Sometimes, There’s Just Ghosts

Today on the show, meet the mesmerizing Hannah Harvey, a childhood friend of Becky’s who is lucky enough to do spooky storytelling as her profession! Hannah and Becky grew up together in Kingsport, Tennessee. If we’re being honest, those spooky tales Hannah told Becky during adolescence were a big inspiration for Homespun Haints.

The H Files

It’s baaaaa-aaaaack! The H Files is a limited-run miniseries we do every so often to remind us that, just because someone isn’t personally haunted, doesn’t mean they don’t have a chilling story to tell, and the voice to give it life. This time around, we have storytellers from varied backgrounds, sharing memories and moments of their families, childhood, and the families and children that surround them. These tales are like the sweet cream in the bitter coffee of our darker regular episodes. Enjoy!

This particular mini-series began on April 19th, 2021, and will run every other Monday until May 31st. If you’ve always wanted to be a guest on our show, but don’t have a personal paranormal story, the H-Files is your chance to shine as a storyteller by re-telling a second-hand story! Please reach out to us to submit your story, or contact us in our Facebook Group or through Instagram.

Ectogasm discount

Looking to purchase some artsy and spooky enamel pins and masks, and support this podcast in the process? Check out the wares at ectogasm.net, and use code HAINTS to save 10% off every order of $35 or more.

Episode Show Notes

Where Becky grew up in East Tennessee, spooky ghost stories were a topic of conversation as popular as the weather. So naturally, the family history passed down to Hannah from the same region contained some spectral appearances. But Hannah feels that there’s a duality to every ghost story—the same spooky story that gives one person chills might give great comfort to someone else. Why judge? Let’s just enjoy the story together, in our own ways. Because sometimes…there’s just ghosts.

About Dr. Hannah Harvey

Hannah Harvey is a delightful, professional storyteller, folklorist, and occasional professor living in Kingsport, Tennessee. To learn more about Hannah and find upcoming performances, visit her site at covestory.com. You can also check out her storytelling courses at The Great Courses and The Great Courses Plus, and check out her latest Audible course on holiday traditions here.

References made by this Spooky Storyteller

Much like Diana, Hannah happens to live with some very old clocks in her haunted family homestead. Why is there so much magic in an antique clock? Is it just because we are amazed how a machine that has no purpose but to mark the passage of time can itself withstand the passage of time shockingly well?

Where on earth did the term “tootsie-wootsie” come from? Diana’s mom used to call her that as well.

Hannah mentions The Barter Theater in Abingdon, VA, a very haunted Tri-State theater, where they apparently started a trend called “ham for Hamlet,” which we won’t define here so as to keep the mystery alive.

In her time, Hannah’s great aunt Alberta was one of the lucky blue babies that made it. Nowadays, many more are lucky, thanks to the brilliance of one Tennessee man who was never recognized in his own time.

Until next time, have a spooky day!