Honey, We Have a Ghost

Welcome to Homespun Haints, a podcast about paranormal mysteries! Today, we hear from repeat guest Matthew Plotner, who has been living in a haunted house for so long that he’s started taking the hauntings in stride. His wife, however, is just now starting to believe. So…what’s new?

Episode Show Notes

Episode Summary

How do you really convince those around you that you’ve seen a ghost? You’re convinced of course, because the ghost has already convinced you. But some people need a little more…nudging.  What’s been happening since the last time we interviewed Matthew that his wife, children, and all three of his cats now believe in the haunting of their house?

About the guest: Matthew Plotner

Matthew Plotner is the host of That Anger Management Crap podcast, which he started after running his own state-certified FVIP and anger management class. Be sure to check out Matthew’s YouTube channel, Fringe Toast, which is a video podcast about hauntings and other paranormal mysteries.

Before you listen to this episode, listen the first time we spoke with Matthew to get the backstory. That would be Episode 28: The Dead Man Who Cries, which some have told is is one of our best paranormal podcast episodes.

Giving drugs to spiders=f*cked-up webs

Starting in the late 1940’s, researchers somewhat accidentally started experimenting with giving drugs to spiders. Out of all the drugs, the one that messed the spiders up worst was caffeine. As Becky mentioned, here’s the funny video of what happens when you dose spiders with drugs.

Does coffee cause cognitive decline? Do antihistamines? As in most things, it seems the dose makes the poison. The Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging found that “cognitively normal older individuals who never or rarely consumed coffee and those who increased their coffee consumption habits had a higher risk of developing mild cognitive impairment”. Perhaps too little coffee is as much of a risk factor as too much?

In fact, other studies have shown that caffeine consumption can reduce the damage caused by beta-amyloid. These are the proteins that cause cognitive impairment in Alzheimer’s patients. A cup of coffee a day seems to be the ideal target to avoid mild cognitive impairment. Unfortunately, Becky and Diana both struggle with drinking only one cup of coffee per day. Less so since they’ve invested in larger coffee cups.

Do entities manifest more when you talk about them?

Since we last spoke, Matthew’s house has become a sort of Grand Central Station for ghosts. Could it be the new paranormal mysteries podcast he is now co-hosting–and recording from home–Fringe Toast?

This is a subject that has come up multiple times on our show. Becky also believes the heightened activity she’s been experiencing has to do with recording Homespun Haints in her home. But this increase in paranormal activity always seems to happen to people who are talking about ghosts they’ve already encountered, not just talking about ghosts in general.

According to medium Jay Lane, “If you’ve had a previous ghostly encounter, an experience that left you fearful, ghosts sense that and they seek it out. People that have been afraid of ghosts, or have had a terrible experience, continue to be taunted by ghosts because they’re not taking a stand.”

She also says ghosts are more interested in people they know can sense them. When we talk about ghosts we’ve seen before, do we pique the interest of ghosts that are just passing by? Billions of souls have died on this planet; chances are good that a ghost would always be passing by. Next time you’re regaling friends with stories of just how hauntable you are…read the room. You never know if the ghosts you’re talking about are talking about you, too.

Chaos Haunted House

Matthew did a paranormal investigation at the Chaos Haunted House in Carrollton, GA. This was a haunted attraction that’s since shut down for safety. The dilapidated building was once a midpoint for sex trafficking, so the real negative energy in the location must’ve really amped up the fear factor for the unwitting emapths who found themselves inside it.

To be serious for a moment, let’s quickly acknowledge that sex trafficking isn’t just a scary story from the past; it still destroys lives every day. Most people don’t realize how many of their fellow humans fall prey to sex trafficking after just one mistake, or through a chance encounter that could happen to anyone. It is happening in your city, perhaps in your neighborhood.

But you don’t need to be a vigilante superhero to make a difference. Just one hour from now, you could be ready to recognize and help prevent the trafficking of innocent children in your hometown. Diana did this easy free training course from Operation Underground Railroad; so can you.

Until next time, have a spooky day!