I won't mince words - I have a fascination with the macabre. I read
Helter Skelter before I entered high school. My idea of a perfect weekend is a
Forensic Files marathon and some take-out. I read true crime books by
Ann Rule and thoroughly enjoyed the
Dearly Departed Tour here in Los Angeles.
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| George Spahn, O.G. |
One of the first things I did upon moving to Hollywood was speed over to the Santa Susana Pass.
Charles Manson and his "family" lived there at Spahn Ranch, a crumbling Wild West movie set that had downgraded to a place that offered the public horseback riding. The owner of the property, George Spawn, allowed Manson's commune to live there for free, since Manson ordered the women in the "family" to have sex with the nearly blind eighty year-old man.
But when I arrived at Spahn Ranch, there was no ranch. George Spahn had long since died and the Manson "family" incarcerated, but I expected the dusty movie set to still be standing. Gone also were any remnants of commune life there. Call it denial, but I was convinced I was at the wrong place, misled by shoddy internet references. But then I found
this video.
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| all the way to the Simi Valley for nothing! |
Scott Michaels, founder of Dearly Departed Tours is as obsessed as I am with all things Helter Skelter, and when all he found was a hubcap and can of Coors on the property (with the aid of a metal detector), I knew I was at the right place, and that there was no point in going back.
