Listen now!

Episode Summary: Is every hotel haunted?

Imagine, if you will, checking into a hotel for a business trip. Your coworkers are in a different, newer section of the building, but you seem to be in a section full of oddly-dressed partiers who seem oblivious to the no smoking rules and the absence of a pool. As you continue toward your room, you begin to realize that those people circling around you are ghosts. And they’re hanging out in the hallways because something far worse is lurking in your room.

Let’s talk to our repeat guest, Frantz, about his experiences in haunted hotels, today, on Homespun Haints.

About the Guest: Frantz

You heard him before on the episode I Am Talking to this Motherf*ing Ghost, but oh my, does he have more stories to tell. Frantz may be retired as a medium, but, as he says, he’ll never be free of ghosts until there’s a spirit witness protection program. Because it seems like everywhere he goes, the entities know he can see them, and they all want a turn at his attention.

Haunted Hotels Across America

We’ve recently come to the conclusion that most hotels are haunted. Or at least more likely to be than houses. Liminal spaces, and all that jazz. Here are some of our past episodes in which we discuss haunted hotels.

• The Drum Circle for Haunted Brothels
• Three Frisky Dead Johns On A Boat
• The Building Full of Cowboy Ghosts
• Lucumí and the Mango Tree
• Farting in a Museum and Alien Cunnilingus
• Get Out, Satan!
• Meeting the Ghosts at the Read House in Chattanooga
• Filipino Folklore: Manananggal, Engkanto, and Duwende, Oh My!
• A Christmas Ghost Story
• Charlotte is Spookier than You Thought.
• There’s more than pine martens in these here walls.
• Ghost Hunting in the English Countryside
• The Afterlife’s a Trapper Keeper
• When Children Go Ghost Hunting

Hotel Ghost Tours

We’ve also written up reviews of several haunted hotel ghost tours we’ve taken across America. Yes, we are the kind of people who get haunted on purpose. Are you? Here are our reviews of the top haunted hotel ghost tours we’ve taken.

• Fairmont Hotel Ghost Tour Review, Deadwood, SD
• Visiting The Overlook, errr, The Stanley Hotel
• The Crescent Hotel Ghost Tour Review, Eureka Springs, Arkansas
• The Haunted Read House in Chattanooga

From the holy to the spicy, and everything in between, Frantz has a hotel haunting experience for all seasons. We’re pretty sure this won’t be the last time we hear his true ghost stories on our show. After all, Ghost Witness Protection doesn’t seem like a forthcoming program in this economy.

Have you stayed at any haunted hotels lately? Apply now to tell your story on Homespun Haints, and let’s have a spooky day!

The post You Gotta Find the Head B*tch Ghost appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Listen to this episode now:

Episode Summary: the Ghosts of Santa Monica and Real Vampires of Romania

During our recent trip to California, Amber and Diana took the Santa Monica Pier ghost tour. And the tour guide was none other than today’s guest, Mihaela! She shares with us a little of the history of the city and where you can get the best view of its otherworldly residents. She also gives us some insight into the real vampires from her hometown in Romania. Settle in for some sunny and sinister ghost stories.

Haunted History of Santa Monica

Pearl of the Pacific. Jewel of Sunset Bay. And home to many, many ghosts. Groups of crows gather around the cannons in Palisades Park to carry supernatural messages to the spirits of the soldiers that haunt there.

Spirits from a car crash haunt boldly in broad daylight under the Arizona Avenue Pedestrian Bridge, seen here in the background on the right.

About the Guest: Mihaela Roe

Mihaela Roe is a ghost tour guide in the blissful oceanside city of Santa Monica, California. If you’d like to take the tour that Diana and Amber took with Mihaela, it’s the US Ghost Adventures Santa Monica Pier Ghost Tour. She’s also a retired professor. But, as she says, one never truly retires from being a professor. She currently teaches Romanian and Latin language classes through Strommen. You can sign up for a Latin or Romanian language class with Mihaela here.

Saint Monica, The Patron Saint of Santa Monica, California

The patron saint of widows, alcoholics, victims of abuse and adultery, and mothers facing family difficulties is also the patron saint of this city by the sea. Before Saint Monica was a saint, she was a real woman, born in 333 AD North Africa. In this episode, Mihaela shares a little bit of Santa Monica’s inspiring story, but she reviews even more details during the live ghost tour of the pier.

And if you want to be a patron as well, why, we make it much easier than it was in the 4th century! Nowadays, all you have to do is head over to Patreon.com/homespunhaints. Even the lowest tier membership comes with free admission to our big basement secret passage reveal livestream on September 24th, 2023.

Premonitions in Dreams

Mihaela had a vivid dream about her long lost colleague losing a pregnancy at the exact time that was really happening in a distant land. Then, her own dead relatives kept telling her what to do in her dreams. In one recurring dream, her father’s spirit wouldn’t leave her alone about moving to America. When she realized that her dream about her colleague’s pregnancy was a real-time premonition of an actual event, that lent weight to her deceased father’s argument.

Mihaela speculates that her paranormal sensory experiences, including these premonitions of death, might be due to her Romanian DNA.

Are There Real Vampires in Romania?

Mihaela says that the spirits haunting the Santa Monica Pier are nonconfrontational (as long as you don’t take their jewelry). But some of the spirits in her hometown in Romania might not be so friendly. She explains that the line between the living world and the “other world” is traditionally very thin in Romania. And that many people there have had actual experiences with real Romanian vampires.

Far from the sexy, immortal monsters we associate with the word, real, traditional Romanian vampires are the restless spirits of real people who, during life, engaged in evil deeds and dark sorcery. These vampiric spirits, still in league with dark forces of the underworld, maintain the habit of doing harm to other people, even after death.

Many Eastern European vampire stories we’ve heard have more in common with ghost stories than the story of Dracula. At the northern reaches of Eastern Europe, vampires are way worse than their fictional American counterparts. The Polish strzyga is a particularly terrifying monster. But on the east coast of the region, vampires are less monstrous, and more just…well, annoying and sad.

Do Real Vampires Drink Blood?

In Romanian tradition, vampires don’t necessarily drink blood. Nor can they create other vampires this way. In Romanian folklore, someone can become a vampire if that person did something despicable in life, and died never having had the chance or the inspiration to atone and confess. In other words, Romanian vampires are similar to your classic restless haints. A vampire demonstrates it’s presence via sudden spikes in misfortune or illness after the death of a local wicked person.

Modern Vampire Hunting and Vanquishing

If you get the chance to visit Romania, you can leave your wooden stakes and garlic at home. Sure, small remote areas across the globe all have their quirky traditions and superstitions, some of which likely inspired Stoker to pen the rules which would become canon to the Western concept of vampire-vanquishing. But modern Romanian rituals to help real vampires rest in peace more commonly involve an exorcism by a priest, and basically nothing else from the Hollywood vampire-fighting repertoire. Except maybe a cross. Nowadays, Romanian vampire rituals focus instead on helping the tormented spirit to break the cycle of harm and attain God’s forgiveness.

I’ll Eat Your Skin to Gain Your Beauty

Did glue used to be made out of bulls or horses? What about gelatin? What about fancy tea? There are likely several benefits to consuming collagen (or gelatin, but definitely not glue). But they probably aren’t the benefits that you’d intuit.

It is sadly not true that eating collagen will result in that collagen becoming big pouty duck lips. It is true that dietary and supplemental collagen contains the 4 amino acids that your body needs to produce collagen: glycine, proline, lysine and hydroxyproline. But so do many animal products (and some vegetarian foods, too). The consumed collagen is digested down into its parts; amino acids. Your body then uses dietary vitamin C, zinc, copper, and manganese to reassemble these 4 amino acids BACK into collagen within the body, if your body deems it appropriate to do so in the moment.

A tall, refreshing glass of iced meat

Some “collagen” supplements contain all 8 of these building blocks, and thus might result in more collagen production in the body…maybe, if the diet is otherwise deficient in these building blocks. And that might have an effect on how you look…maybe, if you are young and healthy enough to do this whole process efficiently. Collagen supplements without these additional nutrients and trace minerals, well, you might as well slap a “supports healthy, beautiful skin, hair, nails, and joints” label on every single package of meat at the grocery store.

That’s right; hydrolyzed collagen protein is basically pure liquid meat. Oh, don’t go making that face. You eat broth and gelatin, don’t you?

Romanian Vampire Folklore and The Haunted Santa Monica Pier

What a twofer! This really was only a very small part of the history of Santa Monica that we heard on the ghost tour we took with Mihaela. If you take a ghost tour of the Santa Monica Pier, let us know what you think. If you think you witnessed a haunting, submit your ghost story to be invited as a guest on a future episode of Homespun Haints. And if you find Arcadia’s ghostly jewelry on the ground by the cannons in Palisades Park, don’t take it! Or you’ll risk having a spooky day!

The post The Westernmost Haunting on Route 66 appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Episode Summary: Chased by a Half-Body Apparition and Spied on by a Pervert Ghost

A house doesn’t have to be old to be haunted. Sometimes, the most inexplicable hauntings happen in the strangest places. Like your front yard. Or your television set.

Our guest today has terrifying stories of some of the strangest ghosts we’ve ever heard of. Do you have a theory for who these ghosts are, and where they came from? Listen to Katharine’s stories, today on Homespun Haints.

About the Guest: Katharine

Once upon a time, Katharine of Livermore, CA, made an innocent comment on one of our Patreon posts. Next thing you know, she’s on the show! Will you be next? If something paranormal, supernatural, or completely unexplainable has happened to you, why not tell your story on our next episode?

Katharine was a Kreepy kid (with a capital K). She didn’t hesitate to ask her parents if someone had died in their new house as soon as she’d she set foot on the property. The only way she could escape a long rash of haunted homes was to move in next door to a funeral home and 2 cemeteries. Oddly, that worked.

Thank you for telling us your stories, Katharine! Hopefully you can find a peaceful place to live soon. Or at least get a good deal on your next haunted apartment. And thank you for being out patron and helping to support our show!

Another half-body apparition

Some of our guests see apparitions. Apparitions are basically ghostly figures made visible, but not necessarily audible, touchable, or smellable. But some of our guests see an apparition that is only part of the full person they would expect to see. We’ve gathered that the industry term for that is a half-body apparition.

Harken back to the half-body apparitions in some of our best paranormal podcast episodes: green foot, Mr. Boots, and Daryl Marston’s story.

What is a half-body apparition?

It feels hard to define a half-body apparition. For example, if you see the ghost of a person who, in life, had no legs, and the ghost appears accordingly…that would be a full-body apparition, right? The best way we can think of it would be an apparition that’s obviously not all there. Perhaps it results from ghosts not having enough energy to truly manifest.

Another thing we never thought to wonder before we started collecting people’s true ghost stories for this podcast is, which half? You’d imagine any ghost bothering to create a half-body apparition would be manifesting the important parts. You’d expect a face for showing identity and expressions, and for communication. Hands would be another good body part to manifest if you’re a lazy ghost; good for communicating, gesturing, and potentially manipulating things, if you’re a poltergeist.

And a half-body apparition cut vertically down the center of the body, well, that’s just illogical. Plus, if you saw only the left half of a human, you’d probably just assume the other half was in shadow, or on the other side of a door frame. So you might not even think of the apparition as half-body.

And yet, about half the time, a half-body apparition seems to be of a body part that’s, well, a little less logical. Why do you think a ghost would choose to manifest as a pair of legs, or just a foot? Kinda makes it seem like it might not be a choice. Maybe they got stuck in their necropants?

Ghost in the machine

Katharine’s grandpa’s old cathode tube TV seems to be haunted, specifically by her grandpa. It turns off and on by itself. Whereas we know Grandpa hitchhiked in on this TV because her family actually sees an apparition of her grandpa wandering around a house they didn’t move into until after his death.

But in most cases, bizarre paranormal experiences related to advanced technology have nothing to do with the supernatural. Technology is just glitchy by nature. In the beginning of this episode, Becky details how being married to an IT skeptic has ruined the magic of supernatural synchronicities related to tech for her.

Market rate? For this haunted-ass apartment?!

2 bd/1 ba in Central Valley; Lots of ghosts, but hey, free laundry!

Becky thinks putting up with a ghost should come with some subsidized rent. Especially if those pervy ghosts tend to peep in on your showers. But we suppose that, for some people, having a haunting in their apartment might be an added amenity. If you were applying for a rental home that you found out was haunted, would you expect a discount, or would you bid above asking? I suppose it depends on if you want to have a spooky day!

The post The Legs Don’t Have Eyes appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Episode Summary

Would you frequent a luxury resort if you knew that 20,000 bodies rested under its manicured lawn? Would you stay in a town where everything is named after cannibals? If you think this sounds perfectly fine, then you’ll fit right in with the stories our guest has to share.

Courtney has been collecting stories about the stranger aspects of San Francisco and northern California nd she’s encountered some famous ghosts along the way. Snuggle in for some bizarre history and ghost stories, where the bodies keep piling up.

AI-generated transcript of this episode available upon request.

About the Guest: Courtney Minick

Courtney Minick is a storyteller based in San Francisco. She focuses on tales of California Gothic – uncovering the ghosts, urban legends, and buried stories that haunt the Bay Area. By her own admission, she is a storyteller because she just can’t keep a story to herself…especially when it involves corpses in awkward situations.

You can read her written work at www.hereliesastory.com, her blog/saga about the famous ghosts of San Francisco and beyond that is, in her words, part therapy, part campfire, part podcast, and part ghost tour. Keep up with new posts by following her on Instagram @here_lies_a_story. 

Episode Show Notes about The Ghosts and Corpses In and Under San Francisco

Fortunately, Courtney is a fabulous and engaging writer, so we’ll refer you to her blog Here Lies A Story for the full scoop on the topics she discussed on this episode.

Mary Ellen Pleasant, Mother of Civil Rights and one of San Francisco’s most famous ghosts

Courtney has written a seven part saga about entrepreneur, abolitionist, and millionaire Mary Ellen Pleasant, which you can find here. What do you think was really going on between her and the Widow Bell? Did she really meet Marie Laveau? Where did she keep her millions? But most importantly, why haven’t we learned all about this incredible historical figure before now?

Whose corpse is under this woman’s porch?

Edith Howard Cook was 2-years-old when she died of marasmus in 1876. Her well-preserved remains (graphic actual photo here) were found in a windowed Victorian Fisk Casket under a porch in 2016. The discovery started a year-long labor of care and respect to identify the little girl and find a local relative.

The home where she was found was built over the old Odd Fellows Cemetery, which had been moved about a century prior. Before discovering the casket, the homeowner would hear ghostly children’s footsteps in her home. But those phantom pitter-patters stopped after the girl was relocated. Coincidence?

Famous Haunted Places around San Francisco Mentioned in this Episode

• Beltane Ranch in Sonoma, CA, once Mary Ellen Pleasant’s home and current vineyard.
• Bell Mansion at Bush St and Octavia St in SF, CA, by Mary Ellen Pleasant Park.
• University of San Francisco Dorms built over an old cemetery in the Lone Mountain Neighborhood, where Edith Cook was disinterred.
• Finally, Lincoln Park Golf Course, which was built atop the old City Cemetery.

Ghost Stories from San Francisco

Storytelling confers immortality. Thank goodness for indie internet blog writers like Courtney who immortalize these stories so that future generations can connect with history in a fun, spooky way.

Seen a ghost? Submit your story to be featured on the next episode of Homespun Haints! Or, let us know on our Facebook group at facebook.com/groups/homespunhaints, so we can have a spooky day together!

The post The Bodies Under San Francisco appeared first on Homespun Haints.

History of the Winchester Mystery House

Following her husband’s death in 1881, Sarah Pardee Winchester left New Haven, CT, and moved to San Jose, CA. She purchased an eight-room farmhouse, which grew into the Winchester Mystery House. 8 rooms was nowhere near enough for Sarah, and she continuously renovatec it up until her death. Allegedly, Sarah built the home to appease spirits, specifically of people whom a Winchester rifle had killed. Sarah’s father-in-law formed the Winchester Repeating Arms company in 1866. Her husband inherited the company 4 months before his death from tuberculosis, leaving Sarah a wealthy widow with some incredibly unfortunate karma.

The Haunting of the Winchester Mystery House

Legendary magician Harry Houdini stopped by the Winchester Estate during his 1923-1924 tour. He wanted to disprove Spritiualism by debunking the lore that surrounded the recently-deceased Sarah Winchester’s massive, mysterious mansion. His visit elicited more questions than answers. New since Diana’s visit, there is now a Houdini-inspired escape room on the Estate: Houdini‘s Spirited Escape! We hope we can review it for you soon.

Since Houdini’s visit, subsequent investigations of the Winchester Mystery House read like a list of who’s who in the paranormal world, including Zak Bagans from Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures, renowned psychic Sylvia Browne, and famous medium James Van Praagh.

Some sources make the wild claim that the Winchester House is “Certified as Haunted by the US Department of Commerce.” This tale probably originated from a brochure aimed at promoting foreign travel to the US. The US Travel Service, part of the Department of Commerce, published it abroad in the late 1960s. Called ‘Who’s Whooooo‘, the brochure gave details of several allegedly haunted locations in the US, including the Winchester House.

Less officially, both visitors and employees have encountered some ghostly sightings. Per the Winchester Mystery House’s website, “a number of employees—and a few visitors—claim to have crossed paths with ‘Clyde,’ a mustached man sometimes seen pushing a wheelbarrow in the basement, or trying to repair the fireplace in the Ballroom.” Guests have said “We really like the actor who was ‘repairing’ the ballroom fireplace, wearing white overalls and a Victorian boater hat!” To which the staff reply “huh? We didn’t hire an actor.” You might feel Clyde tug on your pants or shirt as you’re winding through the tour.

Some of the tour guides refuse to use the 3rd floor corridors after dark, as they have heard footsteps or a voice calling their name, even when they are completely alone.

The Mysterious Construction of the Winchester Mansion

The Winchester Mystery House® is an architectural wonder and historic landmark in San Jose, CA. It was once the personal residence of Sarah Lockwood Pardee Winchester, the widow of William Wirt Winchester and heiress to a large portion of the Winchester® Repeating Arms fortune.

From 1886 to 1922, construction seemingly never ceased. The original modest farmhouse grew into the world’s most unusual and sprawling mansion, which currently, at 24,000 square feet, has:

• 10,000 windows
• 2,000 doors
• 160 rooms
• 52 skylights
• 47 stairways and fireplaces
• 17 chimneys
• 13 bathrooms
• 6 kitchens

The Winchester House is Still, Literally, A Mystery

What Sarah Winchester left behind is still a mystery. Before she passed away, rumors circulated that a wealthy and eccentric woman was building a mystereous, sprawling estate. Did a psychic tell her to build it? Was she haunted by the ghosts of those felled by the “Gun that Won the West”? Did she want construction to ever finish? Built at a price tag of $5 million in 1923 ($71 million today), there had to be a good reason for Sarah’s contruction fever. But none of the living can say with absolute certainty what those reasons are.

A speculative view into one theory was produced into a major motion picture in 2018. Titled simply Winchester, the movie starring Helen Mirrin shows what might have motivated the widow: a spectacular haunting. In the film, set in 1906, Mrs. Winchester’s niece and nephew come to visit, only to live out a horror story. At the same time, the Winchester Repeating Rifle Company board commission a disgraced psychiatrist to declare the widow mentally unfit. The board will use the declaration to relieve her of her controlling financial interests. The movie was a classic ghost story period piece. It contained nothing too shocking or at all gory. You’ll probably enjoy it even if you normally don’t enjoy horror films. Just prepare to jump a few times. 

Visit the Winchester Mystery House

With all of the immersive views of the actual house, it is shocking to learn that ALL scenes and footage shot at the actual mansion wrapped up after just 72 hours of filming! In fact, mainly only the outdoor scenes were actually filmed on-site, meaning…

Taking the Tour of the Winchester Mystery House

Taking the tour may be your only way of seeing inside the mansion. This is because tourists may not take photos inside the house. On the tour, Diana learned that at least 1 bit of the film was undeniably true. The 1906 Great San Francisco Earthquake did cause part of the house to crack literally in two. It also destroyed most of the 4th floor, and a 7-story observation tower. One of these rooms was never repaired nor torn down. The strange bifurcation caused by the quake over a century ago was disorientingly fun to observe on the tour.

Diana did both tours in 2018. This included the normal mansion tour, clocking in at just over an hour, and 110 of the 160 rooms. Most of the rooms on the classic tour are museum-esque. There is ample free time to read placards and admire artifacts. You’ll get to see many of the parts of the mansion featured in the film, like Sarah’s seance room, the staircase to the ceiling, the earthquake damage, and Sarah’s bedroom. The 8-room farmhouse Mrs. Winchester originally purchased is a fascinating part of the tour because of its relative tininess. It was mind-boggling to see the appliances, plumbing, and other luxuries available to the insanely wealthy at the turn of the 18th century. Most ordinary folks wouldn’t even realize these things existed for decades to come.

What’s this…ANOTHER Tour?

110 may sound like a lot of rooms (although at its most prodigious, the house had about 500 rooms!). But we all know that, if you want to witness the paranormal part, you’ve gotta go beyond what’s normal. So, after a quick break, Diana donned the required hard hat and lined up for another hour + tour. This second tour, the Explore More Tour, is a pretty new offering. It is considered an add-on, so make sure you take the other tour first to gain your historical orientation.

The vibe of the Explore More Tour was completely different. It was obvious this was the tour the paranormal enthusiasts were really here for. The tour guide definitely played that up. Every description rings with tragedy, sadness, or outright ghosts, both from the lore and from modern staff and tourist experiences. Diana got to visit areas that were unfinished, dilapidated, and under construction (thus the hard hats). This tour also ventured into the creepy cellar, where there miiiiiiight have been a light staged to flicker out just as we passed by for effect (at least, Diana hopes it was staged). Her favorite part was the Witch’s Cap, a tower spire which creates a perfect echo while standing in its center. It was a spooky, attic room that simply felt haunted.

The Winchester House Halloween Tour

EVERY haunted place should have a special Halloween event. The Winchester Mystery House has recently realized this universal truth, and added a seasonal haunted attraction to their lineup! This new special event, All Hallows’ Eve, is offered on select nights from Sep 10, 2021 to Oct 31, 2021. This year, All Hallows’ Eve features the Lost In The House Tour, an indoor theatrical paranormal investigative adventure! Scaredy cats can stay behind to take the family-friendly Jack O’ Lantern Trail through the Victorian gardens and watch the light show.

Tickets

Prices for each tour at the time of this writing run $41.99 per adult, $19.99 for kids 5-12, and $34.99 for seniors over 65, military, and EMT/firefighters. But, by taking both tours back-to-back, the second tour was only $23. Kids under 6 aren’t allowed on the Explore More Tour, because of the inherent safety issues of these unfinished rooms. Diana purchased tour tickets in the gift shop right before the tour, where she also played this exciting fortune-telling arcade game:

Accessibility of the Winchester House

From Diana’s experience, the Winchester Mansion is not hospitable to those who use a wheelchair or have difficulty with stairs. Keep in mind it was all built before 1922, by a woman who was pretty petite. Strangely, Mrs. Winchester suffered from debilitating arthritis, and so some of the later additions to the house feature random half-height stairs. If you happen to be a petite person with knee problems, you’ll have to let us know if these actually provide any sort of increased accessibility. For tallish Diana, the oddly short-yet-long winding staircases felt more difficult to descend, rather than less. There are 3 elevators on the Winchester property, but with the winding, sprawling nature of the house, these won’t take you to every location on the tour.

If you want to explore the grounds, there is still plenty to see, and the outdoor areas are very accessible. Also, free! In the courtyard just past the cafe, you’ll find the main restrooms. You’ll also do a double-take at this gem of a play shooting gallery to rival those of even famous theme parks, but with a haunting x Winchester Repeating Rifles theme:

Diana spent quite a lot of time wandering through the beautiful flower gardens, admiring the gingerbread design. She tried to take photos of her favorite rooms from the outside, since there were no photo ops inside. In vain, as it turns out; it’s pretty impossible to tell what’s going on inside from the outside. With one notable exception: the Door to Nowhere dangles open, clearly labeled, for a Kodak moment you can risk if you aren’t afraid of some clumsy tourist falling out of it onto you.

Visiting the Winchester Mystery House at Halloween

The following photos were submitted by Kristen Stafford, producer of the Halloween Art and Travel podcast. Thank you, Kristen!

What do you think motivated Sarah Pardee Winchester to construct the still mysterious Winchester House?

Until next time, have a spooky day!

By Stephanie Long and Diana Doty

The post Winchester Mystery House Ghost Tour Review appeared first on Homespun Haints.