saying goes, “dead
men tell no tales.” Or do they? From its humble beginnings as a Spanish
settlement in 1691 to the bloody battle at the Alamo, San Antonio’s history is
rich in haunting tales. Discover Old San Antonio’s most haunted places and
uncover the history that lies waiting for those who dare to enter their
doorways. Take a peek inside the Menger Hotel, the “Most Haunted Hotel in
Texas,” and just a block away, peer into the Emily Morgan Hotel, one of the
city’s first hospitals and where many men and women lost their lives. Explore
the San Fernando Cathedral, where people are buried within the walls and
visitors claim to see faces mysteriously appear. Uncover the legends behind
Bexar County Jail. Join authors James and Lauren Swartz and decide for yourself
what truly lurks behind the Alamo City’s fabled past.
men tell no tales.” Or do they? From its humble beginnings as a Spanish
settlement in 1691 to the bloody battle at the Alamo, San Antonio’s history is
rich in haunting tales. Discover Old San Antonio’s most haunted places and
uncover the history that lies waiting for those who dare to enter their
doorways. Take a peek inside the Menger Hotel, the “Most Haunted Hotel in
Texas,” and just a block away, peer into the Emily Morgan Hotel, one of the
city’s first hospitals and where many men and women lost their lives. Explore
the San Fernando Cathedral, where people are buried within the walls and
visitors claim to see faces mysteriously appear. Uncover the legends behind
Bexar County Jail. Join authors James and Lauren Swartz and decide for yourself
what truly lurks behind the Alamo City’s fabled past.
101 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 23, 2013
52 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 5, 2021
This is a quick read--a lunchtime read, even!
I picked this up when my daughter and I were visiting San Antonio. We stayed at the Menger Hotel and visited a couple other locations described in this book. We did not have any ghost experiences, but we had fun learning the history and getting creeped out anyway!
If you read this book, don't skip over the brief introduction to learn a little about the authors and their love of San Antonio. I wish we would have participated in their ghost tour while we were in town.
These ten chapters are very quick, but also very creepy if you read them on a windy day with your windows open while doors blow shut and papers drift off tables and strange other noises happen...all due to the wind, of course!
I picked this up when my daughter and I were visiting San Antonio. We stayed at the Menger Hotel and visited a couple other locations described in this book. We did not have any ghost experiences, but we had fun learning the history and getting creeped out anyway!
If you read this book, don't skip over the brief introduction to learn a little about the authors and their love of San Antonio. I wish we would have participated in their ghost tour while we were in town.
These ten chapters are very quick, but also very creepy if you read them on a windy day with your windows open while doors blow shut and papers drift off tables and strange other noises happen...all due to the wind, of course!
December 6, 2024
I picked this up at the Menger Hotel and honestly it’s a cute fast read about the history of SA with some ghosts sprinkled in. I don’t know how much I believe the hotel is haunted but the vibes were immaculate, as was the oddities shop connected.
This gives a quick lesson of history with some fun so I liked it and I’m glad I picked it up.
This gives a quick lesson of history with some fun so I liked it and I’m glad I picked it up.
August 29, 2018
I bought this book during a recent visit to San Antonio. It is a great, quick read with lots of local history combined with ghostly lore. I was able to use the book as a bit of a makeshift travel guide to point me in the direction of as many haunted places as I could fit in for a visit while I was in town.
It's a fun read, I hope you'll check it out.
It's a fun read, I hope you'll check it out.
October 21, 2025
Great stories and history!
September 10, 2023
This was great. I took the Grimm Sisters Tour while I’m San Antonio so a few of tue stories the guide tells you about are in the book, but there’s also a few others that they don’t have time to tell you about. The narrative is clear and the spooky feeling is there, almost as if a guide was telling you the story. I really liked it. Perfect for the spooky season.
June 15, 2019
Fun read!
April 9, 2018
A great concise account of the more eerie spots in San Antonio! Each ghost story is told is a short vignette form that makes them easily digestible and leaves you wanting to see the places for yourself. Worth the afternoon’s read!!
December 18, 2021
I visited Antonio often, when I lived in the great Lone Star State of Texas. It was/is one of my favorite cities to visit and going there again is on my bucket list. When thinking about old, historic, San Antonio, for me, like for most people, the first place that came to mind was The Alamo, but, Haunted History of Old San Antonio showed me a side of Old San Antonio’s history that I knew little or nothing about. Many of the places talked about in this wonderful little book were familiar to me, but the stories told about their historic history were all new to me.
For example, I never knew that the first settlers to arrive in San Antonio were from the Canary Islands and sent there in the early 1730s by the King of Spain to establish a new world. Lauren, the author of this masterpiece, along with her husband, James, is a direct descendant of those original “Island People.” they met on a ghost tour and today they own a ghost tour company of their own in San Antonio. They based most of what you will read in this book on stories told to them by the owners of the haunted places on their tours, and by those owner’s employees. Are ghosts real? Do you believe I’m ghosts? Perhaps not, but after reading these stories, you will take a closer look at what you believe about ghosts and their existence. I know I have.
The first place that Lauren writes about is the historic Menger Hotel, that’s located next to the Alamo. I have stayed there a few times when visiting San Antonio but have never seen or heard any of the 32 known spirits they claim roam its hallways. Three known spirits are well-known personages. One of them is Teddy Roosevelt, who recruited his Rough Riders in the Menger Hotel Bar in 1898. The most often seen spirit is that of Sallie White, who worked for the Menger as a chambermaid and was loved by all there. After her common-law husband shot her in the back three times, she died two days later; the Menger brought her back and paid for her funeral. The receipt for the $32 funeral cost is still on display at the Menger to this day. The receipt reads: Hotel Exp. Acct., to cash paid for a coffin for Sallie White, col’d chambermaid, deceased, murdered by her husband, shot March 28th died March 30th. For grave, $25 (Swartz, Lauren M.; Swartz, James A.. Haunted History of Old San Antonio (Haunted America, pp18-19, Arcadia Publishing. Kindle Edition.) The third personage is Captain Richard King. King started life as an indentured servant, ran away and became a riverboat captain and later a blockade runner during the civil war. Later he became a cattle baron, the owner of the one million plus acre King Ranch. King maintained a private suite on the second floor of the hotel and died there on April 14, 1885. His funeral services were held in the hotel lobby and attended by thousands of people from all over the world.
Although the Menger Hotel, “The Most Haunted Hotel in Texas,” is probably the best known of the sites you will read stories about in this book, you will also read stories about many others as well. All the stories are captivating and believable. You owe it to yourself to read it for yourself. If you didn’t believe in ghosts when you started reading it, you most likely will when you finish it. At least you will consider the possibility that ghosts are real.
For example, I never knew that the first settlers to arrive in San Antonio were from the Canary Islands and sent there in the early 1730s by the King of Spain to establish a new world. Lauren, the author of this masterpiece, along with her husband, James, is a direct descendant of those original “Island People.” they met on a ghost tour and today they own a ghost tour company of their own in San Antonio. They based most of what you will read in this book on stories told to them by the owners of the haunted places on their tours, and by those owner’s employees. Are ghosts real? Do you believe I’m ghosts? Perhaps not, but after reading these stories, you will take a closer look at what you believe about ghosts and their existence. I know I have.
The first place that Lauren writes about is the historic Menger Hotel, that’s located next to the Alamo. I have stayed there a few times when visiting San Antonio but have never seen or heard any of the 32 known spirits they claim roam its hallways. Three known spirits are well-known personages. One of them is Teddy Roosevelt, who recruited his Rough Riders in the Menger Hotel Bar in 1898. The most often seen spirit is that of Sallie White, who worked for the Menger as a chambermaid and was loved by all there. After her common-law husband shot her in the back three times, she died two days later; the Menger brought her back and paid for her funeral. The receipt for the $32 funeral cost is still on display at the Menger to this day. The receipt reads: Hotel Exp. Acct., to cash paid for a coffin for Sallie White, col’d chambermaid, deceased, murdered by her husband, shot March 28th died March 30th. For grave, $25 (Swartz, Lauren M.; Swartz, James A.. Haunted History of Old San Antonio (Haunted America, pp18-19, Arcadia Publishing. Kindle Edition.) The third personage is Captain Richard King. King started life as an indentured servant, ran away and became a riverboat captain and later a blockade runner during the civil war. Later he became a cattle baron, the owner of the one million plus acre King Ranch. King maintained a private suite on the second floor of the hotel and died there on April 14, 1885. His funeral services were held in the hotel lobby and attended by thousands of people from all over the world.
Although the Menger Hotel, “The Most Haunted Hotel in Texas,” is probably the best known of the sites you will read stories about in this book, you will also read stories about many others as well. All the stories are captivating and believable. You owe it to yourself to read it for yourself. If you didn’t believe in ghosts when you started reading it, you most likely will when you finish it. At least you will consider the possibility that ghosts are real.
June 1, 2025
I love reading about my hometowns ghost stories and the history but I didn’t love some of the wording or formatting. The first 4-ish chapters exclusively referred to the indigenous people of the area as Indians and then they finally changed it to Natives. The formatting could be a little better to not have a full page of pictures between you and the completion of a sentence/paragraph. I’m not crazy they consistently would use wording like “recently XYZ thing happened”, when was recently? 10 years ago, 2010, 2021? When. Overall I liked the book and would recommend it to others for local history and spooky encounters. It’s a short read and the book itself feels really nice quality. The Sisters Grimm is an excellent stop for ghost tours and the gothy vibes and souvenirs. If the book were to be updated and republished, I’d purchase it again.
September 5, 2021
By chance, we happened upon Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours, and we thought it would be a entertaining way to spend an evening in San Antonio. The tour we selected was part-walking tour and part-bus tour, and we visited several of the sites described in the Swartz's book. Coincidentally, we also came across some of the cemetery sites we visited on the ghost tour while geocaching several days later.
Haunted History of Old San Antonio is a quick read providing both the history and the spectral presence(s) of each site, and it will serve as reminder of our visit.
Haunted History of Old San Antonio is a quick read providing both the history and the spectral presence(s) of each site, and it will serve as reminder of our visit.
February 10, 2023
Great history & hauntings combined!
Enjoyed the book very much! I do like having the historical narrative and the haunted narrative combined in the same section. I've read a few of these ghostly books that tell the historical part on and on for more than half the book. I do enjoy history, but I read these books for the combination, so having the history and hauntings combined in the relevant section is immensely more entertaining to me. This was a wonderful book!
Enjoyed the book very much! I do like having the historical narrative and the haunted narrative combined in the same section. I've read a few of these ghostly books that tell the historical part on and on for more than half the book. I do enjoy history, but I read these books for the combination, so having the history and hauntings combined in the relevant section is immensely more entertaining to me. This was a wonderful book!
December 13, 2025
This book was interesting. I bought it during my time in Texas while I was at Fort Sam Houston for the Army. I loved haunted tales and this one didn’t disappoint. The amount of detail was incredible! I cannot wait to come back to San Antonio so I can explore some of these places, besides the military base!
November 17, 2020
The Menger, the Emily Morgan, The Alamo, and much more in this small book. If you're looking for true paranormal stories in San Antonio, this is a good, quick read with lots of history and ghostly stories.
December 9, 2021
I had read this book out of curiosity. I enjoyed reading this book because I learned more about the haunted history of San Antonio. I loved that it was both informative and fascinating. I thought the book was well written. It is a must read.
December 21, 2024
A Spooky History
This is not a formally written history book. I think the authors personality can come through more, but it is a great recount of the history & ghost stories are fun to read!
This is not a formally written history book. I think the authors personality can come through more, but it is a great recount of the history & ghost stories are fun to read!
October 29, 2018
Accurate and Interesting!
I found this book very entertaining and accurate. I'm a native San Antonian and have been to so these places.
I found this book very entertaining and accurate. I'm a native San Antonian and have been to so these places.
October 17, 2021
Short entertaining read.
December 7, 2021
Brief histories & rumored hauntings in San Antonio.
August 24, 2022
Fascinating history of key San Antonio sites. I love and riveted. I couldn’t put the book down. I made pages of notes to share with my grandchildren when we visit on a weekend trip to San Antonio.
May 5, 2023
Excellent book full of history! I am excited to visit some of these places!
July 6, 2025
Spooky
Very interesting read. It was spooky and I learned some new things about San Antonio that I hadn't heard of before.
Very interesting read. It was spooky and I learned some new things about San Antonio that I hadn't heard of before.
Want to read
July 17, 2025SM
March 2, 2024
A very quick read about historical places of interest in the San Antonio area. Great to read before visiting to possibly add a few more places to see when walking around the area.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews