A HAUNTING ADVENTURE IN PASO ROBLES, CA

Words by Whitnie Burke - Photography by Ashley Williams

In honor of one of our favorite holidays, Halloween, we wanted to showcase something a little different.  This mysterious and chilling shoot, shot in the small central coast town of Paso Robles, is just that -- and we can't wait to share it with you. 

Living in a small country town (pop. 4,000) there wasn't much to do as a high school student. We would explore the back country and try to get lost on the old dirt roads. Santa Rita road was always a favorite of mine. Lots of abandon houses, old creepy gates that lead to eerie old mansions and of course the "sacrifice" rock. There was a rumor that witches would go down to this rock by the river and sacrifice animals. We would drive this road on rainy nights and literally just scare the s*** out of each other. In reality older kids would go out to sacrifice rock and throw parties and no animals were hurt in the process. But this will always be the spine-chilling old road that we spent many nights trying to see something scary. As an adult now, Santa Rita road is just a beautiful hidden gem in my home town. But none the less it's still covered in hanging oak trees and overgrown with shaded moss and ivy. It was absolutely the perfect destination for this shoot. I wanted it to look real. I wanted it to look authentic. A real modern day witch. Mysterious yet intriguing and downright chilling.

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