Morrison Back With The Doors - The Bathroom Doors

Jim Morrison's Ghost Said to Haunt Restaurant Bathroom
AOL News

(July 1) -- July 3 marks 39 years since Jim Morrison, the deep-voiced front man for the band The Doors, was found dead in an apartment bathtub in Paris, France.

But that doesn't mean "The Lizard King" isn't still making the rounds in one of his former West Hollywood haunts.

As devout fans gather at his Parisian grave this weekend, looking for signs of the brooding singer and poet's spirit, they might be better served if they visited a Mexican restaurant at 8512 Santa Monica Blvd.

"You feel it here almost every day, throughout the entire place, but especially near this spot," says Christina Arena, general manager of Mexico, a colorfully festive restaurant that's been open about a year.

And just what spot does Arena refer to?

The unisex restroom.

You see, the building Mexico occupies was formerly "The Doors Workshop," an office space/crash pad/recording studio used by the band in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

And the restroom? It was the actual vocal booth where Jim Morrison recorded the classic "L.A. Woman" in 1970.

Today, a framed plaque featuring the album cover, gold record and hand-scrawled lyric hangs outside the famous john. Fans come from all over the world to pay homage to Morrison at this sacred site, and they may get more than they bargained for.

This plaque hangs outside the restroom at Mexico restaurant in Los Angeles."His presence hangs very heavy here," Arena says. "It gets eerie sometimes."

"Jim Morrison is definitely still here," office manager Christine Chilcote agrees. "Funky things happen all the time we can't explain. Lights popping on and off at weird times. But when that bathroom door handle jiggles by itself, that's the weirdest sign. It's totally inexplicable."

I've always been a bit skeptical of ghost stories. Mostly because I can't conceive why ghosts would want to hang out amongst the living. I guess it'd be pretty cool to scare people but if that is Jim Morrison's objective he seems to be missing the mark. Plus, despite the fact that he's hanging out in his old sound booth, he's also spending most of his day hanging out in the bathroom of a Mexican restaurant. I hope ghosts can't smell. So I'm going to take this Morrison story with a grain of salt but if he is in there I suggest he breaks on through to the other side.