Watch this video episode of Homespun Haints Podcast on YouTube:

Or listen here now:

About the Guest: Ashley Stinnett from WV

Ashely, is an actor, author, and promoter. He’s also an Appalachian from West Virginia, which means he likely grew up hearing ghost stories, much like Becky. But he wasn’t even grown up yet when he learned that ghosts can hurt you. His family home in West Virginia was overcome by an unseen, evil force.

When he’s not acting, Ashely works with US Ghost Adventures, prolific provider of some of the best ghost tours in the country. Even working in the ghost storytelling business wasn’t quite enough to satisfy his curiosity. So he recently wrote a whole book of Haunted Tales from Appalachia: Ghosts, Spirits and Other Strange Happenings From the Hills and Hollows.

Check out Ashley’s latest film credits on IMDB.

Here are some of the best tours that US Ghost Adventures offers:

Ashley recommended some of his favorite places to take a ghost tour on this episode. Have you visited any of these?

• The Villisca Ax Murder House
• The Lizzie Borden House
• Trans Allegheny Asylum
• Colonial Williamsburg, VA
• Wilmington, NC
• Gettysburg, PA
• Deadwood, SD
• Phoenix, AZ
• Neptune Ghosts in Virginia Beach
• Manhattan, NY
• Charleston, WV

And this best-of list just barely scratches the surface of all the ghost tours they offer. For the best deal, book your tour directly through U.S. Ghost Adventures at usghostadventures.com.

Can Ghosts Hurt You?

Well, Hainted Loves, are you convinced ghosts can hurt you after this episode? Have you had a paranormal experience that corroborates (or contradicts) this? Leave a comment on the YouTube video to let us know your opinion! Or, if you’re brave enough, submit your story for a chance to be a guest on a future episode of Homespun Haints!

Speaking of opinions, Becky needs your advice! Her neighbors have teamed up on her giant lawn skeleton—which is in no way a Halloween decoration—and she needs strength to carry on the fight. Head over to Patreon to take the survey: What should Becky do with Dana Skelly? You don’t have to be a paid member to vote, so we can all vote whether or not Becky’s neighbors will continue to have a spooky day!

The post We Don’t Know How You’re Not Dead appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Of course, you can still access the audio-only version through your podcast player, should that be your preference.

Today’s guest got fast-tracked to an interview because she’s a Patron of HH! If you feel moved to help support our show, you too can become a patron at patreon.com/homespunhaints. There are even benefits at the free level of membership.

Haunted Bars in The French Quarter

Jennifer told us a story about her experience at The Morgue Bar in the French Quarter. The Morgue Bar used to be located at 626 St. Philip Street in New Orleans. The building served as a morgue during the yellow fever epidemic in the 1850s. In the Summer of 1853, nearly 1/5th of the city’s population suffered and died from the disease.

The Morgue Bar

The same building later became The Morgue Bar & Lounge. Not just named for it’s previous use, the bar was wholly morgue-themed, embracing its macabre history, as New Orleans tends to do. During its operation as a bar, patrons and staff often reported strange occurrences, such as refrigerators mysteriously unplugging, and toilets overflowing for no apparent reason.

The Crow Bar

The Morgue Bar was unfortunately more of a tourist spot than a fun place to hang out, although it wasn’t not fun, being surrounded by spooky stuff. At the time, Diana preferred another goth bar just a couple blocks over on Decatur, called The Crow Bar. That one was an actual goth club. A legacy goth club, dating back to the 1980’s. A New Orleans legend, in its own right. So goth, in fact, that when they offered free admission on Halloween night to patrons in costume, Diana’s costume (as the character Death from The Sandman comic) was deemed too pedestrian, so she had to pay a cover.

In an interesting bit of French Quarter goth trivia, the former owner of The Morgue actually purchased The Crow Bar, and renamed it The Whirling Dervish.

Haunted Nottoway Plantation

Today’s guest also had a personal story from when she visited Nottoway Plantation in her youth. Nottoway, the largest antebellum plantation mansion in the South, is notably haunted. The most well-known ghost is called Miss Josephine. She’s suspected to be one of the daughters of the original owner, John Randolph. In life, Josephine never married, and remained at Nottoway until her death. Visitors and staff hear her footsteps, and catch glimpses of a figure in a white gown.

The Louisiana plantation is so haunted, it was featured on Discovery Channel’s “Ghost Lab.” Fortunately, most of the property’s spirits are friendly. Well, friendly to adults, at least. Perhaps young Jennifer’s admittedly bratty behavior was just enough to send Miss Josephine over the edge.

Ghost Tour in Galveston, TX

After leaving insanely haunted New Orleans to end up in slightly less haunted Texas, for the first time Jennifer didn’t feel constantly haunted. She must’ve missed that feeling, as she sought out local ghostly tourism opportunities. She wanted to share that Eddy Specter’s Ghost Tour really is the #1 haunted afterdark activity in Galveston, TX. Find out more at facebook.com/eddyspecter.

Video Episodes of Homespun Haints

Well Hainted Loves, what did you think of Homespun Haints’ first video episode? Did you enjoy getting to watch our shocked reactions to our guest’s spooky Southern ghost stories? We’d love if you left us a comment on YouTube about what you thought. While you’re there, you might want to subscribe to our YouTube channel, because we are working behind the scenes to bring you more video content soon. Stay tuned, and hopefully you’re already having a spooky day!

The post Ghosts Taught Me to Cuss in French appeared first on Homespun Haints.

The southernmost city in the United States is known for its party scene, its colorful culture, and, of course, its ghosts. Key West, once named the Bone Cay by the Spaniards, is one of the top four most haunted cities in the U.S., for good reason.

And Nixie, a guide for some of the island’s most ghostly attractions, is about to tell you all about it. Of course, Nixie has had her own encounters with the island’s deceased residents. Because if you die on this island, apparently you stay on the island. Forever. Grab yourself a slice of frozen, chocolate-dipped key lime pie on a stick and get ready to be scared, today, on Homespun Haints.

Get this episode on YouTube:

Or listen to this episode right here:

About the Guest: Nixie Buettner, Key West Ghost Tour Guide

Becky met Nixie on the Ghosts and Gravestones tour in Key West, Florida. The ghost tour guide originally hails from Austin, TX, where she was constantly spotting orbs. She used to be a skeptic of the paranormal, until she started to work at the haunted Shipwreck Museum, where she caught a spirit called Daddy Long Legs on video.

Becky loved the trolley tour she took with Nixie earlier in 2024. If you’re in Key West looking for a great ghost tour, check out the Ghosts and Gravestones, and ask for her specifically using the stage name “Daphne” . Besides being a ghost tour guide, Nixie is also an artist and entrepreneur. Check out Nixie’s artwork on Instagram @saga_of_eggs.

Becky and Diana’s Recipe for Lazy Haint Spray

Gaaranteed to at least temporarily remove lazy haints out from under your sofa. Feel free to make your own from the following recipe, so that your home also smells fresh and unhainted!

Lazy Haint Spritz Spray Recipe:

• 8 tsp filtered water
• 2 tsp of rubbing alcohol, witch hazel in alcohol, or bathtub gin.
• 10 drops of lemon essential oil
• 10 drops of sage essential oil
• 10 drops of rosemary essential oil

Add all ingredients to a glass spritz bottle or a very well cleaned out old empty Windex bottle.

Make it a cute label so you don’t get it confused with your Spirit Summoning Spray. That would be a hot mess.

Is the Key West Shipwreck Museum Haunted?

In today’s episode, Nixie tells us her first-hand account of this haunted stop on her Key West ghost tour. Wreckers, or individuals who would dive down to Salvage materials from shipwrecks, were once a major part of the island’s economy.

Interestingly, the basement of the museum is now a theater, used to be a morgue. An underground, below sea level morgue. Eew.

The Cursed Silver Bar

Nixie saw the same full-body apparition walk by the supposedly cursed silver bar at the Key West Shipwreck Museum at least twice. They actually caught a spirit called Daddy Long Legs on video.

The bar has a complex and sordid reputation on the island. Becky wouldn’t even touch the silver bar. Nixie HAS TO touch the bar for her job, so she tells herself, “it’s only dangerous when wet.”

The museum credits the bar with being associated with 6 distinct shipwrecks. Causation aside, what are the odds that all 6 ships that attempted to transport this bar of silver over the water ended up at the bottom of the sea? The only way the bar eventually made it safely to shore was to drag it underwater all the way to land.

Where other people die, we profit! -not the island’s official slogan

How to Safely Take Photos of Robert the Doll Without Getting Cursed

Nixie tells us that, if you want to take a picture Robert the Doll, you must follow three rules, or else you may be cursed.

Robert’s Rules of Disorder

• Politely greet Robert the Doll,
• Respectfully ask permission to take his photo,
• Politely say goodbye to Robert. A “thank you” wouldn’t hurt, either.

This whole practice might seem like hyped-up superstition, as most tourists blithely ignore all posted signage to do as they please. Surely the hundreds of tourists who visit the museum every year and take Robert the Doll’s photograph without following all three rules aren’t all cursed, are they?

Well, it would seem that yes, they are. People who don’t follow the rules while taking aphotograph of Robert the Doll end up regretting it later, when the bad luck starts. So many people, in fact, that the museum receives over 1000 apology letters annually. A staff member apparently has to read the apology letter to Robert the Doll aloud to invoke his forgiveness. Then, the staff posts the letters on a wall right next to him. We’re not sure if this is primarily for the doll’s ego, or to serve as a warning to tourists of the future.

The Real Life Corpse Bride Who is NOT Resting in Key West Cemetery

In the Early 1900’s, a young woman on the brink of death went for an xray. The xray tech, Carl Tanzler, saw her, and immediately recognized her as the woman he’d been literally dreaming about. For the rest of her short life, he begged for her hand in marriage, even though both of them were already married. Countless times, Elena turned him down….remember that, it’ll be important later.

Because tuberculosis was basically a death sentence at the time, nobody was shocked when the sick young woman passed away…but at least one person was thrilled with the development. Tanzler (the xray tech, going by Count von Cosel) had more money than Elena’s family, so he built a mausoleum in Key West Cemetery for Elena’s final resting place. Or, semi-final resting place, at least. The “count” visited the mausoleum as often as he could, until one night, he heard her voice, singing a familiar melody. Tanzler saw this as Elena asking him to release her spirit.

Taking the ghostly request way too literally, Tanzler committed what he believed to be the ultimate act of love: graverobbing. Talk about a grand gesture. That’s right—he got over her resisting his advances in life, and decided that he would free her spirit from it’s earthly prison by bringing her corpse home with him to be his bride. Because dead girls can’t say “no”.

There’s much more to this creepy true crime story. Listen to today’s interview with Key West ghost tour guide Nixie for the most sensational details. Or, you can read the official biography of Count von Cosel, for more historical context. For the inner workings of his mind, you can even read Tanzler’s own diary of his misadventures with Elena.

Will you join us for our next book club meetup?

Our next meetup (on Zoom) will be the second Monday in November. All you need to do to be in the Homespun Haints book club is join our Patreon (at any level, including free), read the book of the month, show up at the Zoom from the link on Patreon, and contribute to the conversation without being an asshole. Most of our books are an off-the-beaten-path horror by women or minority authors. Right now we’re all reading Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas. Won’t you join us, for a spooky day?

The post How To Take Photos of Robert the Doll Without Being Cursed appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Episode Summary: Paranormal Investigations and Ghost Tours in Downtown Eureka Springs, Arkansas

Being a professional paranormal investigator and ghost tour guide sounds like an amazing job. But does it come with risks? Because this is the type of job where you don’t want to take your work home with you, no matter how badly your ghostly coworkers want to follow you back to your house.

Today, we speak with lead paranormal investigator Diane, who works at both the Crescent Hotel and Basin Park Hotel in Eureka Springs. She’s had quite a few encounters both on the clock and off the clock, and she’s sharing them all. Let’s hear about some haunted hotels and ghost tours in Arkansas, today, on Homespun Haints.

About the Guest: Diane Newcomb

Diane has been leading paranormal investigations at the Basin Park Hotel and Crescent Hotel for years. The pair make up the most haunted hotels in the state of Arkasas. She’s such a fixture on these sites that the ghosts follow her home looking for her when she tries to take time off.

Diane has curated a vast collection of photos sent to her mostly by tourists who caught ghosts on camera during her tours at the two historical buildings. She was a fabulous guide for the Basin Park Paranormal Investigation, energetically sharing fascinating history and people’s true ghost stories despite the late hour. We loved her style from the moment the haunted doll greeted us at the beginning of the investigation. We were honored and thrilled when she offered to come on our show and tell some of the real ghost horror stories she’s collected over the years!

How to protect yourself from ghosts while paranormal investigating

This is a topic many a paranormal investigator has felt was very important to bring up in past interviews. We have heard many suggestions for how to protect against spirits. The methods Diane uses include a “spirit dump,” which we’re picturing is like a colonic for dead things that may be clinging on to you or intend to follow you home.

She also taught us an Aramaic prayer for protection, which one of her investigation participants shared with her. We found the following Hebrew version at keysofenoch.org: “KODOISH, KODOISH, KODOISH ADONAI ’TSEBAYOTH.” That website translates this prayer as “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of Hosts.”

Sorry, but your princess is in a different castle

Interestingly, many of the ghosts at the Basin Park Hotel are actually not haunting the Basin Park Hotel, per se. Diane could not confirm if anyone has ever died on the property in its current iteration. Before the hotel was built, a lodging called the Perry House stood at the same spot. Well, where the South Wing now stands, at least.

Diane tells us that newspapers at the time reported that nobody perished in the fire that claimed the Perry House. But that doesn’t mean there were never any deaths on the property. If any cowboy died on the land to become one of the numerous ghosts photographed at the modern day Basin Park, they would’ve likely done so during the Perry House years. Given the time frame during which the Perry House stood, it’s a lot more likely someone would’ve died due to accident, injury, illness, or even murder, while lodging at the Perry House. The many ghosts that tourists spot walking through walls on the current property supports this idea. There’s a theory that, when an earthbound spirit walks through a wall, it is actually passing through an area that would’ve been open and passable during that person’s lifetime.

Healing water and snake oil

Diane tells us that the healing waters that founded the town were actually well-known to the Osage people. Once word spread that the waters could cause miraculous cures for multiple illnesses, the wagon stop became a tent settlement, which then became a town. Given the rampant risks and shenanigans that happened in 19th century medicine, it’s no surprise that sick people were willing to travel by wagon up a windy mountain road just to drink some spring water. Hell, people still do things like that.

At the height of the expansion of Eureka Springs, enter the Crescent Hotel. At a budget several times what a normal luxury hotel would cost, in a remote, mountainous area almost impassable in the icy dead of winter, the Crescent almost instantly became somewhat of a money pit. It repeatedly changed hands, and even purposes, attempting to stay in the black. The most notorious part of its history was the late 1930’s. The so-called Baker Hospital subsumed the entire hotel. This serial fraudster claimed a 100% cure rate for all forms of cancer. It wasn’t until very recently that the details of the ruse finally came to light.

In 2019, excavation on an undeveloped part of the hotel grounds lead to the discovery of both creepy human remains and the actual formulas used in their cancer treatment. Diane tells us that the first people to really get their hands on these new discoveries were the guys from Ghost Adventures. Analyzing the nearly century-old samples, local university labs found ingredients like corn silk, red clover, ground watermelon seeds, and carbolic acid.

Diana has a little more to tell about it in her recent stay at the Basin Park Hotel:

Wait, those supplements sound familiar.

Now, to be fair, as only a couple generations removed from Appalachian granny witches, we do appreciate the value of nutraceuticals. According to clevelandclinic.org, corn silk is a traditional supplement that is traditionally used for fighting inflammation. (Fun aside: corn silks are basically corn fallopian tubes! We like how corn just lets it all hang out like that.) Red clover does actually contain isoflavones that can influence sex hormones, according to nccih.nih.gov, an imbalance of which could be related to several forms of cancer. The lycopene in watermelon seeds also influences sex hormones and is currently undergoing research as a potential anti-cancer agent.

So these “cures” weren’t just a random assortment of cheap local plants that someone blended together haphazardly. The continued modern use and study of these exact nutraceuticals supports the notion that, at some point, someone at the Baker Hospital potentially had good intentions and a justifiable plan to enact those intentions.

You know what we appreciate more, though? That it’s illegal nowadays to claim that a natural supplement has a 100% cure rate for cancer. Bizarrely, some of the nutraceutical components Baker used may have potentially been sincerely beneficial in some ways. The accompanying lies, secrecy, and abuse were pretty obviously not.

It’s not a tumor

And all the strange human tissue samples in bottles labelled as “tumors”? Those were apparently displayed in the lobby of the hospital. They served as “proof” to visitors that the tumors were no longer inside the patients. But all treatments performed at the hospital were non-surgical (thank you, Jesus). So…how’d those tumors get out, then? Perhaps they were remnants from psychic surgery? If so, what do you think they really were?

Would you stay in a hotel room haunted by a cowboy ghost?

If you’re planning a trip to Eureka Springs, and you want to stay in a haunted room at the Basin Park hotel, book in advance! None of the most haunted rooms were available when Diana visited. Diane suggests you stay in one of the following.

• Room 310, which the spirit of famous cowboy John Chisum haunts, and where kids see ghosts of other children.
• Room 308, where guests report getting touched.
• Room 408, where the notorious “ladies’ man ghost” may give you a sexy foot massage.
• Rooms 514 and 515, where more nameless cowboy ghosts apparently share a suite.
• The entire third floor, where the paranormal investigators get constant readings on their EMF meters all over. The rampant beeping and flashing suggests the presence of some sort of fear cage on the floor. A fear cage may cause false positives in ghost hunting. It is also thought to feed spirits energetically.

In fact, Diana stayed in room 506, and two nights of her stay, a loud furniture scooting sound woke her up right around the witching hour. The sounds were coming from the floor above, which was unoccupied and locked. In fact, right above her room was a locked-up, apparently haunted bathroom. So no matter which room of the haunted Basin Park Hotel you stay at, you’ll probably have a spooky day!

The post The Building Full of Cowboy Ghosts appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Episode Summary: Paranormal Investigations and Ghost Tours in Alabama

When you visit a haunted location, it’s all fun and games until something follows you home. The Southern Ghost Girls, a team of paranormal investigators in Alabama and surrounding states, use period equipment, clothing, and tools to communicate with the ghosts in haunted homes, museums, and jails. However, they’ve had a few encounters with entities that wanted to keep interacting, even after they started on their way home.

Let’s chat with Lesley and Makayla, just two psychic Southern girls trying to preserve history and help people, today, on Homespun Haints.

AI-generated transcript of this episode available upon request.

About the Guests: The Southern Ghost Girls

The Southern Ghost Girls Tours and Paranormal Investigations, LLC is a team of about 10 professional women who perform paranormal investigations and lead tours in Alabama, Georgia, and the rest of the South. They focus on US history and historical value. To honor that, they donate profits back into the historical venues they investigate to help with preservation. And even more fun, they dress in period costume to ghost hunt!

Everyone on the team has some sort of inborn or inherited psychic gifts. Also, they have all agreed to use their gift for the good of mankind. Today we speak with founder Leslie Ann Hyde of Birmingham, Alabama, and paranormal investigator Makayla Neighbors of Jasper, Georgia. Follow them on Facebook to keep up with their investigations. Join them on one of their tours or investigations at SouthernGhostGirls.com and experience a real live paranormal investigation for yourself!

Episode Show Notes about Psychics who Work with the Police and More

Ghosts of The Haunted Jasper Jail in Talking Rock, GA

Makayla tells us about the many ghosts at her hometown historic prison, including:

• Shadow Man on the men’s side upstairs.
• Cherokee spirits still bound up in the Trail of Tears on the Old Federal Road.
• Children of the old sheriff, in the sheriff’s quarters.
• The entire family haunting the Kirby Quinton Cabin next door.
• The elemental shape-shifter that attached to Leslie Ann and followed her on her drive home.

Since they lead tours of the jail, the Southern Ghost Girls are familiar with all of the above. But none of the Jasper Jail ghosts could have prepared them for what followed them home from the Brown-Proctor Museum.

What is a human pendulum?

Becky uses a pendulum to speak to ghosts when a Ouija board would be too clunky. Becky’s pendulum is a semi-precious, carved, polished stone in a plumb bob shape that dangles from the end of a delicate chain. But really, any necklace or bob can be used as a pendulum, as it purportedly runs on intention and spirit interaction. Several guests we’ve had on the show use some sort of pendulum similarly. But what else can you use as a pendulum?

According to our guests today, one’s very body can be a pendulum, in the right circumstances. Since the spirit has to directly manipulate the person acting as pendulum, this adds a whole new creepy factor to ghost hunting. According to Makayla, it can be a very intense physical experience for the person acting as the pendulum. Does the spirit possess the person-pendulum, or just shove them around a bit? Or does the spirit merely whisper suggestions into the person-pendulum’s subconscious, causing them to sway subconsciously in the direction that gets the spirit’s point across? Or is the person-pendulum allowing their intuition to subconsciously guide their sway?

What is a tipping table?

The tipping table is a classic Victorian spiritualist movement tool. Leslie Ann says it was popularized by Queen Victoria herself, and that mediums of the day may have used a tipping table for readings for the likes of Mary Todd Lincoln and Albert Einstein.

We had grand visions of ghosts literally toppling the séance table, like an angry drunk losing at Monopoly. But the reality is much more modest. Basically, a tipping table is a marble top lazy susan. The mediums and spiritual séance attendees put their fingertips lightly on the lazy susan like they would a planchette. When the lazy susan spins, the medium interprets the message based on a meaning she establishes with the ghosts. If you compare it to other spirit communication methods, a tipping table is basically a large pendulum.

Do the police really work with psychics to solve murders?

While it may sound like the theme of a TV show from the Naughties, the police in Auburn, Alabama are actually open to working with a psychic medium to solve crimes! In this episode, Leslie Ann tells a story about the time she just couldn’t not come forward with her knowledge. Most surprisingly, the police still treated her with respect even after they realized she had gleaned her knowledge on the case through clairvoyance.

Should you wear period costume while you ghost hunt?

Part of what sets The Southern Ghost Girls apart from other paranormal investigators is that they dress in period costume while they ghost hunt (and while they do live interviews, which is really what makes us love them). In today’s episode, they go into details about how this practice comforts the spirits they attempt to contact. As female-led and female-dominated team, they find their strength in gently and respectfully meeting the spirits on their own terms, at their own comfort levels. Leslie Ann believes this is what gets them the awesome evidence they frequently collect.

Paranormal investigations and Ghost Tours in Alabama

What do you think? Would the police in your town work with the evidence brought forth by a psychic medium? And would you dress in period costume to get better ghost hunt evidence? Would you visit the ghosts at the haunted Jasper Jail, knowing they might follow you home? Is there a right or wrong way how to be a medium? If you do, that’ll be a spooky day!

The post Do the police really work with psychics to solve murders? appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Episode Summary

Who is the most famous ghost you’ve ever seen? Do you think people who are loved and revered by the masses long after death have more energy to manifest? 

Our guest today has seen her fair share of ghosts, but some of those ghosts are of people you’ve probably heard of. Perhaps it’s because she gives ghost tours of one of the most haunted districts in the U.S. Or maybe these particular ghosts like her commitment to ethics in business. Let’s hear from Rachel, founder of Vampyre Cosmetics, today, on Homespun Haints.

AI-generated transcript of this episode available upon request.

Sponsored by Dark Cottage

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About the Guest, Rachel Clinesmith

Rachel is the founder and CEO of Vampyre Cosmetics. She is also the Editor in Chief of Vampyre Magazine and Co-Owner & Founder of Vampyre Cosmetics LLC. Actually Autistic & ADHD, makeup has been a special interest since she was 13. She has been designing custom cosmetics products for a number of other independent brands and celebrities since 2011. She created Vampyre Cosmetics LLC for the niches mainstream brands leave behind. Her experience working with the music, pinup, burlesque, and horror communities/industries has given her first-hand knowledge of the needs of these subcultures.

Bloody Mary’s Voodoo Museum

Rachel gives ghost tours through Bloody Mary’s Tours and Haunted Museum. Voodoo Queen Bloody Mary’s home apparently had enough strange entities to sincerely disturb the crew of Ghost Adventures. Some entities came with the house, some came with Mary, some came with the artifacts. And some may have come slithering in with the filthy flood waters of Hurricane Katrina. You can speak to the ghosts yourself at one of their séance experiences.

Feeling the fear of ghosts

Rachel posits that empaths living in a haunted place are likely to sometimes feel afraid of the ghosts. But she proposes that a lot of this fear is fear of the unknown, not necessarily a sign of a malevolent force. And if we are afraid of the unknown (ghosts), surely the ghosts are also afraid of the unknown (us).

The Ursuline Convent Casket Girls; truth vs. fact

As Rachel said, if there are vampires, and they are real, they’re probably in New Orleans. But were they shipped over in coffins to hide in the upper floor of the French Quarter convent in 1706? Or were vampires just a convenient scapegoat for mosquito borne illness, tuberculosis, and cholera?

The filles à la cassette were basically mail-order brides, shipped in to populate the new port city of New Orleans. The lore has gained some embellishment over the years. Ok, a lot of embellishment. Filles à la cassette became Filles à la casquette. The girls and their cases/caskets never lived in the convent’s attic.

Also, the attic windows are not really bolted on the outside. But when entire families were dying out from poorly understood diseases, vampirism seemed as good an explanation as any. These girls were the newest kids in town. Coming straight from convents and orphanages in Europe, they were probably ill-equipped to stand up for themselves in the new world port towns full of trappers, soldiers, and hookers.

New Orleans’ Unconventional Heroes and their Famous Ghosts

Despite its history as a plantation city, New Orleans has always represented some ideals of democracy ahead of its time. NOLA was one of the only locations in the early American settlements where even enslaved people had the opportunity to pursue a better life by buying their own freedom. And, as Rachel said, the famous figures which NOLA considers heroes would be villains elsewhere. Here are some she talks about in this episode.

• Pere Antoine, a priest who disobeyed orders to minister to everyone, including slaves and prisoners. The city rallied to keep after the local vicar booted him in 1805. His ghost now haunts the French Quarter alley named for him.
• Jean Lafitte, a straight up pirate. While he did all the nasty things most associate with pirates, locals viewed him as a sort of Robin Hood figure. There’s still a bar in the French Quarter inside the blacksmith shop he and his brother Pierre dealt out of. In fact, it might be the oldest structure used as a bar in the United States.
• Marie Laveau, voodoo queen and local hero. Rachel tells the story of spotting the famous voodoo priestess’ ghost in this episode. Throughout the mid 19th century, Marie Laveau used her magic and influence to help New Orleans locals of all social strata. She’s buried in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 of NOLA…or is she?

Sarah Winchester as a Philanthropist

Rachel’s business partner actually lives on the property of the Winchester Mystery House, so they frequently get the chance to see the ghosts there. Rachel provides the theory that Sarah wasn’t just a nutty old lady who kept building exclusively out of fear. Her goal was to atone for the lives lost due to her husband’s family’s rifle. But just playing lip service to atonement wasn’t her jam. By keeping up continuous construction, Sarah actually used her husband’s money to employ many residents of San Jose, CA.

We can’t wait for Vampyre Cosmetics’ 3D Winchester House-inspired makeup palette to come out June of 2023!

Haunted Atchison, KS

Rachel says that there are plenty of ghosts to see in Atchison, KS. But she also warns that the entities there are malevolent. Perhaps avoid ghost tourism in the area. Because if you visit once, you’ll possibly get stuck there.

Have you seen a famous ghost in New Orleans, California, Kansas, or elsewhere?

Or do you run your own spooky business? Why not submit to tell your story on the next episode of Homespun Haints? And if you’ll be in NOLA soon, remember to request Rachel as your French Quarter tour guide at bloodymarystours.com to have a historically accurate spooky day.

The post Interview with the Vampyre CEO appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Listen to the episode here:

Want more? Listen to the bonus episode about 3 other extremely haunted libraries!

Episode Summary

In one of the opening scenes of the original Ghostbusters, the team meets up with a phantom librarian who is none too happy about the noise that the ghostbusters are making. The famous ghost haunting the Willard Library is a little more friendly, but she still can be mischievous when she wants to be noticed.

Today, we chat with Willard Library Assistant Stacie Dotson who shares stories and experiences with the library’s Grey Lady, as well as some other spooky tales. Snuggle into your favorite reading chair. It’s time for Homespun Haints.

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About the Guest: Stacie Dotson

Stacie started as a library assistant at the Willard Library in 2019, and she’s actually thrilled that her workplace is full of ghosts. Also, this is far from her first spooky experience. Stacie basically grew up in a grave. Her family embraced mortality with respectful fascination and wonder, instead of the stilted avoidance and somber taboos our culture trends towards. After a thorough history of the library where she works, Stacie puts the cherry on top with tales about her gravedigger parents, and what it’s like to be a child growing up with death as a constant presence.

Who are the ghosts of the Willard Public Library?

The most popular Willard Library ghost, the Grey Lady, is thought to be the ghost of Louise Carpenter. Louise was the daughter of the original owner and founder of the library. When her father gifted the library to the town upon his death, Louise may have seen it as him cheating her out of her rightful inheritance. Do you think she’d haunt the library out of spite, or despair? Or was it just a very significant place in her life?

The Grey Lady first appeared in the basement of the library in 1937. The janitor who first spotted her freaked out and became the first—and only—person to leave the library’s employ due to ghosts.

There are a few other ghosts staying at the library. The library staff have identified a man called Frank and a boy named Billy, plus a friendly poltergeist. When people deny their existence, the ghosts make their presence known by throwing books across the room. But when T.A.P.S. investigated the library on Season 2 of the original Ghost Hunters, the ghosts were mischievously quiet. At least while the cameras were rolling.

But sometimes the ghosts do show up on camera. Which is why there’s a whole community of people who track the Grey Lady and company on the online Willard ghost cams.

What do the Willard Library ghosts do?

Here are just a few of the inexplicable things that Stacie and her coworkers and library patrons have witnessed.

1. Constant camera malfunctions, especially on the “adult services” floor, which apparently isn’t as spicy as it sounds.
2. The feeling of an unseen force touching people.
3. Moving chairs about.
4. Constantly pushing the elevator call button on unoccupied floors.
5. Whistling in the elevator.
6. Books flying off shelves, even across rooms.
7. Constant automatic toilet flushing.
8. A projector that drops down from the ceiling on its own, perhaps even when it’s not plugged in.
9. The sound of a woman crying.
10. Following people home. But only when invited.
11. Smells!

What do ghosts smell like?

The ghost smells at the Willard Library are especially interesting. Stacie tells the story of the time she caught a whiff of perfume when no library staff or patrons were around. She described the scent as lilac and lavender, similar to White Diamonds perfume.

The interesting part was when the odor started to move about the library on its own! Stacie chased the ghostly scent, attempting to identify the air current that was moving it about. She found no explanation, and the roving scent remains a mystery. Staff and patrons have also noticed tobacco and floral scents lingering where they don’t belong. According to paranormalglobe.com, florals, especially lilac, are some of the most common smells attributed to ghosts.

Ghost tours at the Willard Library

At the time of this writing, the Willard Library just started offering their ghost tour again! Beginning the second week of October, there will be about 21 after-hours tours of the library. Each tour will include spooky stories about the Grey Lady Ghost.

Amazingly, you can take the Willard Library Ghost Tour for free, with a suggested donation to the library non-profit. At that price, we can see why some of the tours are already sold out a month in advance. If you’ll be in Evansville, Indiana, this spooky season, best to register for your free Willard Library ghost tour tickets now. If you do, let us know about your experience in the comments below, or on our Facebook group.

The post Smelling the Ghosts at the Willard Public Library appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Listen here:

Episode Summary

When Amy asked if there were enough ghosts in Chattanooga, TN, to open a ghost tour company there, the answer was a resounding “yes!” By some accounts, Chattanooga is one of the most haunted cities in the US, right behind the big shots like Savannah and New Orleans.

About the Guest: Amy Petulla of Chattanooga Ghost Tours

Amy is the founder and owner of Chattanooga Ghost Tours, which can be found at chattanoogaghosttours.com. She’s also an author of nonfiction books on the paranormal, including Haunted Chattanooga (Haunted America) and The Ghostly Tales of Chattanooga (Spooky America). She also wrote a true crime book about The Corpsewood Manor Murders in North Georgia. Keep up with her on IG, FB, Pinterest or check out her shop if you’re local to Chattanooga.

The Story that was too Scary to Tell

What was the cursed object that caused so much trouble for Amy? Who wrapped it in pentagrams? What on earth did it do that made Amy too nervous to ever speak of it again? You’ll have to read about it on Amy’s blog because, frankly, we’re too terrified to talk about it, too.

Why Are Ghosts So Territorial?

We don’t always get responses back from the other side when we seek them out. But when we do, doesn’t it seem like way too often those responses are akin to an adamant “get out”?

Diana’s theory is that, with all the energy it takes for a ghost to communicate, they must reeeeally want to get their point across. Think of what you’d say if you had to put in triathlon-level effort just to communicate a few words? That high-effort communication is less likely to be something helpful like “I’m the ghost of 35 year old Sarah Jane” and much more likely to be whatever is truly weighing on the spirit’s mind.

Or perhaps, ghosts experience us the same way we experience them, like in (I don’t know if a spoiler warning is warranted for a movie that’s old enough to be sold as a vintage item on Etsy, but here it is) The Others. When the ghost sees us, perhaps we scare them so much they want to banish us. In which case, we suppose turnabout is fair play

Brown’s Tavern and Ferry, a stop on the Chattanooga Ghost Tour

John Brown was a 19th century Chattanooga businessman. He owned several local businesses at the time, including an inn and a ferry boat. The story goes, Brown would schmooze it up with travelling merchants that passed through, offering them a place to stay upon their return journey. When the merchant came back through town, they’d spend the night in Brown’s Tavern, and shockingly often, they’d skip town in the morning without paying their tab.

The townsfolk idolized Brown as a good Samaritan when he refused to prosecute the dine-and-dashers. Until, that is, they discovered a nearby underwater mass body dump site that was suspiciously also full of merchant wagons. Turns out Brown knew exactly which of those merchants was stacked with cash upon their return from trading their goods. And, based on the stories of his descendants and the supernatural communication in the location, Brown got them wasted at the tavern, snuck into the room they rented from him (which he obviously had the keys to) and allegedly murdered them in their sleep. Then, he’d presumably drive their now empty wagon with their corpse inside onto his ferry boat, take it out a ways, and dump the evidence.

Can A Ghost Disappear From A Digital Photograph?

Amy tells us of a digital spirit photograph she took which clearly showed an ephemeral figure she thought might be a ghost. She didn’t take this digital photograph in Chattanooga, or even on a ghost tour, but on a trip to Florida to visit Robert the Doll. When she inadvertently captured the silvery figure on camera, she showed it around to the excited docents, who asked her to send them a copy for their collection. But when she went to retrieve the photo off her camera roll, the silvery figure—that everyone had witnessed—was completely missing from the photo. What wizardry is this? Was the corroboration some sort of mass hysteria? Have we ever heard a justification for a paranormal phenomena more condescending than mass hysteria?

According to fstoppers.com, digital photographs (of ghosts and anything else) do actually degrade. JPEGs are lossy formats, meaning the file loses a little bit of data every time you save it, even if you didn’t change anything in the file. According to the author, saving the file just 5-6 times is enough to cause a visible difference in the image quality.

HOWEVER, as our resident digital content expert Becky explains, that’s still not enough reason for the image to go black. Amy did not save and re-save the file. So, how did the image just disappear?

Have you ever had something that was clearly in a photo strangely disappear from that photo, while on a Chattanooga ghost tour or otherwise?

What do you think? File quality loss, or digital photographs of real ghosts? Join us in the discussion on our Facebook group. Either way, just the realization you took a photo of a real ghost probably means you’re having a spooky day.

The post Does Chattanooga Have Enough Ghosts? appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Listen to her story here:

Episode Summary

Most paranormal experiences are pretty subjective. That is why we are sometimes hesitant to share them. Scared though we may be during a ghost encounter, it’s tempting to shrug it off afterwards. “It must have been a shadow,” we tell ourselves, “maybe that was just the wind.”

But what perhaps should be less subjective is the real history behind the ghost story. On today’s interview, we learned that there are many tall tales circulating around Savannah. How do we know which stories are real, and which are, as today’s guest calls them, “torture porn”?

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About the Guest: Enocha Edenfield

When the 2020 pandemic hit, journalist Enocha suddenly found herself spending a lot more time on TikTok. She decided to share some of her favorite historically-accurate ghost stories from her “city that thinks it’s a small town”, Savannah, Georgia. As her following grew, people started asking her if she could give them a little tour.

Those little tours grew up to be Enocha Edenfield Tours LLC. Enocha uses her journalism superpowers to dig for the truth about Savannah’s haunted history. Her family-friendly, accessible ghost and history tours of the most haunted locations in Savannah ring with both passion and truth.

For more fun and accurate stories about the history and hauntings of Savannah, follow Enocha on TikTok @saltwavesspanishmoss, on IG @eenieedenfield. Enocha also writes a monthly column in the Savannah Morning News called Boo Business. You can probably guess what about.

Savannah’s True Ghost Stories

The Ghost of Alice Riley

Alice Riley worked for a creepy dude who forced her to bathe him. Whereas you would probably quit this gig pretty quick, this was 1735 and she was a 15-year-old indentured servant, so she had to oblige. When the creep was found dead in the bath and Alice and another servant nowhere in sight, the guilty verdict was swift. This, the first murder trial in Georgia, resulted in her alleged co-conspirator being hanged. But Alice revealed that she was pregnant. She spent the rest of her pregnancy in jail, only to become the first woman hanged in Georgia shortly after delivering her baby.

Now she haunts Savannah’s Wright Square, where once the gallows stood. She appears as a 16-or 17-year-old girl dressed in a simple white dress, and will ask unsuspecting tourists if they’ve seen her baby. It may take a few seconds interacting with her before onlookers start to notice the blood still soaking her skirt.

The Sorrel Weed House

We can’t talk about Savannah ghosts without bringing up the controversial stories surrounding one of the most haunted locations in Savannah, the Sorrel Weed House. While this place may be ridiculously haunted, the reasons why are different from its popular legends. Diana and Becky made a video after Becky went to visit the site in March, and Enocha goes into even more detail in this episode.

About a decade ago, archaeologists excavated a trash pit in Sorrel Weed’s basement and uncovered artifacts from the Siege of Savannah and from the enslaved people working in Sorrel Weed, painting a clearer picture of what life was really like for the servants in this mansion.

Ghost stories of the haunted Kehoe House in Savannah

Kehoe house ghost stories include multiple ghosts of children; twins who purportedly got stuck and died while hiding in the chimney. That is another story Enocha debunks on her historically-accurate private Savannah ghost walks.

The Siege of Savannah

Also known as the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, at least 1200 soldiers (and likely more) lost their lives in this incredibly haunted spot. Enocha made a YouTube video entitled The Ghosts of the Siege of Savannah explaining all about it.

Colonial Park Cemetery

In operation from 1750-1853, Colonial Park Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in Savannah, and one of the haunted locations in Savannah you might visit on a tour with Enocha.

Ghost stories of the haunted Owens Thomas House in Savannah

This 18th century Savannah home boasts some ghosts. The classic grey lady who roams the garden at dusk may just be the spirit of Margaret Thomas, the house’s last resident. Employees swear that objects move about, and sometimes a ghostly man walks through a wall. Ask Enocha to tell you the full story on your private Savannah ghost tour.

Wait, does Haint Blue actually WORK at repelling insects and evil spirits?

We’ve talked about Haint Blue before. You know, the Gullah tradition of painting window frames, door frames, and porch ceilings blue to keep the haints out. Becky has said that realtors in the South will explain the very historic yet less-than-trendy color by saying that it repels wasps. All while knowing damn well that it doesn’t.

…Or does it?

No. The color blue isn’t a reliable way to repel wasps. Fun fact, some studies suggest colors like black and red do attract insects like bees and mosquitoes, while colors like green and purple are less visible to them and attract less attention, especially from the bitey ones.

And the story about Haint Blue confusing evil ghosts by mimicking water is just insulting. C’mon, these ghosts didn’t die yesterday. They know that’s paint. It’s on the ceiling, for Pete’s sake.

But Enocha clued us in to a power of the specific blue dye within the original Haint Blue paints. The people who popularized this color of house paint were actually those forced into the US through the trans-Atlantic slave trade. If you trace the color back to Western Africa, the color blue in Haint Blue paint was made from indigo.

Does indigo repel haints?

While we know indigo as the I in ROY G BIV and the blue in blue jeans, it’s more than just a color. Indigo is a tree with medicinal properties. It just so happens that one of the properties of the indigo plant is repelling mosquitoes. Aha! So the original indigo-colored Haint Blue paint may just have repelled insects after all!

African tradition also describes indigo as a color symbolic of protection. This makes perfect sense to us: repelling more mosquitoes equals reducing risk of malaria. Today, Southerners use Haint Blue paint to block evil haints from entering the home. A haint is the bad kind of spirit that makes you sick. Sounds like a disease-ridden mosquito to me. The wasps? Likely just a red herring.

We hope you enjoyed learning some of the real history behind the ghost stories of haunted Savannah!

Becky wishes she’d found Enocha while she was in Savannah earlier this year. She laments that, after taking a ghost tour of the haunted Sorrel Weed House, she read some historical accounts that contradicted some of the popular legends. Someday, the Homespun Haints team is going back to Savannah to have Enocha tell us the truth behind the scariest Savannah ghost stories. In the mean time, if you’ve taken a Savannah haunted ghost tour with Enocha Edenfield Tours, please drop a review or shout-out in the comments below.

Until next time, have a spooky day!

The post In Savannah, the Ghosts Hunt YOU appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Let me preface by saying this is not your ordinary ghost tour. It’s also not a paranormal investigation, but rather a hybrid of the two. This is also not the tour you go on if you’re looking for a history lesson about St. Augustine’s most famous landmarks. However, if you want to do something spooky, see parts of St. Augustine you might not know about, and get shuttled to each location in a comfortable van, this tour is your cup of tea.

GhoSt Augustine information:

• Website: ghostaugustine.com
• Tours offered: walking tours, shuttled tours, haunted pub crawls, and paranormal investigations
• Price: $15–$79 depending on the experience. Private tours also available

Everdark Express Stop No. 1

Our tour began promptly at 8:45pm. So yes, nighttime. The guide began by taking us to a “lost” African American cemetery, which is actually two cemeteries that have merged into one: The Pinehurst and San Sebastian Cemeteries.

Upon arrival, our guide gave each of us a K2 meter to use. One by one, we wandered through the broken headstones and overgrown grass. The location itself did not frighten me—I spend quite a lot of evenings in haunted cemeteries. I did, however, love hearing about the history of the cemetery and how some of the tombstones were made using the barest of materials.

The history you usually don’t hear about

So yes, while I began this St. Augustine ghost tour review by saying this is not a tour for history, well, it kind of is actually. Some headstone makers had poured cement into a mold to create the marker. Other graves bore broken tar letters on their surfaces. Often, an inexpensive grave would bear an upgrade—a marble inlay that a loving relative had added years after burial. To me, this is fascinating. And our guide seemed to think so, too. He led us from one grave to the next, pointing out his favorites and telling us how people made each tombstone with whatever they had on hand.

At one point, my SLS app picked up a figure in the distance, and some other people on the tour reported flashing meters, but in general the cemetery seemed at peace. I felt a warmth and comfort that I don’t sense in other haunted cemeteries. If it weren’t for all the mosquitoes (don’t be like me—wear repellent!) it would actually be a nice place to picnic.

Everdark Express Stop No. 2

Next, our guide took us to a haunted house. You’d think this would be some creepy old Victorian home or something similar. But no, this house looked like someone built it in the 1940s. Very plain, and very Florida.

Despite its appearance, this house holds plenty of ghosts according to our guide. Once inside, we divided ourselves us into smaller groups between the home’s three most haunted rooms.

I chose to be in the front room. Not because of the ghosts there, but because it looked like a place where you’d hold a séance (and you know how much I love séances)!

In total darkness, we sat and spoke to the spirits in the room. My daughter was such a trooper! She asked some pretty cool questions and the meters lit up from time to time. Our room, otherwise, remained rather uneventful. But, a woman in another room reported afterward that something had touched her hair. Was I jealous? Of course.

Final stop in this St. Augustine ghost tour review

Lastly, we went to the park next to the St. Augustine lighthouse.

If you’re not familiar with the St. Augustine Lighthouse, check out the article we wrote on this place after interviewing Dr. Kristy Sumner, a paranormal investigator who has spent time in this very haunted location.

The St. Augustine Lighthouse runs its own nightly paranormal investigation, so we couldn’t go inside. But that’s okay—there’s plenty of activity surrounding the grounds at night.

Our guide took us to a public playground next to the lighthouse. Here, the ghosts of three children who perished during the lighthouse’s construction like to play. While there, my daughter placed her K2 meter on the swing and began asking questions. I watched her with pride. Then, I felt a small, invisible hand wrap itself around my wrist and play with the beads on my bracelets. The sensation wasn’t scary; in fact, it was somewhat comforting. No breeze stirred the air, and a glance at my hand ensured no bugs caused the sensation. I smiled, thinking of the small child that likely was fiddling with my jewelry.

Final thoughts

All told, this was a great tour! Yes, it was a little different. It wasn’t quite an investigation, but we did get to interact with the ghosts and use ghost hunting equipment (you can also bring your own if you want). It wasn’t presented as a history tour, but we learned much history of an off-the-beaten-path nature. If you want a spooky St. Augustine experience that’s different from the rest, but you’re not ready to plunge into a 2-hour single location investigation, this is the goldilocks tour for you.

Listen to our interview with Florida paranormal investigator Kristy Sumner:

The post The Everdark Express at GhoSt Augustine appeared first on Homespun Haints.