HGB Halloween Special 2025 - Halloween Music

We always try to pick a fun theme for our Halloween Special and this year we thought we would feature Halloween Music. Not just the music one might hear in a horror movie - and we will definitely talk about some of that - but music made specifically for Halloween. There is a whole history to what some may call "Monster Music" that goes from fun novelty songs to Goth Punk and even the disturbing. Join us for this candy corn filled, costume wearing romp through one-eyed purple people eaters, monsters mashing, ghostbusters busting and nightmares before Christmas.

Let's set the mood with a little true ghost story from our listener John. He wrote us, "Hi, I wanted to share a true story from my family. My parents divorced when I was 3 and never spoke to each other again, best I can tell. They have both told me this story at different times. When they first got married, they were renting a house close to where my dad milked cows. Every night, they would hear heavy steps upstairs that came down the steps and through the kitchen and every morning, the kitchen door would be open. They changed the locks and this still happened. One night, my dad dragged a heavy China hutch in front of door. The next morning, the china hutch was against the wall and the door was open. One morning after dad had gone to work, mom heard the footsteps, but they came in their bedroom this time. Her little dog started whining and hiding under the blankets. Mom heard someone say her name right in her ear. She jumped up, grabbed her shoes and walked to my dad's job. They moved out days later and the landlord told them a man was killed in the attic of the house and that he was having a hard time renting it out. The house burned to the ground a few years after that even though there was no power to the house." 

So we've done an episode on Haunted Music, Ep. 344, and we wanted to share a little bit from that about the Devil's Chord. Music was very connected to the church up until the Middle Ages or Medieval times. The Devil's Interval or Devil's Chord was introduced at this time and it was considered so diabolical, that it was banned by the Church. The Devil's Chord was not harmonious like the other music of the time. Harmony has notes that flow together and share pitches and frequencies. There is a set timing to the harmony, like a waltz is 3:4 time and a march is 2:4 time and etc. 

The Devil's Interval is formally called the Tritone. This is the augmented fourth and the diminished fifth. According to Carl E. Gardner’s 1912 text  "Essentials of Music Theory" a “triad” in music is composed of three tones. These tones are a starting note plus the third and fifth tones found along its scale like C and then E and G. Most chords are independent, but a tritone is dependent and has “dissonant” or tense intervals. There is something about a dissonant chord that is disturbing to our spirits. If a composition ends with a tritone, it is uncomfortable. And in a singing composition, it is nearly impossible for any singer, regardless of talent, to sing. Thus, any piece of music with the Devil's Interval is thought to be creepy and chilling. Because of all of this, the church banned it and called it Diabolus in Musica. John Sloboda, a professor of music psychology at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama, was interviewed on NPR in 2012 and he explained how it is that the Devil's Interval is disturbing saying, "Our brains are wired to pick up the music that we expect, [and] generally music is consonant rather than dissonant, so we expect a nice chord. So when that chord is not quite what we expect, it gives you a little bit of an emotional frisson, because it's strange and unexpected." Many composers have used the Devil's Chord throughout history. Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde has the Tritone in its prelude. For this reason, it is sometimes called the Tristan chord. This incorporates the notes F, B, D sharp and G sharp. Wagner's "Gotterdammerung" also has the chord and some terrifying imagery which will also become a part of performances of the Devil's Interval. In this opera, there is a scene that has drums and timpani and feels evil with a scene playing out what seems to be a Black Mass. Beethoven has it in his Piano Sonata No.18 and "Fidelio." Michael Tippett's Second Symphony features the Tritone prominently. Camille Saint-Saens' "Danse Macabre" was a salute to the dead coming alive at Halloween and first performed in 1875. Hungarian composer Franz Liszt used the tritone scale and images of devils playing violins and dancing in his Mephisto Waltzes. 

Jazzmen used the Devil's chord throughout the '40s and '50s and even had a hand signal to pay homage to what they called 'the flattened fifth'. This was a high five but with the thumb folded in to the palm and the musician would call out "Oolya Koo, man!" When singing the tritone jazz performers would sing with a false chord technique that came off as just a sound like a scream or growl. Metal singers do the same today. In our modern era, one can hear it in Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze," Black Sabbath songs, Rush's "YYZ," the song "Maria" in West Side Story, Busta Rhymes’s “Woo Hah!! Got You All In Check,” The Simpsons theme song and death metal music.

And since we were talking about screaming there, we should probably talk about Screamin' Jay Hawkings and his song, "I Put a Spell on You." We heard this information from the Professor of Rock on YouTube. Screamin' Jay Hawkins didn't start out as this shock rock ghoul who would come out on stage like a Voodoo priest that looked half crazed. He actually wanted to be an opera singer. But instead, he learned how to play the piano and started fronting blues bands. The guys in the band would be drinking while they performed and this got Jay into howling and the audiences loved it. In the mid-1950s, Jay wrote a love song called "I Put a Spell on You." It was this lovesick ballad. Hawkings band entered the recording studio and did a little rehearsal and the producer was dissatisfied with the sound. He knew that Jay and the band were good at cutting loose on stage and so he told Jay that the song sounded stiff and he wanted them to play it like they would on stage. Well Jay didn't know what to do because the band was drunk when they did that kind of thing on stage. When he told the producer, Arnold Maxon, that and Maxon got a bright idea to create the right conditions. He went out and got some ribs and fried chicken and a ton of booze. He told the band to eat and drink up and they all got hammered. Then they recorded the song and Jay grunted and howled and hollered through the whole thing like a mad man and it was a gold recording that today is a Halloween staple.

Spooky Little Halloween is a great account to follow on Instagram and she has a great website. She joined us on one of the Halloween Specials in the past. One of our favorite things that she does is putting together these playlists on Spotify. A staple of those lists are novelty songs. Several novelty songs have Halloween theming or topics that fit perfectly with Halloween. 

There's "Purple People Eater." Sheb Wooley created "The Purple People Eater" song in 1958. He was more of a honky tonk kind of guy who wrote cowboy songs and appeared in Western films. He sure changed that with this song. Part of the song features the people eater's voice and a saxophone solo through a horn in his head and this was created by recording a normal voice and sax solo and later speeding up the tape. The same technique brought us Alvin and the Chipmunks. There's "Little Red Riding Hood" by Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs. This song came out in 1966 and features the perspective of the Big Bad Wolf and thankfully, he seems more interested in a date than making her a meal. In more recent years there was the Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff's "Nightmare on my Street" and the more obscure "Then She Bit Me." But clearly, the best Halloween novelty song is the "Monster Mash." Monster Mash was the first track on Bobby "Boris" Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers 1962 album "The Original Monster Mash. So Kelly, what is the Mash? I mean these monsters are doing a mash. Well, in the 1960s, one of the really popular dances was called the Mashed Potato based on Dee Dee Sharp's 1962 hit "Mashed Potato Time." This entailed stepping backward, tilting the heel inward and then swiveling it outward while on your toes and then repeating that with the other foot. It's very similar to the Charleston. So the monsters are doing the mashed potato. Pickett changes up his voice to imitate Universal monsters, which makes this all the more fun.

One of our favorite groups for novelty songs is The Goldstars. This is a garage rock/punk group that hails from Chicago. In 2021, they produced "Stroll in Hell," which is a tune beloved by horror host Dr. Demento. There was 2023's "Leave Me Alone (A Halloween Song)". And this year they dropped one for my favorite guy, "I Frankensteined U." Follow at: https://www.instagram.com/thegoldstarsofficial/ Here is a medley of those songs. (Goldstars Medley)

Punk Rock just screams disturbing and Halloween. The Misfits produced their own song about Halloween (Misfits Halloween) There are a handful of songs that are just staples on any Halloween playlist. First up has to be Ghostbusters! Ghostbusters is a song written and performed by Ray Parker Jr. It was released in 1984 and hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Parker was inspired by a late night commercial he watched for a service business that included the line "Who ya gonna call." The other shoe-in has to be Michael Jackson's Thriller. I remember when the video dropped on MTV. It was so amazing! Thriller is a disco-funk song that was produced by Quincy Jones and was written by Rod Temperton. The song was meant to be reminiscent of film music. The addition of Vincent Price for the spoken-word sequence was a brilliant move. The song was released in 1983 and eventually reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is one of the bestselling singles of all time. The music video was made when Thriller began to slump on the charts. John Landis, who directed An American Werewolf in London, helmed the video and he wrote it with Jackson. The music video doubled sales of Thriller and the zombie dance is popular in movies and on dance floors around Halloween.

The Nightmare Before Christmas gave us This is Halloween, and again, a perfect song for the holiday. Danny Elfman wrote and performed the song and the Citizens of Halloween Town sing it. It's been covered by various bands. Warren Zevon wrote Werewolves of London with LeRoy Marinell and Waddy Wachtel and Zevon sang it with Mick Fleetwood playing drums and John McVie on bass. The song was released in 1978. The first line sets the tone, "I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand." Time Warp is a song from the 1973 rock musical The Rocky Horror Show that also was used in the 1975 film The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The song is techn ically described as a glam rock song that is supposed to parody dance songs with instructions for performing the dance. Time Warp was written by Richard O'Brien and Richard Hartley.

Those are well known songs, but there are hundreds of Halloween/spooky themed songs. You can listen to them 365 days a year on DeadAir.co. One that I was reminded of the other day on there is Hell by Squirrel Nut Zippers. And I love The Crewnecks with their "Rockin' Zombie" and Lee "The Big Masher" Lilly with Spooky Movies. There's just something about these old spooky theme songs that take you back to an earlier time, back when we were trick or treating. 

Nothing sets a mood better than music. We're sure the listeners have all seen video clips from movies where the original music has been stripped and replaced with horror music, turning a rom/com or family friendly movie into a terrifying film. Some of the best Halloween music comes from horror movies with the supreme example being (Halloween Carpenter). Everybody knows that music and it immediately gets the heart pumping. You want to look around because surely something is after you and the cadence lends itself to running down the street in terror while being pursued by a knife wielding madman. Let's talk about some of our favorite horror composers. Obviously, the Halloween music was created by John Carpenter for his movie.

Danny Elfman! He is THE favorite for both of us. The entire soundtrack to "Nightmare Before Christmas" could enhance any Halloween party. But he also wrote the theme for "Tales From the Crypt" and the music for "Sleepy Hollow" starring Johnny Depp. There's also "Beetlejuice" of course and "Corpse Bride." Elfman's initial fame came as frontman to the New Wave band Oingo Boingo. Elfman moved into film scoring in 1985 when Tim Burton asked him to do the music for Pee-wee's Big Adventure. Elfman was hesitant because he honestly had no idea how to do that. He had no formal training, but he threw together a demo and Burton loved it. Elfman said that he got inspiration from Bernard Herrmann. 

Bernard Herrmann was born in 1911 and music critic Alex Ross wrote of Herrmann, "Over four decades, he revolutionized movie scoring by abandoning the illustrative musical techniques that dominated Hollywood in the 1930s and imposing his own peculiar harmonic and rhythmic vocabulary." He was definitely innovative. The best example of this is his score for Psycho. (Psycho Music) Like Halloween, this music sets the tone for a tense, driving piece. The shower scene has music that is a masterpiece that matches well with the stabbing movements of the killer. Herrmann achieved this with violins that were played with a screeching, stabbing effect. Hitchcock himself said of the score that "33% of the effect of Psycho was due to the music" and that "Psycho depended heavily on Herrmann's music for its tension and sense of pervading doom." Herrmann also wrote the music for many other Hitchcock movies like "The Birds," "Vertigo," "North by Northwest" and he scored "Cape Fear" and "The Day the Earth Stood Still."

The Shining has one of the creepier opening themes and this was composed by Walter Carlos - who is now Wendy Carlos - and Rachel Elkind. They took inspiration from a traditional melody known as "Dies irae," which is Latin for "day of wrath." This was a somber chant and used mainly in funeral services. That piece of music has been used often by composers to symbolize death. Carlos and Elkind put the melody in a lower register with brass tone color. They highly processed vocals and used exotic percussion. And then there is this synthesized low drone, which is really unnerving. 

Graeme Revell of New Zealand lead the industrial rock group SPK in the 1980s and started film composing in the 1990s. He has scored "Dead Calm," "The Crow," "From Dusk to Dawn," and "Bride of Chucky." Marco Beltrami is an American composer who has written a number of scores for some of our more recent horror flicks like "Scream," "The Faculty," "Resident Evil," "Carrie," and "A Quiet Place." Just like Tim Burton works often with Danny Elfman, Beltrami worked often with Wes Craven. His score for A Quiet Place was nominated for a Golden Globe. And then there was Jerry Goldsmith. His list of horror compositions is massive: Coma, Poltergeist, Alien, The Omen, The Swarm, Gremlins, The Haunting and many of their sequels. And then, I have to mention Bear McCreary because I love the theme from The Walking Dead, which he created. He's also done the music for Happy Death Day, 10 Cloverfield Lane and the remake of Child's Play. Honorable mention for John Williams, who is one of my favorite film composers, for the theme for Jaws. How memorable is that?

And finally, let's end this with probably the most disturbing song ever recorded, "Frankie Teardrop." People have been warned not to listen to this song alone and at night. Some people have claimed to become ill when listening to the song. The group who performed it was named Suicide and they dropped the song in 1977. The Professor of Rock said of this song, "The stark, bizarre arrangement and the brutal lyrics are still rattling listeners decades later, including me. I heard it the other day and I couldn't finish it." Suicide was a musical duo formed by vocalist Alan Vega and instrumentalist Martin Rev. They used a lot of synthesizers and primitive drum machines in their music. What really makes the song unsettling is Alan Vega's blood curdling screams. They disturb the soul. The song is the story of Frankie who is a poor factory worker who descends into madness. He takes the lives of his family and then himself. I've listened to just a brief portion of it and that was enough. This kind of song reminds us of one we talked about on the Haunted Music episode "Gloomy Sunday."  

Gloomy Sunday was a Hungarian piece of music with a notorious reputation. The song was said to cause people to unalive themselves. Gloomy Sunday was written by Hungarian pianist and composer Rezső Seress and is nicknamed the "Hungarian Suicide Song." It was written in 1933. The original lyrics were written as if the world was ending and reflected the despair about war and people's sins. Poet László Jávor wrote his own lyrics to the song, titled le Szomorú vasárnap (Sad Sunday). The protagonist wants to commit suicide because his lover has died. More people remember those lyrics. "Gloomy Sunday" was first recorded in English by Hal Kemp in 1936, with lyrics by Sam M. Lewis. Billie Holiday performed it in 1941 making it incredibly popular. Urban legends began claiming that people were killing themselves after hearing the song and radio networks began banning the song, just like Frankie Teardrop. 

Music is incredibly powerful. It can take people to the depths of despair, curdle their blood with fear and bring them joy. And all of that is demonstrated through the music of Halloween. Whether it's a horror score or a fun novelty song, music sets the tone for Halloween. Try using music to get you in the mood for Halloween this year. Pick some classics and find some new pieces as well. And let the magic of Halloween music take hold!  

For all your Halloween tunes: https://deadair.co/ 

HGB Ep. 610 - Legends of Feathered Terrors

Moment in Oddity - High Hopping Wallabies

At History Goes Bump, we love everything weird. From stories of hauntings, to sightings of cryptids and aliens, and even strange animal encounters. So when our listener Michael Rogers posted about a kangaroo that broke into a pot farm, I had to know more. The high jumping bandit had supposedly broken into a grow farm in Australia and ate so much of the crop that it took the poor creature 4 days to sober up! Well, that story is not true, however, a story that IS true is that of unusual crop circles that were being found at a poppy farm in Tasmania. Tasmania is the world's largest producer of legally grown opium for the pharmaceutical market. Opium is produced from poppy flowers. The mystery of the crop circles was revealed when intoxicated wallabies were found in the fields, high as kites. Wallabies are marsupials and basically look like a smaller version of a kangaroo. The critters had been breaking into the poppy fields and eating the heads of the flowers. They would get so high that they would erratically hop in patterns before their ultimate crash. Although the crop circles were not as precise as ones we have seen on television shows that some people believe were left by visiting aliens. The destruction concerning the poppy popping pests was such a big deal that Tasmania's attorney general stood before parliament to address what might be the world's most unusual agricultural crisis. Thankfully, there was no long term damage suffered by the wallabies once their highs wore off. But farmers watching their pharmaceutical crops become makeshift dance floors for high-hopping marsupials, certainly is odd. 

Legends of Feathered Terrors

Can there be anything more terrifying than a monster that can swoop down out of the sky and attack? Perhaps even pick you up? Probably the most famous scary flying creature of American lore is Mothman, but the pterodactyl would have to be the most petrifying flying monster in the history of the world. But to be sure, neither of these creatures have feathers. They seemed to fly with bat-like wings. However, there are a class of feathered fiends that could give both of them a run for their money. Join us for legends of feathered terrors!

Kelly, there are some pretty scary birds that live in Antarctica and they are called skuas (Skew uh). These are dark-feathered birds that resemble seagulls. Now, while I have had a seagull dive bomb my sandwich on the beach a time or two, seagulls are not really anything to be feared...maybe, we'll get into that in a minute. The skua is quite different as Antarctica's top avian predator. King George Island in the South Shetlands is home to the brown and south polar skua. Scientists who study and tag the birds have found out the hard way that these birds will guard their nests at all costs. And like a scene straight out of Hitchcock's "The Birds," the skua fire off alarm calls that alert the other parent that there is a stranger and they both dive-bomb the scientist, pecking at the head and face. They scream the whole time and have no mercy. Now honestly, any bird with sharp claws and beaks can be scary and attack. And there once was a violent attack by a group of birds that gave Alfred Hitchcock inspiration for his movie. There was a mass bird attack in the seaside town of Capitola in California on August 18, 1961. The event was described as, "Capitola residents awoke to a scene that seemed straight out of a horror movie. Hordes of seabirds were dive-bombing their homes, crashing into cars and spewing half-digested anchovies onto lawns." There was a cause for this behavior from the birds that wasn't known until more recent times. Toxic algae. But it really doesn't matter what caused the birds to become crazy attacking birds, the fact is that they became feathered terrors.

Terror birds are said to go back about two million years and they had been the apex of predators in South America. These were large, flightless birds that were carnivorous. Terror birds are technically known as Phorusrhacids (For us rock ids) and they ranged from three to ten feet in height and could hit weights up to 770 pounds. They were believed to have highly flexible necks that gave them the ability to strike fast and hard. And their tightly fused beak could cause a lot of injury by pecking. Could some of the reports of large birds in more recent decades be connected to these ancient large birds? 

A man name John Bolduan was camping at a resort near Webb Lake in Wisconsin in June of 2005. He enjoyed bike riding, so set out on one of the bike paths. He came to a grassy field and he noticed a bird that looked similar to a Sandhill Crane with silver feathers, but the bird seemed to be really large. John set his bike down quietly and crept through the grass to get a better look. He told Linda Godfrey in her 2014 book American Monsters, "At first I thought it was an emu, an Australian bird that can get up to six or seven feet tall that some farmers in the area were raising, but as I got closer, I knew it wasn't an emu." He spooked the bird and it took off and John said, "The size was then truly apparent as it flew away. The wingspan I estimate must've been eighteen feet. It was at least three times as large as any eagle I had ever seen. It was gawky as it flew away, the flapping of those huge wings was slow and seemingly laborious. The wings seemed to roll as they flapped, like dropping a big rock in water and seeing the waves roll from it. It was not graceful. Not only was the wingspan large, but the wing itself must've been two feet wide as it flopped over the horizon. It almost looked like the size of a small airplane or ultralight aircraft - in fact, there is a small airstrip there where small planes take off and land, and this bird was the size of a Piper Cub as it flew over the trees." John estimated the wings were as wide as the road, which was twenty feet across. Was this some form of mutation of a crane? John was positive of what he saw and he never saw it again. Nor did anyone else report the Webb Lake Big Bird.

Native Americans told stories of Lake Monsters fighting with giant avians. These giant birds were referred to by Native Americans as Thunderbirds. Some of these myths claimed that Thunderbirds could carry off humans and even whales. Many of these stories came out of the Pacific coastline and the Great Lakes area and the reason they were referred to as Thunderbirds was because when they flapped their wings, it sounded like thunder. Native Americans even created myths that lightning came from their eyes and rain was water falling off their backs. These became a sort of trickster spirit as well. The Lakota of the Black Hills called them Thunder Beings. They felt they had a divine nature. Depending on tribe, thunderbirds could be good or bad. Could these Thunderbirds have survived through the years? 

The Mukwonago Chief reported in November 24, 1916 about a Battle With Giant Eagles, "California Deer Hunters Had Fierce Fight Before Overcoming Two Monarchs Of The Air. Attacked by two monster eagles while deer hunting in the Malibu district, Doctor Kingsbury of Ocean Park, G.M. Wilson, a rancher, and Policeman Harry Wright of Santa Monica, fought two hours before they were able to kill the birds, writes a Los Angeles correspondent. Shrieking and screaming, the eagles tore at the men with their claws, tearing Wright’s clothing in many places and inflicting a flesh wound on Kingsbury’s right shoulder. The fight began with only one of the birds. Then men were hunting on the Williams ranch with two dogs. Suddenly a huge eagle swooped down and grabbed one of the dogs. It circled 20 feet in the air with the dog in its talons before the men could fire. The first shot missed, but the second shot from Kingsbury’s gun brought the bird down. As the three men rushed forward, the eagle dropped the dog and struck out at Wright, screaming all the while. Its screams brought its mate, the latter making an attack on Kingsbury and sinking its talons into his shoulder. Williams shot and killed the bird that was fighting with Wright and then the two rushed the remaining eagle. It started to fly away and then came back. The men began shooting at it, driving it a little further away with each shot. For four miles they chased the bird before finally killing it."

In 1977, there was a report out of Lawndale, Illinois that a 10-year-old boy named Marlon Lowe had been attacked by two large birds while he was playing outside. One of the birds actually picked him up and carried him over 30 feet before his mother realized what happened and she ran after the bird and it eventually dropped her son. Not only did the mother witness this attack, but several other people were nearby and saw it. These witnesses described the birds as having a white ring around their necks and large black bodies. Their bodies were four-and-a-half feet long and each of their wings were four feet long. These birds were nicknamed Bigclaw. A man claimed that when he was a kid he saw the same birds that grabbed Marlon a couple days before the incident. He was hiking with a couple of friends along Spring Creek near Lawndale and they noticed these birds dropping from the air close to them.   

One of the most well known reports of a large bird in America was reported in the Tombstone Epitaph on April 26, 1890. Two gunslingers claimed that they shot a large bird out of the sky. They described it as having no feathers and a head like an alligator. The story went that the bird was dragged back to town and photographed, but that seems to be a total legend as the issue on file at the Library of Congress reveals no picture. If this really happened, the bird sounds like it was some kind of pterodactyl. One of the men told a reporter back in the 1930s that he was one of the men who shot at the monster. He said that the story had been misreported - or maybe they lied - but they didn't hit the bird. They merely spooked it and their terrified horses took off with them on board. So there was no bird brought back to town. 

Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman wrote of a couple of large bird encounters in his book "Curious Encounters: Phantom Trains, Spooky Spots and Other Mysterious Wonders." He wrote about a sighting that occurred on April 10, 1948 in Overland, Illinois. Three people said they saw a large bird that seemed to be the size of an airplane, flying over them. There was a similar sighting shortly after that in Alton, Illinois where a father and son claimed to have seen a giant bird with a body the size of a Piper Cub airplane.

Marco Polo wrote stories of a creature called a Roc in his Book of Travels. The Roc also appeared in the book Arabian Nights and was a creature from Middle Eastern folklore. This bird was so large, it blocked the sun when it flew during the daytime. Polo wrote that the wings were as big as palm leaves and that it was white in color. The bird laid eggs that were over 150 feet in circumference. One of its favorite prey was elephants, which it carried high into the sky and dropped to kill them. In Arabian Nights, Sinbad is carried away by a Roc after he has a shipwreck and he is placed in the Roc’s nest on top of a mountain. In the nest is an egg that is as large as 148 hen’s eggs. Sinbad escapes by lashing himself to the Roc’s leg with his turban. He flies high in the sky with it and manages to get away when the Roc flew near another island. In another story in the book, Rocs destroy ships by picking up huge boulders and dropping them on the ships. 

There was a recent sighting in South Greenburg, Pennsylvania reported on Lon Strickler's Phantoms & Monsters website, "There was a sighting of a monstrous bird in South Greensburg just as it was getting dark, four people were sitting around in the yard having a barbecue and enjoying the beautiful weather when suddenly, their attention was drawn skyward by a sound like a 'swish' or a 'swoosh' or as one witness stated, 'like the air coming straight down.' Several of the observers at almost the same time yelled out some exclamations including one man who said, “What the hell is that?” 

They were all startled to see a tremendously large bird that was flying over a tree in the yard about 30-40 feet overhead. The man who was going the cooking turned and looked up to see the creature fly above him at a distance of about 40 feet away. As the bird passed the tree, it veered slightly to the right and went straight down the road ahead maintaining its low-level path. When first observed the massive wings of the creature were in an upward position and were beginning to drop slowly, almost as if they were rolling to the bottom. The swoosh sound could be heard when the wings were moving. The powerful bird had flown about 125 yards down the road, at which time the wings were coming back up. The creature was observed as it continued to move steadily down the road, passing just above the rooftop of a house with its wings flapping slowly and steadily about 3-4 times until it reached a group of trees about ¼ miles away, where it was lost from sight. It took about 20 seconds to go the ¼ mile distance. As it passed over, it appeared as though it was peering below, with its head and beak positioned downward. It was estimated that if the bird was on the ground it would stand between 4 ½ to 5 feet tall. The entire body was the same dark color, either darkish brown or black. The body width was about 25-30 inches wide. One witness said the body, “was very bulky and husky.” The head was oval-shaped, and the beak was short for the size of the animal, about 8-10 inches long. The tail was about 2 feet long and came out wide to a point. It was the size of the wingspan of the creature that impressed the witnesses which they estimated at 10 feet or more in length. When asked why nobody thought to take a picture, they pointed out that while there were cell phones lying there with camera functions, all involved were mesmerized by the encounter. One witness felt as if he was almost ‘in shock’. It was later learned that another witness who lay along the road where the big bird flew over also reportedly saw the creature. One witness has been a long-time hunter and is very familiar with birds native to the state and is certain that he saw something quite unusual. The area where these observations have taken place, while surrounded by some wooded locations, is well populated, and nearby Route 119 is a highly traveled roadway."

Clinton County in Pennsylvania has some recent stories. This is towards the center of the state and is a place of rivers and valleys. Two people reported seeing a “large bird with a very long beak” in the summer of 2010 near Coudersport Pike. Then in June of 2012, two girls said they saw a Thunderbird while camping in Chapman Township and this bird had a 14-foot wingspan. There were no feathers on its head. The youngest of the two went running screaming into the cabin when the bird swooped low over her. The other girl said, "I know people think I’m strange when I talk about it, but it was real."

The Pennsylvania Wilds website continues the stories of sightings in Clinton County with this, "The biggest champion of the Thunderbirds was Hiram Cranmer, a retired postmaster who lived in Leidy Township, Clinton County. Cranmer was a sort of connoisseur of the weird, often discussing ghosts, UFOs, and monsters. He claimed to have seen his first Thunderbird in 1922, and four others after that. They had a tendency to inhabit northern Clinton County and southern Potter County, which, to be fair, is a pretty remote area. A large flock of Thunderbirds could be pretty easily hiding up there. Once, there was even said to have been a photo of a Thunderbird. According to the story, some men managed to kill one, nail it to a barn, and take a black-and-white photo while they posed in front of it. The photo, now missing, has become known as the “Lost Thunderbird Photo,” and is itself a story of legend. It may have ended with Cranmer. Researcher Ivan Sanderson claimed to have left the photo with Cranmer when he visited in 1963. Cranmer died when his house burned down in 1967, possibly taking the Thunderbird photo with it. In Lyman’s book, he hints at this as well, mentioning that the photo 'burned in a home.'" 

Pennsylvania seems to be the most popular place for large avian monsters when it comes to more modern sightings. Someone living in Greenville, Pennsylvania had noticed a large shadow passing over them and they thought this was from a small aircraft, but they looked up and were startled to see a grayish-black creature soaring overhead. And this wasn't a quick sighting. The bird hung around for 20 minutes. The witness said the wingspan was around 15 feet with a body of about 5 feet. A neighbor saw the same bird the next day and said it was "the biggest bird I ever saw." A month later, it is believed this same bird was seen in Erie County, Pennsylvania. The report had the same wingspan and described the bird as being "dark gray with little or no neck, and a circle of black under its head. Its beak was very thin and long—about a foot in length." 

Someone going by MP reported to Lon Strickler, "You know that Indian folklore in part tells the truth. I'll explain. Back in December 2001 to be exact, I went on a cruise to the Caribbean. It was a Royal Caribbean cruise. On our third or fourth day, we landed in Puerto Rico. One hour into port, a group of ten of us got a tour guide for just about an hour. Well, the tour guide was explaining spots of interest on the island, but since it was like a rainy-overcast day, he said that it wouldn't be possible to visit those sites. He took us to the beach in San Juan. We all got out, the sun was out just for like 20 minutes. I was married to my ex-wife at the time and I was taking pictures of her just a couple feet from our tour bus. Well, I saw the clouds coming in, the cloud was shaped almost like an arrow, and at the tip of the arrow were two giant birds. They both had white rings on their necks, one was way larger, and the other one was about the size of a Cessna propeller airplane. I yelled to the tour guide to look up at the clouds and repeated to all the members to look up, but by that time, the two giant birds went straight up higher than the clouds. Then the rain came down and we quickly got into the bus. Nobody believed me. I took pictures of the cloud. I still have them, but the birds weren't in the view. Indian legend says these birds bring rain clouds to villages that are in need of rain for planting their harvest. In a way the Indians were right." 

A man named JD had called Lon Strickler with this unbelievable report. It's the largest modern day one we have heard and this near an airport in Virginia. He later wrote this statement and sent it to Lon, ""On Monday Dec 15th at 6:45 PM (dark) I is was traveling on the Airport Rd near the New Kent Co., Virginia Airport. This section of road went by the New Kent trash collection center. The road is bordered by woods on both sides.

As I approached this location, I noticed something large and dark on the road very near the trash collection lot. I hit my brakes and came within 50 feet of what appeared to be a huge bird. Like I told you on the telephone, when I say huge, I mean something of unbelievable size. First of all, it had the overall shape of an eagle. It definitely had talons which were lighter in color. It also had beak which seemed too large and long for it's face. The overall color was dark, I'd say black. The height was at least 8 feet, probably more as it bobbed up and down. It may have been eating something when I approached it. It's head moved toward the direction of my car and made a grunting sound. It turned away from me and the long tail with feathers swung around in my direction. The wings, which extended across the road, unfurled as it lifted off the surface. The wings were massive, but like I said reached past the width of the road. I told you 25 feet on the telephone, I still believe that is a correct estimate." 

CNN reported back in 2002 about a massive bird sighting reported out of Anchorage, Alaska, "A bird the size of a small airplane was recently said to be seen flying over southwest Alaska, puzzling scientists, the Anchorage Daily News reported this week. The newspaper quoted residents in the villages of Togiak and Manokotak as saying the creature, like something out of the movie "Jurassic Park," had a wingspan of 14 feet - making it the size of a small airplane." 

A resident named Moses said the bird made him think of an old Otter plane, but when it banked, he could see that it was a bird. Scientists were skeptical of the size. They assumed people were seeing a Steller's Sea Eagle, which can be quite large, but they are native to Japan. So if that is what this was, it was far away from home. Of course, their wingspan reaches 8 feet, which is far off the mark of 14 feet. And no witnesses reported the color of the bird being black and white like the Steller's Sea Eagle. A Raptor Specialist named Phil Schemf said, "I'm certainly not aware of anything with a 14-foot wingspan that's been alive for the last 100,000 years." Some time later, a local pilot saw the same bird and said, "The people in the plane saw him. He's huge, he's huge, he's really, really big. You wouldn't want to have your children out." 

Linda Godfrey had this great passage on Texas Monster Avians from the 1970s. (pg.28) 

Most cryptozoologists are very strict in their definition of a Thunderbird and so many don't believe a Thunderbird has ever been seen. In order to be classified as a Thunderbird, the cryptid must be between four and eight feet tall with a wingspan of fifteen to twenty feet And they are dark in color. Whether a bird hits that mark or not, it is clear that some species of birds are much larger than their counterparts and have lead to some terrifying interactions. Did or do any of these feathered creatures exist? That is for you to decide! 

HGB Ep. 609 - Chatham's Haunts

This Month in History - Christopher Wren Born

In the month of October, on the 20th, in 1632, Christopher Wren was born in East Knoyle, Wiltshire. Sir Christopher Wren was an English architect, astronomer, mathematician and physicist, and was widely considered a polymath. After the Great Fire of London in 1666, Wren was tasked with rebuilding the city. His architectural portfolio was quite impressive, having designed over 50 churches, one of which being St. Bride's Church. That particular church was the inspiration of apprentice baker, Thomas Rich, who wanted to make an extravagant wedding cake. The baker imitated the design of St. Bride's Church which continues in the traditional style of wedding cakes today. Wren's architectural designs reshaped London's skyline after the Great Fire, but he is most well known for St. Paul's Cathedral. The cathedral is considered a masterpiece of English Baroque architecture. Known by its iconic dome, it signifies London's resilience after surviving both the Great Fire of London and the Blitz in WWII. After leaving many indelible marks, primarily in London, Christopher Wren died on February 25, 1723, in his sleep and is buried in the crypt at St. Paul's Cathedral. 

Chatham's Haunts (Chat Um)

Chatham in Kent has many haunted locations with most of them being connected to battle, war and the military. There were six forts built here to protect the Chatham Dockyard from attacks, particularly by Napoleon Bonaparte. Several of those forts are haunted and the Dockyard is probably the most haunted location in Chatham. Join us for the history and hauntings of Chatham! 

Chatham is located on the River Medway, making it a strategic location. The Royal Naval Dockyard was established here in 1568 by Queen Elizabeth I, but settlements date back to the Stone Age and archaeologists have uncovered Roman occupation and Saxon settlement. With the establishment of the dockyard, large amounts of manpower were needed and a village formed that grew through the years. Protection for the dockyard was desperately needed so Fort Amherst became the first fort built. This was followed by Fort Pitt and then Fort Luton, Fort Bridgewoods and Fort Borstal. Then Fort Horsted was built as the final fortification. The Dutch raided the dockyard in 1667 and inflicted severe damage. When it was decided that something more substantial than Upnor Castle needed to be built, bastions and ditches were constructed and these would be the beginnings of Fort Amherst. Official construction of Fort Amherst began in 1756. An infantry barracks was built in 1757. Two Redoubts were added in 1778 equipped with 14 42-pounders, 10 9-pounders, 8 6-pounders and 2 4-pounder guns. Amherst was expanded during the Napoleonic Wars and vast underground stores and tunnels were added with the use of convict labor from St. Mary's Island. Amherst was a formidable defense, but it was never put to the test. In 1820, much of the fort was considered obsolete so it became a training ground. People would come from all over to watch the practice sieges. Charles Dickens lived in Chatham and he described one of these sieges in his Pickwick Papers. The fort saw some use during World War II as an Air Raid Warning command post. In the 1980s, restoration on the fort was begun and eventually it was opened for tours and programs. These tours include Halloween ones.

Once Amherst opened to the public in 1983, ghost stories started flying. Many people have seen dark shadows that move and this is during the daytime. The reports are almost daily occurrences. Disembodied voices are heard, many times as whispers in the ears of tourists who go running and screaming. Other times, these sounds are a child's cry or a woman weeping. The child's crying coincides with visitors having tiny hand prints show up on their backs. Poltergeist activity is experienced throughout the fort. The most seen apparition is of a soldier who hangs out on the lower gun floor. There is another spirit that gives the soldier a run for his money and that is a faceless male ghost seen wearing a top hat and Victorian era coat. One story shared came from an electrician who was doing some work in a tunnel when he heard a fire bucket fall to the ground behind him. When he turned to look at it, he watched it slide across the floor. 

Fort Pitt was begun in 1805 and would be completed in 1819. It was named for Prime Minister William Pitt who died in 1806. The fort is shaped in an irregular polygon with bastions at each corner. Two outlying towers were also built and they were named Delce and Gibraltar. There were 10 18-pound cannons, and other armaments. Not only did this fort not see any action, but by the time it was finished the Napoleonic Wars had ended and there wasn't much purpose to the fort. So it was transformed into a military hospital. This would also become the headquarters of the Army Medical Department. The hospital closed in the 1920s and the buildings became a girls' grammar school. Much of the fort has been demolished, but what remains is part of the school. The fort has a military cemetery that mainly served the hospital that lies a quarter of a mile south of the fort. Many of the burials are from both World Wars. Charles Dickens nearly lived next door to the fort as a boy. Since this is a school, there haven't been ghost hunts here. There are rumors that it is haunted, but no definitive stories to share. 

Construction on Fort Luton began in 1876 and finished in 1892. The fort was named for the Luton Valley over which it looks. This is the smallest of the forts and was meant to guard the landward approaches to Chatham Dockyard. This too was finished too late to be of service during the Napoleonic Wars. Thus it had no arms and wasn't permanently manned. The fort was used for siege trials, which came to an end in 1907. Troops were housed here during World War I. After the war, it became a store. And then in 1938, the fort became a Gun Operations Room. 

Ghost Connections was the first group to investigate the fort. They wrote, "Due to the fact that it is being restored there were only certain areas open to us on this investigation. We set out with the intention of covering as much of the internal structures as possible in the evening. Session One: The team used the furthest magazine accessible from the left tunnel to commence a séance however due to the noises encountered would move out to the tunnel to continue this experiment. During this Dave moved to the main entrance end of the tunnel after Ian had walked the length of it to research noises that appeared to come from the tunnel. Session Two: The team located to the one restored casemate that is accessible. Session Three: The team returned to the same positions within the tunnel as at the end of session one but Dave positioned half way along the tunnel. Graham had the impression of someone standing between himself and Dave opposite him within the small magazine. The team initially heard a number of noises emanate from the tunnel. As this wasn't visible from the teams location Ian walked the length of the tunnel. The noises did not repeat themselves during this time as would be expected. Ian did manage to replicate something similar to the tone of the noise heard when he stepped on a loose brick within the the structure of the steps leading up to the main entrance from the tunnel itself. It was observed that communication could be had between the team easily at normal volume and without much echo. This we found surprising given the normal acoustics of tunnel structures we have investigated. Given this, Dave moved towards the further end of the tunnel in order to try and establish a source for the noise for sure by physical observation. Further noises were heard between Dave and the team within the tunnel. None of these were repeated on request although some were close. Dave had a song come into his head later identified as 'Mademoiselle From Armentières' and questioned the age of this song and its origins. The team did not know and it was decided to research this later. Dean had thoughts of a hot air balloon crashing and described it as red and white striped. He did not tell us about this until the break. Later recordings of this session would reveal voices unheard by the team at the time and one which clearly says “Allo Dean”.

Fort Bridgewoods became another in the circle of forts protecting the dockyard and this one was a landward approach. Construction began in 1890  and this too, would be finished after the threat from France was over. Imperial Germany was threatening though. Bridgewoods was polygonal in shape with earthen walls and there was a deep dry moat around it, but no fixed armaments were mounted anywhere. The main defense would come from field artillery. 

To the left of the entrance were casemates that held bunks and off the casemates were short tunnels leading to reservoirs and magazines. Convict labor did the construction and a new prison was built above the nearby city of Borstal to house that workforce. That's how the youth corrections system got its name. During the 1907 Siege Operations, Bridgewoods was damaged. During the World Wars, the fort had radar installed and was used as headquarters for anti-aircraft guns. A railway connected Fort Luton, Fort Horsted, Fort Bridgewoods and Fort Borstal to each other to facilitate construction by moving materials and men. Royal Engineers built it. Most of the fort was demolished in the 1970s. What was left is a Royal Mail depot. There are no ghost stories connected to this fort. 

Fort Borstal had construction begun in 1875 and would be completed in 1883. This protected the southern approach to the dockyard. There were underground tunnels and secret areas and this fort also had dry ditch surrounding it. A loopholed wall at the rear provided extra protection. The fort was polygonal in shape. The fort got its name from the town of Borstal. Borstal was used for training during the World Wars and AA gunners were placed here and remained until 1957. The fort was sold in 1990 with plans to restore it and open it as a tourist attraction, but those plans fell through. Today, it is being refurbished into a winery and occasional tours are offered. It really looks nice with what has been done inside. The entrance hall has wooden white walls with a black and white tiled floor. This fort also has no ghost stories associated with it.

Fort Horsted is located south of Chatham, Kent. The Fort is named for the nearby Horsted Valley, which was named for the 5th century warrior Horsa. He and his brother, Hengist, are considered the first leaders of the Anglo-Saxon settlers that came to England. They are attributed with founding Kent. Horsa died in battle in 455. Hengist ruled as King over Kent from 455 to 488 and it is believed the character Beowulf is based on him. Archaeologists have found artifacts from the Anglo-Saxon time, particularly helmets and spear heads. The fort never experienced any direct battle action, but it is believed that the land underneath it was a battlefield at one time more than likely connected to this time of the Anglo-Saxons. There were more than likely some warriors buried on the land. Construction on Fort Horsted started in 1879 and lasted for ten years. Forced labor did the work and was completed in 1889. They came from the newly build Borstal Prison, known today as HM Prison Rochester. Horsted was a land fort in the shape of a six sided arrow head, with each flank protected by machines guns. There are an extensive network of tunnels beneath the fort. In 1902, Horsted was armed with seven mounted machine guns. Anti-Aircraft guns were mounted at the fort during World War II. The fort was deserted in the 1990s and sat derelict. Today, the fort is mainly a business park that hosts tours.

People have claimed for decades that they feel uneasy at the fort. People claim to hear disembodied whispers and screams and shadow figures have been seen. Ghost Adventures visited in 2012 and they wrangled some locals into conducting a seance to see if they could agitate the spirits. The group did hear audible screams and booming sounds. They captured EVPs that said "they're coming" and "they're not doing this." The Spirit Box had "Hey Carl", "we can play", "me" and "back here" come through. Carl was someone who joined them on the hunt. The "back here" was a female voice with an English accent. The group also saw a dark shadow, had the EMF device going off and there was an unexplained light anomaly in a room where Carl and Aaron were investigating. Zak wore this jacket that was supposed to be sensitive to rises in temperature and it did light up red right after the group heard a disembodied voice.

The Maidstone Ghost Hunters offer ghost tours and they investigated in November of 2022 with a group of people. They went down into the underground tunnels, which were pitch black, and only had their flashlights to see their way. The group heard a shuffling noise down a dark alleyway. Colin Waterman was among the group and he told KentLive, "We did a Ouija board, we were calling out to see if there were any spirits in the area and a little child came through on the board. They spell out the letters, we said are you a little boy and it went to yes, he said that he died there when he was a little boy." Colin snapped a bunch of pictures during the investigation and we he got home, he discovered a face in one of the pictures. He said, "I skipped past the photo and went hang on a minute, and I zoomed in, lightened it up and it came up as a little face. I’ve got a few in the past but nothing as clear as that. You get the little goose pimples to think I was actually standing there and that was looking down at us and we didn’t see it. I was straight onto the crew members they were like, 'oh my god, I can’t believe it what a great photo'."  

The group Search Into the Supernatural shared about a ghost hunt they hosted on September 13, 2025 on Facebook writing, "As the evening progressed, we truly began to connect with the spirits of the fort, leading to some fascinating captures on our cameras. One highlight was when a gentleman in what appeared to be military uniform was caught on a guest’s camera in the exact same spot where we’ve previously encountered him. He certainly isn’t shy about making his presence known!" 

Chatham Dockyard is probably the most haunted location in Chatham. The Dockyard started as a center for wooden shipbuilding in 1567 and grew into a center for the new iron navy. The initial facility was below Chatham Church and had a wharf, storehouses, slips and was home to the warship Merlin, which was a pinnace of ten guns built in 1579. The Merlin would fight against the Spanish Armada in 1588. This Tudor Dockyard no longer exists and the present Chatham Dockyard would move to its location in 1618. The Navy needed dry docks and the former dockyard didn't have the room. So this dockyard had the dry docks and new storehouses, slips and housing for senior dockyard officers. The first action for ships coming from the dockyard would be trade wars with the Dutch. These battles would be fought in the English Channel and North Sea. The late 1600s brought conflict with France and Spain as Britain joined forces with Holland under William & Mary. It was at this time that the Chatham Dockyards would become the principal shipbuilding yard. Two Mast Ponds were added and this made it possible to make masts from fir logs. The process required seasoning the masts underwater. This was a traditional shipbuilding method also referred to as pickling and entailed putting freshly cut logs underwater saltwater for at least a year to leach out the sap and resins and this would keep the wood from decaying. A lengthy air-drying process would finish the process. 

Britain's oldest surviving intact naval building is here and this is the Commissioner's House, which was built in 1704. Many other buildings would join it such as the Officer's Terrace, Clocktower Building, Hemp House and Main Gate Dockyard Wall. There are around 100 buildings on the property today. The largest and finest ship built up until 1765, came out of this dockyard and that was the HMS Victory. The Battle of Trafalgar would end Napoleon's struggle to invade Britain and the HMS Victory was the flagship during that battle. This signified to the world that Britain had the greatest Navy and made it the global superpower of the early 1800s. 

With the Industrial revolution came new ironworking facilities. These were constructed in 1808 and one of Britain's first steam-powered saw mills was added in 1814.Another dry dock would be finished in 1820. There were more Admirals Offices added and a Royal Dockyard Church as well. The middle of the 19th century would see the biggest period of construction for the dockyards. Steam and Iron would be the focus and the first steam vessel was launched in 1832. This was the paddle sloop Phoenix. Any timber-hulled sailing ships had auxiliary steam engines added to them and this made up Britain's Black Battlefleet that would fight during the Crimean War. The first iron-built ship would be the Achilles and it was finished in 1863. The dockyard would struggle with these new iron ships because there were no longer constraints on size. Wooden vessels could only be built so big, but iron ships could be massive and the dockyard was soon too small. A new dockyard extension was created, but it mostly just was used for repairs. The last battleship constructed at the dockyard was in 1905 and this was the HMS Africa. The HMS Dreadnought would change how battleships were constructed and it was built at the Portsmouth Dockyard in 1906. That ended Chatham's shipbuilding, at least of battleships. Submarines, however, could be made at Chatham and this became the dockyards new focus. Fifty-seven submarines would be built here from 1908 to 1960. The dockyard had plenty of work during the World Wars and the dead were honored here as well. There is a Chatham Naval memorial at the dockyard to honor 8,000 men of the Chatham Division who lost their lives during World War I. This is above the Historic Dockyard. There are many barracks here including the Infantry Barracks, Marine Barracks, Artillery/Engineer Barracks, St. Mary's Barracks and Naval Barracks. The Dockyard closed in 1984. Most buildings are still standing. Some are used by the Universities at Medway and others are museums. Forty-seven are Scheduled Ancient Monuments.

Charles Dickens wrote of the dockyard in 1861, "Twelve hundred men are working at her now; twelve hundred men working on stages over her sides, over her bows, over her sterns, under her keel, between her decks, down in her hold, within her and without, crawling and creeping into the finest curves of her lines wherever it is possible for men to twist. Twelve hundred hammerers, measurers, caulkers, armourers, forgers, smiths, shipwrights; twelve hundred dingers, clashers, dongers, rattlers, clinkers, bangers, bangers, bangers!" There was a time when the Dockyard employed 10,000 men. 

The Chatham Dockyard offers ghost tours and people have had a lot of paranormal experiences. The main haunted locations include the Commissioner's House, the Ropery, and the Joiner's Workshop. As we said earlier, the Commissioner's House is the oldest structure here. There is a legend that claims a young woman committed suicide in the house by hanging herself from the back stairs after hearing her lover had been killed in battle and she now haunts it. She may be the Gray Lady who wanders the staircase and landing. Former Commissioners are here too. One of the spirits encountered is thought to belong to Peter Pett. He was the Commissioner at Chatham Dockyard from 1647 to 1667. The Dutch attacked the Medway in 1667 and to Pett's shame, he decided to protect his own property before protecting the King's. This lead to the worst defeat the British Navy ever experienced. Pett was thrown into the Tower of London for punishment.  

The Sail & Color Loft is another haunted building. Workers in the building reported seeing a woman wearing a long flowing dress that usually had the scent of lavender around her. Many of the machinists would claim to be touched on their shoulders by something they couldn't see. One of the former female overseers may be here and she is a mean one who bullies. She pushes people and when she appears, she has no feet and hovers.

Miles and miles of rope were made at the Dockyard over 400 years. The Ropery is one of only four remaining original Royal Navy Ropeyards still in operation. It's a really cool looking building and was built in 1728 and expanded in 1812. The building is said to be haunted by mischievous young ghosts who had been "Bobbin Boys." Ghostly women who are seen in the Spinning Rooms. There is an area near the Ropery where a young drummer boy was murdered and decapitated. He is seen as a headless ghost walking around. This area also has the sound of horses' hooves heard at night. The Joiner's Shop is today a modern business center, but was built in 1790. It originally made treenails, but then was used by the yards joiners. Fun Fact: The Resolute Desk that many US Presidents have used in the Oval Office was made here by Dockyard Joiners from the timbers of the HMS Resolute and that is why it has that name. The Joiner's Shop is haunted by dark spirits. Shadow figures are seen wandering around and people feel like something is oppressing them and that they aren't welcome. Visitors have been dragged from chairs. 
     
The show Most Haunted investigated during Season 4 and Yvette became so scared, she couldn't move. Derek seemed to become possessed by an evil spirit. The group heard disembodied footsteps and shuffling. Nick Richmond was a Duty Manager who lead ghost tours at the time and he told Most Haunted, "We've been doing ghost walks around the dockyard now for about 4 years, and we've experienced strange apparitions. People in the group have said they've seen people as we've been talking. In the Commissioner's House itself, I've been involved in two ghost watches and um we know that we have a presence of a woman who's affectionately known as Mary who took her own life in the house and she's come to me on numerous occasions. I'm always aware of her presence." 

Tour Guide Samantha Hartley told Most Haunted about an experience she had in the Joiner's Shop, "I've actually been pushed over. I've been rocked backwards and forwards as well, which is quite strange. The most common thing that happens is the cold spots, though. You manage to walk into a room, you'll feel the temperature drop dramatically, which is quite strange." Derek Acorah was the medium for the show and he said in the Commissioner's House, " I'm aware of at times a woman's energies. And it's not just here, but at this moment, I'm picking up on the residual a woman's energies moving between these two rooms. And this woman, um, come on, Sam, you give her that back to me again. This woman, if we can, I know it might sound awkward. If we go into that next room, I I'll pick up the energy stronger, I feel. Yes. You know, it's even more evident in this atmosphere here in this room because it's like the psychic antenna, so to speak, is activated here in this energy. So, she would spend a lot more time in this room, but she moves about. She doesn't come through the doors, she just goes through the wall. And this woman, her attitude, her personality is very bossy. And she was used to I feel it's only a feeling at the moment because she is not active here in this room yet, but I know she moves about this house. Absolutely. She is here all the time. And she's not just in visitation. I feel she is not a bad person, by the way. A good person."

All of these location have a long history in Chatham. Britain wouldn't have the Navy it does today without the Chatham Dockyards and the forts that protected it. Are these locations haunted? That is for you to decide! 

HGB Ep. 608 - Haunted Cemeteries 31

Moment in Oddity - Yeti Crab (Suggested by: Michael Rogers)

Diane, do you know what the definition of hirsute (HER-suit) is? Hairy, and it's usually used to describe men's chests or sometimes circus performers when they grow an excessive amount of hair on their body. But did you know that there is a crab by that name? Let me introduce you to the Kiwa hirsuta. This crustacean was discovered in 2005 in the South Pacific Ocean along the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge. It is approximately 6 inches in length and is also known by its common name, Yeti Crab or Yeti Lobster. The reason for the Yeti name is due to the quantity of silky blond to white colored setae (SEE-thai) that covers the decapod's body, making it look like a furry yeti. The crabs live along hydrothermal vents, deep in the ocean. Their hairy arms and bodies collect toxins released by the hydrotherms in their environment. This process is known as chemosynthesis. They are thought to be blind and their diets consist of epibiotic bacteria. Our vast and deep oceans contain many strange and unusual creatures, with many of them, likely not having been discovered yet. But a furry white crab that clearly resembles a Yeti, certainly is odd. 

Haunted Cemeteries 31 

Cemeteries just lend themselves to ghost stories.There is hardly a town that doesn't have that one cemetery that has a legend or myth connected to it. These legends are hard to prove, but even without evidence they have staying power. And most people like to believe that their loved ones hang around even after they've died, so why not hang out at the cemetery where they're buried. In this 31st episode of haunted cemeteries, we share cemeteries in Arkansas, Texas, Canada, Oklahoma, Illinois and Indiana. 

Kellers Chapel and Cemetery - Jonesboro, Arkansas

The chapel and cemetery are located at 2401 Kellers Chapel Road in Jonesboro, Arkansas. The Keller family came to Jonesboro in the 1850s and it is believed that this cemetery started as their family cemetery. The earliest burial was for J.W. Keller in 1859. . Many settlers to the area are buried here as well as veterans of the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World Wars I & II, Korean War and Vietnam War. The oldest person in the cemetery is a man named William Murphy Loudermilk who lived to be 105 years old and was the last living veteran of the Confederate Army. This cemetery has a legend connected to the chapel within its borders. It is said that if a guest knocks on the door of the chapel, they will hear a knocking in return. Apparitions are seen walking in the cemetery and the sound of babies crying is also heard. 

Concordia Cemetery - El Paso, Texas

Concordia Cemetery in El Paso, Texas is known as El Paso's Boot Hill. It was established in 1856 and has around 60,000 burials. The site started as a family cemetery for Hugh and Juana Stephenson, who had moved to El Paso from Chihuahua, Mexico. Juana passed in 1856 and Hugh buried her in what would become Concordia Cemetery. People from El Paso would travel the three miles to Concordia to bury their dead. In the 1890s, various areas were bought and set aside for the Jews, the Catholics, the Masons, the Chinese, the Military and Blacks. There are Buffalo Soldiers here, Texas Rangers, gunslinger John Wesley Hardin, Lawmen John Selman. 

That Old West gunslinger Hardin is said to be one of the sirits in the cemetery. There is also a Lady in White people call Lady Flo. The hoofbeats of horses are heard and some people claim to catch children's laughter. Three sisters on a ghost tour in El Paso in 2012 asked the tour guide to take a picture of them in Concordia Cemetery. When they looked at the picture later, they could see what seemed to be a dark figure walking to the side of them. Their brother brightened the picture and there is a clear dark figure of a man in a hat walking. If there wasn't a real person walking there, it certainly is interesting. But what makes it even more interesting, is that this figure has popped up in several pictures through the years. 

Ghost Adventures visited Concordia Cemetery during their 13th season. This was part of their Route 666 Halloween special. The crew was investigating the nearby De Soto Hotel where Richard Ramirez may have conducted Satanic rituals and it is believed these rituals spilled over into the cemetery. The X camera picked up three shadowy figures walking in the distance after Billy does a reading. Billy is so convinced that these are real people, he calls the police to come, but they find no one in the cemetery. 

Burkholder United Cemetery - Hamilton, Ontario 

Some of the first people to arrive on Hamilton Mountain were Jacob Burkholder and his wife Sophia and they came in October 1794. Some of their land was used as a cemetery starting in 1800. The cemetery was officially founded in 1839 as a public burying ground and a small log school was built just inside the entrance. A small church was added in 1850 and everyone called it the "The Little White Church." That church stood for 100 years, until it was demolished in 1955 and replaced with the bigger Burkholder United Church. Stories of weird activity in the cemetery date back to the small church, which would have a strange light run along the roof of the church every time a prominent person died. Occasionally, this orb of light would float over to the house of the person who passed and rest above it. People claimed that this was an angel of some sort. Some claim that the new church has the same mysterious light run along its roof. The churchgoers were very superstitious. They believed that if the cemetery claimed a victim, two more deaths would follow. Kinda like our "deaths in threes" today when it comes to celebrities. A woman in black is seen walking in the cemetery. There is supposedly a double headstone for a wife and husband and when people bend down to get a better look at the husband's name, his wife appears and scares them away. Some pioneer doctor is reputed to have done some grave robbing in the cemetery, once getting away with a body that he boiled pieces of in a huge wash-boiler in his house. A servant girl reported him and he was busted. 

Arapahoe Cemetery in Arapahoe, Oklahoma  

The Arapahoe Cemetery is located in Arapahoe, Oklahoma and was established in 1893. The town of Arapahoe was established after the 1889 Oklahoma Land Run. This had been the land of the Cheyenne and the first American settlers arrived in 1892. The most notable person buried here is Jesse J.W. Lawton. He was the newspaper editor of the Arapahoe Bee for 32 years. As a matter of fact, he passed away at the newspaper office. 

A man named Walter S. Mills wrote of his passing, "LAWTON is dead. The word flew from lip to lip last Monday and it was true. An old timer has passed on. One who for more than thirty years sat at his old table at the Bee office, is gone. And with the passing of Jesse W. LAWTON, Arapaho loses its strongest character. He had his faults. He had his enemies. He knew it, and like a man did not try to deny either. Lawton's pen cut like a knife at times, and his blows were often sledge hammer blows that raised welts and sometimes left scars. But no lick he ever struck was without a purpose. When timid men scudded for cover, Lawton took up his pen and hit the bull's eye. He ridiculed the foibles and lambasted the idocies of the community. In a larger town or a more sophisticated community, they would have laughed-- because the thing did not sound so personal. But in a community that has only one or two fat men, and one or two extra lean ones, and only a handful of all kinds, generalities took the form of personalities and often one with an imaginary injury went gunning for the editor. Lawton had a keen sense of humor and a dauntless courage. He never advocated the side of wrong of lawlessness and he didn't know the meaning of the word policy. But long after lesser lights are forgotten, Lawton will be remembered. He was a man of brain and of character. In other environments, he would have been a great newspaper man. Arapaho has lost its staunchest friend, its truest advocate. Custer County has lost its one outstanding editor. The Bee will go on--but the personality that created it is gone."
       
The haunting here at the cemetery is connected to Robina Smith. She passed away in 1936 when the car she was riding in hit a creamery truck on U.S. Highway 183. When police arrived at the scene, they found several victims frozen to death. Robina had died when her head impaled on the floor-mounted gearshift. She doesn't haunt her plot, but apparently her father does. The haunting started when her father passed in 1972. He had worried that his daughter wasn't a Christian and so wasn't saved and his spirit is heard wailing. EVPs have been captured of him saying "Oh no, oh my God, Robina has not been saved." Others claim to hear it audibly. 

Auxiliary Sable Cemetery

People claim that Auxiliary Sable Cemetery is the scariest cemetery in Illinois. The cemetery is located along Brown Road in Minooka, Illinois. This is one of the oldest rural burial grounds in the area and was founded in 1834, with many burials going back to the 1800s. There are a few hundred burials. What makes this cemetery creepy is that one must drive through a forest on a narrow gravel road to reach the iron gates at the entrance. A windowless shed at the back of the cemetery has been rumored to be a portal. This was more than likely a receiving structure for storing bodies to wait for temperatures to warm up. It's made of stone with metal doors. The main ghost here is a little girl named Adeline Stevenson and much of the activity happens to people's cars. Their electrical may go crazy with lots of bells and whistles and lights going off. Cars may even stall or not restart. Electric windows go down, even without a key in the ignition. Mysterious mists and fires have been seen. Many people have shares their experiences online.

Not Right posted: "As soon as went through those gates the whole energy changed, this was at around 11 at night. You just knew we were not supposed to be there. I was doing a spirit box, and I’ll never forget what it said, Thomas crash die. At the time didn’t take it seriously, but two years later a buddy of mine name Thomas crashed and passed away, and it makes me think."

My Knowledge And Experience wrote: "I’ve had friends go out there and were demonically attacked. A blue glowing dog jumped on the hood, car engines die, the windows going up and down, and the gate closes behind you after you cross the bridge and come into the cemetery. These were some bad-ass guys, and they still to this day will not go back into that cemetery. I have more info, I don’t want to post it, but I think much worse happened out there. My advice would be, all those spirits need to be left alone, and I truly hope they cross over or find some kind of rest, salvation, or find their way home to heaven."
Many of the headstones inside Aux Sable Cemetery date back to the early 1800s. John Ferak/Patch

Awesome remarked: "Went during the middle of the night with a group of like 5. We absolutely 10000 percent saw a ghost car come down the narrow wooded road."

There's Something Off About This Cemetery commented: "I go to a lot of cemeteries because I find them peaceful, and I like to take photos of the cemeteries I've been to. I have never felt that any of them were haunted or had a weird feeling, even at Bachelor's Grove, until I went to this one. I went twice in the same day because a friend wanted to come along later, and I caught a glowing white orb and a transparent dark orange glow with my professional camera. One in the day, and one at night ... I am officially spooked out. When I was here alone in the day, I had a really weird feeling. I heard crying twice from the forest and lots of shuffling and footsteps behind me. When I walked up to the rusty door, there was a loud bang once coming from inside, and it scared the shit out of me because it was completely quiet until I walked up to it. I'm not blowing smoke. I have NEVER encountered anything unusual in cemeteries before this one! Really weird!" 

Handprints And A Welcoming Feeling Wrote: "Handprints in the dust on my buddies previously clean car. We go all the time. Using a box, the spirits like to speak to us, as we’re younger, both 17. They seem to remember us. I wore pink the first time I went and every time I go they seem to say 'he’s back, pink' over and over. It’s surreal, but I don’t feel weird being there. I feel like I’m welcome, it’s odd." 

Stepp Cemetery

And then there is what is said to be the most haunted cemetery in Indiana. This is the Stepp Cemetery located near Bloomington, Indiana. It was named for Reuben Steep who owned the land. Apparently, the cemetery was already on the land when Stepp bought it in 1856. We're not sure when the cemetery was established, but the oldest burial is for Isaac Headstocks in 1850. He was a veteran of the War of 1812. It's unclear how many people are buried here, but only around 50 tombstones remain. This is a rural cemetery, so doesn't get much care. The state of Indiana bought it in 1929. But before that, a group of people who had some weird religious beliefs, would meet in the cemetery. They were known as Crabbites - which sounds like a tasty appetizer - but definitely was not. A man named Reverend William Crabc founded a cultish religion named Church of the First Born. He had quite a following in the early 1900s because he was a great orator even though he had little education. He detested worshiping inside a meeting house, wanting to be out in nature. So he would bring his flock of 300 out into the woods near the cemetery and he would clamber up on a tree stump and start preaching. And then he would bring out the snakes. Oh yes, these were snake handlers. This is really how Reverend Crabb got his start with people following him. He was like a sideshow who charmed people into listening to him. Crabb asked for no money and he fathered thirteen children, twelve of them girls. He got his followers comfortable with handling rattlesnakes and they would speak in tongues ans sometimes even dance naked among the tombstones. The group eventually moved on, but they left in their wake the negative energy they may have conjured in the cemetery with their bizarre rituals.

After the state took over the cemetery, stories began to circulate about haunting activity. There was a tree stump in a far corner that had the appearance of a chair and so people started calling it the Warlock Chair. This was next to an infant's grave and visitors would claim to see a woman in black visiting the grave. She often sat in the stump chair and appeared to be rocking. People would swear she was holding a baby as she rocked. On some nights, she would have no baby and would be heard weeping. She disappears when approached and that isn't a good idea - to approach her - because sometimes visitors have had trouble starting their cars or their headlights won't work. 

A woman named Annie Hacker lost three of her children and she was so broken by that that people believe she may be the crying woman in black who has returned to the cemetery. There is a curse connected to the Warlock Chair too. Anyone who sits in it will have misfortune come upon them and there are some whom claim that the person who sits on the stump will die within the year. A story claims that a German Shepherd who jumped onto it was found dead the next morning. Ashley Hood who wrote Haunted Cemeteries of Indiana in 2020 shares that one evening when she was in the cemetery with a group, they heard the weeping of a woman and it was very chilling. Ashley Hood writes in her book about other legends connected to the Lady in Black , "In another version of this story, Anna was a wife and mother. Her husband, Jacob, was killed in a quarry accident and buried in Stepp Cemetery. Anna reportedly turned all of her attention to their sixteen-year-old daughter, Emily, and became protective of the girl. When Emily was invited to a dance, Anna had her reservations but allowed her daughter to attend. The weather turned rainy that night. Returning home from the dance, the car with Emily and her date slid off the road, hitting a tree. Emily was killed instantly. Anna had her daughter buried in Stepp Cemetery next to Jacob. Anna visited Emily’s grave every day and was often seen by locals, draped in black, sitting on the large stump and speaking to her daughter as if she were still alive. Much as with the previous tale, the sorrowful spirit of Anna is said to remain in the cemetery, mourning the loss of her daughter. There is potentially some truth to this tale, as there is a Jacob and Anna Adkins buried in Stepp Cemetery. The couple had eleven children, one of whom, Ida Mae, passed away at the age of seventeen. She was buried in Frye Cemetery, also known as Taylor or McGowan Cemetery, located on North Low Gap Road in the Morgan-Monroe State Forest, not far from Stepp Cemetery."

There is a grave for a baby named Lester buried near the Adkins family that always has gifts piled up around it - particularly toys. It is always so tragic to see these graves for infants. Poor little Lester didn't even have a chance to live. He was born Paul Lester and stillborn. His parents were O'leathia and Harley Lester and they were 16 and 21 respectively. Certainly not equipped to deal with losing a child at birth. Trying to find a real history behind Baby Lester is, as the Orange Bean Indiana blog describes it as finding, "a few flakes and nuggets, but mostly [just] sludge." And the legend goes on to claim that Lester died in a car wreck, or was it a fire or... His mother, the lady in black, comes to visit his grave often. People hear her weeping and sometimes she screams. Ashley Hood shares, "In truth, Baby Lester passed away after taking only a few breaths in 1937. His mother, Olethia Pryor Lester, and father, Harley Lester, eventually divorced. Olethia later married James Walls and moved to Indianapolis. It is unlikely that Olethia is the woman in black, as she lived to be eighty-five years old, passing away in 2007, long after the reports of the woman in black began. She is buried in Oaklawn Memorial Gardens in Fishers, Indiana."

Many of the legends connected to the cemetery started in the 1950s and increased in the 1970s as young people visited the cemetery for late night parties and shared the stories. They embellished real things as well. For example, the German Shepherd did die, but it was at the hands of a group of cruel boys who found themselves in court for their actions. Another story is told about a son of Reuben Stepp dying over a property dispute and being buried here at the cemetery and he supposedly rises to confront people trespassing in the cemetery. But the only Stepps buried here are Reuben and one of his grandsons who died as an infant. A similar story predates the Stepp family and claims that the property dispute was between two sons of the previous owner. They decided to have a duel because their father had passed without telling them, which of them was to inherit the land. And they managed to kill each other. No graves seem to back up this story, but there are those that claim there is at least one angry spirit in the cemetery. This entity could be connected to the Crabbites. There is also the spirit of a woman wearing a long white dress that is thought to be connected to the Crabbites. Another ghost here is said to belong to a young woman who was murdered in the nearby Morgan-Monroe State Forest. Because her killer was never found, she wanders the cemetery near where her body ended up. There was a murder of an Indiana University student named Ann Harmeier in 1977. Her car was found on Indiana 37, abandoned because it had overheated. Her body was found two miles from Martinsville, which is 12 miles away from Stepp Cemetery. So more than likely not her. So who is this young woman seen in the cemetery? 

And then there is a legend about a Hookwoman. She lost her hand in an accident she had, that killed her young son. She replaced that with a hook and she would visit her son's grave in the Stepp Cemetery. After she died, she continued to visit with her hook hand. She chases off trespassers in the cemetery. And this cemetery even has stories about Bigfoot being seen in the nearby woods and a group of strange men wearing white cloaks. 

It really does make sense that there would be spirits in cemeteries since this is where bodies are buried. But we do always wonder who would want to hang around their dead and decaying body. Are these cemeteries haunted? That is for you to decide! 

HGB Ep. 607 - Mizpah Hotel

This Month in History - National Hagfish Day

In the month of October, on the 21st, in 2009, National Hagfish Day was established by the non-profit marine conservation organization WhaleTimes. Hagfish are a strange looking, jawless, slime-producing fish that live deep on the oceans floors. Found around the globe, the peculiar fish play an important role as scavengers, cleaning the ocean floor and recycling nutrients. They prefer silty, muddy bottoms that they can burrow into. Similar to the shape of an eel, the hagfish has also been likened to that of a giant, pink worm. The extreme slime threads produced by these unique creatures can be used as ultra strong fibers for clothing. The slime can be spun into threads, similar to spider silk or Kevlar. The purpose of creating National Hagfish Day is to appreciate the less charismatic creatures of the ocean, the important role they play in the marine ecosystem, and the threats they face such as overfishing and pollution. National Hagfish Day is celebrated annually on the third Wednesday of every October.

***So, the take-away is that slimy hagfish haute couture, may be coming to a store near you!?  

Mizpah Hotel

The Mizpah Hotel has been voted the number one haunted hotel by a couple of publications. Not surprising for a hotel that has stood for 120 years. And it's been able to stand this long because this is one strong hotel. This building was formed from concrete, stone and brick in the Nevada town of Tonopah near the height of its mining boom. The lighted sign that sits on the roof can be seen from miles away. We wonder if that sign not only attracts travelers to come and stay the night, but does it get the attention of spirits as well? There are several spirits here, including a Lady in Red. Oh, and did you know that the Clown Motel is in Tonopah too. We'll talk about that as well. Join us for the history and hauntings of the Mizpah Hotel. 

Tonopah was the Queen of the Silver Camps. The town is located between Las Vegas and Reno in Nevada and began with the second richest silver strike in the state. How this silver was discovered is a matter of which story one wants to believe. A prospector named Jim Butler had married a Paiute woman and he more than likely learned from her tribe that there was some pretty silver minerals in the area. But the legendary story is much more interesting. Apparently, Butler had a burro that got away from him one night and he was quite frustrated looking for it the next day. When he found the creature, he picked up a rock to throw at it and he noticed the rock was really heavy and then he realized it was silver and BOOM! So 1900 would see the birth of another Nevada mining town. The town was named for Butler until 1905 when it was changed to Tonopah. Men flooded the town looking for their fortunes and this included many Chinese men as well. One of these men was a 24-year-old George Wingfeild. He was a gambler and found great success at the poker tables and soon had a gaming license. He had a friend come to town and start a bank, which he invested in and the men partnered in buying mines and supplying miners. They headed off for Goldfield later, having made around $30 million in Tonopah and knowing that the town would soon go bust. The mining in town peaked in 1913 and then slid until 1921 when the town's population was half what it had been. But before that bust, the Mizpah Saloon was the place to be in town. 

The Mizpah Saloon was a one-story building and shared a name with one of the mines. Mizpah comes from a Hebrew word meaning lookout. The word was connected to a story in the Bible featuring Jacob and his father-in-law Laban and a promise they made between each other. The erected a pile of stones as this mizpah watchtower and this served as a witness between the two men and God. This then became a word that represented an emotional bond between people and there is special mizpah jewelry inspired by this. Jim Butler's wife Belle is the one who gave one of the mines the name Mizpah. It was the richest and most successful in the town. 

The Mizpah Hotel was built by George Wingfield, George S. Nixon, Cal Brougher and Bob Govan in 1907 from reinforced concrete with stones on the front and bricks on the sides and rear. Architect George E. Holesworth designed the hotel, which stood five stories, matching the height of the Belvada Building that was built the previous year. The buildings shared the title of tallest building in the town. The Mizpah also had a three-story building next door that had rooms on the upper floors and businesses on the ground floor. The buildings were connected with a wood stairway crowned with a skylight. It cost $200,000 to build and was one of the first luxury hotels in the state of Nevada, featuring leaded glass windows, solid granite walls, Victorian-era appointments, solid oak furniture, and an electric elevator, which was unheard of at the time. There was also hot and cold running water and steam heating. 

There are many legends connected to the hotel, most of them not having any truth to them. One legend about the bar at the hotel claims that Wyatt Earp kept the bar at the Mizpah. That wasn't true. Earp did move to Tonopah in 1902 and he did co-found a saloon, but that was called The Northern. He served as a private police force for the town as well, mostly going after claim jumpers. Apparently, Earp left town before the Mizpah Hotel was ever built. Another legend claims that Jack Dempsey was a bouncer, but he always maintained that he had never been a bouncer. He did, however, box in Tonopah in bare knuckle fights and some of them lasted up to 25 rounds. And then there is the legend that Howard Hughes married Jean Peters at the Mizpah. Hughes did get married in town, but it wasn't at this hotel. 

And then there is the legend connected to Key Pittman. Pittman had been a powerful Democrat senator in the U.S. Senate. He advocated for and supported the silver industry in his home state of Nevada, so everyone called him the Silver Senator. He was  running for a sixth term in the U.S. Senate in 1940 when he died. Apparently, the Senator liked his drink and he was drinking heavily as he campaigned through Nevada. On November 4, Pittman had a heart attack and was hospitalized where two separate doctors said he would die shortly. Newspapers were told that he was just exhausted and resting at the hospital. The next day was election day and people went to the polls and re-elected Pittman. Pittman did die on November 10th. Now, some stories claimed that Pittman had the heart attack in Reno, but the more interesting tale claims that he was in Tonopah and that he actually died before the election and was put on ice in the hotel. The truth was hidden, so that people would vote for him. The book "The Green Felt Jungle" shared this legend and it became fact. So while Nevadans like to share a story that their state once elected a dead man, that wasn't true. But the story of Pittman on ice in a bathtub at the Mizpah continues to be told by some in the town today. 

The 1940s also saw gaming come to the hotel. The first chips were issued in 1945. Guests could play at the craps table, roulette wheel, poker and blackjack tables and slot machines. The Mizpah closed in 2000 and sat abandoned. Today, the hotel is owned by Fred and Nancy Cline who purchased the property in 2010. They restored the hotel to its prior glory, keeping the lobby full of plush antiques that transports one back to a previous era. The doors reopened in 2011 and rooms offer elegance and luxury linens. There is the Lady in Red Suite or the Jim & Belle Butler Suite, and the latter suite has a bed frame made from a wagon. The Pittman Cafe is award-winning and offers great breakfast fare. The Jack Dempsey Room serves up dinner and the Longshot Bar has drinks.

The Mizpah Hotel embraces their haunted reputation by offering ghosts tours that incorporate a little bit of hunting. Several employees will say that they didn't believe in ghosts before working at the hotel, but after being at the hotel for awhile, they are true believers. There are several spirits at the hotel. Ghost children run and laugh through the upper floors. They like to play pranks on hotel guests. And strangely, there is a soldier that roams the grounds. Perhaps a carry over from the Civil War or maybe even the Paiute War of 1860. Some claim to see him wearing a World War II uniform. He is seen often on the 4th floor. A bellhop wanders the floors with people's luggage. We're not sure how he came to his end, but it must have been while he was working. And even though we don't know if Key Pittman was actually in this hotel...and on ice...there are those who claim his spirit is here and they say they have seen his apparition. Two bank robbers have their spirits hiding in the basement. It is here that they met their ends at the hands of their third partner in crime who betrayed them and murdered them both and made off with all the loot. There is anger here and people feel unsettled in the basement. 

The most famous spirit here is The Lady in Red. I feel like we should cue Chris De Burgh's song about his wife. The story about the Lady in Red has nothing to do with being a wife though. This woman was a prostitute. She often worked in the Mizpah Hotel and she had one of those clients who decided that he wanted her all to himself. So he put her up on the 5th floor of the Mizpah hotel in a suite. That suite today has been broken up into three rooms to give you an idea of how big this was. No one is sure if she was strangled, beaten or stabbed to death, but she died on the 5th floor after her lover went into a jealous rage.  

Much of the paranormal activity at the hotel is attributed to her . She messes with the elevator, especially when it is on the 5th floor. Her disembodied whispers are heard, often by men, and this usually happens in the elevator. This is how she would have escorted men to her room back in the day. But the really weird thing that happens is that guests will find a single pearl under their pillows in the morning. This is said to be from the pearl necklace she was wearing on the night she died. Cordero Gomez wrote on the blog Traveling Fiction, "While I didn’t witness any paranormal activity in the room, lobby, or roaming the halls, my daughters described hearing whispers at night. They also said their bed lifted up. That’s some weird and spooky stuff. However, I didn’t hear or see anything, despite a restless night’s sleep. Many instances of hearing strange noises can rightly be assigned to the building settling, guests roaming the halls, the elevator opening, or the wind. However, while my youngest daughter and I were exploring the upper floors, my wife, Amber, and my eldest daughter heard a knock on the door. When Amber answered it, no one was there. Cliché, yes. Classic, most definitely. I can come up with theories, such as the knock coming from the room across the hall, or naughty children ding-dong ditching. What I can’t account for, however, is why there were no creaking or thuds from the floorboards? Is it proof of life after death? I don’t think so, but it is certainly unexplained." Steven B. wrote, "My husband and I recently stayed on the second floor, Room 207. The floor itself felt very heavy when we stepped off the elevator and, in fact, uncomfortable. We didn't have anything happen while awake. However, we did not sleep well. I have never been one who has a lot of dreams or nightmares, but I had one after another while trying to sleep there, so did my husband. From talking in our sleep, to yelling out and in fact I woke with a bruise on my arm that had not been there when I had gone to bed that night. After checking out of the hotel, we compared notes on our dreams and nightmares and found that we both had similar dreams...and in fact one of them actually was the same dream. I can't find anything written about a bellman in this hotel, but he and a very angry woman in period clothes seemed to frequent both our dreams the whole night. My husband also had a woman whisper "hey you" in his ear while in the lobby bathroom."

Yvette wrote, "I stayed in Room 205 with my 9lbs dog. She woke up around 3am startled and was looking back as if someone was trying to pet her. She jumped off the bed and proceeded to "avoid" this person for 5 minutes. I also felt a light touch on my ankle around midnight but dismissed it as nothing. The next morning, I noticed a thumb sized bruise on my left arm as well as a smaller one as if someone had pinched me." Hebert wrote, "The breakfast coffee station on the fifth floor is the corner of the floor where the lady in red is said to be. We were at the opposite end of the floor and my partner heard children playing in the hall way in the night, but there were no children on the floor." 

Letsctheworld wrote, "We are in the wagon wheel room right now. My husband was sitting in the chair while I'd gone down to get ice and he was tapped on the shoulder three times." Jill Delaney wrote in 2024, "My daughter and I stayed in the Lady in Red room in July of 2024. We went on the evening ghost tour, which was really cool. I felt something heavy pounce on the foot of the bed. It didn’t feel light like a cat, though. I woke up and gasped in fright, expecting the sheets to next get pulled off the bed. That didn’t happen, but for a split second I saw a large black dog curled up on the foot of the bed who was gazing at me with kind eyes. And then the image was gone. My daughter didn’t wake up at all. I asked the clerk in the morning if others have mentioned a ghost dog. She said that she sometimes sees a large black dog out of the corner of her eye, but when she turns nothing is there. Pretty cool." 

Ghost Adventures investigated the hotel in 2011. A static night vision camera was placed in the basement and captured a shadow figure. Zak also saw a shadow and this blocked out a light coming from under the door. They caught EVPs saying "Dammit, What The Heck", "We Got Work To Do", some moaning, an unexplained voice, an unexplained scream, "Hey You" and "I'm Evil." Nick said he felt as though something went through his body. The crew also heard knocking and banging. An elevator that no longer works suddenly opened and closed its doors. 

Sam and Colby visited in 2022 and the woman at the front desk said that she was standing next to a guest who was taking pictures in the lobby and in one of the pictures, they captured the Lady in Red. The woman described her as being in a red period dress and it looked as though she were captured in mid-waltz across the room. They were excited to see a rocking chair in their room because Connor Randall, one of the inventors of the ESTES Method, told them that rocking chairs enhance the session because of the rocking leading to a trance-like experience quickly. There were two women with the guys and the group was down in the basement where a vault had been and one of the girls was touched on the back of her neck. She had long hair so it had to go through the hair. The guide who was taking them through the basement had felt something touch the back of her head a little before this. This guide told them the following story, "I guess I'll start with the first time that I did an investigation. It was just me, Celia and Jonathan. I'm standing here, Celia is here, Jonathan is there. Celia all of a sudden starts like moving backward. She's like, I just got groped. Then all of a sudden I jump and I was like what the *F*, something just grabbed my leg full on and squeezed it. Then Jonathan's standing here and he goes, "Something is grabbing me." His whole sleeve was like [and she pulls the sleeve out away from her arm]. So all three of us got touched or grabbed." They used a spirit box and the Lady in Red identified herself as Evelyn. They think her name was Evelyn May Johnson. Most people refer to her as Rose, which could've been a pseudonym. They returned to the hotel again in 2023. 

There are other haunted locations in Tonopah. The town has seen some tragedy. There was the Tonopah Plague, which swept through the town in 1905. What started as chest pains lead to death within a number of hours. People's livers turned black and hard as stone. It was believed that poor sanitation led to the illness. Hundreds died. In the early hours of February 23, 1911, a fire broke out in the Belmont Mine, at least 1100 feet deep.   

A man named William 'Big Bill' Murphy set out to rescue the trapped miners in the mine and he went down in the cage and returned with it full. He went a second time and then a third. When the cage got to the surface, Big Bill was not on board and one of the injured miners said that someone had fallen out of the cage. It was Bill, of course. His last words before he went down that third time were, "Well boys, I've made two trips and I'm nearly all in, but I'll try again." Bill was only 28-years-old and he had saved many men. His tombstone in the Tonopah Cemetery reads, "Died while saving others." Seventeen miners lost their lives that day, along with Big Bill. There was another fire in 1942. The Tonopah Historic Mining Park is located where several f the original mines were located. The park covers 100 acres and offers history exhibits, self-guided tours and ATV tours. The park is open seven days a week and hosts a few spirits. The name of one of the ghosts is Bina Verrault and she is said to be elegant and smart. Hard to believe she was a criminal. She apparently was on the run from the law, having made it to Nevada from New York City. Bina died of alcoholism and was buried in the Old Tonopah Cemetery. She is seen looking out of the windows of buildings. The disembodied voices of dead miners is heard and people have captures anomalies on their cameras.

The Tonopah Liquor Company is a historic saloon that was established in 1906. They have over 100 whiskeys on site. There are a couple of ghosts here. One is Hattie who is believed to be a former barmaid. She seems to love children and is a benevolent spirit. The other is George Davis who went by the nickname Devil. He loves to play pranks because he was a trickster in real life. Apparently, he was a black man whose wife shot him in the back. He had abused her so she was only given a year in prison for it.

The Vanwood Variety Store had been the Nye County Bank. The building was constructed in 1902 and was Tonopah’s first permanent stone building. Visitors and staff in the store say that there are cold spots, unusual lights, strange sounds and disembodied voices. The spirit here may belong to a former bank employee who died inside the old basement safe. The Old Tonopah Cemetery was founded in 1901. There are 300 graves in this dusty cemetery. Burials stopped in 1911. People claim to see mysterious lights in the cemetery and they hear strange noises. Full-bodied apparitions are seen walking among the tombstones. They have self-guided maps, so a cool place to visit. And wouldn't you know that this cemetery sits right next door to the infamous Clown Motel. 

The Clown Motel was built in 1985 by the children of Clarence David, Leona & Leroy. Clarence had been buried in the Tonopah Cemetery and so they decided to open a motel next to it. Their father had collected clowns, so they used the motel to display all 150 pieces of that collection. There are clown statues, dolls, paintings and toys. In 1995, Bob and Deborah Perchetti bought The Clown Motel because they lived in Tonopah.  Bob ran the hotel for twenty years and it was popular with motorcyclists, but traffic was slow. That was until Ghost Adventures visited in 2015. 

Zak's crew put the motel on the map. People not only visited, but sent clowns from all over the world. There are now around 6,000 clown items. During their investigation they caught a shadow figure and they had "Hello, it turned on" come across the Spirit Box. And they caught the hand of a large clown moving off it's leg entirely of it's own accord on camera. In 2017, Bob decided to retire and put the motel up for $ 900,000 with the strict condition that the new owners had to keep the clown collection at the motel. The motel sold in 2019 to the Mehar family and they have embraced the Clown Motel's haunted reputation. Vijay Mehar worked as a Master Chef in hotels around the world and he has worked hard to renovate the motel. He gave it a 360-degree facelift by revamping its exterior adding clown colors and polka dots to give it a real circus look. Jolly the Clown has become the brand of the motel and so there are two Jolly Clown cutouts that stand 19ft. tall on the outside. There are themed rooms featuring the Exorcist, Friday the 13th, IT, Fear Unlimited and a Chucky Room. They offer ghost hunting at the motel. If you do want to record videos, there are rules and money and such, which seems to be a growing trend in some of these haunted locations. And reviews indicate that it is scary for all the wrong reasons. People do claim to have experienced objects being moved, hearing disembodied voices, seeing full-bodied apparitions and experiencing unexplained cold spots and hearing strange sounds. EVPS include "we mined" and "we died that day." One guest had a terrifying dream of a headless lady in a rocking chair.

Tonopah has a deep mining history and the tragedies in the town lend themselves to hauntings. Is the Mizpah Hotel and these other locations haunted? That is for you to decide!