Hear this paranormal podcast episode about haunted Michigan on YouTube:

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Episode Summary

There are haunted houses. And then there are very haunted houses. Houses where something almost always happens in the middle of the night, or the middle of the day. Houses where the spirits are extra restless and extra active, and the dead outnumber the living.

Today, we speak with Reverend Gerald Hunter, author and paranormal investigator, who’s incredibly haunted childhood home shaped his entire career. Would you have been able to sleep in the haunted Michigan house he grew up in? Listen and decide, today, on Homespun Haints.

AI-generated transcript of this episode available upon request.

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About the Guest, Rev. Gerald Hunter

Gerry is from Brooklyn, Michigan, which is the scaphoid bone in relation to the mitten, a description I’m aware helps just about nobody. Including postal workers, who kept delivering his mail to New York. He has seen some wild hauntings and spirited spirits around the Midwest!

He is retired from ministry, and now works aboard the incredibly haunted USS Edson on the Saginaw River in Bay City, MI. Gerry has published 3 books about his encounters, including Haunted Michigan, More Haunted Michigan, and Haunted Michigan 3: The Haunting Continues… all available on Amazon. Someday soon his fourth book, Confessions of a Ghost Hunter, is coming out! Keep updated by following him on Facebook.

Masculinity and Paranormal Investigation

Is believing in ghosts contrary to machismo?

Gerry identifies wistfully as the least macho of all the men in his family, despite his best efforts. He chose the path of ministry, while all the other brothers followed their father into law enforcement. He’s also the only brother who seeks out ghostly encounters, as opposed to avoiding or denying them.

The theme of machismo comes up multiple times in his stories. He cited one manly friend who flew into a rage to deal with a ghost playfully taunting him with a towel. His father refused to believe when the boys talked about seeing ghosts. Conversely, his mother talked of her own ghostly experiences somewhat openly. His brother refused to stick around to witness any hauntings, despite denying belief.

What is it about ghosts, hauntings, and spirit communications that brings ones masculinity into question? Is it more masculine to bravely interact with the paranormal, or to eschew all participation therein? And what does it mean when masculinity and paranormal investigation combine?

Masculine ways to interact with spirits

There are many ways to be masculine. We think positive masculinity is embodied in qualities like providing fatherly guidance and protection to one’s wards, gallantly defending those who have less power or advantage than oneself, bravely accomplishing the intimidating, confidently taking action based on rational reasoning, and feats of physical strength and endurance.

• Our guest Kerry Blu attempted to create a safe space for the ghost who shared his apartment during COVID-19 quarantine.
• Our guest Daryl Marsten volunteered to take the more frightening lodgings at the haunted cabins.
• In one episode, Becky breaks down gender stereotypes in the male-dominated field of paranormal investigation reality television.

Let’s approach this rationally

Gerry tells us that his favorite way to conduct a paranormal investigation is to attempt to disprove everything. In other words, attempt to find evidence of a non-supernatural explanation for seemingly supernatural occurrences. This does seem to fit in with the spirit of scientific investigation. It also reinforces that skepticism does not equal disbelief.

There is both more courage and more rationality required for skepticism than for disbelief. To be skeptical is to embrace the vulnerable position that what you are hearing might be wrong, or what you personally believe to be true might be wrong. Skeptics must have the fortitude to investigate with an open mind until they have enough objective reasons to rationally form a opinion.

But was it a ghost?

Most people use heuristics to accept or reject ideas from within an established worldview, instead of attempting to re-evaluate their belief in various types of paranormal entities every time they find themselves confronted by a new strange occurrence. That’s why paranormal investigators focus on obtaining as much evidence as they can, with the goal of ruling out a mundane cause for a seemingly paranormal event, instead of focusing on proving “it was a ghost.” In other words, it’s quite possible to be a paranormal investigator who doesn’t believe in ghosts, since you’re merely attempting to answer questions like “is this occurrence explicable by any rationale other than the paranormal?” in most cases. When the answer is “no,” it’s not necessary to then jump to the conclusion “it was a ghost.”

Of course, paranormal investigation evidence is extra scrumptious when it is corroborated with something relevant to ghosts and hauntings. We might not have the patience to go looking for EVPs all night, but it still makes our spirit senses tingle with joy when we hear an EVP that mentions the name of an actual person who has died in the purportedly haunted house where the recording was captured. These synchronicities can be pleasurable to the believer, or upsetting to the disbeliever. But to the skeptic, they may just be more data points to consider on the long, winding path to the truth.

A scary paranormal investigation of a Michigan haunted hotel

After this interview, Gerry told us about another paranormal investigation he performed at the haunted South Lyon Hotel in South Lyon, Michigan. One of the employees had recently quit, because of the encounters she had with one of the hotel’s ghosts. She reluctantly agreed to attend the investigation on the condition that the team would never would be more than 6 feet away from her as she walked them through the eatery. 

At one point, she shouted, “He’s here,” and went into a panic. She hollered “what do you want?” and was thrown against the cooler wall. She started crying, and said her back burned. One of the investigators helped lift her shirt, revealing the backwards word “YOU” scratched into her back, deep enough to break the skin. They dabbed away the blood before taking this photo.

Have a spooky day!

The post Heaven is a Place Where Everything is Just Okay appeared first on Homespun Haints.

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Then scroll to the bottom of this page for a bonus episode about fungal funerals.

Episode Summary

We all make stupid mistakes when we’re teenagers. Forgetting to turn off the lights when we leave a room. Making friends with demons. Accidentally pissing off a decades-dead witch. You know, the uzh. We talk to podcasters Amber and Maddie of Witches Talking Tarot, who relay their paranormal teenage mistakes that forever changed their lives today, on Homespun Haints.

About the Guests: Maddie and Amber of Witches Talking Tarot

Maddie grew up in a string of haunted houses and may have gotten an incubus attachment. Amber was a clairaudient teen runaway. Both of them are witches. The pair do on-air tarot readings and podcast “about tarot, the occult, cryptids, aliens, myths, and MANY other topics”. Like us, they’re not afraid to get weird. Here is their podcast in audio and video format. Enjoy! Be sure to keep up with their latest developments on Twitter @ClassiestWtches, Instagram @witchestalkingtarot, or Facebook.

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Episode Show Notes

Can an attachment be an incubus?

Maddie may have a scary supernatural attachment. It started when she was 13 and obsessed with Twilight. Even after growing up and moving out of her spooky house, she’s still having dreams of…something…sexy? Could a dream egg cleansing help? What about a spiritual chastity belt made of incense? A spiritual restraining order? It does seem this purported incubus is attempting to lure her back to her former home.

Would you get buried in a mushroom?

What is a mushroom coffin? Tune in below for a whole bonus episode on these fascinating new uber-eco-friendly burial options. In the meantime, have a spooky day!

The post Mr. Darcy the Incubus and a Minivan Full of Dead Witches appeared first on Homespun Haints.

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Episode Summary

How can you tell if a ghost is nice? Or enjoys long walks in the woods? Or is fashionable?

Our guests today, a mother-daughter duo, have several ghost stories to share. Some of the ghosts are nice, and some aren’t. But one interesting ghost has a very particular way he likes to dress.

Episode Show Notes

About the Guests, Atlanta-Based Podcasters Melanie and Mollie

Today’s guests are the mother-daughter duo of Melanie and Mollie. If you’re wondering what are the other best Atlanta based true story podcasts out there, wait ’til you hear this. Together, Melanie and Mollie host a podcast called Storytime with Mom & Me. And they are as funny and mystical as we aspire to be. But their show features down-to-earth stories on all kinds of subjects. Independently, Melanie (mom) is into fair trade crystals. Mollie (daughter) is an astrologer and the oracle reader of Jalisa’s Palace.

Mystical ways to keep in touch with friends

Mollie and Melanie have some interesting ways that they use to keep in touch with friends. Personally, we like texts, Facebook, and Instagram (because we’re Gen Xers and can’t seem to find anyone on MySpace anymore for some reason). Our guests take communication in an entirely different direction. She has been known to use:

• The Ouija board, with friend Istepi. But, to be fair, she’s really only communicated with Istepi through the Ouija board. Istepi might not be alive.
• Telekinesis or poltergeist activity with “friend” Vackie. Unfortunately, Mollie was on the receiving end only, since Vackie is incorporeal. This “imaginary friend” used to lock Mollie in her childhood bedroom. Vackie also pushed Mollie down the stairs once.
• Telepathy with friend C.G. who, unlike the above, is corporeal.

Thank you for listening to our little indie Atlanta-based paranormal podcast!

We’re so glad the word is getting out locally. If you’re also in Atlanta, let us know how you found our podcast in the comments, or by connecting with us on social @homespunhaints.

Just for you, Hainted Loves, here’s a short bonus episode about a potentially paranormal occurrence between Becky’s son and her cat, What is the sound of one cat knocking?

Until next time, have a spooky day!

The post Mom and Me and Hipster Lumberjack Ghost Makes Three appeared first on Homespun Haints.

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Episode Summary

One night, 6 teen girls in Cookville, Tennessee, break out the Ouija board as a fun party trick. What ensues is far, far less fun. Not long after that, the doors in Katie’s house start opening on their own. At first, the scary happenings only occurred in her dad’s absence, while Katie was alone. But eventually he…and others…also witnessed some truly terrifying things.

Then, just when it’s been quiet long enough that everyone thinks the haunting is dormant, Katie starts recording a spooky podcast in the house. You can probably guess what happened next.

Episode Promo

Our episode promo is from 3 Spooked Girls, another spooky podcast that we love!

About the Guest: Katie Groves

Katie co-hosts another spooky podcast called Haunt Her? I Barely Know Her! On the show, she and her co-host Zoe Knowlton take turns telling each other scary stories…sound familiar??? Also like Homespun Haints, their content is tinged with Southern motifs, as the hosts grew up in Central Tennessee. Also like us, they’re using their advanced STEM educations to bring you paranormal entertainment. Do you really need me to go on? Go check them out already!

You can also follow Haunt Her? I Barely Know Her! on Twitter and Instagram. And since this episode aired, Katie has joined us on a few different platforms, her stories are that good.

Can fighting family members cause a haunting?

Prickly interactions between a teenager and a parent are more normal than paranormal. But when there’s sincere negative energy between the generations, could that be enough to conjure whatever it was that Katie and her dad witnessed in their haunted house? Stay tuned for our follow-up Patreon episode to learn more about the family demons manifested in this episode.

There’s a MANUAL for Ouiji boards?!

Oh dear. We’ve used a Ouija board so many times…we had no idea there was an instruction manual. Here are the most recent instructions, according to Hasbro. The wikiHow community has a little more detail, in their always-making-the-bizarre-banal candor.

And, if you’re curious how these strange devices work (scientifically speaking), here’s a little video we put together:

This spooky podcast episode has time travel!

Apparently, bathrooms are a hot spot for hauntings and paranormal activity. Why? Well, no one (not even the experts) that we’ve talked to seem to have a definitive answer, but there are a lot of theories. We’ve compiled them together and created a great video to explain it all here. Also, learn more about Diana’s other haunted bathroom experiences in last season’s episode Teleporting with Toilets.

Until next time, have a spooky day!

The post Ghosts Are A-Holes: A true ghost story involving a Ouija board appeared first on Homespun Haints.