America's Dopest Mansion investigated by the Chronic Encounters

In Denver, Colorado there is a national landmark so haunted and historic that it’s perfect for a Halloweed adventure. That place is Marijuana Mansion. The mansion’s Event Director and Venue Manager, April Emma, was gracious enough to speak with us about the mansion and all of its history.

The Chronic: When did you begin working here?

> I started working here in March of 2021. This is really my dream job, all my years of event experience and cannabis advocacy are encompassed into this position. I’m thankful for the unique opportunity to do something I am so passionate about. It is very rewarding to help cultivate a safe space for people to come and celebrate cannabis in this magical mansion.

The Chronic: Which event is the most popular to be held at the mansion?

> We host a wide variety of events here, including new product launches, parties, photoshoots, music videos, charity galas, drag shows and company holiday events. However, Cannabis Industry Night events are the most popular by far. These events bring the Colorado cannabis community together to network, educate, and celebrate the industry. It is exciting to see connections being made here among such a diverse group of people who share a passion for cannabis.

The Chronic: Do you believe it is haunted?

> Yes. But it really depends on your definition of haunted. There is definitely a strong presence, spirit, or ghost that seems to be in the mansion, but we don’t experience a ton of paranormal activity. Some people seem more attuned to the presence of the spirit than others. The type of encounters varies from day to day and really depends on the person. Sometimes the energy can be very overbearing for guests, while others are fascinated and want to interact with the spirit or ghost. I spend a lot of time at the mansion, especially at night so I decided to give the ghost a nickname, Bobby. I joke that he probably smoked weed because for the most part he is pretty chill.

The Chronic: Have you had encounters? Tell me about them or a guest encounter that is well known?

> Sometimes I hear footsteps on the staircase, and above my office when I am alone here. That was the most concrete encounter I’ve experienced so far and it definitely gave me goosebumps. We usually have music playing when the mansion is open for tours, but when the place is quiet it becomes instantly very creepy. The staircase creeks so loud it startles people. Dogs seem very sensitive to the ghost, are typically afraid of going upstairs, and growl at the ghost.

The owner, Lisa Leder, has had more intense encounters; she believes there is a ghost trapped in the mansion.

On two occasions she has felt a hand on her back that has pushed her down the stairs. When the mansion was being renovated, the team would hear banging on one of the closet doors in the second floor Green Room, like someone was trying to get out. Doors sometimes slam shut on their own.

When she bought the house she had no idea it was haunted and later learned that it was when the ghost tour stopped with a group at the mansion. She also found that the house was written about in a book called The Haunted Heart of Denver, by Kevin Pharris. The basement is very creepy for sure. Upon inspection Lisa found that behind a door there is a tunnel that connects the mansion to the carriage house behind the mansion (now the Green Dragon Dispensary). The tunnel is bricked off on both ends, so we have no idea what’s inside.

Another well-known encounter happened to Ellie Paisley, the artist that painted one of the rooms in the mansion. One night she was painting late at night and she her footsteps coming up the wooden staircase, and then felt a cold breath on her neck, She was unaware that the building was haunted.

The Chronic: Will you ever offer a year-round ghost tour?

> There seems to be a lot of interest in a cannabis ghost tour so we may offer this in the near future. We’ve had a few groups from the paranormal field who want to come to do an investigation, thus far we haven’t allowed anyone to do so, Chronic Encounters are our exception. Talking with them, it felt like the right place, time, and team to investigate this a bit more.

In October, we highlight the fact that the mansion is haunted and offer a haunted Halloween tour. The house is transformed into a haunted mansion and a guide dressed in period costume gives a tour. They accompany guests to some of the rooms to elaborate on the spooky tales and mysteries that have happened over the years. The mansion is also featured on the Capitol Hill Ghost Tour that is hosted by Best Tours of Denver, which offers tours year-around. The tour highlights the carvings on the front of the mansion that are very unusual as well as some spooky stories. Over the front window of the mansion is a face carved in the stone that looks like the devil himself.

The Chronic: Where are the ghosts in the mansion?

> The ghost can be found typically on the upper two floors of the mansion. You can definitely sense the presence of the ghost when you get to the top of the grand staircase. The most active rooms are the Vintage Pot Parlor, the Green Room closet and the 3rd floor hidden Speakeasy. Almost every single person feels a dramatic shift the moment they step into the Speakeasy, it’s noticeably colder than the other rooms. For many, the atmosphere can be intimidating so they don't stay in the room for long.

The Victorian designed Vintage Pot Parlor room has a lot of unusual activity that can be considered more paranormal. Many of our neighbors have seen a ghostly woman peeking out of the window at night. Lisa and I have seen photos and it really looks like a woman peering out of the window.

The photos actually brought chills down my spine. This room really intrigues people as it has a different atmosphere. A lot of guests see orbs in their photos or their phones won’t cooperate while in the room. Recently, we saw the typewriter typing on its own in the middle of the day. That [shudders] yeah, I didn’t know what to think.

The Chronic: How would you explain this place to someone who has never heard of it?

The landmark building has now been restored and transformed into a venue that combines the elements of a museum, art exhibit, and event space. It is a one-of-a-kind exhibit that highlights the history and culture of cannabis through immersive experiences and bold art installations.

The Chronic Encounters team visited Marijuana Mansion only a few days after we spoke with April Emma. As the first-ever team to come and investigate the mansion, they were able to experience the most active haunt they had ever visited.

The Chronic: Before we get too into the Marijuana Mansion investigation, how has the ghost hunting been going?

> It’s been a lot of fun. We have grown a lot and gotten to go to a lot of really neat places. Last year we mainly explored graveyards and old parks but this year we have been able to visit really neat historical buildings and that’s been a lot of fun.

The Chronic: Can you compare going to a historically haunted building to a graveyard?

> It’s completely different and it all depends on the personal perspective. In a building, there are a lot of souls and memories going through that place. In a graveyard, they are haunted in their own ways. The buildings can feel much deeper when you can know about what resides there as it has so much history. Knowing the history and the people who can still be there is the biggest difference. In a cemetery you don’t know full stories you have the headstone and the years but that is about it. It also helps to go to these places together, with the different perspectives we can learn more.47 OCTOBER 2022

The Chronic: Which is more frightening?

> Honestly, within the group, some of us feel that going to the historical building is scarier since we do know more about the hauntings there. But a graveyard can be just as scary since we don’t know who the entities or energy might be and we are out in the open in the dark. Both can be very scary.

The Chronic: So tell me about the mansion, how was your experience there? What did you end up seeing?

> Well, we did get a few pictures with the same green orb floating in them. That was in the speakeasy, where I think we all had the weirdest experiences. Some of us were sitting at the table in the speakeasy and behind the two of us, there was a dark shadow. Mind you this room was already dark, the shadow was visibly darker. The drapes on the windows began to move and then a dark figure began to emerge from the hallway. At this point we were getting very scared, one of us grabbed onto the other and asked to turn the light on. Suddenly the room felt noticeably lighter, whatever was in there before had left. The vibes in there were very scary.

We moved to another room and once we had all settled we did see a white shadow pass by the door. We figured there were spirits but never one that clear, never one that would make its presence known so quickly. In that same room, a lantern began to swing and stayed swinging for an abnormal amount of time, as did some beads. There was no air passing through yet they still moved, even though everything else was still.

Also, one of our team members felt like someone was standing behind her there.

As the night progressed, we had gone to sit on the staircase as a group because, throughout the night when we would make contact through the Estes method, we kept hearing the word ‘stairs’. So we did a lights-out session on the stairs. We gave the ghost permission, “If you’re with us, can you touch my hand?” April Emma was sitting right next to us and the presence did interact with the hand, it was suddenly cold. April said at the same moment she felt a cold breeze pass by her. For the next few minutes, the cold of the hand changed into an almost icy hot feeling. Holding hands with a ghost that night was pretty memorable.

The Chronic: It’s interesting you say the stairs were a focal point because April Emma mentioned them as well.

> It was persistent. It would say, ‘stairs’ and ‘steps,’ actually, at one point it clearly said ‘I’m upstairs.’ It was alarming, it kept telling us where to go... always leading back to the stairs. When we were upstairs we did hear a lot of loud knocks as well. It was very weird. The presence also kept saying, ‘Bobby’ and ‘April’ as well. We also kept hearing the Sinatra song that April plays for him. It was scary but so cool. I really think the spirits there like April and Lisa since they are respectful of the building.

It would really be fun to be able to investigate this more, maybe once a year to really get to know the spirits here.

The Chronic: Did you all go into the Victorian room?

> Yes, that room was super spooky. There were some very weird experiences there. We were doing a cute sheet ghost photoshoot there and we got a really weird feeling. It felt like we were no longer alone at that moment. Then a breath of air passed my ear and we decided it was time to take the sheet off and leave the area.

The room itself was just unsettling, it felt off. We did look in the windows whenever we first got there and we didn’t see anything but people did say they had seen a woman in white in the window. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to meet her.

The Chronic: Overall, what was your impression of the Marijuana Mansion?

> This was by far the most active haunted area we have ever been to. It makes us excited for what we might be able to come across in the future. We can’t wait to continue looking at haunts that aren’t in Oklahoma and we will be sure to be back in Colorado.

If anyone is in the Denver area and wants to have a nice fun trip, we definitely recommend visiting Marijuana Mansion.49 OCTOBER 2022