Toys’R’Us
Sunnyvale, CA
While many people may not think of a modern superstore as
being haunted,
the
Toys’R’Us haunting reminds us that every plot of ground has a
history.
Built in 1970, the toy store is a 60,000 square foot one story
building.
It
is located thirty miles South of San Francisco, at 130 East El
Camino,
in
Sunnyvale, CA. This was once an apple orchard, and part of a
huge
ranch
owned by John Murphy during the late 1800s.
Paranormal activity occurs regularly at this site. Typically,
employees
unlock the store in the morning and find toys and books
scattered
about when
they had been neatly shelved the night before. Sometimes,
objects
fly
through the air or simply end up in a different place. People
have
reported
being touched when no one is around. Also, some have heard a
voice
that they
didn’t recognize calling their name. Aisle 15C sometimes
smells
of fresh
flowers.
Many employees and customers have reported incidents that have
occurred
in
the women’s bathroom. The water faucets start pouring when no
one
else is
around. If turned off, they go on again. Women have reported
being
tapped on
the shoulder. Those with long hair sometimes feel it being
stroked
by
someone that they can’t see.
Though incidents had been occurring for some time, the store
was
not
investigated until 1978, when local writer An-tionette May
took
an interest
in the ghost. May invited psychic Sylvia Brown, a
photographer,
and several
others to spend a night at the store.
The group expected the ghost to be of John Murphy, the lands
original
owner.
The first impression that Brown picked up was of a tall, lanky
man
with his
hands jammed in to his pockets. The ghost spoke with a Swedish
accent
and
said that his name was Johnny Johnson. He warned Brown that if
she
didn’t
want her feet wet she had better move. (Records show that a
well
once stood
on that spot.) She reported that Johnson was waiting for
someone
named Beth.
Johnny Johnson lived in Pennsylvania before coming west
sometime
in the
mid-1800s. While in California he worked as a circuit
preacher.
Johnson
became inflicted with encephalitis (inflammation of the
brain),
which left
him with a mental handicap. Because of this he was called
"Crazy
Johnny".
Johnson ended up working as a hired hand on the Murphy ranch.
The woman that Johnson is waiting for was Elizabeth Yuba
Murphy
Tafee,
otherwise known as Beth. Johnny apparently had a crush on this
lady,
only to
find that she had left the ranch to marry a lawyer from the
East
Coast.
Johnson died in 1884. He bled to death when he accidentally
cut
his leg
chopping wood. (Some versions of the story say it was his
neck.)
This
occurred on the spot where the Toys’R’Us stands today. Though
Johnson
was
about eighty when he died, he has appeared to witnesses as a
young
man in
his twenties or thirties.
At this writing the store is still haunted and the management
has
no plans
to get rid of the ghost. While some employees are afraid,
others
seem to
enjoy Johnson’s residence. The manager claims that sales
increase
whenever
the media reports on the ghost.
This haunting has been very well documented. Sylvia Brown has
been
back to
the store many times. Johnson’s activities have been written
about
in books
and newspapers, and the store has been featured on several TV
shows.
Arthur
Myers’ book The Ghostly Register includes some
interesting
infra-red
photographs taken during one of Sylvia Brown’s investigations.
The Shadowlands has some first hand accounts
included
in the Real Ghost
Experiences section:
Page 4, dated 11/9/97
Page 5, undated
Page 6, dated 11/1/98.
by catmz@hotmail.com
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