Haunted Places

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.