San Antonio's spookiest haunted locations and urban legends

The Dancing Devil of El Camaroncito
We’re not sure why, but apparently the ‘70s were a banner decade for spooky happenings San Antonio. According to this satanic tale, on Halloween 1975 a handsome man clad in white made quite the entrance at El Camaroncito Night Club. Legend says he was an amazing dancer, and wooed women left and right. As the night wore on, one of the women glanced down at the man’s feet and, instead of stylish shoes, saw that he had clawed chicken’s feet. Some people says she actually saw a goat’s cloven hooves. Either way, people claim he was the devil himself. The story goes that he fled to a bathroom and escaped through a window, leaving behind a cloud of smoke and a sulfuric smell. We’re not sure why Beelzebub himself would feel the need to sneak out like that, but whatever.
Photo via Google Maps

Victoria's Black Swan Inn
Tucked off of Austin Highway, Victoria’s Black Swan Inn is considered one of the most haunted places in the country, and is a destination for ghosthunters and thrillseekers alike. While people claim that ghosts from as far back as a Native American encampment, as well as from The Battle of Salado Creek — in which the Mexican Army and Texans clashed in 1842 — more recent ghosts also apparently haunt the property. A couple, Jolene Woods and Park Street (yes, that was his real name), previously lived here. Jolene died of cancer and Park later killed himself. Jolene can be purportedly seen walking to the gazebo in the front yard. There’s also a girl named Sarah who’s said to communicate via Ouija board. If you don’t believe in ghosts but like creepy fun, the Inn often hosts supernatural and spooky-themed events.

Big Bird
No, we don’t mean the friendly yellow muppet from Sesame Street — think more along the lines of a dinosaur. In the ‘70s, a slew of sightings of a massive airborne creature were reported in South Texas. The majority of the flap took place in 1975-76, where a so-called “Big Bird” was spotted in San Benito, Brownsville and the Alamo City. According to Jerome Clark’s book Unexplained, three San Antonio teachers claimed to see a giant creature with a wingspan of 15-20 feet that swooped over their car. In the scholarly spirit of their profession, they checked an encyclopedia once they reached their school, and came to the conclusion that it was a pterodactyl, the long-extinct flying reptile.

Huebner-Onion Homestead
This historic homestead has an accompanying tragic tale, that of Joseph Huebner, who met his untimely end in the late 1800s. According to the story, Huebner really liked his liquor, but accidentally quaffed some kerosene instead of whiskey. When neighbors found him, they weren’t sure if he was dead or passed out drunk. The neighbors decided to inter him near a creek behind the home — possibly burying him alive. When Judge John F. Onion and his wife, Harriet, bought the homestead in 1930, it was already rumored to be haunted by Huebner’s restless spirit, with tales of strange noises coming from the property.

The Alamo
The Alamo It should come as no surprise that the Alamo is said to be very haunted. Ghosts that have been seen at the historic site include soldiers as well as a small child that purportedly wanders the grounds.