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Episode Summary About A Halloween Paranormal Experience

It’s common to feel alone in this world, especially when we’re going through periods of stress. But, if we get a little heads up that someone is watching us–someone who’s probably dead–is that comforting, or frightening?

Today, Diana relays a story of something that reached out to her in a way she couldn’t ignore. Have you ever had something like this happen to you? Listen and find out, today, on Homespun Haints.

Eastern State Penitentiary

We had such a fabulous evening at ESP! Not only did we get to tour a haunted jail, at times being nearly alone in very dark, crumbling cell block corridors, but we got to do so while also enjoying 5 well-assembled haunted house attractions. The haunted houses were set up within the cellblocks themselves. Do you understand the implications of this combination? A (fake) haunted house within a (real) haunted prison? The meta-scares were phenomenal.

On the downside, the prison grounds were probably too crowded with tourists and Halloween revelers to experience any real paranormal activity. We’ll have to go back some time when the grounds are less crowded, and see if we can feel anything significant. As it stands, the main thing we felt was entertained. Halloween Nights at ESP was a can’t-miss experience, paranormal or otherwise! Stay tuned for our review of their Hospital Wing Flashlight Ghost Tour, coming soon.

Healing Crystals

Here are the stones that make up Diana’s slightly paranormal Initiate Healthy Success bracelet, and what the crystal shop handout had to say about their meaning.

Chrysoprase: balances all life energies, Aids joyfulness, boosts business and success, alleviates fears and heart blockages.
Jade: self-reliance, improves life circumstances, activates connections to Divine, prosperity, abundance, luck, unconditional love, ancestor support.
Serpentine: Aids spiritual growth and understanding, boosts all healings, brings earth devic contact, general wellness.

She purchased the bracelet from one of her favorite crystal shops, called Crystal Waters Gallery in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, high up in the Ozarks. Check out their website or swing by if you’re ever on vacation there, and go buy yerself somethin’ nice. They won’t complain if you’re there for 45 minutes trying on every bracelet in the shop. Ask me how I know. 😉

Seeing Auras

Becky says Diana’s aura is yellow-green today. Ella the cat’s is blue. Becky explains her ability to see people’s auras as part of her synesthesia. But do inanimate objects have auras? Diana thinks she can sometimes see something that might be an aura around some items and people, using the method described in The Celestine Prophecy.

But the golden aura Diana saw around her bracelet, what was that all about? When she saw the glow, she immediately interpreted it as a supernatural occurrence, rather than a visual phenomenon. And, when she received the subsequent message, it was so clear that she couldn’t ignore it. But was it a paranormal experience; a real ancestral message coming through right after Halloween, while the veil is thinnest? Or was it a knee-jerk reaction to a negative thought, based on the habit she’s been building using the bracelet as a reminder? In either case, that must mean the bracelet is serving its intended purpose.

Ancestor Communication

Our culture isn’t really that focused on direct ancestor worship, here in the Southern United States. Many of us participate in rituals designed to honor our deceased ancestors. Some of us try to contact them through mediums or seances. It seems rare, however, for us to casually discuss direct supernatural messages we believe are from our ancestors. Why do you think that is? If you have a story about a message from a deceased ancestor, you should apply to tell it on the show, and you could be the next guest on Homespun Haints. Wouldn’t that be a spooky day?!

The post Diana’s Post Halloween Paranormal Experience appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Listen to Diana tell the story here:

Episode Summary: The Mystery of the Hex House of Tulsa, OK

Becky and Diana are always talking about how their last businesses failed, and that’s why they’ve tied all their hopes and dreams to Homespun Haints. But were their unlucky businesses doomed due to supernatural influence? After all, you’ve heard the story of the ghosts that infested Becky’s gallery (yet never bothered the fudge-dealers next door).

Today, Diana shares the story of how she came to find out–far too late–that the parking lot across the street from her first business location hides a sinister secret. She also tells the confounding history thereof.

About the Guest: Diana

It’s The Diana, silly! Diana co-hosts the very podcast that you’re currently reading about. She also wrote the notes you’re reading right now. She’s aware she sounds like Elmo, using the third person, but doesn’t care. She’d refer to you in the third person too, if she knew your name and/or pronouns.

What is the Tulsa hex house case? (Spoilers)

In 1944, police investigated the home of 45 year old Carolann Smith, on the suspicion she had fraudulently obtained extra wartime ration booklets for fictitious family members from Lee Elementary School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The jig was up when the students inadvertently narced on Smith, tattling to their teacher Alice that the “daughter” listed for 1 of the ration books was actually a dog. A dog who had been missing ever since the children witnessed Smith burying a small casket in the backyard.

Upon searching the house, police discovered plenty of evidence of excessive luxury, but no solid proof of fraud. They also discovered strange books and handwritten notes about magnetism, witchcraft, and mind control. But none of this could’ve prepared them for what they found in the cold, dark basement of the house: 2 unrelated young women, Nell Willetta Horner and Virginia Evans.

The questioning of the women only led to more questions. The two honestly seemed to believe that there was nothing wrong with their circumstances, and that Smith was leading them into a better life. A life where they were allowed no contact with their families, used false names, and perjured themselves by giving false testimony against a neighbor. Where they slept on orange crates in a barren basement, without heat or even comfortable blankets.

Why did Horner and Evans stay with Smith?

Isn’t that the age-old question? They left the house to go to work, so they weren’t being physically held captive. They testified that Smith even beat and starved them, but justified her actions as a spiritual purification practice, citing Scriptures in a way that must have made irrefutable sense to Evans and Horner.

So you’re probably suspecting that Carolann Smith, the owner of the hex house, was burned at the stake for practicing witchcraft in a Tulsa version of a classic American witch-hunt, eh?

Wrong.

She plead guilty only to falsely obtaining the ration books and mail fraud (she convinced Evans’ father to send her money to pay for a nurse for his “mentally ill” daughter). She was also found guilty of subordination (for coercing the women to commit perjury). All told, Smith served a year in prison. Apparently, coerced servitude and mystical mind control just wasn’t a “crime” she could be charged with.

The hex house itself apparently stood for a long time, and was a popular site for Halloween antics until being razed and paved into a parking lot, leaving a rather boring monument to this very puzzling legacy.

Where in Tulsa was the original hex house?

If you’re hoping to visit the house in this story, you’re out of luck. The house came down in the mid 1970’s. But you can visit the parking lot that covers what was once the basement where the women under Smith’s spell once slept.

It’s located at 10 E 21st St, in Tulsa, OK, 74114. At the time of this writing, if you pull it up on Google street view, you’ll notice IT IS CURRENTLY FOR SALE. Someone with too much time and money please please please buy this and attempt to excavate the basement. I’d imagine it’s full of concrete, but…what if it’s not?

What does Tulsa’s hex house have to do with the 4th of July?

Every year for decades, the main 4th of July fireworks display takes place at the river dividing Downtown Tulsa and West Tulsa. Because the festival draws so many spectators, parking near the river is at a premium. The parking lot at the former location of the hex house fills up quickly on the afternoon of the Fourth, with the cars of Tulsa residents who were willing to brave the intense heat hours early to avoid a long walk and/or public transit. Diana suspects that none of the patriotic party-goers have any clue they’re parking over a sinister secret.

But if they did, they’d have a spooky day.

The post The Cursed Parking Lot at Tulsa Freedom Fest appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Listen to this episode here:

Episode Summary: Diana’s Basement Ghost

The house Diana grew up in was built in the 1920’s, during Tulsa’s heyday. Her family lived in the house when she was born, and still does. At the beginning of 2020, Diana moved back into the same house, to help make repairs and spruce it up for her mom while her mom enjoys the retiree RV life for a bit.

If you recall, this was right about the time Becky and Diana started producing the very podcast you’re currently reading about. And as Becky always says, the more we talk about ghosts, the more ghosts seem to manifest for us. What was a vague childhood memory of weird feelings and dreams about the basement of this house became a whole new ballgame once we started obsessing over ghost stories here.

Episode Promo

Today’s podcast promo comes from Twisted and Uncorked.

Homespun Haints listeners can visit ectogasm.net and use code HAINTS to save 10% off every order of $20 or more. Help support our podcast. Thank you!

Episode Show Notes

About the Guest

It’s Diana! You know, our co-host. Yes, that Diana. Longtime listeners know it’s a Homespun Haints tradition to tell a story about one of our very own personal paranormal experiences every 10 episodes or so. Happy Decaversary!

FAQ

How old is the house?

The house was built in 1929-1930. Diana’s family has owned it since the mid 1970’s.

Has anyone died in the house?

No, there’s no record of anyone dying in the house. Nor are there any family or public records we’ve been able to locate referencing anyone meeting the description of the people Diana dreamt about.

Was the house built on an ancient burial ground?

Quite possibly. The surrounding land has some traumatic history, even recently. Much of Tulsa, and therefore probably this house, is actually located on Muscogee (Creek) reservation lands, which were settled by the Muscogee (Creek) and Cherokee people who were forced to relocate to the area in the 1830’s. The government broke their agreement with this sovereign nation to make Oklahoma into a state in 1907. About a decade before the house was built, nearly an entire neighborhood of African American families were massacred just a few miles north of the house. We are still to this day discovering and excavating the victims’ unmarked graves.

But “ancient”? Maybe that holds water, too. For thousands of years before Europeans invaded the area in the 1500’s, native peoples did inhabit this area. The Wichita and the Caddo presence in the area can be traced back into prehistory, and the Osage and Apachean-speaking people likely stayed or passed thorough the land that is now called Tulsa. The nomadic Clovis and Folsom cultures were hunting in the area 10,000-12,000 years ago. Archaeological evidence implies that people have lived on or passed over these lands for 20,000 to 30,000 years. And on and on through the ages, people lived, and therefore likely died, all around this area. That’s quite a lot of time for bodies to accumulate.

Have you opened the secret passageway yet?

We’re just waiting for Becky to visit Tulsa. Since she’s so excited to see what’s in the secret passageway, Diana can’t in good conscience open it without her present.

When will Becky be visiting this house?

Soon, hainted loves! We will open the secret passageway for the first time in decades on Sept 24, 2023. Wanna watch? Click here for your ticket to the live stream event! We’re gonna do some ghost hunting up in this basement.

When do we get to see this basement?

Here you go:

Who else has corroborated any of this basement ghost story?

• Emily Davis, psychic medium, mentioned seeing a motherly presence in Diana’s home right after we finished recording her interview. Where did she see the vision? Her view was of the wall that’s on the other side of the basement stairs in the photo above.
• April the Psychic Housewife felt something present during her interview.
• Annie Larson, psychic medium, detected something during her interview.
• Our guest Amanda had a dream about Diana’s basement that was eerily similar to Diana’s own most recent basement ghost dream.
• Diana’s mom’s friend’s toddler communicated with something through the floor grate that he identified as a famous anthropomorphic mouse.

What is hantavirus?

Hantavirus is a very rare virus that causes severe, life-threatening lung and kidney disease. This virus is transmitted by 4 types of rodents that live in the US: the cotton rat, rice rat, deer mouse, and white-footed mouse. We probably don’t need to worry about it much, as only about 800 cases were reported nationwide in the 26 years between 1993 and 2019. Only 8 of these reported cases were in Oklahoma. Also, any rodents sealed inside the secret passage would’ve likely died half a century ago and long since become inert tiny skeletons. How cute.

Thank you for listening to our show!

We love sharing our weird, spooky lives with you, hainted loves. Past decaversaries have included stories about a haunted art gallery, Becky’s haunted childhood, Becky’s haunted children, a haunted ski lodge, a haunted archaeology dig, Becky’s childhood “imaginary” frenemy, and Diana falling off the potty into a portal in her allegedly haunted bathroom. What do you think, how many paranormal experiences can Becky and Diana have before Episode 80? You’ll find out soon enough! Until next time, have a spooky day!

The post Finally, Diana’s Haunted Basement Ghost Story! appeared first on Homespun Haints.