Listen to full episode:

Or watch on YouTube:

In this captivating exploration of supernatural death harbingers, folklorist and author Steven J. Rolfes takes us deep into the mysterious world of banshees and their counterparts across different cultures. With his book Beware the Banshee’s Cry as our guide, Steven reveals the fascinating complexities behind these ethereal messengers.

About the Guest: Steven J. Rolfes

Steven J. Rolfes is the author of several books about paranormal folklore. He also writes about the history of his home town, Cincinnati, OH. When he’s not writing, he tells ghost stories on the radio, which we can relate to. His most recent book at the time of this writing, Beware the Banshee’s Cry, is all about the history and mystery of banshees, and their origins in Irish lore.

What is a Banshee?

What exactly is a banshee? Steven presents three possibilities: the ghost of an ancestor with either loving or vindictive intentions, a fairy from the ancient Tuatha de Danann, or perhaps most intriguingly, a transformed Celtic goddess (at least one didn’t become a saint). The name itself—”bean sí” or “woman from the fairy mound”—connects these entities to pre-Christian Celtic traditions that have survived centuries of cultural evolution.

The Banshee of Irish Lore

From Lady Fanshawe’s encounter with a floating red-haired apparition at O’Brien castle in 1649, to a mysterious black cat haunting a Cincinnati hospital in 1879, these stories span continents and centuries. We also discuss similar lore about supernatural messengers worldwide, including Germany’s White Lady (Weissefrau) and Mexico’s weeping woman (La Llorona), showing how humans across cultures have personified premonitions of death.

The banshee folklore of Ireland contains some familiar elements—the banshee’s treasured combs that shouldn’t be stolen, the protective power of iron against supernatural entities, and the specific families traditionally haunted by these harbingers.

Will the Banshee Cry for You?

Banshees and their lore follow Irish families wherever they travel…but only specific families. Listen now to discover whether your Irish heritage comes with its own supernatural warning system, and consider: if you heard three knocks at your door tonight, would you have a spooky day?

The post The Irish Death Knock: Exploring Banshee Lore with Steven J. Rolfes appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Listen here:

Summary of this Ghost Podcast Interview

If you happened to be so enmeshed in the world of paranormal experts that you did it for a living, then what would you consider to be scary? Could you be scared by any incident on a dark, very cold night?

Today, we talk to Daryl Marston of A&E’s Ghost Hunters about some of the scariest and most haunted places he’s walked into in his life. Hear scary stories about Daryl’s copious ghost hunting adventures. Delight in stories of his strange encounters with supernatural beings that weren’t caught on camera, but were experienced in solitude. Imagine trying to fall asleep in a haunted room, feeling the presence of something watching you sleeping in the bed. Recoil at his own experience of being attacked one night by…witches?!

Notes about this Ghost Podcast Interview with Daryl Marston

If you were watching TV one night and the new reboot of Ghost Hunters just happened to come on, you’ve likely already seen today’s guest. But Daryl’s no newbie; he’s been ghost hunting since decades ago. Long story short, since growing up in a haunted house with his family members, he’s been on a search for anything that could explain the ghost stories of his childhood life. He founded investigative team Breaking Paranormal years ago, in 2011. He started The American Ghost Hunter Show podcast in 2016. He’s the co-owner of online community and media company Paranormal Warehouse. He is also the author of the book The Horrors of the House of Wills, a memoir story on the incident where a strange entity decided to follow him home from the House of Wills.

Daryl has so many projects going, we can’t explain them all here. It might be best to start with his linktree.

On our podcast, we’ve heard stories of full-body apparition ghosts…but a half-body apparition?

Ah, that epitome of ghostly interactions. The denouement of every horror film. That one paranormal experience that the ghost-curious simultaneously desire most and fear most.

We’re talking about the full-body apparition, of course. Fiction stories would have us believe that it’s pretty common to literally see ghosts, appearing like normal, if somewhat ephemeral, people. But we’ve learned from our podcast guests who have ghost stories (at least those who are not mediums) that other paranormal activity (sounds, objects moving, emotions, premonitions, shadows, lights, even smells) make up nearly 100% of what a non-medium generally experiences with a haunting. Even for a seasoned paranormal investigator who seeks out many a ghost, stories about clear and complete images of ghosts are rare.

So of course, when we heard that Daryl’s VERY FIRST paranormal incident (as an adult) was seeing a half-body apparition one night, our first thought was “woah, how lucky, terrifying, and rare!” Followed quickly by “wait…HALF-body?” Although it’s hard not to picture a hokey, Haunted Mansion-esque ghostly bust on a shelf, we’re sure if we saw the same even for just a few minutes, we still might have been scared enough to pee our pants and have a heart attack.

Seeing half of a ghost: real stories about half-body apparitions

But why would a ghost manifest as half a ghost? Is it possible that the spirit didn’t have enough energy at its disposal to fully appear? Or could it all be in the eye of the beholder and their perceptiveness? Could it be an incident like Becky’s haunted art gallery, where the second floor used to start a lot higher up, so the ghosts seem to be walking around half under the floor?

What do you think? Have you ever seen a full or half-body apparition? If so, please tell us about it on social.

What is an EMCCD Camera?

Electron Multiplying Charge-Coupled Devices, or EMCCDs, are cameras for viewing single-photon events. Daryl tells us that NASA has used this type of camera to detect the faint signal of neato space things like star formation. But how can it detect something paranormal?

New Ghost Hunting Equipment

According to Ghost Hunters’ tech manager Brandon Alvis, “In season two of Ghost Hunters, you see that I implemented an EMCCD camera, which is an electron multiplying camera that’s mainly used by the digital imaging scientific community to record single photon events. I used this device at Fort Stanton, Haines, Alaska, Galena, Ill. and Clifton, Ariz. and we started to collect photon events taking place in these allegedly haunted locations! Not only can’t these photon events be explained, but they seem to be creating images that are humanoid shaped, which is very interesting! We’ve consulted with various scientists and engineers, people who have taken a look at the footage, and they have no explanation for it.”

We can’t wait to watch how paranormal investigators are going to use this new tech to search for more evidence of ghosts. Well, new to the ghost hunting field; the device has been around for decades.

Haunted Mohecan Castle in Ohio

Daryl bravely stayed for several nights in the haunted Cabin 13 outside of Mohecan Castle. You’ll hear the behind-the-scenes true ghost story of what happened to him here on our podcast interview. Be sure to watch the full episode of the investigation on A&E.

A real big thank you for listening to our little podcast of ghost stories!

What did you think of this podcast interview with Ghost Hunters’ Daryl Marston? If this is the first episode you’ve listened to, welcome! Please drop us a line on social media to let us know what you think. Our podcast specializes in interviewing people with real ghost stories. Some of our best paranormal podcast episodes are interviews with various professional and amateur ghost hunters. Find all our stories online at HomespunHaints.com.

Until next time, have a spooky day!

The post The Ghost in Cabin 13: An Interview with Daryl Marston appeared first on Homespun Haints.