Haunted Hospitality: Recent Episodes
Haunted Hospitality
Southern Stories told by Spooky Gingers. Co-hosts Robin and Zoey talk about a story a week that falls in the general spooky category, including ghosts, unexplained events, true crime, and local cryptids.
We wanted to call this episode "Stay Sh!tty" but we were worried about the censorship of the word.
This week we talk about the past bathroom stories we've covered in previous haunted locations.
It's also...the end.
Thank you so much for joining Haunted Hospitality, Robin, and Zoey as they traveled on this three year journey, but the sun has set on this podcast. Feel free to follow our social media because we will remain semi-active on those.
Goodbye, everyone, and don't forget to Stay Spooky :')
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2024/04/02/ep-156-stay-spooky/
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This episode, we’re venturing outside of the South to discuss Annabelle, possibly the world’s most famous haunted doll story. In the Conjuring movies, Annabelle is a tall, porcelain-esque doll with an angry, vengeful expression. She is possessed by a demon and, to say the least, exhibits some violent tendencies. And while the actual Annabelle is a much sweeter-looking Raggedy Ann doll, she is allegedly just as violent as her onscreen counterpart.
The story goes that Annabelle was given to Donna, a 28-year-old nurse, by Donna’s mother in 1970. It soon became clear that Annabelle was more than just a doll when she began moving around the apartment Donna shared with her roommate and eventually attacked the roommate’s fiancé. Soon after, Ed and Lorraine Warren came to investigate, becoming so concerned they removed Annabelle from the apartment altogether.
In this episode, we discuss the story of Annabelle and what we think of it — plus, Robin talks about the time she thought she had a real-life encounter with Annabelle!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2024/03/26/ep-155-from-the-patreon-annabelle
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We hope you aren't done drinking from the St. Patrick's Day weekend (if you're 21 or over) because we have a new way to celebrate, and this includes two types of spirits! Zoey takes us to Pat O'Briens, mostly in New Orleans but partially in The Alamo. The bar is the Irish pub that many go to, to celebrate Mardis Gras, St. Patrick's Day, and Halloween!
We have some mysterious footsteps, self-playing pianos, and ghostly activity in the women's bathroom (because why isn't it the men's?). The bar is so haunted that people leave in the middle of their drinks or the middle of their shifts.
We also stop briefly at the Alamo to talk about Little Timmy, a boy in the window who doesn't seem to realize that bars aren't for kids.
But first, Robin brings our Something Something, the 100 Steps Cemetery.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2024/03/19/ep-154-a-very-haunted-st-patricks-day-in-new-orleans/
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The USS Lexington, AKA the Blue Ghost, is an aircraft carrier that first entered into service in 1943 during World War II. She, and the approximately 3,000 people who lived and worked on her during the war, were primarily in the Pacific. There, the ship was attacked but never sank — despite claims to the contrary. Now, she's stationed in the bay off of Corpus Christi, Texas.
Much like her sister ship the USS Yorktown (episode 83), the Blue Ghost is now a museum where many people tour, work, volunteer — and experience ghostly phenomena. There are reports of shadow figures, disembodied voices, and the eerie feeling of being watched. There are even some who say that full-bodied apparitions appear on the boat; one may even give you a rundown on the mechanics of an engine.
In this episode, we discuss the USS Lexington and all the ghostly shenanigans onboard!
But first, Zoey is here with her Something Southern: Alabama Man!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2024/03/12/ep-153-the-girl-dinner-of-ghost-stories
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The Poinsett Bridge is the oldest bridge in South Carolina and debatably the oldest bridge in the entire South Eastern United States. It was built in 1820 as a part of the state road from Charleston and Columbia to the North Carolinian mountains. It was named after the president of the Board of Public Works, Joel Poinsett, and may have been designed by Robert Mills, a very famous architect.
This bridge is also a very haunted bridge. There are many reasons, from the burial of workers in the bridge to various murders, but the one thing we can be sure of is that we can't be sure of anything. The bridge is in a very rural part of town where rumors spread like wildfire, and most of what we know comes from word of mouth, where stories were passed down from generation to generation. Case in point, the common local belief that the bridge was built on top of a Cherokee burial ground and cursed, despite Cherokees not commonly having burial grounds and proof that the grounds were actually used for hunting.
Next to the bridge is the Gosnell Cabin, which has since moved. It was the home of the overseer of the state road before the Gosnell family bought it. The last Gosnell family member was injured in the cabin and later succumbed to his wounds in the hospital, and locals claim to hear him moaning in pain. One wise storyteller, however, learned the true story.
But first! Robin has faith in Zoey's Geography skills and makes her something Southern a test for them. Zoey comes out victorious, no matter what Robin says.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2024/03/05/ep-152-the-not-cursed-poinsett-bridge-and-the-not-haunted-gosnell-cabin
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While traveling on family vacations to the Golden Isles while she was growing up, co-host Robin would peer out of the car window into the gray waters of Georgia’s Altamaha River — searching for the Altamaha-ha. A long, scaly, aquatic cryptid with an alligator-like head that parascopes above the water’s surface, the Altamaha-ha is rumored to swim so powerfully that boats rock in its wake.
But are the tales of this much-beloved creature (nicknamed Altie by locals) true? Some believe it's instead an alligator gar — a fascinating creature in its own right that, however, lacks the "loch ness monster" quality of our dear Altie.
In this episode, we discuss the recorded accounts and theories of Georgia's Altamaha-ha. But first, Zoey is here with her Something Spooky: the top 10 states for UFO sightings!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2024/02/27/ep-151-tales-of-the-altamaha-ha
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This episode is not for those planning to fly out for spring break, because we're off the coast of Florida, in the Florida Keys, and we're going to talk about the mystery of Flight 19. This mystery claimed the lives of 27 men and made 6 planes go missing. The flight of trainee navy pilots took off from Ft. Lauderdale on Dec 5, 1945 to do a routine navigation and bombing flight exercise.
However, the 5 planes of 13 men that is now known as Flight 19 never made it back to shore, despite the efforts of the entire Fort trying to get them back to land. Through a series of very confusing radio transmissions, the base was able to conclude that they were very lost, but not much more than that. They then sent a larger plane with 14 men on board, which also disappeared with barely a trace.
To this day, none of the bodies and not a single piece of the planes have beached, which is unusual. Theorists believe that the Bermuda Triangle is to blame, either through rogue waves, wormholes, or magnetic tampering.
But first, Robin brings us her Something Southern, a very unique tomb in New Orleans.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2024/02/20/ep-150-flight-19-and-the-bermuda-triangle
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This episode’s subject is not paranormal. It’s not true crime. And it’s not folklore. But it is a mystery — and a puzzling one at that. Installed at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, Kryptos is a sculpture designed by artist Jim Sanborn with four encrypted messages.
In the approximately 33 years since the sculpture’s unveiling, only three of the messages have been decoded. And since no one has yet figured out the fourth message, we don’t yet know Kryptos’ riddle or its ultimate answer.
In this episode, we discuss the history of Kryptos and the clues the artist has given the public for decoding the fourth message.
But first, Zoey’s here with her Something Spooky: twin telepathy!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2024/02/13/ep-149-a-puzzling-sculpture
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This week Zoey has a new genre of Haunted Hospitality episodes: a Hunted Cemetery Tour. This first episode focuses on Kentucky!
Our first cemetery is the witch filled Wynns Cemetery, which Zoey did a bit of a deep dive on. The second one is Pikeville Cemetery, where a woman was allegedly buried alive. The third is the large and beautiful Cave Hill Cemetery, with a woman who cares for the graves of children and floating orbs. The last one is the Baker Hollow Road Cemetery, and Zoey treats us to a narrative that stars you as the main character.
But first, Robin has her Something Southern, the Appalachian Trail!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2024/02/06/ep-148-a-tour-of-haunted-kentucky-cemeteries
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Founded in 1736, the Dock Street Theatre in Charleston, South Carolina, was the first building on the continent solely for theatrical performances before it likely burnt down in the Great Fire of 1740. The Calder House Hotel — later named the Planter's Hotel — was built at or near the theatre's original location in 1809. Many passed through the hotel, including: Robert Smalls, who worked at the hotel before escaping slavery and joining the Union navy during the Civil War, and Junius Brutus Booth, the father of John Wilkes Booth.
According to legend, a woman named Nettie Dickerson also often stayed at the hotel. Proud, angry, and sure of herself, the legend of Nettie has lasted long after her alleged lifetime. Over eighty years after the former hotel was reopened as the Dock Street Theatre, Nettie is considered the building's most famous ghost. In this episode, we explore the many stories and paranormal experiences of the Dock Street Theatre.
But first, Zoey is here with her Something Spooky: soulmates!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2024/01/30/ep-147-the-dock-street-theatre-we-love-nettie
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This week's episode isn't for the faint of heart. Zoey brings us the bloody history of The Sloss Furnaces, a national historic landmark in Birmingham, Alabama that once produced iron. The town of Birmingham was built almost overnight when Colonel James Withers Sloss, a merchant and railroad man, convinced he L&N Railroad company to merge the North and South lines through Jones Valley.
Jones Valley was selected as the home for Birmingham because it had all the raw ingredients needed to make iron within a 30 mile radius, including iron ore, coal, limestone, dolomite, and clay. The time period was after the Civil War when the need for iron, and later steel was at an all time high. So company's like James Sloss' Sloss Furnace Company grew very quickly.
However, they didn't care too much about their employee's safety. Around 60 men died while the Furnaces were in operation, and about 47 of them were under the watch of the night manager who was known as Slag. Slag mistreated the employees more than anyone else, and he, too, found his death at the property. People, including Zoey, believe that Slag refused to leave the factory.
There are more ghosts, though, and a visit from our favorite paranormal investigation team. But first, Robin brings us a Something Spooky to talk about the Megalodon shark.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2024/01/23/ep-146-the-gruesome-sloss-furnaces
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The Grand Galvez (also known as the Queen of the Gulf) has stood by the Galveston, Texas shore for over one hundred years, hosting weddings, swimsuit contests, and tourists visiting the Gulf of Mexico. During that time, ghost stories have collected around the building, with some calling it the most haunted hotel in the state.
In this episode, we dive into the ghost stories surrounding the Queen of the Gulf — from Audra, the "Love-lorn Lady" who believed her fiancé died at sea, to Sister Katherine, the protective nun who watches for the coming storm. We also discuss more recent paranormal experiences at the hotel, including slamming doors, a malfunctioning elevator, the smell of gardenias, and a ghost girl who" slept in a guest's bed for a night.
But first, Zoey is here with her Something Spooky: twin flames!
CW: suicide
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2024/01/16/ep-145-the-queen-of-the-gulf
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Zoey decided to go big for their first episode of the new year, and they're covering The Bigfoot! It's about damn time, as Robin says. Bigfoot, or Sasquatch is a big, hairy, stinky man who has a foot that spans 24 inches. To put that into prospective, since Zoey did the math, Bigfoot would wear a men's size 50 to 56 shoe.
In this episode, Zoey dives deep into what the Bigfoot is, how he came to be, and what are some sciencey reasons for Bigfoot to exist. To quote Robin, "We're trying to science so hard." That's right, Zoey does their best to deep dive into things like the Bering Land Bridge, evolution, and anthropology. Somehow, it actually makes sense.
To round off the episode, Zoey then brings some stories from Southern Bigfoot Stories.
First YouTube Video with the audio of Bigfeet calls: https://youtu.be/rvFvzaKmVkY
Second YouTube Video that showed the Bigfoot: https://youtu.be/xb9YcIlkl_c?si=Owq7z2p-HdzC-p4a
But first, Robin brings a Something Spooky where she gives Zoey a Tarot Card reading for the New Year!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2024/01/09/ep-144-did-grandpa-make-the-bigfoot
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You may know it as the Witching Hour, the Devil's Hour, or simply 3 a.m. No matter which you call it, the hour between 3 and 4 o'clock in the morning is known for being a time when things go bump in the night. There's a wide range of theories for this phenomenon: from this being when the veil is thinnest, to the idea that demonic forces are at play, to a straightforward case of natural hallucinations from our sleep cycles.
In this episode, we explore these theories and talk about creepy, potentially supernatural experiences people have had from 3 to 4 a.m., including: a shadow figure sighting, claw marks, and two instances of something impersonating a mother.
Special thanks to friends-of-the-pod Rachael and Lindsey for sharing their stories with us!
But first, Zoey is here with her Something (Future? Spooky? Southern?): New Year's Resolutions!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2024/01/02/ep-143-the-witching-hour
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Robin and Zoey are celebrating the end of the year with booze, presents, and a deep dive into the conspiracy theory of the Men In Black! You may know them from the movie, Men in Black, starring Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith that came out in 1997, the same year as your hosts. These are men who wear all black, and usually sunglasses, whose raison d'être is to prevent the common person from knowing about aliens.
Zoey dives into the reason the Men in Black theory came to be, including the first few stories of them, and shares a few more stories of encounters with the mysterious Men in Black. MIBs, as we attempted to call them, are theorized to either be government spies or aliens attempting to look like humans. Zoey believes they're aliens, and Robin doesn't believe they exist.
Before we get to that, though, Robin shares a Buzzfeed quiz for her Something Southern, Order A Southern Feast And We’ll Guess Where You Grew Up! https://www.buzzfeed.com/jesseszewczyk/southern-feast-state-quiz
Also, a reminder to everyone that Zoey's book has been published! You can order it here: https://a.co/d/5EAKzI6
Happy New Year, everyone!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/12/26/ep-142-an-introduction-to-the-men-in-black/
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People would ask Simon Warner just about anything: where they might find their lost guitar, whether or not they should divorce their husbands, if their parents might reunite. They would stare at the crystal ball in his bungalow in Shelbyville, Tennessee, give him honest answers to his questions. And, in turn, he would give his advice: determined by some combination of astrology, self-professed psychic abilities, and his own vast knowledge of how people work.
He also had a special interest in crime prevention and claimed he could tell when a murder would happen months before it actually did. He frequently worked with the police, drawing national attention in 1941 for correctly determining where a missing woman's body could be found. But in 1957, his life came to a sudden end when a customer killed him in his home, believing Simon hexed him and caused him agonizing stomach pain.
In this episode, we discuss Simon Warner's life, death, and career as a psychic.
But first, Zoey is here with her Something Spooky: a classic dark and stormy cocktail!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/12/19/ep-141-the-life-and-death-of-simon-warner
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It's time to go to Zoey's favorite city: New Orleans, Louisiana! We're visiting Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop in the French Quarter. While the shop did originate as a Blacksmith Shop and keeps the name, the shop is better known for the drinks that they can make you. That's right, here's another Haunted Boozy Place!
The Blacksmith Shop wasn't just any store in it's heyday, however. It was owned by Jean Lafitte, famous pirate and privateer. He was known to smuggle his stolen goods and sell them at the blacksmith shop. Jean himself is one of the ghosts who may haunt the place, along with an unnamed woman and a demon with red eyes.
But first, Robin brings us a Something Southern and Spooky, where she talks about Doll's Head Trail in Atlanta, GA!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/12/12/ep-140-haunted-boozy-places-part-4-lafittes-blacksmith-shop/
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We're back with another episode of our Frights in the Wild series, where we discuss first-person accounts of paranormal or otherwise spooky wilderness experiences from the web! Today's stories involve: 1) a young girl trying to find her way home in the woods, when she hears footsteps following her; 2) a man about to go to sleep beside his girlfriend in her childhood home, when he suddenly hears her voice speaking outside the house; 3) an annual father-and-son trip that leads to an eerily abandoned campground; and 4) a family staying in a cabin in the mountains, when they encounter a doppelgänger, an intruder, or something else entirely.
As always, we discuss the mysteries each of these stories hold and our theories.
But first, Zoey's here with an extra special Something Spooky: video footage of a ghost, caught by her mother's security camera!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/12/05/ep-139-frights-in-the-wild-4-the-stranger-on-the-stairs
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Hello everyone!
It's been a HOT minute since Robin and Zoey have had a break from researching, recording, editing, and posting a Haunted Hospitality episode. I'm sure we'll tell you all about it in our next how's life section, but life got busy there for a while around the Thanksgiving Holiday.
So we're taking a break this week, and we're sharing a sneak peek into our Patreon episodes. This episode came out in January 2023, and it was a Friday when it was released, so the entire episode is about Friday the 13ths and why they're considered so unlucky.
If you want to see more episodes like this, you can subscribe at patreon.com/hauntedhospitality. For only $3 a month, you get a new episode from us on the 13th, because we're spooky!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/11/28/thanksgiving-break/
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Cassadaga, Florida is an unincorporated community in Volusia County, which is on the east coast of Florida. Cassadaga was founded by well known "Seer of Spiritualism" George P Colby. George was a trance medium, meaning he would conduct seances with the dead by going into a trance and allowing a spirit to speak through his body. He formed relationships and bonds of trust with a few special spirits, who became his spirit guides and would communicate through him to the human realm on behalf of other spirits.
One of these spirit guides was a Native American man named Seneca, who told George that he was destined to be instrumental in founding a Spiritualist community in the south. Seneca gave George a vision of his future home, and George left Cassadaga, NY to find Cassadaga, FL.
The land that is known as Cassadaga, FL hosts The Southern Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp Meeting Association, where like minded people attend meetings, seances, and lectures on all things Spiritual.
In today's episode, Zoey goes deeper into the lore of the town and shares the three biggest draws: the vortexes, the Devil's Chair, and the ghosts of the Cassadaga Hotel.
But first, Robin shares her something spooky: Krampus!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/11/21/ep-138-the-psychic-capital-of-the-world/
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You've likely heard of the outlaws Bonnie and Clyde, but can you name one thing about them? When Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker met in 1930, they were two young adults from families struggling with poverty in Depression-era Texas. Already committing crimes, Clyde was soon incarcerated for vehicle theft. The two wrote to each other often while he was in prison, with Bonnie even aiding his short-lived escape.
When Clyde officially got out of prison in February 1932, the two traveled the country with other members of the Barrow Gang, robbing small businesses, kidnapping and murdering. In this episode, we explore who Bonnie and Clyde actually were and the grim truth behind the legend.
But first, Zoey's here with her Something Southern: the Possum Drop!
CW: sexual assault.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/11/14/ep-137-bonnie-clyde
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In this week's episode, Zoey finally fulfills a promise they made in May of 2021, Episode 8. In that episode, they covered the first serial killers in the United States, the Harpe Brothers. The brothers occasionally worked closely with the Mason Gang and it's leader, Samuel Mason. Zoey promised back then that she'd cover Samuel Mason one day, and that one day has come.
Samuel Mason was a veteran of the American Revolutionary War and the self-proclaimed bravest fighter in the war. After his war career, he failed as a farmer, so he took up the next best thing: river piracy. After a few failed starts, he found his home in Cave-In-Rock where he would grift travelers then rob them, occasionally killing them in the process.
But before we can get to Samuel, Robin brings us her Something Spooky, a poem by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle named Night Voices.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/11/07/ep-136-samuel-mason-founder-of-the-mason-gang/
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In this installment of our Haunted Boozy Places series, we're covering a Tudor-style tavern on Florida's Atlantic coast. Known today as Ashley's Restaurant and Bar, the establishment first opened as Jack's Tavern shortly after the Prohibition era. Folks have long reported paranormal experiences in the building. Lights will turn on and off. People will feel pushed on the stairs. And some have even reported seeing the apparitions of a young woman and a small girl.
Many believe the ghost of Ethel Allen, a fun-loving and independent 18 or 19-year-old who was killed nearby in 1934, haunts the building. In this episode, we explore Ethel's story, her potential connection to the tavern and the many other supernatural goings on at the location.
But first, Zoey is here with her Something Southern: the legend of the Candy Lady.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/10/31/ep-135-the-apparitions-in-the-tavern
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You know him, you love him, you want to date him: Moth Man. This week Zoey talks about the Origin of Moth Man who we're technically including in the South since he was seen in the Appalachian Mountains. First seen in 1966, the cryptid was six or seven feet tall, light gray, had a wing span of 10 feet, and red eyes glowing in the headlights about two inches in diameter and spaced six inches apart.
But what you might not know is his legacy of being a harbinger of death. He is known to show up right before a national tragedy like Chernobyl, 9/11, and the falling of the Silver Bridge. Though he's taken up quite a bit of legend, and has been meme-ified, is the part man part moth real? Listen to find out.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/10/24/ep-134-he-stole-my-catalytic-converter-origin-of-the-moth-man/
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The Place d'Armes Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana, is regularly listed among the most haunted hotels in the city. A quick internet search will tell you that a school burned down on the property over 200 years ago and the ghosts of the children who died in the fire now roam its halls. Luckily for the kids, it looks like the school didn't burn down at all! But there are definitely accounts of child-like ghosts in the hotel, as well as an old man and a 12-year-old girl.
In this episode, we explore the history of the Place d'Armes and the neighboring Jackson Square, as well as guest experiences with the supernatural. Expect Gregorian chanting, shadow people, invisible kids playing in the hall, and mysterious closets.
But first, Zoey is here with her Something Spooky: a ChatGPT-generated cocktail called Vampire's Kiss.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/10/17/ep-133-the-place-darmes-hotel
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Zoey brings us back to San Antonio, Texas for another haunted story. You've heard of The Goat Man Bridge in Denton, now get ready for the Donkey Lady Bridge! This bridge has a very similar set up: a bridge, a farm animal themed ghost, and a tragic backstory.
This ghost is a woman who had a donkey in life and looked like a donkey in death. Depending on the source, she either survived a fire that disfigured her to look like she had a donkey hands and feet or she was killed at the same time and location as her donkey and their souls merged into one.
Either way, she lives on this bridge and has one goal: to hurt anyone who dares to approach her bridge. Locals say that if you honk your horn or call out for her, she'll appear and try to kill you or tear through your car.
But first, Robin goes in depth into the movie "It Follows" for her Something Spooky!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/10/10/ep-132-the-goat-mans-neighbor-donkey-lady-bridge
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For the second installment of our Frights in the Backcountry series, we're exploring four stories of paranormal experiences in rural areas. The macabre sighting of a ghost family covered in blood, a mad dash to get away from disembodied laughter, a cup of coffee that ages way too quickly, and a voice that shouldn't be possible on the other end of the line.
All of these stories are about families. Some of them were passed down from parent to child before making their way onto the internet. Others are about paranormal experiences that family members had together. And all of them are a great way to kick off October!
But first, Zoey is here with her Something Spooky: the Sedlec Ossuary!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/10/03/ep-131-frights-in-the-backcountry-2-laughter-voices-and-dirt-roads
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Today's episode is a true crime story of Glenn Turner, Randy Thompson, and the woman who connects them, Lynn Turner.
Lynn and Glenn were married less than a year after meeting. Glenn worshiped the ground Lynn walked on, doted on her hand and foot, and loved her with all his heart. Lynn cheated on Glenn, was abusive and controlling, and spent all their money. Glenn's family did not know why Glenn was with Lynn, and they were never able to see him free of her, because he passed after suffering from flu-like symptoms.
Lynn moved in with Randy Thompson. Randy and Lynn had two children together, but their relationship was far from healthy, to the point that a judge even told them to stay away from each other. But they couldn't bring themselves to cut each other out of their lives, that is, until Randy suffered flu-like symptoms and passed away.
Sounds suspicious, right? Well, Glen's mother thought so, too. So she made a call that had police second guessing everything they thought they knew.
But first, Robin brings back Last-ish Words-ish for her Something Spooky!
TW: Suicide and Domestic Violence
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/09/26/ep-130-the-deaths-of-glenn-turner-and-randy-thompson/
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We talk a lot about old buildings on this podcast, but what about old roads? Stagecoach Road in Marshall, Texas has been around since 1850, when it was first used as a pathway for — you guessed it — stagecoaches. Never paved, and surrounded by trees and steep banks, Stagecoach Road feels set apart from much of the world today: wilder, or a window into the past.
Allegedly home to many supernatural beings, folks claim any number of them lurk on Stagecoach Road, including but certainly not limited to: Bigfoot, the Devil, and the ghost of a woman with a backstory almost identical to La Llorona's. But Stagecoach Road isn't just known for these stories or its eerie appearance. Some people who brave the road at night come away with small, dusty handprints on their car.
But first, Zoey is here with her Something Spooky: Charlotte, North Carolina's Dunhill Hotel!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/09/19/ep-129-the-handprints-in-the-holloway
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This week's episode is eerily like last week's, and we didn't plan it at all.
Today Zoey is going to hold your hand, whisper assuring words, and give you the treat of a bad joke every now and then as we navigate a complex legal decision together. Don't be afraid, Zoey's here to guide you. They won't let you get lost.
Okay, maybe we're exaggerating. But the Alford Plea is a concept where a defendant pleads guilty to a lesser crime while maintaining their innocence in effort to get a lighter sentence. The Alford plea was born when Henry Alford, a Black man in North Carolina during the Civil Rights Era, was accused of killing a man. While there wasn't any physical evidence stacked against him, there were witnesses who were ready to testify that he argued with the other man, walked towards that man's house with a gun, and confessed to a friend he did it.
Henry was convinced that he would be found guilty by the all white jury that would no doubtedly be placed before him, so his not-so-experienced Lawyer convinced him to plead guilty to avoid the death sentence. Henry agreed, but refused to admit guilt on the stand. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison, and used many in the appeal process to get the world to understand he wouldn't have plead guilty if he hadn't been afraid of the death sentence.
Henry's case made it all the way to the Supreme Court, and now the concept of pleading guilty while maintaining your innocence is known as an Alford Plea.
But first, Robin brings her Something Something and Zoey and Robin do a Buzzfeed Quiz to find out what horror movie genre they are.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/09/12/ep-128-to-plea-or-not-to-plea-the-origin-and-history-of-the-alford-plea/
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James Chaney and Michael Schwerner spent the first six months of 1964 working together to increase voter registration among Black residents in Mississippi. This was a major goal of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) — which they both worked for — and the Civil Rights Movement as a whole. That year, they organized a voter registration hub at the Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in Philadelphia, Mississippi, but the KKK burnt the church down in response. On June 21, 1964, James, Michael, and Andy Goodman — a new CORE volunteer — visited the site of the burnt church, but did not return to Meridian that evening.
In this episode, we discuss how the lives, disappearances, and deaths of these three CORE workers — James Chaney, Andy Goodman, and Michael Schwerner — garnered national support for the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. We also discuss the decades-long legal fight for justice that ensued.
But first, Zoey starts the episode off with a Something Spooky segment: a BuzzFeed Halloween movie quiz.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/09/05/ep-127-the-freedom-summer-murders
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Finishing up the third season of our Haunted College Tour Palooza, Zoey brings us an extra-long episode to talk about the many haunted buildings of the University of Montevallo. Along with the typical southern history of the civil war and enslavement, this school has a history of violence and death paired with a rural, historic college that brings out the ghosts in full force.
This episode has a old man ghost looking for his buried treasure, a former Confederate soldier protecting the building in death after he failed to protect it in life, an affectionate but mischievous theater ghost, and a girl who was on fire. All of those, and more, are haunting the various dorms and halls of MU, scaring students ever since the early 1900's.
Before we get to the ghosts, Robin brings her Something Southern to talk about 5 of her Hot Takes in reference to the astounding heat that is blasting the South in these last few weeks of August.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/08/29/ep-126-haunted-college-tour-palooza-part-14-university-of-montevallo
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On this stop of Haunted Hospitality's annual haunted college tour, we're going to the University of Georgia! Founded in Athens, Georgia in 1795, UGA is a public university with a very famous bulldog, over 30,000 students, and some spooky stories. Expect sightings of a historically inaccurate bride who brings with her either a blessing or a curse, and the ghost of a former Confederate general who can be found either pacing or haunting nightmares while giving off a misogynistic vibe.
In this episode, we dive into UGA's most well known ghost stories, as well as some more recent paranormal student experiences. And we can't forget the Demosthenian Literary Society — sorry, we mean the country of Demosthenia.
But first, Zoey's here with her Something Spooky: a mini haunted college tour of Wilson Hall at Ohio University.
CW: this episode contains mentions of suicide and intimate partner violence.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/08/22/ep-125-haunted-college-tour-palooza-part-13-the-university-of-georgia
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Continuing on the Haunted College Train, Zoey brings us Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. This school may be small with a student body of about 800, but it has plenty of ghosts to go around.
We have the helpful Eliza(Beth) in the theater workshop who helps you find lost items, a friendly nurse ghost in Swannanoa Hall who will check your temperature in the middle of the night, the Runner in Tinker Hall, and Presser Hall.
Presser hall has many ghosts, including the ghost of Theodore Presser himself, and a lot of them like to watch you play music, play music themselves, or prevent you from playing music.
But don't worry, that's not all. We have seven first person accounts of ghost stories at the end that will have you feeling chills!
But first, Robin brings us the first instalment of "This Woman Could Kill You: Folkloric Women Creatures with Violent Tendencies" for her Something Spooky, debuting the bit with the Ogress herself, Baba Yaga.
TW: Suicide.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/08/15/ep-124-haunted-college-tour-palooza-part-12-hollins-university/
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For the second episode in this year's installment of our Haunted! College! Tour! Palooza!, we're taking you on a ghost tour of East Tennessee State University. Founded in 1911, ETSU has no shortage of campus lore. Expect stories of an invisible young boy playing with marbles, a stained glass ghost that now haunts the university's radio station, an eerie presence in the dorm showers, and more.
Somehow this is our first time covering a Tennessee college or university in our Haunted! College! Tour! Palooza! But trust us: it's worth the wait.
But first, Zoey's here with her Something Southern, in which we take quizzes from Lamar University and BuzzFeed to see what we should major in!
Sources:https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/08/08/ep-123-haunted-college-tour-palooza-part-11-east-tennessee-state-university
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That's right!! It's here!!!!
For newcomers, every August, Zoey and Robin do what they call the "Haunted! College! Tour! Palooza!" where they cover a college or two in every episode. Their goal? To scare incoming freshmen!
This year, Zoey kicks it off with Clemson University in Clemson, SC, the rival to USC - where Robin and Zoey both went to college.
Zoey tells of a curse, two graveyard ghosts, and a nearby haunted mill.
TW: Suicide.
But first, Robin's Something Spooky Southern is a list of the top 50 colleges, and she reads off the colleges in our domain. Just a few sound familiar, and I'm sure more will by the end of this season.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/08/01/ep-122-haunted-college-tour-palooza-part-10-clemson-university/
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Some stories of hauntings are isolated — old houses, barns, that kind of thing — and some are public: hotels, theme parks, tourists attractions, etc. If someone were to tell you about their own isolated haunting, which perhaps only their family experienced, you would have to base your assessment on how much you trusted that one person. Do you trust them to tell you the truth? And if they are telling you the truth, is that truth objective? Or was something else going on that they mistook for a haunting? For example: mold.
But for public hauntings, it gets a little more complicated. Robin's come up with three tiers for ranking public hauntings, from least to most believable. Tier 1: there is only a generic story of a haunting, often a woman whose lover abandoned her and/or died on the eve of their wedding. Tier 2: the owner and/or managers of the establishment share their personal ghost experiences. Tier 3: guests share their own stories.
The Marshall House in Savannah, Georgia is without a doubt a Tier 3 location. Tripadvisor is filled with reviews of haunting experiences, from children running in the hallway to inexplicably moving ceiling fans to the irrepressible feeling of being watched. Many of these terrifying details are followed immediately by a comment saying the breakfast and service are amazing, making the Marshall House a location Robin and Zoey definitely want to check out in person.
But first, Zoey's here with her Something Spooky: The Island of the Dolls!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/07/25/ep-121-we-want-to-go-to-the-marshall-house/
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It's Robin's Birthday week! So Zoey went to Reddit and found four Frights in the City stories to share with everyone this week.
The first story is about a woman who went to New Orleans on their Baby-moon and they had two spooky experience. The second story is a group of friends who saw a street that didn't normally exist and a woman with backwards feet. The third is a series of experiences with La Llarona in El Paso. The last is about the Goatman Bridge in Denton.
But first, Robin shares information about poison rings for her Something Spooky.
Happy Birthday Robin!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/07/18/ep-120-frights-in-the-city
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For years, the Tennessee Children's Home Society had a sparkling reputation — a private adoption organization that went largely unregulated with the backing of wealthy and grateful adoptive parents, as well as Georgia Tann's relationships with high-ranking members of Memphis' political and societal landscape. But over time, people grew suspicious and began to pull back the curtains masking the Society's inner workings.
The Society, once thought to be an upright adoption non-profit, was revealed to be a child trafficking organization. Tann took children — often through outright kidnapping or coercion of the parents — and charged adoptive parents high prices, effectively selling the children that were under her care. Thousands of families were broken apart; thousands of children were placed into new situations without adequate investigations into their new families; and hundreds of children died while in Tann's neglectful custody.
After the truth of the Society was uncovered, laws were passed to further regulate adoptions in Tennessee. And today, many of those children — now grown, with their own generations of descendants — are reconnecting with their birth families.
As always, we have a segment preceding the episode. Zoey covers a cryptid: the Smiling Man.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/07/11/ep-119-the-lost-and-found-children-of-the-tennessee-childrens-home-society
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In this week's episode, Zoey brings us a story you probably haven't heard before. Zoey knows about it through a personal connection, and she'd like to share the story of Walt Davis, a man who was giving to a fault.
Walt was driving home one day when he saw a young homeless man named Daniel walking on the side of the road. Walt pulled over and learned Daniel's story, then invited him to stay with him while he tried to get back on his feet.
However, Daniel was only there for two weeks before Walt stopped showing up to work. His coworkers found his body, and called the police. It didn't take long for them to suspect Daniel, so they started a manhunt for him.
When they found Daniel, he shocked them all by confessing immediately. However, he claimed it was self defense, while the police believed it was Second Degree murder.
Before we get to the main story, though, Robin's Something Spooky Southern is talking about the Body Farms down here in the south!
TW: suicide, arguable homophobia, sexual assault
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/07/04/ep-118-dont-bite-the-hand-that-feeds-you/
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Most of the time, the Earth works as it should. Water can be counted upon to rise, mist, and fall again when heavy. We get variations of this, of course: fog, snow, and hail, for example. But for the most part, the cycle is quite normal — except when it really, really isn't.
In this episode, we explore two specific cases of odd precipitation: North Carolina's blood rain in 1884 and Alabama's eel rain in 1892. One thing to note: instances of "blood rain" that have been investigated don't turn out to be blood. The case we discuss is likely an exception.
But first, Zoey's here with her Something Spooky: Haunts from the Workplace!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/06/27/ep-117-blood-eels-and-rain
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We've covered the Emily Morgan Hotel, the Alamo, and now, the Menger Hotel. This hotel is estimated by experts to be home to 32 to 45 ghosts including, but not limited to, Teddy Roosevelt, Sallie the Chambermaid, Captain Richard King the Cow Baron, a lady in white, and a few kids running around.
It's to be expected, with a long history of renovations, civil war efforts, and deaths to go around, that a place would be haunted. But large places are haunted big time and the Menger Hotel is no different.
But first, Robin brings us a Something Southern and springs another Southern Geography quiz onto Zoey, and she actually doesn't do to bad.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/06/20/ep-116-completing-the-alamo-plaza-with-the-menger-hotel/
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Welcome to the first installment of a new ongoing series: Frights in the Backcountry. We hunt the interwebs for personal accounts of spooky encounters and eerie events in rural areas of the American South. Think: backroads, small towns, and abandoned buildings.
In this episode, we dive into four stories of encounters with the paranormal, including: 1) the slow realization that a house is haunted; 2) a road that doesn't exist in the daytime; 3) what happens when you hit a ghost with your car; and 4) entering an abandoned church.
But first, Zoey's here with her Something Southern: The Castle in Beaufort, South Carolina!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/06/13/ep-115-frights-in-the-backcountry
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Every so often, we get a case where you just look at it and say, "That can't be true." Not because the murder is so gruesome, or the killer is so stupid, but because the police haven't seemed to do their job properly. This is one of those cases.
Holly Bobo, a sweet but shy young woman, was seen arguing with a man and then walking into the woods with him, and then her body wasn't found for 3 years. Even when she was found, her remains were skeletal with not much evidence on what happened other than a bullet wound to the back of her skull.
The police seemed determined to pin the case on 6 local men, despite the evidence being circumstantial at best, pointing to a whole other person at worst. The first testimony they received that blamed these men for the case went against the little evidence they did have, as did the second, completely different story.
But the worst part of it was the heinous trial full of alleged evidence tampering, police coercion, and data leaks overshadowed the very real tragedy of a woman taken too soon from this world, and potentially allowed her killer to walk free.
TW: SA and Suicide
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/06/06/ep-114-the-holly-bobo-case-and-a-mistrial-of-justice/
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Vampires — they can't live with us, and they can't live without us. Because they're undead! Throughout history, different cultures have developed their own conceptions of vampires: how they originate and their potential to inflict pain upon the living. Whether sparkly, lurking down darkened alleyways, or menacingly chewing underground, vampires tend to take up a lot of our imagination.
In this episode, we take a broad look at vampire lore as a whole. Then, we dive into two stories of southern vampires: the Casket Girls and the Richmond Vampire. Expect many, many Twilight references.
But first, Zoey is here with her Something Southern/Spooky: a book review on The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/05/30/ep-113-the-vampire-episode
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Have you ever been to one of those "haunted" houses with the actors that jump out at you? How about one where they were allowed to touch you? Ever want to experience it for real?
Then head over to the Old Jail in St. Augustine, Florida. A project funded by none other then Henry Flagler to make the prison less scary looking to tourists, the Old Jail was built in 1891 and saw a lot of horrors. The men and women imprisoned here were forced to do heavy labor and/or sex work, while the payment went to the prison. The conditions were terrible, hygiene was unheard of, and violence and death were regular occurrences.
The jail became a museum almost the same instant it was shut down, and many people believe the prison is haunted. Zoey takes us on a trip through time as she shares the horrible history and the paranormal aura that surrounds the prison.
One of the main ghosts is a shadow figure known as the Crawler, described as a shadow within shadow that moves and crawls along the floor, following any unlucky victim it sets it's sights on, sometimes catching up and grabbing their ankle.
Zoey had to walk Robin to her car after they recorded.
But first, Robin brings us a hilarious tale from a small town near Boone, NC where a herd of cows lead police to a suspect from a high-speed chase as her Something Southern.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/05/23/ep-112-the-crawler-at-the-old-jail/
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We're going full haunted house in this episode! The McRaven House in Vicksburg, Mississippi is old — very, very old. Its first two rooms were built over 200 years ago in 1797, with the rest of the house to follow in the years 1836 and 1849. Today, you can find it just off the end of a residential road, surrounded by trees and foliage that once loomed so close to the property that vines broke into two upstairs windows.
Domineering former owners and playful ghost boys are said to roam the halls. But no spirit is more present than Mary Elizabeth Howard, the mischievous yet melancholic teenager who died in child birth. At the end of every haunted episode, we both rate how haunted we personally think the location is. And if you're a frequent listener, you know we aren't afraid to give a low rating and be honest with our thoughts. We both rated this one very, very highly.
But first, Zoey is here with her Something Southern: snack goodies from the Charleston City Market! Yum.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/05/16/ep-111-the-mcraven-house-in-vicksburg-mississippi
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In this week's episode, Zoey shares the case of Pamela Shelley, a woman from Ashdown, Arkansas. Pamela was found, shot, in her boyfriend's Texas home in 2001 after getting in an argument with her boyfriend, Ronnie. Pam and her two kids were set to move back to Arkansas with her first husband and the father of her children that same day due to friction in the household between Ronnie and Pam's daughter.
While Pam survived the ride to the hospital, she died the next day. Ronnie's family told police that Pam had been suicidal because she loved Ronnie and wanted to stay with him, but she was afraid of her children being taken away from her. They claimed that Pam had taken her own life because she felt torn between two worlds. And the Medical Examiner agreed, and the case was ruled a suicide.
However, in 2008 and again in 2012 the case was looked into, and due to the work of the TV Show "Cold Justice", the case was open once more.
But before we get into that, Robin's Something Southern this week is teaching us about the prominent river type of the south, the Blackwater River.
Also, Zoey was laid off in May and she shares that information with us. If you'd like to support her on her socials, you can click this link: https://linktr.ee/freakwithglasses or this one https://www.tiktok.com/@i.zerge. Also, you can support her husband by visiting his shop at https://afkthreads.com.
CW: Suicide
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/05/09/ep-110-the-case-that-was-solved-by-tv/
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By all accounts, July 4, 1965 was a fairly normal night for Madison and Marrs Cawein. They went out with their friends for Independence Day, and after some drinking and revelry, Marrs decided to turn in while Madison decided to stay out longer. She got back home around midnight, greeted the babysitter, and had a nightcap with the friend who drove her back before going to bed. No one — aside from her killer — saw her alive again. Because sometime between 2 and 6 in the morning, Marrs Cawein was injected with an unknown substance and poisoned with carbolic acid.
In this episode, we explore what happened the night Marrs Cawein died and what the subsequent investigation uncovered in this still-unsolved case.
But first, Zoey's Something Something is a spelling bee of southern and spooky words.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/05/02/ep-109-the-poisoning-on-independence-day
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On Tuesday, August 19, 1952 around 11 pm Scoutmaster Sonny DesVergers was taking three Boy Scouts home after an event. They were driving on a road near West Palm Beach, Florida when they saw a bright light flash on a road called Military Trail.
Being the proper Scoutmaster he was, Sonny decided to pull over and head towards the light, thinking that it could have been a downed plane or a car accident despite the boys’ protests. He brought a machete and a flashlight with him, telling the boys to stay in the car and to knock on the door of a nearby house if he didn’t return in 15 minutes.
After four minutes of hacking through the bushes, he entered a small clearing. He immediately noticed a nauseating smell that was incomparable to anything he’d ever smelled before but best described as burning metal, and then realized it felt like he was being watched.
Then, he felt an oppressive heat bearing down on him from above. So he looked up and he could not believe his eyes.
There was a circular, dull black object with no seams, 30 feet in diameter and 10 feet tall, domed on top with a bottom edge that glowed hovering right above him. It was giving off a “rapid exhaust” which he assumed was the source of the bad smell.
That’s right. It was a UFO.
This week Zoey shares the story of what Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, the chief UFO investigator for the US Air Force labeled as “the best hoax in UFO history”. And strap in for this one kids, it's a wild, goofy ride.
But before we get to that, Robin talks about the North Carolina Mystery Hill for her Something Southern!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/04/25/ep-108-the-best-hoax-in-ufo-history/
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For the first time in nearly a year, we're back to recording in-person at Zoey's dining room table — and something about this situation is making us unhinged! Welcome to the first of (at least) two truly chaotic episodes of Haunted Hospitality. We're kicking things off with one of Robin's longtime bucket list topics: the Battery Carriage House Inn in Charleston, South Carolina! (Now known as 20 South Battery.)
This antebellum structure has two very well known ghosts: the Gentleman Ghost (Room 10) and the Headless Torso (Room 8). The Gentleman Ghost is known for politely sliding into bed with guests, while the Headless Torso is known for being... evil? Horrible? Menacing? Potentially the ghost of Stede Bonnet?
But first, Zoey's here with her Something Spooky: two sentence horror stories!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/04/18/the-haunting-of-the-battery-carriage-house-inn
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In this week's episode, Zoey covers two spooky stories from Honey Island Swamp in Louisiana. This is a protected, 70,000 acre marshland home to all sorts of creatures and outlaws.
First, she tells us about the Honey Island Swamp Rat Killings, a story of two men who were killed and their bodies robbed. This lead to multiple mobs formed in town as the people chased down the two men they believed to be responsible for their deaths. Content warning for lynching.
Then, she tells us about the Honey Island Swamp Monster, aka the Cajun Sasquatch, and how one man started a legend.
But first! Robin brings us a Something Spooky from her time in Washington DC and covers some haunted locations there!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/04/11/ep-106-tales-from-honey-island-swamp/
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For Haunted Hospitality's second pod-iversary celebration episode, we're exploring three stories of spooky ladies from the South! We get wild with our first segment, so skip to minute 43 for this content.
First up: Four people were put on trial for witchcraft in South Carolina back in 1792. While this trial took place on a farm and wasn't actually legal, there were plenty of witnesses taking the stand. They accused Mary Ingleman, in particular, of some rather harsh tricks. On two separate occasions, she is accused of turning a man into horse, then using him as transportation as she goes about her business.
Second up: One fork in a North Carolina river is called Mermaid Point because Revolutionary War soldiers used to swear they saw mermaids lounging on a sandbar. Granted, this was usually late into the night as the soldiers stumbled home from the tavern.
Third up: This is the urban legend to end all urban legends! On a Mississippi backroad, next to the ruins of an old church, the three-legged lady is known to lurk. Locals will honk their horn, and she is said to chase their car to the end of the road. (CW: suicide)Thre
But first, Robin and Zoey are here with their Something Special: a "get to know us (again)!" Q&A.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/04/04/ep-105-witches-mermaids-and-the-three-legged-lady
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In this week's episode, Zoey covers the unsolved disappearance of Jennifer Kesse, a 24 year old woman who went missing from her condo in January 2006. Jennifer, who was known for always being in touch with loved ones, was reported missing on January 24th, 2005 around 3 pm after no one had heard from her since the previous night. However, because she was an adult, police assumed that she just got in a fight with her boyfriend and left.
Eventually the Kesse family was able to convince the police to search for her, but they did too little, too late. Despite numerous leads coming in constantly, all of the paths of investigation lead to a dead end. But that hasn't stopped Drew and Joyce Kesse, her parents. They are working to this day to try to find their daughter and even announced that they had a promising lead in January 2023.
You can find more information and photos of Jennifer at www.jenniferkesse.com including the tip line if you have any information. Keeping the case alive is an expensive process, so her parents are accepting donations at www.gofundme.com/help-us-find-jennifer-kesse. She is 5’8”, 125 lbs with Blonde hair and green eyes. She has a shamrock tattoo on her lower back, a birth mark on her left middle finger on the second joint down, a strawberry birthmark on her rib, and surgical scars on the inside of her left elbow. She was 24 when she went missing but would be 41 today.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/03/28/ep-104-the-ongoing-search-for-jennifer-kesse/
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On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy rode in the backseat of a dark blue convertible through the streets of Dallas, Texas, where up to 200,000 people stood on sidewalks to get their glimpse of the President. The route was public knowledge, pre-planned to get as big of an audience as possible. The President would be running for reelection soon, and he wanted to ensure he had the Texas vote. Then, at 12:30 p.m., three shots rang out.
In this episode, we cover JFK's assassination, the arrest and killing of Lee Harvey Oswald, and the investigations and theories that have spun out of this event in the decades since.
But first, Zoey explores ChatGPT in a combined Something Southern/Spooky.
CW: gore.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/03/21/ep-103-the-motorcade-in-dallas/
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In this week's episode, Zoey takes us to visit the Loretta Lynn Ranch. This 3,500 plot of land is home to the Queen of Country's home, plenty of things to do for those who like the outdoors, and ghosts!
While Loretta Lynn was alive, she would have been the first to tell you that her house is haunted. She had one rule: don't mess with the ghosts and they won't mess with you. In this episode, Zoey shares all the juicy, ghosty tidbits that the family and employees offered up. And the Loretta Lynn Ranch has it all: confederate soldiers, ghost photos, and a visit from our favorite ghost hunting reality TV show.
But first, Robin brings us a Something Southern and Spooky and tells us about Huggin' Molly, a legend of a woman who likes to scare the crap out of kids - and Zoey.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/03/14/ep-102-the-queen-of-country-and-ghosts/
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It's time for another Frights in the Wild, where we scour the Internet for personal stories of people encountering creepy, scary, or generally hard-to-explain things out in nature. And boy, did this slate of encounters deliver! Both Robin and Zoey were scared to be alone after recording this episode. So if that's your jam, this episode is for you.
From mysterious hunched over creatures that inspire a shared dream, to a years-long haunting in an abandoned cemetery, to a possible instance of Black Eyed Children, to the scariest one of all: a group of friends go camping in the woods, but they are very much not alone.
But first, Zoey is here with her refreshingly non-scary Something Southern: peach cobbler!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/03/07/ep-101-frights-in-the-wild-3-that-woman-was-definitely-following-them
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Wow. 100 Episodes. We can hardly believe it. Thank you so much to everyone who continues to tune in and listen!
This episode, we're excited to finally announce that we are recording on Location at The Partridge Inn in Augusta, GA. In our hotel room, Zoey shares her notes about Emily, the resident ghost, and other spooky locations around Augusta.
But first, Robin shares a Something Spooky sent in by faithful listener, Abby.
Thank you all again! We would never have gotten it this far without listeners like you.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/02/28/ep-100-join-us-at-the-partridge-inn/
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The Female Stranger is one of Alexandria, Virginia's best known pieces of folklore. According to legend, a woman and her maybe-husband travelled from outside of the country to Alexandria in 1816, only for her to die from an illness a few weeks later. Though sad, this story wouldn't have lasted over 200 years if it weren't for one crucial detail: she and her husband were adamant that no one knew their names. Even her doctor and nurses were sworn to secrecy.
After she died, her husband used borrowed money to pay for an elaborate marble headstone, inscribed with a Bible verse, a poem stanza, a sentence describing his own pain at her death, and her age — but not her name. The first line of the headstone says, "To the memory of a female stranger." This secrecy has left people familiar with the mystery no choice but to speculate. Today, theories span the gamut, with some believing the Female Stranger was in a star-crossed lovers situation and others believing she was Theodosia Burr, the lost-at-sea daughter of Aaron Burr.
But first, Zoey is here with her long-awaited Something Dreamy: lucid dreams!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/02/21/to-the-memory-of-a-female-stranger
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It's the dream of every true crime fan - being the one who finally puts the pieces together to solve a years old unsolved disappearance or mystery. And in this episode, we cover the case that was potentially helped by a Podcast to get closed for good.
Tara Grinstead was a beauty queen and a high school teacher. She was well loved in her small down of Hawkinsville, GA. However, one day in 2005 she went home after a busy night out never to be seen again. Her car was still in the driveway of her house, her phone was charging, and her pets were home unharmed. No one knew what happened to her, and her body was never found.
Then Payne Lindsey, podcast host and documentary film maker, investigated what information we knew in 2016 and he was able to put the pieces together to inspire the police to finding the culprit.
But first, Robin shares her Something Dreamy and talks about Night Terrors!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/02/14/ep-98-the-podcast-that-allegedly-solved-a-murder/
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Have you heard the phrase "little green men"? It had only been used in sci-fi until 1955, when 11 people in Kelly, Kentucky claimed that a spaceship landed near their farmhouse and a group of aliens tried to attack their home. Suddenly news stories were awash with the Suttons' tale of their extraterrestrial plight — with some taking it more seriously than others.
Today, there's no consensus about what happened to the Suttons that night in 1955. Some people fully believe they fought with aliens; others believe it was a hoax, or even perhaps a run in with owls. No matter what — it's clear from their statements and the police investigation that something happened there that night.
In this episode, we talk about the Kelly-Hopkinsville encounter and what we think actually happened there that night. Spoiler alert: we each believe different theories.
But first, Zoey's here with her Something Spooky/Dreamy: can people dream the future?
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/02/07/ep-97-the-little-not-green-men
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In today's chaotic episode, Zoey discusses the ghosts of the Alamo. Robin, knowing full well that Zoey planned to cover the Alamo, is shocked that there are ghosts. Apparently, Robin was giddy with the thought that Zoey was going to make this a historical podcast. Well, Robin. Too bad. Can't have history without ghosts, as Zoey always says.
Though you do have to bear through some history taught by Prof Zoey. But don't worry, the ghosts are many and very close together. They include the people who died during the battle, a few who didn't but were grief stricken by the death, and a couple we don't know the stories of. The ghosts are coming after you in this one.
But, before we get into that, we start our Something Something Series about Sleep. Which is decided on the spot as Robin discusses why we dream and she and Zoey discuss various dreams and nightmares they've had.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/01/31/ep-96-what-was-that-place-called-again-oh-right-the-alamo/
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Ah, the Georgia Guidestones. How statuesque. How deeply problematic.
The Georgia Guidestones were a truly odd conglomeration of granite that popped up in rural Georgia in the 1980s. According to the only two people who ever saw him, a well-dressed man came into Elberton, Georgia, in 1979 on a mission to spread 10 very specific opinions on how he thought people ought to live and interact with the environment. Apparently he decided this was less "letter to the editor" territory and more "carve into very tall and astronomically significant granite via eight languages" territory.
Through the decades, questions, controversies, and conspiracy theories have swirled around these six large stones — ultimately leading to their destruction in the summer of 2022.
But first, Zoey's here with her Something Spooky: the Sallie House! Which is in Kansas! Which is not in the South! IYKYK.
(NOTE: Stonehenge is pictured. I couldn't find a public domain image of the Georgia Guidestones. Use your imagination and/or Google.)
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/01/24/ep-95-its-like-stonehenge-but-not
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This week's episode is a tough one. We follow along as Zoey tells the story of Donald "Pee Wee" Gaskins, an infamous serial killer from South Carolina. Donald had a tough life, but he made it worse for everyone around him. He started his crimes when he was still a tween, and only ramped up as he made his way through life.
Donald Gaskins claimed that he killed more than 100 people, but the police believe the number is more around 40. Either way it is a staggering amount. And murder wasn't his only crimes: sexual assault, burglary, kidnapping, robbery, battery, breaking and entering. His rap sheet is a mile long.
Then at the end of the Episode Robin and Zoey discuss their thoughts and feelings on a few things and the way True Crime as a genre has been moving.
But first, Robin brings her Something Spooky into the mix and discusses 5 Horror Movies she'd like to watch and discuss this year.
CW: Sexual Assault, Child Sexual Assault
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/01/17/ep-94-the-horrors-of-donald-pee-wee-gaskins/
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Right beside the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, the Emily Morgan Hotel looms 13 stories tall. Originally constructed in 1924, it got its start as a premier Medical Arts Building. And even almost 50 years since the building saw its last patient, there are still traces of that hospital today.
From the inexplicable antiseptic smell on the former surgical floor to the memory of a nurse walking down the hall, the Emily Morgan Hotel seems to like holding onto the past. And we haven't even mentioned the gargoyles built 100 years ago that are designed to look like suffering patients (seriously, what?!).
In this episode, we explore the hotel's history, the folk legend it's named for, and the unusual happenings that have made it famous.
But first, Zoey is kicking off her first Something Spooky of 2023 with a Creature Corner:
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/01/10/ep-93-gargoyles-and-perfectly-timed-ghosts
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Cemeteries. Ghosts. They seem to go hand in hand. Yet Haunted Hospitality has recorded almost 100 episodes, and not once have we talked about a Cemetery. So this week, Zoey brings in the new year by visiting the Colonial Park Cemetery and the Bonaventure Cemetery, both in Savannah, GA.
The Colonial Park Cemetery is known for shadowy figures that dart between gravestones at night after the park is all closed and for housing a mass grave of Yellow Fever victims. And there may or may not be a 7 foot tall ghost of a child murderer.
Bonaventure Cemetery is known for it's beautiful gardens and plant life, and also Little Gracie. Gracie is a ghost that plays in the cemetery and is loved by locals and tourists alike.
But first, Robin shares her New Year Non-Resolution and Zoey shares her New Year Goals. Then Robin shares some New Years Traditions from around the world.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2023/01/03/ep-92-two-haunted-cemeteries-in-savannah-ga/
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On the night of November 20, 1921, 19-year-old Nell Cropsey followed her boyfriend, Jim Wilcox, out into the hall of her family's house. It was late fall in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, with the Pasquotank river flowing close by. The young couple had spent the evening with Nell's family sitting around the fire in the dining room, with her excited for her upcoming trip to New York and him checking his watch repeatedly the whole evening long. He had asked her to come outside and talk for a moment.
No one knows for sure what happened during their conversation, but we do know that Nell's family never saw her alive again. 37 days later, her body was found floating in the Pasquotank river by her house. In this episode, we discuss Nell's disappearance, the subsequent trials, and what may have happened to her.
But first, Zoey is here with her Something Spooky: the Mari Lwyd.
Content warnings: suicide and domestic violence.
Sources: http://www.hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/12/27/ep-91-the-disappearance-and-death-of-nell-cropsey/
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You've read the book "All My Friends are Dead" by Avery Monsen and Jory John, focusing on a little dinosaur that has lost all his loved ones. Well, for Velma Barfield, that book is reality. Velma Barfield grew up in rural North Carolina. When she was 17, she got married and had a happy life with her husband and two kids. But when both herself and her husband ended up with chronic pain that they self medicated through either drugs or alcohol, Velma's life was shrouded in Death.
By the time Velma was 46 years old, she had lost one husband to a house fire, another husband to heart failure, a boyfriend to a car crash, her father to lung cancer, her mother to the stomach virus, and her fiancé to the flu. On top of that, Velma worked as a nurse to the elderly, and she lost three patients that she cared for.
But it was soon revealed that Velma might not be as innocent as she seemed. Listen to this week's episode as Zoey shares the full details of how Velma turned from sympathetic nurse to being a prisoner on death row.
But first, robin tells us about Arizona's Red Ghost for her something spooky.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/12/20/ep-90-death-follows-velma-barfield/
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Sometime in the late 1800s, a whole bunch of people decided it would be cool to contact the dead on a semi-regular basis. This wasn’t just a fringe phenomenon. Folks like Marie Curie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle were all about it. But no one was as all about it as Ben and Sue Allen.
Twice or thrice a week, they’d host a séance in their Nashville, Tennessee home, inviting their circle of well-to-do friends to bear witness to Sue’s uncanny ability to contact the spirit world. These evenings included everything from sassy remarks from the dearly departed to haunting visions of one member’s future self to The Thing: a creature that people described as a cat or a handless arm that manifested beneath the dining room table.
It spent the séances unbuttoning shoes, lifting the table, and generally creating wild (if invisible) havoc. People who didn’t believe in The Thing would sometimes run out of the séance in a terror, only for The Thing to follow them home. In this episode, we dive into this weird moment in humanity’s view of the supernatural and speculate on what exactly The Thing could be.
But first, Zoey is here with her Something Southern: payback against Robin’s laziness, Mad Libs Vacation edition.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/12/13/ep-89-spiritualism-seances-and-the-thing
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This week's episode we really embody our podcast name by visiting a Haunted Hotel! None other than the Driskill Hotel of Austin Texas.
This hotel is haunted by the owner, a couple of brides, a little girl slash devil, a President, and a long time resident, and Zoey tells you all about each one. As the longest operating hotel in TX, no wonder there are a few ghosties out to play.
But first, as the weather gets slightly cold, Robin and Zoey share their Chilly Takes.
TW: Suicide
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/12/06/ep-88-dying-to-stay-at-the-driskill-hotel/
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In 1921, a ship called the Carroll A. Deering wrecked against the Diamond Shoals, a particularly dangerous area to sail in North Carolina's Outer Banks. Also called the Graveyard of the Atlantic, the long string of barrier islands has seen countless shipwrecks and wild waters, but the mystery of the Carroll A. Deering was the first of its kind.
When a search party made its way to the ship, they found food left out in the kitchen, the steering equipment broken, and the crew missing. For over a hundred years, people have tried to figure out how the crew disappeared, where they went, and what actually happened on the Carroll A. Deering. In this episode, we explore the noted animosity between the ship's captain and first mate, the many, many theories about this case, and what the Bermuda Triangle has to do with it. (It has nothing to do with it.)
But first, Zoey is here with her Something Spooky: explaining the definitions of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree murder.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/11/29/ep-84-the-carroll-a-deering-and-the-graveyard-of-the-atlantic
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Don't you love it when you and your best friend have the same idea? This week's episode continues the collage of wild frights but with a more true crime twist. Zoey tells us about four different unsolved missing persons cases in the Smoky Mountains ranging from a 6 year old boy who disappeared without a trace to an 58 year old woman who may have ran off with a lover.
But before we get hiking, Robin gives Zoey the most fair Southern Quiz to date and you'll be surprised about how many State Slogans she knows.
TW: Mentions of Suicide.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/11/22/ep-86-lost-in-the-smokies-unexplained-disappearances-in-the-smoky-mountains/
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It's time for the second installment of our weirdest, most nature-y mini series: Frights in the Wild! We're back with a vengeance and exploring six creepy stories that traverse the American South, from Florida beaches to North Carolina backroads to the Ozark Mountains.
Expect stories of a girl without a face, a metamorphosing raccoon/dog/bobcat/human/not-horse, an Abraham Lincoln-ish man chilling in the woods, an eerie possible doppelgänger situation, a sad Boy Scout in two places at once, and a creepy-as-all-get-out, grinning man with white hair and black eyes—who people keep seeing!
But first, Zoey is here with a Something Spooky about her trip to Zak Bagans' The Haunted Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/11/15/ep-85-frights-in-the-wild-2-was-it-a-ghost-or-just-a-guy
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In this week's episode, Zoey covers the story of the murder of Orin Hendrickson, a story that was referenced in the Arkansas episode of the 2022 season of the Haunted College Tour Palooza. Also known as the Ouachita Murder or the Ouachita Dorm Mother Murder, this case covers the very complex series of events Pat Hendrickson took to hire someone to kill her husband.
Pat Hendrickson, along with friends Norma, Howard, and Mark, concoct a poorly made plan to murder Orin for his money. Pat asked Norma about hiring a hitman, Norma asked Mark, and Mark asked Howard. If you ask Howard, he says he thought it was a joke, so said he'd do it, so Mark told Norma, and Norma told Pat. And the rest of the episode continues in a very similar pattern.
This episode does include the guest star of the amazingly named bar, BJ's Star Studded Honky Tonk, which is a phrase Zoey will never stop saying. And though we mention it might be a two part-er, it is eventually a single episode.
But before we get into that, Robin shares a list of Theater Superstitions, and is highly against saying "break a leg" due to her recent experiences.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/11/08/ep-84-the-chaotic-story-behind-the-murder-of-orin-hendrickson/
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The USS Yorktown, also called the Fighting Lady, is a well-storied ship that served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War before docking near Charleston, South Carolina, as part of the Patriots Point Maritime Museum. This ship is chock-full of history — and, of course, ghosts. There are many, many accounts of paranormal experiences of all kinds: from strange shadows, to full body apparitions, to disembodied footsteps echoing up the stairs for an entire hour.
In this episode, we dive into these encounters and examine photographs that might just be evidence of the supernatural. In fact, Zoey and Robin agree that one photo taken by South Carolina ETV is the best photo of a ghost they've ever seen.
But first, Zoey is here with a Creature Corner about Indonesia's Kuntilanak (also called the Pontianak in Malaysia).
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/11/01/ep-83-uss-yorktown-full-body-apparitions-and-one-heck-of-a-ghost-photo
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Happy Halloween! In this very spooky episode Zoey shares one of her biggest, and newest, fears: men dressed up in full Bunny fursuits. In this episode we cover the legend of the Bunny Man in Fairfax, Virginia. The legend is based on two real, and scary, stories of men in Burke Virginia in 1969 and/or 1970 who threatened locals while dressed like Bunnies. From there, the legend spread to outrageous and easily deniable stories, but it is very spooky.
But before we get into that, Robin tells Zoey about the Zak Bagans Haunted Museum in Las Vegas, where Zoey will be honeymooning in just one week!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/10/25/ep-82-zoey-faces-her-biggest-fear-bunnies/
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Late at night in February 1946, Jimmy Hollis and Mary Jeanne Larey parked in a lovers' lane on the outskirts of Texarkana, a mid-size town that sat on the border between Texas and Arkansas. At 11:55 PM, a man in a white cloth mask approached the driver's side door and demanded they get out of the car, before attacking them. Both Jimmy and Mary Jeanne survived the encounter, but almost all other victims of the Phantom Killer — as he would come to be known — would not.
In this episode, we discuss the Phantom Killer's crimes, the victims, and the stories of the survivors.
But first, Zoey's Something Spooky is the story of Screaming Jenny in West Virginia.
CW: sexual assault and suicide
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/10/18/ep-81-the-phantom-killer-texarkana-moonlight-murders
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Chupacabra literally means "goat sucker", and boy howdy is this cryptid aptly named. The Chupacabra is a vampiric beast with glowing red eyes, fangs, a long tongue with a sucker, wings, talons, and spikes. Or it might be a hairless dog. Who knows!
In this week's episode, Zoey goes into the legend and the sightings of the infamous Chupacabra in her most popular cryptid to date. A beast that started in Puerto Rico in 1995, he's traveled the world killing livestock on his way. Zoey even shares three images of the beast, two in your host's home state of SC and one in Texas. You can find those photos in the sources.
But first, Robin tells us about the probably potentially first depiction of a ghost in her Something Spooky!
Please note, if you get a sense of Deja Vu while listening to this, there is a good chance you heard this episode last week, instead of the Bear Creek Swamp episode, which is an amazing episode. So please make sure to go back and listen to that!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/10/11/ep-80-the-legend-of-the-chupacabra/
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On any given weekend, young locals will gather on the dirt road that stretches straight through Bear Creek Swamp in Autauga County, Alabama. They don't just go there to party — they also perform a Bloody Mary-esque ritual. Legend says if you say the words, "Bitch, I've got your baby," three times, the woman who haunts the swamp will attack you. And unlike your typical Bloody Mary story where children at a sleepover try and fail to scare themselves, creepy things really do happen after they say the words.
In this episode, we explore the lore around Bear Creek Swamp, from a mysterious woman hiding by the creek to phantom cars to lights hovering over the water—and, of course, the horrifying porcelain dolls of it all.
But first, Zoey is here with her Something Southern: wedding traditions of the South!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/10/04/ep-79-btch-ive-got-your-baby-the-legends-of-bear-creek-swamp
On any given weekend, young locals will gather on the dirt road that stretches straight through Bear Creek Swamp in Autauga County, Alabama. They don't just go there to party — they also perform a Bloody Mary-esque ritual. Legend says if you say the words, "Bitch, I've got your baby," three times, the woman who haunts the swamp will attack you. And unlike your typical Bloody Mary story where children at a sleepover try and fail to scare themselves, creepy things really do happen after they say the words.
In this episode, we explore the lore around Bear Creek Swamp, from a mysterious woman hiding by the creek to phantom cars to lights hovering over the water—and, of course, the horrifying porcelain dolls of it all.
But first, Zoey is here with her Something Southern: wedding traditions of the South!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/10/04/ep-79-btch-ive-got-your-baby-the-legends-of-bear-creek-swamp
For the Alday Family, the day was just like any other. The men worked on the farm, the women worked in the houses. They were a happy, church-going, good family that never got into trouble. But trouble found them, in the shape of Carl Issacs, Wayne Coleman, George Dungee, and Billy Issacs. These four men were recent prison escapees who targeted the Alday family for their gas.
In this episode, Zoey walks you through the systematic murders of five family members and the court cases that came after. This is the story of the second largest mass murder in Georgia History, with the first being the Woolfolk Family Murders covered by Robin in Episode five.
But before we get to that, Robin brings us a Something Spooky news report about an ancient grave found with a woman who was buried with a sickle around her neck, as if preventing her from rising from her grave. Robin goes into the implications of this and why it's interesting.
CW: Rape
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/09/27/ep-78-the-alday-family-tragedy/
At midday on Monday, November 13, 1961, an oil tanker crew spotted Captain Julian Harvey, a retired airman, floating on a dinghy in the Atlantic Ocean. With him was the body of seven-year-old René Duperrault, the youngest member of a family that had been traveling for the past week with Harvey and his wife on a ship called the Bluebelle.
Once he was rescued and taken to the coast guard, Harvey told them how a storm swept in at midnight, breaking the masts and triggering a cascade of events where his only option was to flee the burning boat, alone. He said he came across René's body in the water and tried to save her life, but was unable to do so.
That would have been the official story of the Bluebelle, if not for a second ocean rescue days later. Three and a half days after the Bluebelle sank, eleven year old Terry Jo Duperrault was found barely clinging to life atop a disintegrating float. Her story about how the Bluebelle sank — and how she managed to survive for days on the ocean without food, water, or shelter — would change everything.
But first, Zoey is here with a Something Something that qualifies as a Something Southern AND a Something Spooky: the haunted Calcasieu Courthouse in Lake Charles, Louisiana!
CW: suicide.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/09/20/ep-77-the-sinking-of-the-bluebelle
True crime is back! In case you're new here, this is a True Crime and Supernatural show. It's been a while, but this week Zoey brings back the true crime element with the story of Tyler Hadley, a Florida teen with troubles.
Tyler's parents, Blake and Mary-Jo Hadley told him that by the end of the summer, they were going to put him into a drug rehab facility. Tyler made the decision to then kill both his parents, then throw a huge party. But the real kicker is that the bodies of his parents were still in the house while the teenagers were partying.
This week's episode is a grim one. But before we get into it, Robin lists off popular Southern foods and your hosts track how many they have had before. Robin, of course, scores high, but Zoey's score may surprise you.
CW: Mentions of Suicide.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/09/13/ep-76-the-party-to-end-all-others/
Smells Like Humans
Like spending time with funny friends talking about curious human behavior.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Saucy Sibz
Siblings, Nicodemus & Francesca Piazza recap their ridiculous antics of the week.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
The American South isn't known for its castles, but maybe it should be. In this episode, we explore three different southern castles and their spooky reputations.
The Gassaway Mansion in Greenville, South Carolina is an interesting feat of architecture. This structure with its castle-like tower was built alongside the prosperity of the roaring twenties, just as its occupants felt the loss of the 1929 stock market crash. Rumors of hauntings have swirled around the mansion for decades, with many saying that the original owner, Walter L. Gassaway, never left. A special thanks to Abby for recommending this topic! And happy birthday!
Rhodes Hall looks exactly like a medieval castle that just happens to be across the street from a gas station in Midtown Atlanta. Built to glorify the Antebellum South, this building has a deeply troubled history to contend with. People say the original owners still live there, and they don't like visitors.
"The Castle" in Beaufort, South Carolina was built in the mid-1800s, but its most well known ghost hails from 16th century France. A foul-mouthed jester is said to roam the house and its grounds, having tea parties with children while insulting any adults within hearing distance.
But first, Zoey's Something Spooky is an update on the JonBenét Ramsey cold case.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/09/06/ep-75-the-south-has-castles-and-those-castles-have-ghosts
We all knew it was coming, but it came too soon. This is the final part of Season Two of our Haunted College Tour Palooza. But fear not, it will make its return next year!
Closing us out for August 2022, Zoey shares the ghosts of the University of Virginia, a college with many notable alumni including Mr. Spooky himself, Edgar Allen Poe. Here we learn about secret societies, odd music halls, and a very haunted Farm.
Robin has selected the College of William and Mary, a college near Colonial Williamsburg. This place is MEGA haunted to the point that former student Margot Baden created an interactive map for students to submit their haunting experiences.
But first, Robin shares a cryptid update on the Loch Ness Monster for her Something Spooky! Is she trying to take away the title of Cryptid Crown from Zoey? We shall see.
We hope that all incoming freshmen are pleasantly scared and are armed with knowledge about their soon-to-be homes. Have a haunting happen to you? Write to us at hauntedhospitalitypodcast@gmail.com!
CW: Suicide
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/08/30/ep-74-haunted-college-tour-part-10-university-of-virginia-and-college-of-william-and-mary/
Wholly Buyable
Advertising Creative Director Chas Bayfield takes you on a road trip through the Bible,...
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
For the ninth installment of our Haunted! College! Tour! Palooza!, we're heading to Arkansas. The University of Arkansas and Henderson State University are both filled with ghost stories that will make freshmen cower with fear into their Twin XL sheets.
Henderson State University is truly one of a kind with its famous Lady in Black, who is known to chase terrified students down like a Scooby Doo-style villain. We love colleges who love their weird ghosts, and Henderson State University sure loves her! We're also taking a peak into neighboring Ouachita Baptist University, who says the Lady in Black is actually THEIR ghost. Please everyone, there's enough of her to go around!
The University of Arkansas sports a haunted dorm-turned-frat house-turned-office-turned-hotel called the Inn at Carnall Hall. Here, you may see a headless and footless ghost in a dress floating through the halls. She may sit on your bed and watch you as you sleep, but don't worry, she's nice.
But first, Zoey is here with a Creature Corner about a rumored cryptid called a Melon Head.
CW: suicide
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/08/23/ep-73-haunted-college-tour-part-9-university-of-arkansas-and-henderson-state-university/
Smells Like Humans
Like spending time with funny friends talking about curious human behavior.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Women in Tech Podcast
Inspiring women in tech share their stories on how they got to where they are today.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Here we are in the midpoint of our college tour-palooza! We hope you're learning a thing or two.
In this episode, Zoey talks about the famous ghost of Roy Simms from Texas A&M, but don't worry, he's not the only ghost on campus. The spirit of dog mascot Reveille V is on Kyle Field and you can hear how she makes her presence known.
Robin shares a few stories from Our Lady of the Lake University that are sure to frighten you especially if you aren't very fond of nuns.
But first, in her Something Southern, robin releases the official ranking for Haunted Southern Cities by doing something scarier than ever covered on the podcast: math.
CW: Suicide
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/08/16/ep-72-haunted-college-tour-part-8-texas-am-and-our-lady-of-the-lake-university/
Women in Tech Podcast
Inspiring women in tech share their stories on how they got to where they are today.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
The Short Box: A Comic Book Podcast
Join four lifelong friends for entertaining discussions about comics and culture.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
For the second installment of the second season of our Haunted College Tour Palooza, we're traveling (metaphorically, of course) to three colleges in Mississippi. The Mississippi University for Women, Delta State University, and Mississippi State University all come with paranormal encounters haunting their halls.
Listen to learn about Mary (a Civil War-era nurse who never left Callaway Hall), a group of three students who slowly realized their shared house was haunted, and old classroom buildings with a vibe that can only be described as "creepy."
But first, Zoey's Something Southern + Spooky is all about a haunted Savannah house.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/08/09/ep-71-haunted-college-tour-part-7-mississippi-university-for-women-delta-state-university-and-mississippi-state-university/
Welcome back to the 2nd annual Haunted College Tour-palooza by Haunted Hospitality! We'd like to remind everyone of our sole purpose in doing the College Tour - to scare incoming freshmen. So if you know anyone attending these colleges in the fall, be sure to send the episode their way!
In this episode, Zoey covers what she has dubbed the most haunted college in Kentucky, Western Kentucky University! To sum up all the haunts at this college: be very careful around the elevators. They're more likely to kill you than you think.
And Robin covers the Morehead State University. This one gives us a very theatrical ride from Nunn Hall all the way to a Virgin Mary statue that cries blood.
But first, to kick us off on our tour, Robin and Zoey take the "What southern school fits you best" and realize how similar they really are.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/08/02/ep-70-haunted-college-tour-part-6-western-kentucky-university-and-morehead-state-university/
Smells Like Humans
Like spending time with funny friends talking about curious human behavior.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Have you ever wandered into the woods by yourself only to feel like you were being watched? If so, you aren't alone. In this episode, Robin scoured the internet for first person accounts of paranormal experiences in the Southern US wilderness. Expect five true horror stories spanning Appalachia, involving an arsonist ghost, a dopplegänger, a potential cryptid, and more — including the possible return of a weather woman/Lady in White we covered in our Old House Woods episode. Join us as we uncover what may be hiding in the trees.
But first, Zoey has a something spooky on why crossroads are a hotspot for paranormal experiences.
Join our Patreon at patreon.com/hauntedhospitality.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/07/26/frights-in-the-wild/
What if They're Wrong?
The podcast that wants YOU to question everything. If you're into the fringe, then...
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Smells Like Humans
Like spending time with funny friends talking about curious human behavior.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Humane Nature
A bi-weekly show that discusses the good, bad, and ugly of animal tourism around the...
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Robin is still out this week, so Zoey invited guest Brittany onto the podcast. Brittany is an equally southern friend of Robin and Zoey, the third in the trio, and Zoey's other Bridesmaid!
In today's episode, Zoey covers the Patreon requested story of the Yorktown Memorial Hospital (thank you Haley for the recc!) in Yorktown, Texas. This hospital has been shut down and left to decompose since the 90s, had over 2000 deaths since it opened, and was run by nuns who are still seen at the property.
But before we get into the episode, Brittany brought a Something Southern and Spooky! As someone who frequented the SC State Museum, Brittany tells us about ghosts known to haunt it and shares her experience there.
Zoey also does a personal shout out to let you guys (or should she say y'all?) know that she's started streaming on Twitch! Follow her at https://www.twitch.tv/izerge.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/07/19/ep-68-putting-the-hospital-into-haunted-hospitality/
Smells Like Humans
Like spending time with funny friends talking about curious human behavior.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
What if They're Wrong?
The podcast that wants YOU to question everything. If you're into the fringe, then...
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Hello, everyone! Zoey here. If you listen to the first five minutes of the episode, you already know this, but in case you haven't and are looking at the title saying "that isn't southern?" allow me to explain.
For Robin's mental well being, we're not going to share all the details but it boils down to this. Robin got hurt in an accident, and while she's recovering, Zoey is taking the show insert maniacal laughing here. Things are going to be a little different for the next couple of episodes, starting with this one. We're sharing the Patreon Exclusive episode where Robin covers the death of Lizzie Borden's mother and father.
On our Patreon (www.patreon.com/hauntedhospitality), we are free to cover all stories from all around the globe (or maybe even space? ISS, we're coming for you!). So while this is "filler" it's also a great chance for us to show you what you're missing!
Thank you everyone for sticking with us!
Info: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/07/12/ep-67-a-patreon-sneak-peak-the-lizzie-borden-show/
Say that five times fast! Robin did! In today's episode, Zoey brings us to the small town of Bladenboro, NC, population, 1,750. But this small town has a big story. In the year of 1932, the Williams family became the talk of the town when, over a four day span, over 20 mysterious, source-less fires erupted throughout their home.
Zoey goes over the details, or at least those still known almost 100 years later. Then together, Robin and Zoey discuss the internet's best theories on what these fires were and how they started. It wouldn't come to a shock for you to learn that our hosts disagree on if it's a poltergeist or not.
But first, Robin gets witchy and teaches us about familiars, and we take a quiz to find out what familiar we would have. If you want to know yours, head over to this link: https://www.buzzfeed.com/averycorinne/which-animal-familiar-would-you-have-9wimaekpp5
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/07/05/ep-66-the-pyromantic-poltergeist-of-bladenboro-nc/
Sum It Up With The Sumners
KaToya and Damon encourage married millennials to enjoy marriage, one convo at a time.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Marie Laveau — AKA the Vodou Queen of New Orleans — is as much a mystery to us in death as she was in life. Newspaper accounts of the time ricocheted between love and hate, respect and fear. But who was this woman, a descendant of enslaved people, with her thumb on the pulse of Louisiana power?
If anything, Vodou was and is even more controversial than Marie — a misunderstood religion castigated in the press to stoke racist fear. In this episode, we dive into the history and culture of Vodou, and the life of Marie Laveau, one of the religion’s most central figures.
But first, Zoey shares her Something Southern and Something Spooky: Anderson, South Carolina’s crybaby bridge.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/06/28/ep-65-the-queen-of-vodou/
Sum It Up With The Sumners
KaToya and Damon encourage married millennials to enjoy marriage, one convo at a time.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Zoey brings us to San Antonio, Texas to visit the historic San Fernando Cathedral. As the longest standing continuously functioning religious communities in the state of Texas, it has a lot of history. And with that history comes ghosts.
It also helps that there are supposedly people buried in the walls, it holds ashes of Alamo soldiers, and a horse that was buried alive in the town square. With skulls coming out the walls and ghost monks worshiping from beyond the grave, there's quite a bit going on in this Cathedral.
That isn't all we're here to talk about. Zoey gives us a taste of the global La Llorona by telling us about the Hollering Woman Creek just outside of San Antonio.
But first, Robin takes us down memory lane with some questions about the spooky episodes we've done so far!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/06/21/ep-64-holy-ghosts-and-san-antonios-la-llorona/
On Friday, June 13, 1980, Candy Montgomery dropped by her friend Betty Gore's house in Wylie, Texas to ask if Betty's daughter could go see The Empire Strikes Back that night with the Montgomery family. On the surface, it seemed that Candy and Betty were friends. They went to the same church; their children had sleepovers; Candy even threw Betty a surprise baby shower for her second child. But only Candy survived their encounter that morning.
Once the evidence grew overwhelming, Candy admitted to killing Betty. She always maintained it was in self defense, and gave a detailed account of her experience that day to back it up. But as is the case when there's only one survivor, no recordings, and no witnesses — we're left with only one side of the story.
But first, Zoey's Something Southern explores the weirdest official state things.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/06/14/what-well-never-know/
Reppin
Conversations with notable people you THINK you know. Find out what they REALLY represent.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Narcissist Apocalypse
Narcissist Apocalypse is a raw and unfiltered domestic abuse survivor story podcast.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Closer Together
Explore the passions of others as we dive into the topics that set people's soul on fire.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Your Average Witch Podcast
A podcast about witch life, witch stories, and sometimes a little witchcraft.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Secret Grasp Paranormal Podcast
A paranormal podcast about the strangest and most mysterious aspects of our world.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
On August 29th, 1994, the Hodges family died in their Virginia home, their bodies discovered by the fire department called to put out the fire that had been reported by neighbors. However, they had not died fire-related deaths. In fact, only two had been burned at all. Instead, the mother had been strangled, the two daughters had been shot at close range, and it looked like the father had taken his own life.
Police interviewed their family friend, Earl Bramblett, to see if he believed that Blaine Hodges was the type of person to kill his family and then himself. However, Earl showed signs that he knew more than the police had told him. And suddenly, this open and shut Family Annihilator case became something much, much worse.
Zoey walks us through what seems like a simple case on the surface, but it's actually more complex than you could imagine.
But first, Robin brings us to Leicestershire, England and tells the folktale of the Black Annis.
TW: Child death, suicide, pedophilia, sexual assault.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/06/07/ep-62-the-fire-that-caught-a-predator/
In the Old Talbott Tavern's 243 years of existence, it's collected its fair share of famous visitors, legends, and things that go bump in the night. The first ghost stories you'll come across during a quick Google search are spooky for sure, but almost expected in a place like this: the outlaw Jesse James still roaming the halls, the former owner's wife hovering over guests in their bed as a Lady in White. But if you dig a little deeper, the stories get weirder, wilder, and above all: scarier.
Expect shadow figures, rattling doorknobs, and laughing invisible children as Robin and Zoey dive into ghost stories of the oldest building in Kentucky.
But first, Zoey is here with our very first Something Superstitious! She goes over Filipino superstitions before moving into a new house.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/05/31/haunted-boozy-places-pt-3-the-old-talbott-tavern
Are you currently hiding under your bed covers thinking you're being haunted? Well, you're in luck! This episode covers how to tell if you're being haunted (common ghost phenomena), how to scientifically prove you're being haunted, and what to do once you've determined you're being haunted. If that doesn't sound like a great thing, don't worry, we also have explanations at the end of how what you think is a hunting could just be a easily explained issue.
This concludes Haunted Hospitality's Guide to Ghost Hunting and I hope you walked away with all the information you could hope for. If you feel like anything was left out or would like our hosts to cover something else, please write to us at hauntedhospitalitypodcast@gmail.com.
But before we go into the story, Robin joins the theme and explains why someone might enjoy horror movies or scary stories more than others.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/05/24/ep-60b-haunted-hospitalitys-guide-to-ghost-hunting-part-2/
Have you ever sat there and listened to a ghost story around a fire and the story teller says something like it's a matter of fact, and you see everyone else nodding because, duh, everyone knows that, and then you have to play along like you knew that and you can't ask questions and your night is ruined because you feel stupid and you dropped your s'more and no one noticed so now you have to eat the dirty grass marshmallow? We have. And we're here to make sure you never experience that again.
That's right, dear listener, that run on sentence will no longer be in your future. Here is part 1 to Haunted Hospitality's Guide to Ghost Hunting. We're starting with the basics: What is a ghost? What types of ghosts are there?
In next episode, we'll cover more about the actual hauntings, huntings, and theories on disproving ghosts. But first, Robin tells us about the Swedish Ghost Train known as the Silverpilen.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/05/17/ep-60a-haunted-hospitalitys-guide-to-ghost-hunting-part-1/
Four-year-old Bobby Dunbar disappeared during a family trip to Louisiana's Swayze Lake in the August of 1912. Everyone from his family to friends to strangers searched the lake for a week, using dynamite to unsettle the water in case it would bring his body to the surface. When they couldn't find him in the lake, his parents were left wondering what happened — did he drown in the water or was he out there somewhere, potentially in danger?
After eight months of sending out his photo to neighboring states and searching orphanages, the Dunbars got a telegram about a boy in Mississippi who looked just like their son. They weren't sure if it was Bobby when they first saw the boy, but they became certain soon after and took him back home with them. To almost everyone, this seemed like the happy ending to long, awful situation. There was just one loose end: a woman named Julia Anderson from North Carolina said they didn't have Bobby, that they had her son Bruce and she was his mother instead.
But before we get into this episode's main story, Zoey is here with a list of odd laws from every state we cover in this week's Something Southern.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/05/10/the-wrong-child/
How about all three (mountain lion, bear, and goat) in one? Well then, you got yourself an Ozark Howler! Native to the Ozark region in the US of A, the Ozark Howler is described as either a thin bear or a fat mountain lion with horns and thick gray or black fur. The Ozark Howler get's its name from not only its location, but also the indescribable call that haunts those who hear it.
Zoey tells some tales of the Ozark Howler and even goes into a few theories of how the stories started. But regardless of if it exists or not, we all know the photos submitted in 2015 are 100% fake.
Before we get into the story, though, Robin brings us a Something Southernly Spooky. Or should it be Something Spookily Southern? We'll figure it out. Either way, she tells us about the story of Georgia's Werewolf, Miss Emily Isabella Burt.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/05/03/ep-58-lions-and-bears-and-goats-oh-my/
If you Google "southern haunted places" or "most haunted places in the south," you'll probably come across the Myrtles Plantation. We know this from experience. Myrtles Plantation, their spooky photos, and the tale of their most famous ghost, Chloe, come up again and again. So we looked into this a bit more to see what was up.
Prepare for a menagerie of spirits, from the Ghost (?) of Chloe (?) to the Evil Girl Glaring Out the Window to the Haunted Mirror That Could Really Use a Cleaning and more! We take time to dive into Chloe's story, investigating the parts that reflect real history versus the parts that look at history, shrug their shoulders, and carry on. Oh! And how could we forget? There's a lady in white (because of course there is) who wistfully gazes out an upstairs window (because of course she does).
But first, Zoey explores an architectural phenomenon called a coffin window (or a witch's window) in her Something Spooky. AND she has an exciting announcement!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/04/26/a-photo-is-worth-a-thousand-ghosts/
When Hazel Carpenter waved goodbye to her daughter, who was on the train going to college, she felt a burst of love. Virginia was a wonderful and beautiful daughter, and Hazel felt blessed to have her. However, Hazel didn't know that would be the last time she would ever see her daughter again.
Virginia lived a life full of difficulties with an childhood illness that caused a permanent disability. Her father passed when she was in high school, she had to leave college to care for an ailing mother, she called off her wedding three weeks before the date, her life felt like it was spiraling. But she persisted and got her life back on track. She was going to get back to school, become a lab tech, and become the person she wanted to be.
Her first day at college, once she arrived to campus, was the last she ever had. Listen as Zoey tells the tale of how she went missing, the investigation, and theories behind her disappearance.
But first, Robin gives us a brief overview of the infamous Amityville Horror case!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/04/19/ep-56-virginias-first-and-last-day-of-college/
When we dive into the paranormal on this podcast, we explore people's greatest fears. So we'd be remiss if we skipped over one of Robin's greatest fears: mirrors. On the surface, they're really not that scary — just a reflective pane with which to check if you have spinach in your teeth. (You do.) But, what if one day you look in the mirror and see something that, well, shouldn't be there?
That's what we're exploring today! Poogan's Porch in Charleston, South Carolina is known to be haunted by two ghosts: an adorable little doggy named Poogan, and Zoe St. Amand, an elderly woman who appears in the bathroom, often seen in the mirror by women washing their hands. We dive into Zoe's story (and Poogan's too!) before reading firsthand accounts of terrifying mirror stories from Reddit.
But first, Zoey has a Something Southern for us: the Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/04/12/ep-55-zoes-in-the-mirror/
This episode marks the 1 Year Anniversary of Haunted Hospitality, and we have a good spook in store for you.
You've heard of the Wicked Witch of the West. Now it's time for the Weirdest Witch of the South. Known sometimes as the Bell Witch, sometimes as Kate, this spirit haunts Robertson County, Tennessee. The Bell family lived on their farm and for four years, 1817-1821, they were terrorized by slaps, pokes, and weird sounds.
The witch exhibited behaviors not typically seen in a haunting - which was what this was. A haunting. Though she is known as a witch, it really seems like she was an omniscient ghost with the goal of killing the Patriarch of the family.
The farm is still a tourist attraction to this day and definitely something on Zoey's bucket list. Also learn a little about witches in general and find out if Robin and Zoey would be considered Witches!
But first, Robin goes into the history behind every pre-teen girl's slumber party: Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/04/05/ep-54-the-weirdest-witch-of-the-south/
A little before 1 AM on the morning of July 27, 1996, Eric Rudolph dropped his green backpack underneath a bench in Atlanta, Georgia's crowded Olympic Centennial Park, set the bomb's timer for 55 minutes, and walked away. Before morning, two people would be dead and 111 would be injured — and within a week, the security guard who first spotted the bag and saved countless lives would be accused of planting the bomb himself.
In this episode, we cover the Olympic park bombing of 1996, as well as the bombings Eric Rudolph perpetrated until he went into hiding for five years in the North Carolina mountains.
But first, Zoey tells some extremely corny ghost jokes in this week's Something Spooky.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/03/29/the-bomber-in-the-mountains/
Aileen Wuornos was born into a bad life, had a bad childhood, and grew to be a bad adult. The odds were stacked against her, and after living a life of abuse, torture, and petty crime, she kicked it up a level and added murder to her list.
While she was born in Michigan, her killing spree of 7 men took place in Florida between November 1989 and November 1990. She was arrested thanks to the testimony of her girlfriend, Tyria Moore, and some interesting evidence she left behind.
While she had a horrible past, none of that excused the murders that took place. Listen to hear how she was caught, what her story was, and how it ended.
TW: Sexual Assault, Suicide, Incest, child abuse, and Pedophilia.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/03/22/ep-52-doomed-from-the-start-the-life-of-a-female-serial-killer/
When young governess Fannie Lillian Madison checked into her hotel in Richmond, Virginia at 2 AM, she registered under a pseudonym: F.L. Merton. Just 24 hours later, her body was found in the Old Reservoir — and an autopsy revealed she was seven months pregnant. We only know of one person she came to visit in the city, her cousin Thomas Cluverius, who swore up and down that he never saw her when he was in Richmond.
In this episode, we look into the evidence (and lack thereof) against Thomas and examine this 150-year-old mystery with 21st century eyes.
But first, Zoey shares a chilling Something Spooky in the form of a listener's experience spending a night in the haunted Partridge Inn.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/03/15/ep-51-the-body-in-the-reservoir
Can you believe we're 50? Who knew that Robin and Zoey had enough energy in them to make 50 episodes and not miss a single Tuesday. Well, our path is still in the beginning and we're thankful for every single listen.
To celebrate being 50, Robin and Zoey share the mediums - stories that are too long to be a Something Something, too short to be a full episode, but just right amount of interest! Robin tells us about The Brown Mountain Lights, Lydia's Haunted Bridge, and the Face in the Courthouse Window. Since it's Zoey's episode, she brought 6 stories: Bloody Bones, Annie Christmas, Murder Kroger, Eliza Battle, the Talking Eggs, and the Boo Hag.
No Something Something this episode, but our hosts do enjoy a drink called Transfusion by Durty Girl, a cocktail in a can made in Georgia. Not sponsored, but boy would we be happy to be.
Thank you again for 50 amazing episodes!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/03/08/ep-50-a-collection-of-southern-folklore/
If you perform an internet search for the Surrency, Georgia haunting, you'll see tales of red eyes in the darkness, a girl levitating in her bed, and a fire poker out for the kill. The truth isn't quite as dramatic, but it certainly is weird. Prepare for a vanishing pig, slutty potatoes, a speedy clock, teleporting liquor, an old sea captain drinking said teleporting liquor without a second thought, 500 nosy people just trying to get by without Netflix, and brickbats. Brickbats upon brickbats upon brickbats.
Was it a poltergeist? A ghost? We'll never know for sure, but something wild was certainly happening in the Surrency house (as those 500 nosy people would attest).
But first, Zoey dives into the history of Mardi Gras! And we both wish we had thought to make a King Cake to celebrate.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/03/01/the-haunting-of-the-surrency-family
Five southern Zak-Bagans-esque brothers play dominoes with a ghost. Yep. You read that correctly. These are the special guests in this week's episode. Zoey tells us about the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary that started in a horrible way, continued to have a horrible history, and then was shut down. It was investigated by the crew of the TV show, Ghost Asylum; the aforementioned southern men.
This episode is also an honorary mention for the oh-so-special Haunted Boozy Places series. While it is known for being a prison, it is currently home to a distillery, which is home to drinks like "End of the Line Bloody Mary". But mostly, we talk about the terrible, lawless conditions that happened within the prison walls that led to over 100,000 deaths in just over 100 years.
But before we get to that point, Robin walks us through some of the most haunted places in the south, and we're proud to say we've covered some of them.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/02/22/ep-48-haunted-boozy-places-pt-2-5-the-brushy-mountain-state-penitentiary/
Georgia's man-made Lake Lanier is a summer vacation hotspot with an abundance of beaches, trails, and islands — and an inordinate amount of deaths. Theories about the drownings range from practical (murky water + leftover debris at the bottom of the lake) to supernatural (hands of the dead pulling swimmers deeper under the water). The ghostly lore of Lake Lanier is well known, with the Lady of the Lake said to be seen walking along a nearby bridge in a blue dress and without hands.
But if this lake is haunted by spirit, it's certainly also haunted by its past. In 1912, a white woman named Mae Crow was found beaten and left for dead by the Chattahoochee River. Locals blamed a group of four Black people simply because they lived close by, and proceeded to suddenly and violently force all Black people in the community of Oscarville — as well as the rest of Forsyth County — to leave behind their belongings and get out of town. Today, much of Oscarville is under Lake Lanier, and the events of 1912 have undeniably left their mark on the area.
In this episode, we dive into the legends and history of Lake Lanier. But first, Zoey tells us some notable final meals of death row inmates in her Something Spooky.
CW: sexual assault and racial violence.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/02/15/lake-lanier-oscarville-and-the-lady-of-the-lake
That is right, we're back with another cryptid episode. We all know that the Lizard Man ended with two camps you can be in: I believe in the Lizard Man and I (Kind of) believe in the Lizard Man. Will our episode end in a similar way as Zoey tells Robin and listeners about the Fouke Monster of Fouke, Arkansas?
A creature also known as the Boggy Creek Monster or the Swamp Stalker, this southern sasquatch has it's first recorded sighting in 1908 but really took off around 1971 when it attacked a family with the last name of Ford. The creature scared them so badly that they moved out of the house they had just moved into the week before.
But the Fouke Monster isn't just out there scaring people by punching in their windows, he's also a Movie Star with no less than five movies based on him.
So listen to the facts and determine: Do you believe in the Fouke Monster? Zoey will tell you what she thinks.
But first, we have a special segment of Last-ish Words-ish from Robin for our Something Spooky (or maybe a little Silly).
CW: Language
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/02/08/ep-46-orangutan-king-or-fouke-monster/
Medgar Evers was a trailblazing leader in the Civil Rights Movement. As the NAACP's first field secretary in the South, he investigated crimes against Black people all over Mississippi and helped establish the organization's focus on grassroots activism. As Evers became more well known, white supremacists started harassing his family, passing out KKK flyers on his street, and even once firebombed his house. In the early morning of June 12, 1963, Evers was shot outside his home and died shortly after he arrived at the hospital. There was only suspect, Byron De La Beckwith, but it took three trials and over 30 years for him to be convicted.
In this episode, we talk about Medgar Evers's and his wife's lives and activism, the South's Jim Crow laws, the Civil Rights Movement, and the decades-long journey to Beckwith's conviction.
But first, in Zoey's Something Spooky, she dives into the origin of wakes as an important step in the grieving process.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/02/01/the-assassination-of-civil-rights-leader-medgar-evers/
Relationships aren't always healthy and fun. Sometimes, two people who should stay far far away from each other start dating, and it usually ends in tears and misery. However, in this episode, it ends in tragedy.
Shayna Hubers and Ryan Poston had a toxic, unhealthy relationship that was on again, off again. Shayna was obsessive and stalker-ish, and Ryan was abusive and manipulative. However, their relationship didn't end in a bad breakup. It ended with Shayna shooting Ryan six times in what she claimed to be self defense.
In this week's episode, Zoey tells both sides of the story and together, Robin and Zoey try to figure out if Shayna was a woman at the end of her rope who freed herself from her abuser, or if she killed the man she couldn't have in cold blood. Messy.
But first, Robin takes us back to Brenau University from the last installment of the 2021 College-palooza. Robin was able to have a phone interview with a student who actually attended the college and she told her story, which we mentioned in the original episode but did NOT do it justice. Check out our Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/hauntedhospitality) to see the very creepy photo.
CW: Domestic Violence
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/01/25/ep-44-the-very-messy-case-of-shayna-hubers/
Way back in yesteryear, we briefly talked about Robert the Doll in a Something Spooky segment — and if you can't tell, we're back at it again! Much like the famous Annabelle doll, Robert has captured the attention of paranormal enthusiasts for decades. And luckily for us, he resides in the Fort East Martello Museum in Clearwater, Florida, making him a fair game topic for our southern podcast! Take that, Annabelle!
Like any famous haunted doll, Robert has an oft-told origin story. He was given to Robert Eugene (Gene) Otto in the early 1900s, and according to lore, things swiftly took a turn for the worse. Robert's known for switching facial expressions, moving furniture, creepily giggling, and escaping a locked attic to stare at the neighbors as they walk past the house. In this episode, we talk all about Robert's story, his time at the museum, and the supposed curse he places on those who disrespect him. Robin also discusses whether or not she believes haunted dolls are truly paranormal, and goes into a terrifying moment she experienced driving back from watching the movie Annabelle in theaters.
But first, Zoey has a couple Georgia roadside attractions for her Something Southern, including Decatur's Waffle House Museum and Ashburn's World's Largest Peanut.
Ah, Robert the Doll. If memory serves correctly, this is the first topic I've researched for the main story of a paranormal episode that I ended up thinking was not haunted. I knew it had to happen sometime, and to be honest, I was always a little nervous about how that would go.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/01/18/ep-43-a-deep-dive-into-robert-the-doll
Ever been to a plantation and feel like something was just a little bit off? Not sure if its the history of the place, the knowledge of what happened there, or something more on the spooky side? In this episode, Zoey goes over the Ferry Plantation of Virginia Beach and the 11 spirits that are said to reside there.
Included in those 11 spirits is the ghost of Grace Sherwood, better known as the Witch of Pungo, who was posthumously cleared of her magic crimes. She was tried in the building and in the waters near the Ferry Plantation house, and her ghost is seen wandering the feilds.
A lot of spooks with a side helping of serious discussion, and you can say that there is something just a little bit off about the Ferry Plantation.
But before we get into that, Robin and Zoey sample some beignets from Cafe du Monde, LA, sent over from Robin's family. Please note, if you can not handle the sounds of eating, you should probably skip the first 6 or 7 minutes of this episode.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/01/11/ep-42-the-11-ghosts-at-the-ferry-plantation/
If you were anywhere around the internet — or the woods, for that matter — in the late summer and early fall of 2016, you probably remember that clowns became a weirdly big deal. It all started when a group of kids claimed to see clowns behind their apartment complex in Greenville, South Carolina, trying to lead them to an abandoned house in the woods. Seems like an isolated incident, right? But when news of the clowns broke, clown sightings started popping up everywhere.
So, were the forests really teeming with clowns in 2016? The answer is yes, no, and maybe so.
But first, your hosts Robin and Zoey unite for a Something Spooky that's out of this world, literally. Listen for an oddly in-depth analysis of their sun, rising, and moon signs.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2022/01/04/ep-40-the-forest-clowns-of-2016/
Wrapping up our first two-parter and the year of 2021, Zoey brings us back to the LaLaurie Mansion in New Orleans, Louisiana to take a look at what happened after Madame Delphine LaLaurie escaped to France.
Delphine was a terrible woman who tortured and allegedly killed enslaved people on her property, though she never faced justice for it. With a history so terrible, it's no surprise that negative energy remains at the property. Tales of ghosts and demons alike still are whispered on the street as people pass by the mansion, but no one is allowed in.
Except for the cast of "Portals To Hell", a Travel Channel TV show. The hosts were allowed in the property overnight. Zoey shares some information that they found in their paranormal investigation, but you'll have to watch the episode to see it for yourself.
But first, Robin and Zoey come together for a Something Southern. On a twist on the Famously Hot Takes, since it is a cool 70 degree winter, your co-hosts share some Cold Takes. You have to hear what they think about pockets.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/12/28/ep-40b-the-lalaurie-mansion-part-2-the-remnants-of-the-past/
Closing out the end of the year, we have our first two part episode! In this week's, and next week's, episode, Zoey will be telling us about Delphine LaLaurie - a heinous woman who tortured the men and women and children she had enslaved on the property. This week is the true crime portion, and Zoey tells us about the fire that exposed Delphine for who she truly was. The LaLaurie house is is New Orleans, Louisiana.
This week, the history, next week, the hauntings. But first, Robin comes up with yet another southern pop culture quiz for Zoey before she realizes how bad of an idea that is.
TW: Racially motivated cruelty and violence; torture and murder of enslaved people
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/12/21/ep-40a-the-lalaurie-mansion-part-1-delphines-crimes/
The sky and sea are gray. Ocean waves are coming in stronger. The wind is whipping past you as you walk alone down the beach. You begin to see a person in the distance, but their features are vague. As they get closer, all you see are gray clothes and the figure of a man. Before you can say hello, he points to the mainland and disappears. And you know two things to be true: 1) that was, without a doubt, the Gray Man; and 2) you need to get off the island immediately.
We go into the origins of the Gray Man, where he's most seen (Pawleys Island, South Carolina, but there are a couple extra locales!), Gray Man sightings as recent as 2018, and photos and video footage.
But first, Zoey tells us about La Pascualita — a mannequin that might NOT be a mannequin — for her Something Spooky.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/12/14/ep-39-gray-man-no-maam
In what is one of the creepiest Haunted Hospitality episodes, Zoey shares several stories of encounters with Black Eyed Children (aka Black Eyed Kids). With the first well known story happening in Texas, this really seemed like the perfect episode for us, so it is a bit longer. Also, Robin was really looking forward to the episode, so we had to make it a good one.
However, this episode isn't just about the encounters - Zoey gets educational and teaches us about what is known as the Uncanny Valley and delves into what exactly constitutes a Black Eyed Kid encounter and just what they might be.
Our recommendation is that you lock your doors, turn off your lights, put your headphones on, light a candle, then sit back and embrace the creepy shivers you'll get from this episode.
Before we get into the Black Eyed Children, Robin débuts her first Kreature Korner (or perhaps she's put together enough to know it's spelt Creature Corner) where she talks about Banshees, an old Irish tale about women who let you know a loved one has died by screaming at you in the dead of night.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/12/07/ep-38-an-infestation-of-black-eyed-children/
In 1587, England wanted to start a new phase of colonization in North America by establishing their first permanent colony: a group of over 115 people who would have children and live on the continent for the rest of their lives. When they arrived on Roanoke Island — what is now part of North Carolina — conditions were worse than the group expected, and they sent their leader John White back to England for supplies.
What was supposed to be a six-month journey at most turned into three years. When White finally returned to the island, the colonists (including his wife, daughter, and granddaughter) were nowhere to be found. Instead, when wondering the island and the empty settlement, White came across a word carved into a post: CROATOAN.
In this episode, we talk about what CROATOAN means and the wide-ranging theories of what happened to the Roanoke colonists.
But first, Zoey gives Robin a southern geography quiz — once again proving that neither host has ever looked at a map.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/11/30/the-lost-colony-of-roanoke
It's a tale as old as lotteries: someone wins big and ends up in a worse place than where they started. In this episode, Zoey shares the tale of Florida Man Abraham Shakespeare who won the Florida $30 million Jackpot in 2006. Abraham went from irregular laboring jobs to a million dollar house practically overnight, but he also caused a sensation. Everyone knew who he was and exactly how much money he had.
When he went missing in 2009, his family had hopes that he just took his money and bought a boat and was in the Caribbean. But after an investigation by local law enforcement, a more sinister reality came to light.
But before Zoey gets into Abraham's story, Robin shares an equally scary Something Southern and Spooky. We all know dolls are creepy as mess, but in this episode Robin speaks briefly about Robert the Doll.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/11/23/ep-36-the-fate-of-abraham-shakespeare-florida-lottery-winner
The Magnolia Hotel in Seguin, Texas has been everything from a home to a jail, from a rest stop for travelers to a hideaway for a killer. Wilhelm Faust, the convicted killer of twelve year old Emma Voelcker, hid in the hotel as he tried (and failed) to avoid punishment for his crimes. A place with stories like this is bound to be haunted, in more ways than one. We go over first-person accounts, as well as video footage and photographs claiming to feature ghosts and shadow figures.
But first, Zoey continues her Kreature Korner with the Burrunjor!
Don't forget to sign up for our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hauntedhospitality
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/11/16/the-phantoms-of-the-magnolia-hotel
In this week's episode, Zoey talks about the ghosts at the St Augustine lighthouse in St. Augustine, FL. The ghosts include three giggling little girls, a shadow being known as The Man, and a woman who stands on the cat walk, looking down to where her husband died.
But first, Robin put together a very rude quiz for Zoey, filled with un-guessable southern fun facts, resulting in the lowest score ever seen before on Haunted Hospitality.
Don't forget to check out our Patreon at patreon.com/hauntedhospitality!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/11/09/ep-34-the-haunted-st-augustine-lighthouse/
Content warning for murder, infanticide, rape, and alcohol abuse.
We know that Nannie Doss killed four of her five husbands. She admitted it at the age of 49 when she was finally arrested. However, members of her family often grew ill when she came to visit and many people believe she killed up to eleven people.
Before we get into that though, Zoey takes us through the timeline of events in Gabby Petito's case. At the time of recording, authorities had just identified Brian Laundrie's remains. Zoey also shares the names of the nine people found dead in the searches for Petito and Laundrie.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/11/02/nannie-doss-aka-the-giggling-granny/
Thank you for joining me on our very special Halloween Episode.
Things are going to be a bit different on this one, so no spoilers here.
Happy Halloween :)
Please Note: It is not advised to listen while driving. There are a couple instances of loud, sudden sounds.
Site: hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/10/31/a-haunted-halloween-special/
In this week's episode, Robin and Zoey are virtual again and making up for the previous oopsie daisy. Since this episode is coming out the Tuesday before Halloween, Zoey decided to tell us about the man who killed Halloween, also known as the Candy Man. Listen to figure out why a town in Texas didn't go trick-or-treating for two decades and why your parents always checked your Halloween candy for poison or razorblades.
Robin and Zoey also make corrections for past episodes and all is well as they forgive each other.
Robin's Something Spooky was the first iteration of "Robin's Pop-culture Corner" where she tells us about the wild ride that is the show Midnight Mass without giving any spoilers.
Also, an announcement at the end of the very special Halloween episode. The morning of Halloween we will be releasing an extra episode for all to hear, not just our patrons. Please tune in Sunday morning!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/10/26/ep-32-the-man-who-killed-halloween/
A haunted forest by the Chesapeake Bay + an empty house that set itself on fire, put the fire out, then set itself on fire again + tales of buried treasure under a pond called the Old Cow Hole + sassy British soldier ghosts + flying ships + shapeshifting animals + skeletons dressed in armor. 'Nuff said.
But first, Zoey tells us about the evolution of Trick or Treating, from goodwill practice to annual Halloween tradition.
We have a Patreon! You can support the podcast at patreon.com/hauntedhospitality.
Correction: Rereading through my notes post-recording, I realized the skeletons weren't glowing — they're lanterns were glowing! Apologies.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/10/19/the-haunting-of-the-old-house-woods/
Wow this is a big episode! Biggest news is that the Haunted Hospitality Patreon is now live! Give it a visit at www.patreon.com/hauntedhospitality and consider joining our $3 tier. With that monthly subscription, you get 3 extra minisodes right off the bat, plus at least one more on the 13th of every month starting in November. Plus, once you subscribe, your name will be read on the show as a thank you!
If that wasn't exciting enough, this is the first episode where we cover a Haunted Hotel and really give Haunted Hospitality its name. Zoey tells about the wild assortment of ghosts that haunt the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
As Robin's Something Southern, she shares about the Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse, a restaurant where you get to watch various Shakespeare performances, sometimes with a twist. The Playhouse is in Atlanta, GA and a definite recommendation by Robin!
Link to Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/10/12/ep-30-a-treasure-trove-of-ghosts-at-the-crescent-hotel/
William Goebel was already dying from multiple gunshot wounds when he was sworn in as Governor of Kentucky on January 31, 1900. Outside the Capital Hotel, militia prepared for war, faithful voters prayed for good news, and Kentucky's OTHER governor could only hope the backlash wouldn't fall on him.
How did we get here? Political infighting turned violent attacks, maybe-duels, and one man's Hamilton-esque ambition that brought him to the state's highest office — if only for three days.
But first, in Something Southern, Zoey kicks off the start of Spooky Season with the origin of the Jack O' Lantern!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/10/05/ep-29-the-assassination-of-governor-william-goebel/
This week's unsolved mystery takes place in Jefferson County, Alabama. Billy Dye, Robert Dye, and Dan Brasher all disappeared on the same stormy night, March 3, 1956. While no one knows what happens to this day, locals feel like they know the truth. Zoey shares the facts of the case and several theories (including her own) that all center around one idea: the trio defied the code of the land and were extrajudicially punished.
But first, Robin prepares a something Southern/Spooky in the form of a crowd-sourced newly wed game. Robin asks the question and both hosts have to figure out what the other answered. See how well they know each other (and the podcast) in this week's episode!!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/09/28/ep-28-defying-the-code-of-the-land-the-brasher-dye-disappearance
Why did Yazoo City, Mississippi burn down in 1904? Locals say it was because of a witch's curse — and with good reason! According to legend, a sheriff chased the witch into quicksand, where she told him she would burn Yazoo City in twenty years. When she was buried, they placed a chain link fence around her grave to prevent her from completing the curse. But after the fire, the chains were broken. More about the witch, the grave, the fire, and the chain in this Mississippi folklore!
But first, Zoey talks about an island in Beaufort, South Carolina where humans are forbidden to go. Why? You won't guess correctly on the first try. Or the second, or third, or fourth. Maybe the 100th, but then you'd be like, "Whaaat?"
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/09/21/ep-27-the-witch-the-grave-the-fire-and-the-chain-the-witch-of-yazoo/
In Zoey's first True Crime episode after the College-Palooza, she takes us on a wild ride that is the life of Amanda Taylor, otherwise known as the Selfie Killer. A woman who was grieving over her husbands death, Amanda vowed to kill the man she felt was responsible, and then a couple others to experience the thrill.
But before that, Robin shares a Something Southern. She brings us back to St. Simon's Island (home to Mary the Wanderer) and tells us about the current disaster happening there: a capsized cargo ship called Golden Ray has started leaking oil into the ocean.
CW: Suicide
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/09/14/ep-26-the-selfie-killer/
In the summer of 1951, Mary Reeser — a widowed grandmother who lived near her son's family in St. Petersburg, Florida — burned to death in her small apartment. No one knew until the next morning when her landlady tried to deliver a telegram and found Mary's doorknob hot to the touch. It was as if only her body and the chair had caught fire. Nearby newspapers sat unburnt; smoke stains gathered only at the ceiling. Investigators saw no reason why a fire would have started — and it seemed to many that Mary Reeser was a victim of spontaneous human combustion. We explore the theories surrounding her death, and the history of SHC.
In Something Southern, Zoey once again quizzes Robin on real or fake southern towns, and it Doesn't Go Well!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/09/07/ep-25-the-unusual-death-of-mary-reeser/
We are wrapping up the 2021 Haunted College Tour-a-palooza in this 5th part episode.
This week we visit two states! Zoey covers Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida that is haunted by the ghosts of the original owner, his second wife, and his mistress. Robin takes us to Gainesville, Georgia and tells the heartwarming tale of Agnes the Ghost at Brenau University.
But first, Robin attempts to educate listeners on the Elevator Game, a game that promises to take brave (or stupid) believers into an alternate dimension. But don't worry, Zoey comes in and corrects her on some of the more minute details (using ScaryMommy.com as a reference point).
CW: Suicide
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/08/31/ep-24-haunted-college-tour-part-5-flagler-college-and-brenau-university/
Continuing our Haunted College Tour Palooza, we're "visiting" Salem College and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro to tell you all about the ghouls, ghosts, etc etc (you know the drill!) that spend their afterlives haunting unsuspecting students. Prepare for history, local lore, and a recitation of the first stanza of Edgar Allan Poe's "Annabel Lee" — because Robin will use any excuse to bring literature into the equation.
But first, Zoey introduces a new element to Something Spooky: Creature Corner! A demon in Japanese mythology, the Kappa lurks in rivers and waits for humans to pass through. Remember to bow if you see one!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/08/24/ep-23-haunted-college-tour-pt-4-salem-college-and-the-university-of-north-carolina-at-greensboro/
This episode is a two in one deal. Both Robin and Zoey tell the hauntings of two schools in Louisiana. Robin covers the Nicholls State University with it's pop-up Paranormal class and Zoey covers the spooky dorms of Louisiana State University.
But before we get into that, Robin shares her Something Spooky - a book by Shirley Jackson called "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" and a book by Silvia Moreno-Garcia called "Mexican Gothic." She gives both five out of five ghosts!.
Zoey's birthday is coming up, and she opens presents from Robin on air and demands birthday tweets as well (ahem August 19th ahem).
Stick around for the a mini-ghost-adventure Robin takes Zoey on within her own apartment, trying to reach out to the possible specter that lives there.
CW: Suicide. Both brief mentions are preceded by an in-show warning.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/08/17/ep-22-haunted-college-tour-part-3-nicholls-state-university-and-louisiana-state-university/
In this episode's stop on our haunted college tour, we explore the hauntings, history, and urban legends of our alma mater, the University of South Carolina! Learn all about the ghosts of the Horseshoe, Longstreet Theatre, and Columbia Hall—as well as the Third Eye Man, who dresses in silver and allegedly lives in the tunnels beneath the university.
Robin also shares her personal ghost story from UofSC, involving a figure in the window, moving photographs, and a ghostly hand shaking her awake.
But first, for our Something Southern, Zoey makes mint juleps!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/08/10/ep-21-haunted-college-tour-pt-2-the-university-of-south-carolina
Kicking off our month long haunted college tour in the hopes to scare incoming freshmen students, Zoey tells us about the Red Lady (or Ladies) of Huntingdon College, as well as Frank the Ghost and a couple other spirits here and there.
But first, at Robin's request, we revisit our Hot Takes for Something Southern, and this time our Co-hosts don't agree with each other!
Also, listen to Robin tell us about a Podcast she's been fangirling over, Historable. A podcast all about telling history in digestible chunks.
Content Warning: SuicideLink to Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/08/03/ep-20-haunted-college-tour-part-1-huntingdon-college-alabama
In the summer of 1942, the town of Pascagoula, Mississippi (and everyone else) deeply felt the effects of World War II. From population increases to a total shake up of the economy, Pascagoula was going through a period of change—one that got even weirder when a mysterious man began breaking into homes and cutting off locks of human hair. The Phantom Barber struck at least four times during that summer, escalating to violence one night in June when he broke from his usual MO and brutally attacked a sleeping couple.
In this episode, we delve into theories about the Phantom Barber's motive & discuss whether we think the man arrested for the crimes actually committed them.
But first, Zoey tells us about her POSSIBLY HAUNTED APARTMENT!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/07/27/the-phantom-barber-of-pascagoula/
You like what I did there? That pun? In the title? No? It's too far of a stretch? Well too bad, I'm sticking with it.
In this episode Robin tells us about her vacation that turned into Zoey's nightmare when a fun dip in the river made Robin a leech buffet.
Zoey steals Robin's Something Spooky and shares Tree Hugger's article, "6 Ways to Tell if Your House is Haunted".
After that, Zoey shares some stories from the Happiest Place on Earth (Disney please don't sue us, we promise they're all alleged stories). From Tower of Terror, the Haunted Mansion, and the Pirates of the Caribbean ride we hear about multiple ghosts that spend their eternity surrounded by mouse ears and screaming children.
Sources and Corrections: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/07/20/ep-18-disney-world-the-haunted-est-place-on-earth/
What happens at the beginning of most horror movies? A family moves into an idyllic house—then things go bump in the night. In this episode, we discuss the history of Poplar Hill, a North Carolina house first built in the late 18th century, and the hauntings that built up over time. Prepare for disembodied voices, apparitions, shockingly tall ghosts/beings, and the feeling of being watched.
But first, Robin shares a Georgia-specific tidbit of info about her favorite horror TV show, The Haunting of Hill House! Sensing a haunted house theme here?
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/07/13/ep-17-the-haunting-of-poplar-hill/
This episode is an accidental non-southern episode. Unfortunately, Geography is not one of Zoey's strongest subjects and it came as a genuine shock when she learned Kansas was not actually in the south.
But that is okay! We'll make it work and now Zoey has a list of states on her phone so she doesn't make the same mistake again.
For our something Southern (that is also a little spooky) Robin tells us about the UFO Welcome Center in Bowman, SC just one hour from Haunted Hospitality's home base. Robin also reads her favorite review so far.
This episode also features a promo from the podcast Shockingly Wicked! Go give them a listen (after you listen to this episode of course).
The story of BTK is a gruesome and detailed one, however Zoey does her best to keep it PG-13. Dennis Rader is a terrible man who tortured and killed 10 people between 1974 and 1991. He would write to the newspapers with poems and letters where he would go into detail on how he killed his victims.
But when he stopped killing in 1991, everyone assumed that he was either in jail or dead, so the case went cold. But Dennis Rader was caught and jailed in 2004. How was he finally caught? Listen to the episode to find out!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/07/06/ep-16-bind-torture-kill-the-story-of-the-dennis-rader-the-btk-killer/
In the early hours of February 17, 1970, Army doctor Jeffrey R. MacDonald called 911 to report a stabbing in his home in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. When police arrived, they found the brutally murdered bodies of Jeffrey's wife and daughters: Colette, Kimberley, and Kristen. Jeffrey himself was the lone survivor of the attack — with considerably less injuries than the stabbings and blunt force trauma the other victims endured. He claimed that a group of intruders attacked him and killed his family, while one blonde woman watched and said, "Acid is groovy. Kill the pigs!"
It soon became clear that Jeffrey was lying, and investigators grew suspicious. But then they got word of a confession by a person who matched the description of the blonde woman Jeffrey said had been at the scene of the crime. This changed the trajectory of the investigation and led to legal battles still being fought over 50 years after the murders.
In the Something Spooky segment, Zoey talks about a D-list movie she saw on YouTube called The VeliciPastor, which is somehow more ridiculous than it sounds.
We also feature a promo from Twisted and Uncorked.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/06/29/ep-15-the-macdonald-murders-of-fort-bragg
In the first Cryptid episode on Haunted Hospitality, Zoey covers the Lizard Man that belongs to a town just a few hours away from our home base in Columbia, SC. This episode was on our list to cover, but it was also thanks to Glenn's recommendation that we decided to cover it earlier! Thank you Glenn!
Before we get into the content, however, Robin shares her new deck of Tarot cards, talking about how she got them in Asheville and what exactly drew them to her. Zoey then talks about a very normal dream that became creepy very quickly and how her cat, Toes, saved her from a potential possession.
Then, for today's Something Southern, Robin shares a book recommendation. She gives a brief synopsis of Grady Hendrix's novel, "The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires". The book centers on two Southern women who are in a book club together, when things suddenly go south (haha) as they discover a vampire in their midst.
The Lizard Man is a topic Zoey has been very eager to cover, so in this fun episode, she tries to convince Robin that the Lizard Man does indeed exist. Zoey covers first hand reports, shows clips of video interviews, and goes into a wild conspiracy of her own. Listen to the episode to see if Zoey is able to convince Robin to the validity of her tails (hahaha). Do you believe in the Lizard Man?
CW: death of a dog; mention of bloodLink to Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/06/22/ep-14-our-first-cryptid-scs-own-lizard-man/
The Axeman, active in 1918 and 1919, attacked Italian-Americans who owned grocery stores in New Orleans and the surrounding areas. He broke into their houses at night, gaining entry by cutting a panel out of each of their doors and then attacking the sleeper with their own ax.
Though he had a clear MO, his attacks had elements that threw off investigators: 1) he could be active twice within a few days then stop attacking for months, 2) his attacks were quick enough that those sleeping in the next room barely got a look as he left the house, and 3) many (but not all) of his victims survived these brutal assaults, so his motive was hard to pin down.
There’s one major suspect in this case, Joseph Manfre, but, as always, not everything is as it seems. In this episode, Robin and Zoey talk all about what the people of New Orleans were going through at this time, who the Axeman might be, and what was going on with his infamous letter commanding all of New Orleans to play jazz music.
But first, in Something Spooky, Zoey talks about a lotion she found on TikTok that smells like human cadavers and Robin winces through the whole thing.
Jazz music in this episode is "Dm_Improvisation_LooP.mp3" by ValentinSosnitskiy on Freesound and can be found here.
Trigger warning: violence and gore.
Show notes: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/06/15/ep-13-the-axeman-of-new-orleans
In this episode, Zoey tells the story of Savannah, Georgia's Moon River Brewing Company. Riddled with ghosts, and a potential dark entity, the brewing company is one of many haunted buildings in what is considered the most haunted city in America. The ghosts include a town drunk killed by a local doctor (where the doctor faced no consequences), a malicious Lady in White, several children who died in the hotel when it was taken over by a hospital during the yellow fever epidemics, and a shadow figure with a history of violent acts.
Moon River is proud of the ghosts that inhabit their building, and give tours of the basement where the shadow figure is seen. Not only that, but they welcome paranormal investigators with open arms, including the wonderful Zak Baggins. Zoey and Robin watch clips of the Ghost Adventure episode that includes EVPs, ghost orbs, and a potential possession and weigh in on how legit they think the claims are.
Also, at the beginning of the episode, Robin covers Something Spooky - Sleep Paralysis. She shares the two times she has experienced it and gives a more clinical background on why sleep paralysis happens (using WebMD as a source). Reminded by Robin's experiences, Zoey shares a more paranormal explanation of Sleep Paralysis and also shares a story of when she may have been used as a vessel for a spirit to communicate.
This episode also continues the homage to our Podcast Friends, Barks Brews and a Casket for Two, including a promo at the end! To hear their Southern-inspired episode, go here!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/06/08/episode-12-haunted-boozy-places-pt-2-the-moon-river-brewing-company
In King’s Tavern in Natchez, Mississippi, doors open and close on their own, glass breaks, tables vibrate, bare footprints appear on mopped floors, and apparitions will manifest on the stairs or behind you in the mirror.
These hauntings are explained by a story that the first owner’s wife killed his mistress, Madeline, in the early 1800s and hid her body among others in the fireplace. Customers and employees that see Madeline in the tavern say she’s the one behind the hauntings. The only problem is that Madeline never existed.
So who—or what—is behind these hauntings? In addition to the ghost of a young woman, people also see a large man in a top hat who they believe has sinister intentions. Could this be the Hat Man, the evil, shadow-like figure people all across the globe have seen?
No matter what, there’s something sinister there. In this episode, Robin and Zoey take a deep-dive into the lore of the Hat Man and hauntings in general as they try and figure out what’s going on in King’s Tavern.
But first, Robin & Zoey talk about their favorite hiking destinations in Something Southern: Roan Mountain in eastern Tennessee and Harbison State Forest in good ol’ Columbia, South Carolina!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/06/01/episode-11-haunted-boozy-places-pt-1-kings-tavern-the-hat-man/
This week Robin and Zoey discuss the story behind the Origin of the AMBER Alert System.
But first, an exciting announcement! Instead of Something Southern this week, we have the first ever Something Spooky. Robin and Zoey talk about something they would like to cover in a podcast episode, but doesn't necessarily fit into the Haunted Hospitality theme. Luckily, Robin comes up with a beautiful idea off the top of her head, totally random, not prepared in the slightest.
We all know what an AMBER Alert is: a broadcast of information when a child goes missing. But how did it come to be? What are the rules of it? Who was Amber, the girl who started it all? Zoey covers all that, and more, in this episode of Haunted Hospitality.
Link to sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/05/25/episode-10---the-origin-of-the-amber-alert/
In the middle of the night, elderly couple Millie and Winnie Winston found blood scattered on the walls and floors throughout their Atlanta home. When police arrived at the scene, they were hesitant to believe their eyes, but the next day, tests revealed the blood was human and didn’t belong to either of the Winstons. Without much else to go on, the case was closed within six months and labelled unsolved.
There’s much more to this story than meets the eye. In this episode, Robin and Zoey recount all the details that make this case so strange and explore the three possibilities we’re all left with: was the Bleeding House a hoax, a crime, or a paranormal occurrence?
But before that, Robin & Zoey share a very special thank you and discuss famous (and not-so-famous) southern sayings!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/05/18/episode-9-the-mystery-of-the-bleeding-house/
Who was the first Serial Killer? While we may never know that answer, we can tell you who the first recorded American Serial Killers are. Meet Micajah and Wiley Harpe - two brothers (or maybe cousins) born in North Carolina (or Scotland).
They traveled the Southern United States during and after the American Revolutionary War, pillaging, killing, burning things to the ground, and worse. They traveled with their captive 'wives' and the few children they let live. Historians believe that they killed over 50 people with a startling and gruesome MO.
But first, Robin gets a super secret surprise from Zoey on air and you get to hear Robin's genuine reaction. Also, in Something Southern, Robin and Zoey share their Famously Hot Takes! (Get it, the south? It's hot? Get it???)
TW // sexual violenceLink to Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/05/11/the-harpe-brothers/
The traditional story of Lavinia Fisher is one of extremes: that she was the first female serial killer in America, that she was the first woman executed by hanging in America, that she killed men by poisoned tea and a trapdoor before her husband cut up their bodies.
The gory details of Lavinia’s life and her aggressive hauntings in Charleston’s Old City Jail are well known—but are they true? Join Robin and Zoey as they discuss the true story of Lavinia Fisher and dive into sightings and experiences of her ghost.
In Something Southern, Zoey and Robin talk about famed southern celebrities like the Allman brothers and Criminal Minds actor Thomas Gibson.
Some extra fun goodies in this episode: a Charleston-style update on our very first subject, Mary the Wanderer, and a promo for Uncited: An English Lit Podcast!
Link to sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/05/04/episode-7-the-phantom-crimes-of-lavinia-fisher/
Thinking about listening to Haunted Hospitality? Give this a listen to hear what we're all about.
Listen to the mystery that surrounds the tragic death of 7 year old Nina Craigmiles. Doted upon by her family, she passed away at such a young age due to an accident. Her father, one of the richest men in Cleveland, TN spent around $1 million to ensure that her final resting place showed her his love for her.
But the Mausoleum is home to a mystery that can not be explained.
Listen to this episode to find out just what is going on at the little girl's Mausoleum.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/04/27/ninas-mausoleum/
Just before dawn on August 6, 1887, a blood-covered Tom Woolfolk ran out of his father's house to tell neighbors that someone was murdering his family that very minute. Listen as Robin and Zoey explore what happened that fateful night in Macon, Georgia, the life that led up to it, and the infamous events that transpired after.
But before that, Zoey quizzes Robin gameshow-style about weird Southern town names in the latest edition of Something Southern.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/04/20/episode-5-the-woolfolk-family-axe-murders/
Why tell one story when you can tell all the stories in a town? As a request from Zoey's mother (Hi, Becky!), we visit Wichita, TX and hit 6 different locations!
First, a quick mention, is Pinky's cave with it's infamous quote "Stop now or Pinky'll get you!"
Then, we go to Witch's Gate # 1 and explore the story on how the iconic home was burned to the ground.
Third stop is Witch's Gate # 2 to hear about a canoodling couple who met their untimely demise.
Fourth is the burned down Screaming Shelia Bridge where there are some EVPs captured by the Southern Paranormal Association of Texas, thought to be the voice of the woman burned alive on the bridge.
The penultimate story is of the Old Insane Asylum, also known as the "White Sanitarium". For it's day, it was rather advanced but still practiced inhumane therapies such as Electroshock. It also has some EVP's and even a video of some "ghost orbs" (or some bugs) caught by TRIPP Paranormal Research.
Last, but definitely not least, is the story of the Goatman bridge. Both the story that takes place on Wellington Lane in Wichita as well as the one credited to Denton, TX.
This is a slam packed episode! Be sure to listen and review!
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/04/13/wichita-texas/
If you drive fifteen minutes south from Siler City in rural Chatham County, North Carolina, you’ll find a place called the Devil’s Tramping Ground. Pine trees and red oaks line the edges of this clearing in the woods. And grass and low brush stretch out from the trees, stopping only as they reach a barren, 15 foot wide circle, too perfect to be natural. In the center of the circle, the soil is pure black. Only a plant called wiregrass will sometimes grow there, so sparsely you can barely see it.
Locals say that at night, the Devil himself walks along the two-foot wide outer path of the circle, planning how he will enact evil in the world. They say his hooves tramp out any plants that would otherwise grow and that he moves objects that lie in his path outside of the circle.
Ghost on video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg4F3xSvN9c&t=48s
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/03/27/devils-tramping-ground/
The Biltmore Estate is a well known tourist attraction outside of Asheville, NC. It is a grand estate (around 180,000 square feet) built in 1889 as a vacation home for George Vanderbilt II. Over the years, it was turned into a museum and today, it is visited by 1.2 million guests each year. There were two deaths and three births within the main house itself, and even more deaths in the greater area.
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/03/27/the-biltmore-estate/
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Welcome to the first episode of Haunted Hospitality!
The legend of Mary the Wanderer pervades St. Simon's Island, Georgia. Locals report seeing the ghost of a woman in a white dress holding her lantern high and searching in death for the man she loved in life. But who was she beyond the scope of the legend? What brought her to the island in the first place? And why does she haunt the McKinnon airport?
Sources: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/03/27/mary-the-wanderer/
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