This photo shows part of a huge portrait that is displayed on the second floor of the haunted downtown restaurant, the Spaghetti Warehouse at 901 Commerce Street, Houston, Texas. A few of us have been trying to analyze the picture, and cannot figure out why this portrait is so troubling. As you can see, we’ve tweaked the contrast and colors, and nothing clearly presents itself to us.
Sure, we can see the ‘bleeding eyes’ effect, but… we think there may be more than that.
If you can see anything especially odd in this photo, or explain why it’s giving some of our researchers nightmares, please comment, below.
The ghosts at the Spaghetti Warehouse are pleasant and playful; it’s not a scary place at all. However, this portrait is very odd, and we’d love to understand why it’s bothering us.
Thank you!
how the portrait really looks
 original photo, adjusted contrast |
 inverted colors |
 enhanced, reds |
 enhanced, blues |
The warehouse is not a playful place. And you have it right that its not scary.. Its a lot more than that. Its sad, hes the founder and owner of The Spaghetti Warehouse.. No one goes to the 2nd floor because thats where he died. Supposedly he fell against the elevator shaft. But i still dont know, i’m still doing research and also planning a visit/ investigation there.
That picture there, is an ordinary picture of the founder, that died. They keep it up there to keep memories. And that blood you see. Is his own. His blood splattered upon the portrait when he fell. I look at “the bleeding eyes” as tears. Hes trapped up there on the 2nd floor and because it feels like its “haunted” because hes trying to reach out to someone to get him to the other side. Same with his wife.
Also on the 2nd floor is supposedly where he lived/ his room. But like i said, i still dont know for sure. Also on the inverted picture, it shows his mouth open and looks like hes crying. He’s alone, and he needs help. I know this sounds crazy but its true. I know more if you want to email me
-Jenna Wilhelm
I am told, it was not the founder of the spaghetti warehouse, but a pharmacist, who, as picking up a bunch of files, rushing out to get home, thought he was entering in the elevator, instead fell to his death, as the elevator was not closed off as was supposed to be.
Nadia,
Thanks for that information. It makes a lot of sense.
Cheerfully,
Fiona Broome
I think….well i copied the pic ( sorry ) and enlarged it..then i studied it and i noticed…do you see how when u enlarge the photos you see in the right bottom side it looks like it has been burnt. thats something i saw..and in the red pix it looks like he is mad because when u look at the eyebrows they kind of go inwards and downwards at the same time. the A.C. photo (adjusted contrast) suprised me a bit because in the top left corner you see a pattern type thing, like the kind you would find on an old mirror. and i noticed that in the inverted colors photo it does look like he is crying. i think he was pushed down the elevator shaft, and then the elevator was brought to the first floor, crushing him. I got that from what looked to be scars above his right eyebrow and near his chin/neck area. I also come to believe that his soul..has been damned into that picture forever since, as i said before, the mirror like pattern looks to be as if it is on a mirror. i believe he is a poor innocent soul wanting to get out of that picture. i beleive if somebody helps him find something he has lost, that he will pass over peacefully. im going there on saturday night. wish me luck
the investigation is done. lol. take a tour.
I looked at the portrait over and over, and I actually noticed something interesting, The blood stain was pretty sad if you ask me, but in the enhanced blue picture I see a staircase behind him, and I have been to the spaghetti warehouse plenty of times, and the mysterious staircase does not match up with the one at the spaghetti warehouse. The one in the picture looks like a hallway of stairs. like their leading to something. But the question is, What are they leading to? Is he trying to tell the mortal world something? Is he trying to tell us he needs help? Or is he just an angry soul? Honestly I do not know his past just yet, but I am sure he is not an angry soul. so lets listen to what he is trying to tell us. Or lets try to help him.
You may contact me at Nathaniel1988@live.com Or message me on myspace or facebook. search my name Nathaniel Trejo
WELL…..
I just found out, the man in the portrait is William Taft. A former president of the United States. The man did Not die in an elevator shaft in the spaghetti warehouse. Sorry to disappoint you ghost hunters. LEARN YOUR HISTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nathaniel,
I agree that the portrait looks like President Taft. However, there’s also a reference to the portrait being a former owner of the building, and he just looked a lot like Taft. Perhaps you can visit the Spaghetti Warehouse and tell us if the portrait has a clear label to identify the subject.
The staff at the Spaghetti Warehouse told me the story of a former building owner — before the site was a restaurant — falling to his death down the elevator shaft. I think the building was a warehouse at the time.
Some ghost stories include a tale about that man, as well as his wife who found him when he didn’t return home at his usual time. As I recall, her ghost is supposed to haunt the ladies’ room on the first floor of the restaurant.
So, it’s best to conduct your own research and verify it before leaping to conclusions about ghost stories and others’ research.
Sincerely,
Fiona Broome
That is The former owner of a produce warehouse. He fell down an elevator shaft and when his wife was making dinner at their home and he didnt come home she was worried. So she went to his work and found people crowding around his lifeless body. She was very depressed so one year later she supposedly died of a broken heart. Thats sad if you ask me.
Thank you, Victoria!
I was trying to remember the story, and your account of it sounds exactly like what I was told at the restaurant.
Fiona Broome
cool photos want to come
HE HAS A BULLET HOLE IN HIS HEAD
I haven’t been there in a few years (maybe 3 years) but the last time I went on Valentine’s day we sat close to the corner. Facing away from the stairs, towards the northeast corner of the main dining room. I was looking at all the cool stained glass windows and old memorabilia and on the corner above us I saw bloodstains. Like they had seeped from the top floor and just dripped down into the first floor corner. I was kinda freaked out but someone told me they used to slaughter animals there (I doubt if that’s true) but the blood looked really old not fresh or anything. So then i assumed it was old cow’s blood or something, or a leak that had rusted the ceiling.
My sisters and I were brave enough to go upstairs alone and “feel” for ghosts. Apart from a waiter or dishwasher we were totally alone. It was cold up there! Upstairs has a very creepy feeling like you’re not really wanted there. Even just going up those grand stairs gave me a very heavy feeling like I was walking through molasses. Anyway we didn’t find anything but I did use the upstairs restroom and it was cold and scary, I got my butt outta there quick!
Though we didn’t find anything (and dang it, we didn’t bring a camera!) we still left feeling like for sure the Spaghetti Warehouse is creepy with a tragic past.
I can’t wait to go there again!
Plus the food was really good.
I have been to the spaghetti wareshouse several times and have studied this picture that hangs in the second floor very back corner right hand side. Let me start off by saying i have studied many places that “claim” to be haunted. I have been to and researched most famous places a few are, The Myrtles plantation Louisiana, Whaley house California, Amityville New York, and Ashton Villa Galveston. Since I live in Houston I decided to tackle this supposedly haunted restaurant. In order to get to the bottom of this you have to seperate fact from fiction. This means going back through history of what we actually know vs what we are told.
The spaghetti Warehouse was actually The Desel-Boettcher Warehouse and was built in the Main Street Market Square Historic District and completed in 1912. The building has served as a produce warehouse and storage for the Southern Pacific Railroad. The building was purchased in 1974 as a second location for the dallas based chain and renovated into the Original Spaghetti Warehouse. It was furnished with millions of dollars in antiques such as a huge hand-carved staircase from a castle in England, a full size Houston Avenue trolley car, grandfather clock from Europe and a beautiful chandelier from New York’s Penn Station.
This is WHAT we know. You can find most of this information through records and deeds. Also in places like The historical houston foundation. Which has records of the buildings in downtown houston dating back to the early 1900′s.
The ghost tales center on a young pharmacist who was dedicated to his job. He was busy with a pile of paper work with invoices overflowing upon his desk. Grabbing a stack of the files, he headed for the back elevator. Without looking, he stepped into the dark, open elevator shaft and fell several feet to his death. It is not him in fact that supposedly haunts the building but rather his wife who had died a year later due to a broken heart.
While researching the known address of 901 Commerce Street which houses the spaghetti warehouse there is no such history of it ever being a pharmacuetical company. Most of what supports this notion is the drug sign and drug related antiques that adorn the place. So you assume this is true. I have never found one shred of evidence that it existed in this building. Nor are there any old newspaper clippings or news accounts to anyone ever to have died prior to 1974 at that location. I would think something that tragic would have appeared somewhere given the time and the way in which it supposedly happened. If anyone can dispute this please feel free to email me with some sort of proof (heyguy10@hotmail.com)
So what we are left with are “stories” told from removed persons who weren’t even there when the event occured. Now like i said i have been to this place many times and i have yet to see the same waiter on any occasion i have been there. Do you really think a twenty something waiter is going to KNOW the history of this place that took place 40 years ago?? I say this because i have seen many post where bloggers have stated..”it is haunted the waiter told us so”. I have also asked the manager who has been there for over 15 years and she was more concerned with how many in our party we had than to be inconvenienced with historical questions but perked up when i asked about the hauntings as if it was indeed some marketing ploy at least that was the impression i got.
Ok so lets get down to this mysterious painting. To me there is no quesiton in my mind that it IS the president William Taft. Here is a picture identical to the one hanging at the spahgetti warehouse: (http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341bfae553ef01310fdc0032970c-pi) Unless he had a twin, there is no disputing this. This was taken around his election of 1912 which would have put this picture in circulation when this building was first open to the public and before when it was bought out in 1974. The elevator shaft was located in what is now the upstairs second floor bathroom. Since there are no walls surrounding this space it would be highly unlikely that a picture of this size could even hang there. Leaving a hole in the blood splattered theory. For all we know that could very well be sphagetti sauce. Also if this were to ever have happened it would be in very poor taste considereing the time period that they would allow it to continue to hang on the premises after such a tragedy has occured. I pity the unfortunate wife who had to look at her blood splattered portrait of her dearly departed. Just doens’t make sense.
Also what gives this portrait it’s creepiness effect that everyone here is talking about but can’t put their fingers on it, it’s simply that the eyes seem to follow you wherever you are in the room. It’s called the linear perspective effect. Painters have been using this effect for centuries. The fact that the picture is so big brings out this effect drastically. And if the lighting is just right it is indeed a creepy effect.
The fact that you are in a room filled with antigues and pictures and paintings of an era gone by help the feeling you get when you are in there especially alone. It removes you from the twenty first century and you are surrounded by things that seem foreign to you and a sad reminder that life is fleeting and things will change and go on…without you.
Hi Joey,
First, thanks for taking the time to post all of this.
Though hauntings seem to be a marketing tool for many businesses, I think the Spaghetti Warehouses seem to land at sites with existing ghost stories. That seems coincidental, from how the stories are told, but I could be wrong. (Ref: The holiday traditions at their Austin restaurant, described in my Austin book.)
I’ve heard the pharmacist story about the Houston location. The one conveyed to me by someone who’d been at the restaurant for many years (not a “twenty-something”) told it regarding the warehouse owner or manager. The support for the story was one or two of the photos above the staircase, which show the history of the building based on the signs on its exterior.
According to that story, the death was not widely reported due to the pending sale of the building or — in another version of the story — an innate superstitious nature of the workers, and a fear that they’d quit and be difficult to replace. It would take considerable research at Vital Records to determine the facts of the case.
The strongest ghost story is definitely the wife, and her appearances were reported most often around the ground floor ladies’ room. However, during one of our investigative visits, a lit sign on a ground floor wall was blinking on and off as if responding to the story and our questions, K-II style. (That seemed amusing, but we didn’t take it seriously.)
During another investigation, the power to the entire building went out, without explanation. However, that seems to be routine at some Texas investigations. (See my Austin book for more of the same.)
Since my mother majored in Portrait at Mass. College of Art, I’m familiar with the eye issue you’ve mentioned. In fact, it’s cleverly amplified with the portraits at Disney’s various “Haunted Mansion” attractions. However, I think the portrait is more eerie than that. Your explanations may be all there is to it… but they may not.
At this point, with the wealth of stories at the Houston Spaghetti Warehouse, I think it’s necessary to include two other possibilities:
1. The real stories of the restaurant’s ghosts are based in historical events that were suppressed or simply haven’t been adequately researched. Those kinds of problems will affect the accuracy of the tales.
2. We need to include the effects of the “observer,” to use quantum physics terms. In simplest possible terms: If enough people believe something, it manifests to a greater or lesser degree, matching their expectations. That’s powerfully suggested by the studies described in Conjuring Up Philip.
However, regardless of the accuracy of the stories and whether or not the Spaghetti Warehouse has ghosts, these stories should be shared as wonderful traditions and folklore. Unless a story causes continuing problems (or even harm) to people, I generally encourage people to share their stories here.
While I’m a stickler for historical accuracy at the sites I investigate in depth — such as The Myrtles Plantation where none of the children actually died, and we cannot document a slave named Chloe — I avoid debunking stories that may eventually lead to the true history of a haunted site. I look for what’s anomalous and what’s consistent in the stories, and that usually helps isolate accurate details that can help us find the ghosts’ documented histories.
Thanks again for taking the time to detail your findings and interpretations of the Spaghetti Warehouse’s strange, ghostly history.
Cheerfully,
Fiona
Hi, I was wondering does anyone know the name of the man that fell down the elevator shaft? and his wifes name? I’m doing a research paper over the Spaghetti Warehouse and paranormal activity so I need specific information, like the previous names of the warehouse. I also need primary sources which I’m having trouble with.
I have been to the Spaghetti Warehouse and I myself experienced something. I have a photo with 2 orbs in it and when you zoom in the top left orb has a face. It’s awesome! I was standing on the 2nd floor by the mens bathroom waiting for my boyfriend to come out and I noticed two shadows go by the back wall where the michelen sign is and that’s exactly where the orbs are in the picture. My friend came out of the bathroom and said his chest tightened up and he really wanted to get out of there, well I wanted to get that feeling too, but he refused to go back in there. And the entire 2nd floor is just so cold and you can definately feel a presence there. For some reason everytime I looked at the kitchen I got the most creeped out, I don’t know why, but there’s something about that kitchen that gave me the chills and made me always keep an eye on it. I would love for you to take a look at the photo I’ve taken, just shoot me an e-mail.
Jaime,
I think you may need to talk with the Spaghetti Warehouse and see if they can narrow the story down to a decade or two… unless they know the name of the man.
With a time reference, you can use Houston city directories to find the name of the company and — by brute force page-by-page searches, if necessary — find out who worked there, too. Then, you’d go to obituaries.
However, if you can verify the street address (numbers sometimes change as streets are extended, etc.), and if the obituaries are thoroughly indexed (that’s a long shot), you might be able to locate the man that way.
It probably won’t be easy research, but with a time frame, you can make it simpler than if you’re searching the entire end of the 19th century and early 20th century.
Cheerfully,
Fiona
I visited The Spagetti Warehouse last night.
Having lived most of my life surrounded by things that go “bump in the night” I can assure you that there is nothing malignant nor of a paranormal nature residing within the picture above. I am not saying that there isn’t an impressed energy associated with it. It has been gazed upon by many, many people. This does not make it haunted though. The same goes for the entire warehouse. I do feel that there is strong activity and presence but I would fall short in calling it a legitimate haunting unless I’d experienced first-hand the activity. Upon walking up to the building I felt a strong tie to the railroad as if it had been a train station at one time. But maybe that was just because of the way it looked on the walkway in front. Walking into the place I immediately felt an oppressive but not uncomfortable pressure. The bar area was nice and I had a glass of wine while I waited for my table. I took in the atmosphere gazing from crook to crannie taking it all in and breathing in the smells of a far gone era. The bartender was pleasant and when I brought up the subject of a “haunting” she immediately prattled on about this and that and “yes” the place is definately haunted. She asked me my sign “Scorpio” to which she said “Me too”. Ugh! I told her that I’d grown up since I was a young child with these “experiences” and I’d lived in a few houses that seemed to have unxeplained phenomena associated with them. I wouldn’t go so far as to claim that I am a psychic, medium, tea leaf reader or any other made up word. All I will say is that when things happen a lot at a young age you tend to understand more and accept more than the average person. Most of us get so caught up in our make believe concrete world we rarely can see or sense the world around us. It is safe to say then that I seem to know when a place is or isn’t feeling “spirited”. When I came into the resturant my attention was immediately drawn to the grand master staircase. The kids song “One of these things is not like the other, One of these things just doesn’t belong”. (metaphorically speaking of course) I felt that the staircase, although grandeur and beautiful just stood out like a sore thumb. I didn’t feel it belonged there amongst the massive brick walls that surrounded it. I walked up the staircase slowly and at the very top of them felt an eerie nausea sweep through me albeit just breifly. I instantly felt the weight of the place. The second floor is definately where things happen most. I walked around the area above the stairs and stood for long periods trying to get a sense of the place. The place is, for lack of better word, electric. There seems to be a dull, low current charge in the air. The air is as thick as mud to breathe and there is a strong oppressive feeling that envelopes you. Unfortunately I didn’t feel anything other than echoes or impressions leaking out of the place. I can’t say I felt sad nor did I feel anything positive either. The trolley car was interesting if not a bit out of place. I know if I was a ghost haunting the joint I’d hang out there. I can imagine a spirit of yore scratching their ectoplasmic noggin and querying “how the hell did that get there?”. At any rate I did as asked and stared at the spookie old picture. Upon walking into that far area of the upstairs I have to admit I was less interested in the picture on the wall as I was more interested in the area just outside the stainless steel double-doors of the upstairs kitchen. When I walked over a small area out in front of the doors there was a strong “now you feel it, now you don’t” thing. Pretty cool and I kept pacing back in forth across that area just to be sure. I am confident that anyone standing near would think I was coo coo for coco puffs. I stared at the picture on the wall but as I mentioned above. I didn’t feel anything… nada, zilch – zero. I would love to have stayed longer but a couple of people (don’t know if they worked there or not) asked if I felt something. Of course this embarassed me immensely. I blushed and muttered quickly something stupid like “no opinion, not officially yes or officially no” I am sure they rolled their fore finger around their ears making crazy eyes after I walked away. I am not easily offended. I don’t pretend to be something I am not and get incredibly uncomfortable about the subject of paranormal and the “what do you feel?” questions. The answer is “I don’t know” really. It is all weird and I am not so pious as to think my meager brain can comprehend that vast strangeness of this world. With that humility I just focus on the weird and let it unravel in it’s strange and obscure ways. I don’t try to rationalize anything and just accept it and let it happen. I am sincerely interested in these things and love taking it all in. It’s purely a personal thing.
So, in my opinion? Is the place haunted? (the jury is out and would require more time to assess the evidence) But something paranormal is definately stirring up things at The Spagetti Warehouse.
Oh and the food is probably some of the best Italian food i’ve had. No complaints at all!
The picture itself is just a picture. It appears that someone is “projecting” themselves or an image of something they want to come to light into this portrait. It may not have anything to do with the person in the portrait but just the avenue USED to get a message across. Obviously this person has some issue that they are desperate to get resolved so that they can find peace.
I went to the spegettie warehouse today with my friend and we stood by the portrait and it was creepy but we went by the mens restroom and I thik I heard the sound of music box playing and then it stopped and then i heard the sound of a chair screeching out from under the table but we were the only ones up there other than some cooks in the kitchen. I never got the chance to go to the women’s restroom downstairs. But upstairs it was really cold and creepy…
My husband and I had dinner there this evening. I’ve been going to SW for over 30 years; I am well aware of the history of the place. I have one photograph we took last year (in the cable car upstairs) that has an unexplainable orb in it. Tonight, my husband and were on a waiting list for dinner, so we headed upstairs to have a seat out of the crowd while waiting. We sat in the big throne-type church chairs at the very top right of the stairs. My husband decided to walk around and look at stuff and I sat in the throne chair and just happened to be looking toward the wall (just opposite of the cable car), where the ice and soda dispenser are situated. Ice started coming out of ice dispenser of the soda machine, all by itself! It clunked down onto the metal grate along the bottom of the dispenser. I called out to my husband and said, “Ok, I just saw THAT with my own eyes!”. He walked back to me from around the corner and asked what I was talking about and I told him what I just witnessed. He walked over to the machine and poked the ice cubes laying on the grate; they were the real deal. The dispenser is the kind that you have to press and hold the lever for the ice to come out, but there was no physical person there to press the lever. How cool is that? I am always asking the waiters what the latest is on the ghostly goings-on there and revel in their stories. Now I have one of my own!
It looks like a blood splatter & some one tryed to clean off the blood