Listen to the stories here.

Episode Summary

It’s pretty obvious after talking to Whitney for a little while that she is quite sensitive to ghosts. She feels them, she hears them, and she also seeks them out in the historical and investigative work that she does. However, she begins her interview by telling us about one of her first encounters, when she heard her late father walking through her home shortly after his funeral. From there, she tells a plethora of true ghost stories about the other encounters she has had since.

About the Guest: Whitney

Whitney used to each English in South Korea, where she met her husband. Now, when she’s not doing paranormal investigating with Shadow Walkers Paranormal or the Tennessee Wraith-Chasers, Whitney works at The Valentine Museum in Richmond, VA, and gives haunted history tours with the Ashland Haunted History Tours (founded by Red Vein).

Whitney’s novella, The Safe Room (Broken Roses) is now available for purchase for Kindle and paperback.

Paranormal Amplifiers

Do rivers that flow over a bed of limestone or granite create “battery power” for hauntings?

The Stone Tape Theory posits that certain kinds of stones can somehow record emotions and memories, and play them back as residual hauntings. Plus, we’ve heard in multiple paranormal investigator interviews that areas with flowing water tend to be more haunted than average. One could surmise that a combination of the two, like a limestone riverbed, would inevitably display some paranormal phenomena.

What is an Elemental?

Elementals, as Whitney explains, are paranormal entities that are of the earth. They are not the remnants of humans because they never were human, but they are considered spirits of a sort.

Some sources say Elementals can be anything from faeries to unicorns, mermaids to leprechauns. In fact, some of the creatures we heard about in our interview with Sapphire Sandalo where she discusses Manananggal, Duwende, and Endkanto, could be considered Elementals.

The theory posited by the alchemist Paracelsus states that there are four types of Elements, and each of these pertains to one of the four classic elements. Gnomes are Earth, Undines (or mermaids) are Water, Sylphs are Air, and Salamanders are Fire. Human beings embody the fifth element.

Until next time, have a spooky day!

The post Paranormal Hangover: A True Ghost Story From a Paranormal Investigator appeared first on Homespun Haints.

The Tunnel of Death

On October 2, 1925, workers for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad were in the process of trying to widen the Church Hill Tunnel, a long-unused railway tunnel that had been closed a decade prior. The tunnel already carried the moniker of “The Tunnel of Death”—the passageway had been constructed through soft, quicksand-like soil that liked to eat workers and dislodge building foundations much like the living sand in McDowell’s The Elementals.

But alas, for some reason on that fateful day, the C&O sent nearly hundreds of workers and a steam engine into the tunnel of doom in hopes of getting it ready for recommission.

You know where this is going, right? The tunnel collapsed. Most of the men made it out alive. A few, however, were not so lucky. Tom Mason, the engineer, was pinned inside the cab of the train; rescuers recovered his body nine days later. Benjamin Mosby, the train’s fireman, was shoveling coal when the tunnel collapsed. The boiler exploded, severely burning Mosby. He made it out of the tunnel alive—barely—by crawling under the train. But he died shortly thereafter from his injuries.

The Richmond Vampire

Here’s where the legend begins. Witnesses claimed to see a man hovering over an injured worker outside of the tunnel. At first, onlookers thought the man was a doctor come to help the survivors. But, legend tells that the man began drinking the blood of the victim. When others tried to stop the mysterious man, he darted off and disappeared into the crypt of William Wortham Pool’s grave in Hollywood Cemetery. And thus, the lore of the Richmond Vampire was born.

W.W. Pool was a bookkeeper who died in 1922—three years before the tunnel collapse. His crypt in Hollywood Cemetery has suffered so much vandalism by would-be vampire seekers that his body and his wife’s body have been moved. The crypt remains, and it’s pretty creepy looking. The crypt is inscribed with the date 1913, which is the year Mrs. Pool died.

So, was W.W. Pool of Richmond a vampire who snuck out of his tomb to feed on the blood of the injured? Perhaps, but more commonly it’s believed that Mosby, burned, mangled, and disoriented, resembled a vampire as he stumbled out of the tunnel. Perhaps he wandered toward Pool’s crypt in his delirium before being taken away to the hospital where he eventually died.

But New Orleans has vampires, right?

And what of New Orleans’ vampires? GenXers like myself are well aware of the stories of Lestat and Louis navigating the centuries in this Spanish-moss dripping town, and younger generations grew up with Sookie and her entourage hanging in nearby small-town Louisiana. But New Orleans does have a bit of history that helps justify the its vampiric undertones. Look up the “casket girls” to learn about the New Orleans legend of the mysterious flock of women who arrived with some very unusual luggage.

Until next time, have a spooky day!

The post W.W. Pool, the Vampire of Richmond appeared first on Homespun Haints.

On this episode of Homespun Haints, hear Michelle’s real ghost story about what she and her roommate saw during the most frightening night of their lives. Unlike most of the ghosts Michelle has encountered, the figure in her DC apartment did not seem to have a benign agenda.

Listen right here:

About the Guest: Michelle Mercurio

We’re so excited to meet Michelle Mercurio, and we’re sure you will be, too! Check out her professional branding and copywriting site at michellemercurio.com, her more esoteric professional witchy business site yourresidentwitch.com, or follow her on Instagram at @michmerc. You can also check out her podcast, Open Sesame, the same places you listen to ours.

The Vampire of Richmond

A train crash, a mysterious man drinking the blood of the victims, and a disappearance into a crypt! All these legends (or history?) surround the mysterious William Wortham Pool. But was he a real vampire?

Until next time, have a spooky day!

The post The Richmond Vampire appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Listen here:

Episode Summary

Running a podcast out of a haunted building can be a bit tricky at times, especially when the haints start messing with the internet. Luckily, someone in our office left some palo santo, which I used with verve to clear out all the nasties. Once the spirits left, the internet connection stabilized.

Next, we spoke with Beth, a minister’s daughter born with her family’s hereditary ability to see and sense spirits. Beth told us about living in the parsonage next to an old cemetery, and all the strange shells of the dead who bothered her from time to time. Strange men walked through the halls, an early 19th-century woman floated by her bedroom window, and a back door periodically shook as if someone unseen were trying to open it. And that’s just the beginning.

Haunted Buildings From This Story

Beth recounted other spooky experiences that continued to happen to her throughout adulthood, in Richmond, New Orleans, Eureka Springs, and in Michigan. She wouldn’t tell us too much about her current home, however, because she didn’t want to disturb the spirits residing in her house. We did record this interview at night, after all.

The Row Houses of Richmond Virginia

Beth’s roommates were real assholes by not telling her of the history of the row house they all rented together in Richmond. One shared experience, however, and they all bolted from that abode.

Richmond is an incredibly historic (and haunted) city, and the row houses are no exception. If you aren’t familiar with the architecture of Richmond, here are some beautiful photos of the Fan District of Richmond, showcasing some gorgeous Edwardian row house architecture.

Also, what the hell is a vegan punk?

The Absurdly Haunted Le Richelieu Hotel Building

Even if you haven’t listened to the episode yet, you’ve probably heard of the Le Richelieu – a haunted building. It’s stupid haunted. But, then again, so is all of New Orleans. Which is probably why Beth noted the uneasy feelings coming from the convent next to the hotel.

Then again, that particular convent is special. Stories abound. The St. Ursuline nuns of this particular convent housed the newly-arrived, sickly-looking girls and their casket-shaped luggage until they could be married off. The nuns housed the girls on the third floor, and nailed the shutters closed from the outside. With nails blessed by the Pope himself. If you haven’t heard the story of this particular convent and its strange inhabitants, you’ve probably already made the connection with New Orleans vampires.

There’s so much more to this episode, but we don’t want to ruin the surprise. So listen in!

Until next time, have a spooky day!

The post We’re Walking Through Blood appeared first on Homespun Haints.

Listen here:

Haunted Hollywood Cemetery

Amy moved into an apartment in the gatekeeper’s house of Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, VA while she was in college. She lived on the top floor, and her kitchen was in the turret.

Nothing happened until the night she broke into the cemetery with some friends, and then lied to the groundskeeper about losing a mythical cat as a way to get out of getting in trouble. But then, almost in response to her lie, a strange, feral cat appeared out of nowhere, and she had no choice but to keep the devilish thing until she moved.

Other things began to happen in her strange abode. I won’t give too many details away, but the stories involve chocolate pudding, kitchen cabinets, and a strange force who referred to himself as “The Admiral.” And, of course, there were the strange spirits inhabiting the lower floors who terrorized her guests as they bolted up the house’s staircase.

Today, Amy has her own podcast, Starling Creative Living, and it’s incredible.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. You’ve got to listen to hear the rest.

What is this Hollywood Cemetery?

Hollywood Cemetery is a beautiful, park-like graveyard outside of Richmond, VA, that does, yes, hold the graves of several dead presidents. You can take your family on a nice picnic there, you can arrange to have your mortal remains interred there, and, if you’re still alive, you can rent an apartment in this beautiful Victorian gatekeeper’s house on the grounds. Just don’t get upset if the neighbors get a little too close for comfort.

And, our guest this week actually lived in said house. On the top floor.

Want to see the cemetery for yourself? You can check out a virtual tour, or read about its haunted past.

What the hell is Dear David?

Oh, you haven’t heard of Dear David? Oh my, let us widen your horizons here. Dear David is a series of Twitter threads by Adam Ellis describing the ghost of a child haunting his apartment. Not too scary, right? Except this child, David, has a viciously malformed head (because it was bashed in during the horrendous accident that probably made him into a ghost). And, David wants to kill Adam.

Read the threads here.

Until next week, have a spooky day!

The post The Woman Who Lived in a Cemetery appeared first on Homespun Haints.