THE STORY
Reported Haunting
The former Lincoln Heights Jail has a dark history of violence, overcrowding, and inmate deaths, and the building has long been associated with reports of paranormal activity. Visitors and occupants have described unexplained footsteps, voices, shadowy figures, and the sensation of unseen prisoners still moving through the former jail.
The Bilingual Foundation of the Arts occupies a building that was once the Lincoln Heights Jail. In 1951, the unprovoked beating of seven prisoners (known as “Bloody Christmas”) occurred here, and the spooky setting has led to its use in many films and music videos. Among them, “L.A. Confidential” (whose story was inspired by the Bloody Christmas incident), the boiler room scenes in “Nightmare on Elm Street,” and music videos for “Feeling This” by Blink-182 and Lady Gaga’s “Telephone.”