Out of an “abundance of caution” due to coronavirus concerns, the Winchester Mystery House decided to close until April 1, 2020, which also means no Friday the 13th Flashlight Tours.
As usual, I’m all kinds of behind on emails, updating the Ghost Tours & Ghost Hunting Events page, etc. In an effort to try and catch-up today, I tackled some emails, one of which was a newsletter from the Winchester Mystery House.
One of the stories was that a second night had been added to their popular flashlight tours, which they do every Friday the 13th. I was pretty sure I hadn’t added the info about the second night on March 14, but I knew I had March 13 listed.
When I went to click the Buy Tickets link to see if they were sold out or not yet, that’s when I spotted it: the notice.
It was actually super hard to miss. It dominated the screen:
When I clicked out of that, I spotted a new page in their menu: COVID-19. It included a statement that had been updated on March 10, 2020 that addressed the Santa Clara County Public Health Department’s order to cancel mass gatherings of 1,000 people or more.
However, I have a feeling WMH’s COVID-19 page will be updated shortly, because it included this statement: “After reviewing and consulting with our attorneys, Winchester Mystery House has been advised that daily operations and Flashlight Tour fall outside of this ban.”
It appears they had planned to take precautions disinfecting the flashlights and institute rigorous cleaning methods in the house, but info about the novel coronavirus seems to change daily. They must have decided not to take any chances after recent developments. (Namely, President Trump’s address last night.)
Which maybe isn’t a bad idea considering it’s Friday the 13th and all? Better to err on the side of caution.
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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It’s too bad, but not a surprise. I just hope this virus goes away soon.