HGB Ep. 602 - Haunted Crystal River

Moment in Oddity - Bishop Castle (Suggested by: Chelsea Flowers)

Back in 1959, a 15 year old young man named Jim Bishop purchased a plot of land in Colorado. Ten years later he embarked on a unique journey with the goal of single-handedly building himself a home on that property. The initial structure began as a stone cottage, however residents of the area started commenting about how much the home looked like a castle. Those thoughts sent Jim Bishop's imagination into overdrive. Over 44 years, Mr. Bishop continued adding stone and iron to his home, gradually making it more and more castle-like. By the end of its creation, Bishop's Castle displayed a tower that stands over 160 feet high, intricate spiral staircases, stained glass arched windows with a view of the surrounding mountains, grand halls divided by stone and steel arches and a fire breathing dragon on the front peak of the castle. The dragon does actually breathe fire with the assistance of a hot air balloon burner and due to a cleverly designed chimney, the nostrils do blow smoke! Bishop's Castle is open to the public for visits and it works off of donations to help preserve the unique structure. Sadly, Jim Bishop passed away in November of 2024, however, it is reported that his son is continuing with his father's vision and will keep maintaining and building onto the incredible structure. 

Haunted Crystal River

The town of Crystal River in Florida is the home of the manatee. This is where they can be found in the winter, congregating in the natural springs found in the area. Those springs attracted indigenous people as well and some of them left behind their mounds. These not only have cultural and historic interest, but they have paranormal activity as well, which we discovered for ourselves. There are other locations with ghost stories too, one which also has a connection to Elvis Presley and his film "Follow That Dream." And we found a wonderful small historic cemetery that not only had some sad stories to share, but the activity we experienced there, brought us back for a second trip. Join us as we share the history and hauntings of Crystal River! 

The town of Crystal River sits along what is known as the Nature Coast of Florida. This area is home to manatees and a wide variety of other animals that enjoy the natural springs, marshland and flowering plants. Florida's early pioneers, known as Crackers, built their simple and sturdy wooden homes here that featured high ceilings and large windows for airflow. But long before they arrived, the people of the Deptford culture were here, followed by the Santa-Rosa-Swift Creek culture and the Fort Walton period and they left behind their mounds. They abandoned the area for unknown reasons. Native Americans had called the Crystal River, Weewahi Iaca. After the Armed Occupation Act of 1842 was passed, twenty-two settlers filed claims for land in Crystal River. Not many people would come here until after the Civil War, but during the war there were small skirmishes because the Union Navy blockaded the entire coast of Florida because the state was an important source for supplies for the Confederacy. The Spanish had planted citrus trees all over Florida and this also attracted people from the North. Crystal River not only was a fishing economy, but turpentine became a major business as did cedar mills. The Dixon Cedar Mill employed everyone, including women and blacks. The richest phosphate deposits in the world were discovered in 1889 and the area boomed until 1914 thanks to that. The railroad showed up at the same time as the phosphate discovery, so that helped as well. Crystal River would become an official town in 1903 and was incorporated in 1923. 

Crystal River Archaeological State Park 

This state park is located at 3400 N. Museum Point and features all varieties of mounds left behind by what is believed to be the Deptford Culture. Those mounds included not only the trash or midden mounds many indigenous groups would leave behind, but there were also ceremonial mounds and burial mounds. At this park, there are only six mounds that still remain. It's possible that there were more, but settlers had used them for fill dirt and that is how the artifacts buried in them were discovered. Two unique steles (Stee-leez), or stone monuments, were left behind as well. These were large pieces of limestone and have carvings on them, one of which looks like a human face. What makes this site so fascinating for us is that there were clear connections to Central America civilizations and also groups from the Ohio River Valley. As a matter of fact, this is the southernmost site in the United States to have a burial mound layout like the ones in the Ohio River Valley. So despite Florida being this peninsula, it seems to have attracted separate cultures migrating or traveling via trade routes from both Ohio and Central America. 

Kathleen Walls wrote "Finding Florida Phantoms" in 2004 and she wrote in there that a ranger reported that voices had been heard among the mounds when no one was present, and some apparitions have apparently been spotted here as well. So we brought our recorder and K2 with us when we visited. We started at Burial Mound G, which was not a really tall mound. This is thought to be one of the earliest mounds based on radiocarbon dating. Many of the artifacts found here were items that weren't very valuable, which made us think that people of a lower status were buried here. But these also could've been a less developed culture. We passed several midden mounds, which were trash heaps with oyster shells, animal bones, charcoal and broken pieces of pottery. The top mound at the site was Temple Mound A, which rises 30 feet and has a flat top that could've been seen by the entire group, so it is believed that a temple was built atop this and that rituals would've been conducted here. It was probably built in 400 AD and only one-third of it still remains. Before we got there, Kelly was carrying the K2 and she noticed that it was going off. The K2 rarely ever goes to red for us when we use it at haunted buildings. But this thing was pinging red for us over and over and in response to us. We aren't sure who was communicating, but there was no way any EMF was setting it off as we were out in the middle of nowhere in the midst of these mounds. Perhaps the spirits here have been disturbed that their mounds and burial places were disturbed. 

Riverside Drive in Yankeetown

We ventured a little out of Crystal River to a small fishing village about 12 miles north named Yankeetown. This is closer to the coast and is just upstream of where the Withlacoochee River flows into the Gulf of Mexico. This village was first settled by an Indiana lawyer named Armanis Knotts in 1923. He decided to build a lodge to cater to the fisherman flocking to the area. He named the lodge, the Izaak Walton Lodge, after the author of the fishing classic "The Compleat Angler," Izaak Walton. That book was written in England in the 1600s. The lodge still stands and has been converted into the Blackwater Restaurant, which serves up hand-carved steaks and fresh local seafood. And ghosts. It is said that water taps turn themselves on and music will play when nothing is turned on. A young woman's image has been seen in a mirror. And there are even reports of being pushed by something unseen.

There are some haunted houses here as well and several places that served as filming locations for Elvis Presley's movie "Follow That Dream." Much of the filming was done toward the end of County Road 40 where the Bird Creek Bridge was built. The road was renamed "Follow That Dream Parkway" leading into Yankeetown and we followed that past the Nature Coast Inn where some of the cast and crew stayed and arrived at the bridge. Many locals played extras and worked to create a beach on Pumpkin Island. We also drove over to a town called Inverness to see the Old Citrus County Courthouse, which is now a museum, but was the set for the courtroom scenes in the movie. We made a short video that is up on YouTube and Tik Tok if you want to see all of that.  

Yankeetown has many great examples of Old Florida cracker homes. Crackers were early settlers to Florida and they built homes condusive to the hot and humid weather. The streets were narrow and pretty beat up and with the large oak trees draped in Spanish moss lining Riverside Drive, it felt like we were going back to a simpler time. Not only was the lodge on this street, but there were a couple of haunted homes on this street. One of them is across from the lodge. Mama DD wrote, "I have heard many ghost stories about some of the houses on Riverside Dr. The one I know happened was the old house across from Izaac Walton Lodge. Yankeetown is called an “original cracker town” and the houses by the river still had the slave quarter houses standing. My sister lived in one of these houses so one day going to do something at her house I remember seeing an old black man sitting at the top of the slave house staring down at us with worn clothes and as I tell my mother there is someone here and she replies that there is no one there. She drags me back to the truck and we leave. She has also told me stories when she was in the large plantation house and she thought her son was in the house trying to scare her but she realized he was outside. So she started running for the door and she heard louder footsteps chasing her. When she got outside she slammed the door and refused to enter the house alone after that. There have been other stories told about this house but I can not remember all the details."

And another house that we couldn't pinpoint because of lack of details was shared by a woman named Mary Cashulette. She wrote in 2019, "I stayed at a home on Riverside Drive. I had no knowledge ahead of time of hauntings. During the night when I got up to go to the bathroom. I heard a woman saying, “help me”, in despair. I heard a deeper man’s voice saying it would be alright. I thought it was my friend having a nightmare in her room and her husband comforting her. When I returned to the bedroom, I asked my daughter if she heard anything, she said she heard a distressed voice going across the room. She couldn’t make any words out. When I asked my friends the next morning, they said nothing happened and they heard nothing."

Karma Cottage and Heritage House

The Karma Cottage is located at 652A N. Citrus Ave. This is a metaphysical and rock shop that opened in 2010 by owners who came from Denver. The Citrus County Chronicle reported in 2016, "In Crystal River, Karma Cottage owners Katie Novak and Andy Crane say the upper level of their building, which was the former garage to the main house that is now Dayz Gone By, located next door to them on Citrus Avenue, had been removed from the main house and added to the top of their building. The son of the owner of the main house reportedly lived in that upstairs apartment until he died. “We have heard footsteps walking upstairs when we know nobody is up there. I have heard things fall up there, as if someone dropped something, and go up and check it out, and there’s nothing,” Novak said. But it goes beyond just hearing. “I have actually seen a man looking out the upstairs window when I was out front,” Novak said. “I’ve named him ‘John.’” She doesn’t feel threatened by what she’s seen and heard, and actually thinks he is just curious.: 

Heritage House is a gift shop located at 657 N. Citrus Ave. It is part of the Heritage Village which is made up of several historic homes. The Heritage House was built in the late 1800s The Chronicle also wrote of it, "Across Citrus Avenue in Heritage Village, Laura Lou Fitzpatrick, owner of Heritage House, whose family owned those buildings, says she’s never had a personal ghostly experience, but one of her former tenants has. Dorothy Koehler, who now works at All About Nature, once ran an antique shop in Heritage House. “I had been down in St. Pete when I got a call that an elderly lady customer of mine, Uma Cross, had passed away,” Koehler said. “I stopped at her the house to look at her things, and bought some of her antique kitchen items.” Right after bringing them back to her shop, Koehler was helping a customer at the front counter when an older woman came in and just wanted to browse. “I was still wrapping the package for the customer at the counter when the elderly lady came back up from the kitchen area and said, ‘I want you to know you have a spirit in the shop.’ ” Surprised, Koehler asked, “How do you know that? What did you see?” The customer described seeing an elderly woman wearing a long dress with her hair tied back in a bun. “That was Uma Cross,” Koehler confirmed. “She always dressed that way.” She told the customer, 'I just came back from St. Pete from her kitchen and those are her things. She must have been checking out her stuff.'"

Crystal River Cemetery

The Crystal River Cemetery was established in 1860 and is fairly small. Many of the pioneers from the area were buried here. And for being a small cemetery, it had quite a few Woodman of the World headstones. One of the burials here was a very small headstone that just read Pope Culbreath of Tampa. We found out more about him:

There were many children buried in this cemetery and five plots really caught our eye. If you follow us on social media anywhere, you may have seen the reel that we made featuring these headstones. We'll play the audio for that here. (King Audio)

You know us. We had to know more. As Diane thought about the last name King, she wondered if that had any relation to the fact that there is a King's Bay here. And sure enough, there was a connection. Turns out that King's Bay was named for Edwin King, who was the father of four of those children. He was born in 1836 at Kings Ferry, Florida, which yes, was named for his family. Apparently, his father Thomas King III was a ferry operator on the St. Mary's River. And that III was something Thomas adopted because there were two other Thomas King's in the area. Thomas actually died before Edwin was born because he died in 1835. He was 55 at the time and Edwin was his thirteenth child. Edwin would eventually take over the ferry business with two of his older brother's, Andrew Jackson King and Henry Perry King. In 1854, Edwin went to law school in Boston. In 1859, he married Mary Ann J. Stafford. The couple would move to Crystal River in 1863 and the lawyer decided he wanted to be a merchant, so he opened a general store. They had a home on the bay that would take their name. During the Civil War, Edwin wrote his brother Josiah that he would like him to come down to Florida when the war was over. An excerpt reads, "It is with much pleasure that I seat myself to write you a few lines hoping it will find you and your family well as it leaves me and my family at present...I am getting along finely down here. I have plenty to eat such as Cane Sugar, Syrup, Potatoes, Rice and Bacon. I want you to move down here when the War is over. I have a good place for you where you can get more fish than you can eat and raise as many hogs as you please and cattle accordingly. I have no news to write you. All is quiet down here. The Yankees came up the River sometime ago but we killed some of them and sent them back!" A couple of his brother's did join him and his brother Andrew Jackson Perry took over the King's Ferry business after the war. He had a daughter named Martha King, who died at 17-years-old. Her's is the fifth tombstone we mentioned in that video. We're not sure why she was buried here in Crystal River, rather than King's Ferry. Edwin and Mary had eight children and the other four headstones belong to four of those children: 

Leila Elizabeth King b Apr 20,1866,d Mar 2,1868
Edwin R. King Jr b Nov 17,1869,d Jan 16,1870
Franklin R. King b Aug 27,1875,d Mar 2,1877
Lottie Eloise King b Sep 8, 1877,d Apr 2,1879

Edwin R King Sr and his wife Mary Stafford King are buried in unmarked graves here at the cemetery. We were unable to find out what the children died from.  

We don't usually do investigations in cemeteries, but we decided to do one here and based on our experiences, we returned the following day for verification. Here is our first video of the EMF activity. For those just listening, the EMF went to yellow and kept going off, but it only seems to be in the one area. (EMF 1) So as you hear, we decided that somehow, even though we were in the middle of the cemetery, that we were somehow catching EMF from somewhere and that this wasn't a spirit. We decided to return the next day to the same spot and see what happened. After this, we decided that we indeed did have a spirit hanging around us. (EMF 2) Later the EMF did ping to orange, so we didn't get red but the orange was nice. And a couple times, Diane felt like her arm went threw a spider web. 

Plantation Inn on Crystal River

Our final spot, we only got to see the outside of because it is being renovated. It has a really cool fountain outside of it. The Plantation Resort, as it is called now, is located at 9301 W. Fort Island Trail. This is a replica plantation house built in 1962 that covers 232 acres and features golf, adventures, three restaurants and a spa. There is at least one spirit here that is said to be the ghost of a young girl who can be heard calling for her mother. Guests have reported unexplained phenomena and we have several of those stories to share.

Dee wrote in 2016, "I stayed at the Plantation Inn about 11 years ago and I have told numerous people about my experience there. This evening my daughter and I were talking about the remake of the movie Roots and we got on the subject of ghosts. I told her about my experience at The Plantation Inn. The first night I stayed at the Inn, I was a little unsettled because I felt like I should not be there. It was just a feeling I had because the look of the place reminded me of the “big house” with slave quarters on each side. I even mentioned it to my white co-worker and she just kind of laughed it off. Anyway, later that night when I went to bed, and I am a very light sleeper, but about 30 minutes after I got in bed, I was still awake but just about to fall asleep, I felt tugging on the bed spread, I opened my eyes and laid there very still, then it happened again. At this time I was scared, but I got up and looked around and opened the closet door, looked around the bed, but no one or nothing was there. So I said a prayer to God and went back to bed and went to sleep. I told my co-worker what happened and I told the lady at the front desk, but I don’t think she really think she believed me, but she just kind of laughed it off. I walked around the Inn inside and out and went to the golf shop which was a short walk from the inn, but I kept looking back at the Inn, and I still had a feeling that slaves lived there at one point. I still don’t know if this is true or not. But the second night, before I went to bed and I checked around the entire room, double checked the lock on the door. I watched TV for a while, then I turned off the TV and started dosing off and it happened again, this time the tugging was harder. Finally, I said out loud “look I have to be here because of my job, please leave me alone, I am leaving here tomorrow. I’m sorry for what happened to you, but please leave me alone.” I said my prayers again and fell asleep and it didn’t happen again. After the meetings I was rushing to get out of there. Every year, I talk about my experience at this Inn. It’s something I will never forget."

Vivian wrote in 2017, "About two years ago I stayed at this hotel for business purposes. I was sleeping but felt tugging on the sheets and I woke up to see a tall dark silhouette standing by the side of my bed. I screamed and screamed tried to move but was paralyzed with fear and couldn’t move suddenly it was gone and I could move again at first I thought someone had broken into my room. I looked through the room and there wasn’t any evidence of a break in. I didn’t say anything to the front desk thinking I must of had a nightmare but I was very scared. I was staying on the first floor it was room one hundred something but I couldn’t remember the exact number. I did tell a coworker about the incident who then said there had been a haunting incident there. I was telling my niece about the incident yesterday and she pulled up the hotel name after I told her the story and she read what happened to the person in room 107 it was so dauntingly similar that the same wave of fear that I experienced that day came back for a few minutes. This place is haunted I had to stay another time there a week after the incident which I very nervous about but it was a different room and nothing happened that time. Thank God!"

Kate wrote in 2018, "I didn’t have any experiences, but my toddler seems to have been frightened by something. He had nightmares every night during our stay. The final night, he woke up crying at one point. I asked him what was wrong and he said his pillow was moving and he saw something black by the chair. I held up my jacket that was hanging on the chair, but he said it was something else. He seemed to be struggling to describe it, but said what he’d seen was “too black.” I assured him it was just a nightmare, but an hour or so later, he woke up crying again. This time my husband, who hadn’t heard the first episode got up with him. I heard my son telling him the exact same thing; that his pillow was moving and something black was on the chair by his bed. This time he insisted on sleeping in our bed for the remainder of the night. I asked him about it in the morning because he’ll usually tell me about his scary dreams. This time, however, he kept insisting it was 'not pretend!'"

Yani wrote in 2019, "During our recent visit I was having a lot of difficulties to sleep, I kept having nightmares. On our last night, I continued to have problems falling asleep. When I finally did, I started having nightmares and woke up around 1am with a feeling that something was in the room watching.. I prayed, turned and hugged my husband. I felt asleep again and woke up around 3am with a nighmare of a young woman beeing in our room looking at us. I woke up super scared and on my side of the bed I felt this precense and saw a black shadow.. I closed my eyes and started praying again.. I turned n hug my husband and felt that the thing went away.. The next morning I told my husband what happened, my dream, feeling and what I think I saw and my husband told me he had also had difficulty sleeping because everytime he closed his eyes he will see a young woman with hair up to her shoulders coming towards him.. he felt this presence the whole night and when he woke up there was a black shadow around him… We both thought that the places was probably haunted because that has never happened to us.. and for both to see, dream, and feel the same thing .. thats not coincidence.." 

Anonymous wrote in 2023, "We stayed here last week because I thought it looked beautiful and knowing absolutely nothing about the history. We drove up and thought how fabulous it was. We walked inside to check in and both immediately had a weird feeling despite the beauty and the kind staff. Later in the evening we heard a girl crying for nearly 2 hours and could not figure out where exactly it was coming from. We fell asleep exhausted from driving all day and I was woken up from a deep sleep at 3am to all these very weird noises and the feeling was bazaar, if my husband had not been with me I would have thought I was crazy. By about 4am we looked online and I swear to you I read it was haunted by a little girl crying for her Mother and I was in shock reading about it, we are low key no drama people and never experienced anything like this. By 6am we were out of there." 

Crystal River is a beautiful area and the springs are not to be missed. Especially in the cooler months when hundreds of manatees gather in the warmer waters. Is it possible that some ghosts have gathered here as well? Is Crystal River haunted? That is for you to decide! 

HGB Podcast Ep. 63 - The Life and Afterlife of Elvis Presley

Moment in Oddity - La Pascualita

There is a very eerie mannequin in the store window at a bridal shop located in Chihuahua, Mexico. La Pascualita, as the mannequin is called, was installed in the window at La Casa de Pascualita in 1930. She is so life-like that legend claims she is a real woman who has been perfectly embalmed. Even more curious is that the owner in 1930, Pascuala Esparza, had a daughter who had died on her wedding day after being bitten by a black widow spider. The mannequin bares an uncanny resemblance to Esparza. It is not only the face of La Pascualita that seems so life-like. Her hands are so detailed that they look just as human as my hands. And her legs even have varicose veins. People who come into the shop claim that her eyes follow them as they move around the store and employees think she moves at night. An employee who has to change the mannequin's clothes says she gets very nervous when she has to do it because La Pascualita seems so real. Some have dubbed her the Corpse Bride. One legend claims a magician would come and bring her to life at night and take her out on the town. She more than likely is the work of a very talented sculptor who captured the likeness of the previous store owner, but just like a doll, she sure gives us the heebee jeebees because she is so odd.

This Day in History - Mt. Vesuvius Buries Pompeii

On this day, August 24th, in 79 AD, the most catastrophic eruption of a volcano occurred. Near the ancient city of Pompeii in Italy was located a volcano named Mount Vesuvius. Pliny theYounger, who was a Roman poet, gave an eyewitness description of the destruction wreaked when Mt. Vesuvius literally blew its top. For several years, violent earthquakes had rocked the area giving early indications that all was not well with the volcano. On the morning of August 24th, ash and smoke began to spew from the volcano. At 1pm, Vesuvius erupted throwing ash across the region, blanketing everything. Then a quick moving deadly flow of lava that was intensely hot began rushing forward, knocking down every building in its path. The eruption lasted for two days. It is believed that 1500 people died during the eruption. Modern day research and study of the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, which were completely destroyed, reveals that many of the people were killed by falling roofs and debris, rather than from the ash. Some people were encased in ash though and their bodies were slightly preserved because of this. Many were killed in a fraction of a second. The blast was a hundred thousand times the thermal energy of the Hiroshima bombing. Proving that even man cannot create something as powerful as what nature can create.

The Life and Afterlife of Elvis Presley

Being born into poverty does not usually relegate someone into a life of opulence and superstardom; a fame so great that everyone knows the person by just one name. Such was the life of Elvis Presley. It was a life cut short 38 years ago this month, but the legacy of Elvis lives on whether it be his influence on music, style or entertainment. After his death, it was popular for there to be sightings of Elvis. Some thought he faked his death so he could live a normal life. While many sightings have been of fully alive people who happened to look like the man dubbed "The King of Rock and Roll," other sightings have been of a ghostly image of Elvis. On this episode, we explore the life and afterlife of Elvis Presley.

Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935 along with his twin Jessie Garon to Gladys and Vernon Presley in Tupelo, Mississippi. Jessie was stillborn and Elvis would feel the pain of that loss his entire life. Vernon had built a small two room shotgun style house before the twins were born and Elvis entered life in that house. Vernon and Gladys were poor and Vernon had a hard time finding work. In 1938, the Presleys would lose their house and Vernon went to jail for eight months for check fraud. Gladys and Elvis would form a very close co-dependent bond and she would come to rely on Elvis more than Vernon. The Presleys attended church and Elvis started his love of music there.

Elvis' first public performance was at the age of ten. He dressed up like a cowboy and sang "Old Shep" at a contest. He took fifth place, but his parents soon bought him a guitar and encouraged him to continue with music. Elvis enjoyed listening to Mississippi Slim's radio show and picked up his hillbilly rock sound from that while also being inspired by the spirituals he heard sung in his mostly black neighborhood. Mississippi Slim taught Elvis how to play chords on his guitar and even let him sing on-air. Elvis was a loner and painfully shy. He got stage fright and was unable to sing the first time he was invited on the radio, but he was able to sing the next time.

In 1948, the Presleys moved into public housing apartments in Memphis, Tennessee. Elvis entered high school in Memphis and had a music teacher that thought he had no talent and disliked the music Elvis performed. Elvis was also bullied as a mama's boy because he was so close to his mother. Vernon continued to be a never-do-well in Memphis. In 1950, Elvis started singing with a group of boys performing rockabilly. At this same time, Elvis blossomed into his own unique self that would cause him to standout for the rest of his life. He grew his sideburns long, styled his hair with vaseline and started wearing wild stylish clothes he purchased with his own money he earned working odd jobs. In 1953, he took to the stage at a talent show and he soon found himself popular in school based on his performance. Elvis decided that music would be his life.

In 1954, Elvis headed down to Sun Records to record a present for his mother. He wanted to make her a record. He performed "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin." Elvis told the receptionist at Sun Records that he didn't sound like anybody else and he was right. Sam Philips was the owner of Sun Records and he took note of Elvis' name, but was not initially interested in his singing. Most people in the music industry did not appreciate Elvis' talents. He was told by one man to stick to truck driving because he would never make it as a singer. Philips had long been seeking someone that had the sound of the black soul singers, but was a white man. He thought Elvis might just be that person. He asked two local musicians, bassist Bill Black and guitarist Scotty Moore, to play on a record with Elvis. The trio worked for hours to develop something to no avail. They were about to give up when Elvis started strumming his guitar and singing "That's Alright Mama." Philips knew that was the sound he wanted and he recorded the trio's first record.

Philips took the record to a local DJ and people went nuts for the song. Callers phoned in all night asking who the singer was and the DJ ended up playing the song on a continuous loop for the last two hours of his show. And the legend that would become the "King of Rock and Roll" was begun. The next day, the trio recorded "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and it became the B side of "That's Alright Mama." The group began performing locally and Elvis found that his stage fright caused his legs to shake. He would move his legs to try to hide his nerves and the cut of his pants emphasized the movement. Girls started to notice. Elvis realized that the movements got positive reactions, so he went with it and his bassist Black would follow suit, riding his bass and beating on it with what Elvis' called a jungle drum sound. The trio continued to record and play clubs and finally made it to the Grand Ole Opry stage. It would be Elvis' only performance there as the manager felt he did not suit the venue.

Elvis had been playing the same guitar he had received as a child this whole time. He finally purchased a new Martin guitar after the group was booked for the Louisiana Hayride for repeated performances on Saturdays. Elvis was moving up in music, but his mother was not happy. She continuously worried about him and guilted him for being away. In 1955, Elvis met Colonel Tom Parker who was a promoter. He took Elvis under his wing and began booking him. Elvis found himself in a weird predicament at this time when it came to his music. One could say he was the first crossover artists. Radio stations did not know what genre his music was and the records had a hard time finding airtime. Some said they were blues, some said jazz and others said country. His songs were actually a mix of all of them and this sound became known as rockabilly.

D.J. Fontana joined the trio as a drummer and they began playing in shows with Bill Haley and the Comets. Parker got Elvis signed to RCA Records. They reissued his Sun Recordings and he began singing new songs under the label. In January of 1956, Elvis recorded "Heartbreak Hotel" for RCA. Colonel Parker took on the role as Elvis' manager at this time as well. Elvis' debut album with RCA was the first rock and roll album to ever top the Billboard charts. Elvis made two appearances on the Milton Berle Show with the second appearance causing a huge firestorm across America because of his exaggerated gyrations. The Steve Allen Show forced Elvis to stand still, dress in a tux and sing "Hound Dog" to a basset hound. Elvis made the best of it and played it like comedy, but he always felt it was his most ridiculous performance.

Paramount Pictures signed Elvis to a seven year contract at this time and it was an open contract that allowed him to work for other studios. Elvis would make 31 films in his career and not be happy with most of the roles he played. He loved watching movies and he desired to be like James Dean. He wanted gritty roles, but most movies would basically showcase his singing talent. His debut film "Love Me Tender" did well and probably came closest to giving him the kind of role he wanted. Jailhouse Rock was one of his grittier roles as well and Diane's favorite Elvis movie.

Elvis continued to perform live and his concerts became near riots with girls screaming and passing out the minute he would step on stage. His records continued to hit number one and in 1957 he was able to purchase his beloved Graceland, an 18 room mansion in Memphis. He moved both of his parents into the home with him. Elvis was drafted the following year and entered the Army believing that his singing career would be over. He managed to record some songs when he was on leave and as we all know, his career was anything but finished. Two major life events happened during his tour of duty. The first was the loss of his mother who died at only 46 from heart failure. She had been suffering from hepatitis previous to this. Elvis was devastated. The relationship they shared was strange and she was probably the only woman Elvis ever truly loved. The second life event was that he met Priscilla Beaulieu while he was serving in Germany.

Priscilla was only 14-years-old when she met Elvis at a party at his place in Germany. They dated while he was stationed there and when he returned to America, she thought the romance was over. By March of 1963, Priscilla was moved into Graceland despite being underaged. Her parents agreed to the arrangement as long as Elvis promised to marry her and as long as she attended an all girls Catholic school. Priscilla was left at Graceland while Elvis went to Hollywood to make movies and he carried on multiple affairs with his co-stars. He did eventually marry Priscilla in 1967 and she would give birth to Elvis' only child, Lisa Marie.

Elvis' abuse of amphetamines began while he was in the Army and he would abuse prescription drugs for the rest of his life believing they helped him perform and helped to keep the weight off. He got Priscilla started on them as well. Their marriage was doomed from the beginning. Elvis had never wanted to marry and his fame and the Memphis Mafia, which was his close circle of friends and body guards, kept Elvis distant from Priscilla. And then there was Colonel Parker. While he helped Elvis attain much of the fame and success he had due to his management, he also pushed people away from Elvis and helped to keep him drug addicted.

The hits still kept coming from Elvis despite his home troubles. Nobody has touched the heights Elvis reached except for The Beatles. He and Priscilla separated in 1972 and were divorced the next year. Despite the divorce, Priscilla founded and ran Elvis Presley Enterprises in order to protect Lisa Marie's inheritance, but she also remained close with Elvis, holding his hand as they left the courthouse. Priscilla would turn the meager $1 million inheritance to $100 million with her business prowess.

Elvis continued to star in movies that were panned by critics, but commercial successes. During his marriage to Priscilla, the songs that Elvis recorded steadily sank on the charts. The number one spot alluded him for five years, save for one song, "Crying in the Chapel." He decided to perform in a television special that was dubbed, "The '68 Comeback Special." Elvis wore black leather and performed before an intimate crowd in a mainly acoustic style. It was a huge success. He fell in love with music again. He started performing in concerts again and wearing the elaborate jumpsuits that we all know him by today.

Elvis became a mainstay in Vegas in these later years and requests came in from around the world for him to perform. Newsweek proclaimed of Elvis, "There are several unbelievable things about Elvis, but the most incredible is his staying power in a world where meteoric careers fade like shooting stars." The schedule Elvis kept was grueling. He ate poorly and fueled his energy with prescription drugs. Elvis never thought of himself as an addict, but he was as addicted as any skidrow junkie and it would kill him eventually. His health began to fade quickly. In 1973, he overdosed on barbituates twice. This didn't stop him from running with an equally crazy concert tour in 1974. His bandmates really feared for his life and watched as he used the microphone stand to hold himself up and slurred through songs that were barely intelligible.

Elvis continued to record a few songs in the 70s, but his last albums were basically live recordings of his concerts. RCA set up a studio for him at Graceland, but Elvis was unable to record. He could barely perform live at this point. By early 1977, he was giving very short concerts, barely staying on stage for an hour, or just not showing up for concerts altogether. His concert tour was cancelled. On August 16, 1977, Elvis went into his bathroom and he did not come out. His girlfriend, Ginger Alden, found him unresponsive on the floor and called 911. Elvis Presley was pronounced dead at 3:30pm at Baptist Memorial Hospital. Years of drug use had taken their toll. Elvis' had genetic heart disease and the drugs probably hastened his death.

But some refuse to believe that Elvis is dead. To this day, people still claim to catch sightings of him. In 1998, a man by the name of Jimmy Ellis was murdered in a pawn shop he owned in Alabama. Jimmy had a music career at one time. He went by the stage name Orion and he wore a mask like Zorro. He gained some fame, not because of his talent, but because he looked and sounded just like Elvis. People began to believe he was Elvis. A new documentary entitled "Orion: The Man Who Would Be King" details his struggle to get out from Elvis' shadow. The world wanted Elvis back and that desire led many to believe Ellis was the King. Other sightings happened as well. But the sightings we are interested in are the sightings of Elvis in the afterlife.

As is the case with many haunted people we have featured on the podcast, Elvis' spirit is seen and felt at many locations. But his favorite place is still Graceland. Many fans have snapped photos of Graceland and captured what looks like the spirit of Elvis peering out from windows. His grave is behind Graceland and his full bodied apparition has been seen standing near the grave. He has also been spotted going up and down the stairs inside his home. Tour guides have been asked by visitors who the man impersonating Elvis is, but the tours do not feature Elvis impersonators. The sound of a male singing upstairs at Graceland has been heard.

On one particular tour, several people claimed that Elvis had appeared to them and asked what they were doing in his house. Then it happened again and again over several days. At least nine people claimed to have the same experience of a young Elvis asking them the question about being in his home.

It was in 1980, on December 20th, that Elvis was picked up by five separate people in their cars. He was wearing an Army uniform and was young. He asked the drivers to stop at the gates of Graceland. One of the drivers was driving a truck and he claimed that the young Elvis sang for him while they drove. There are others who have seen Elvis dressed in a uniform near Graceland on other days as well.

Wayne Newton claims to have seen the ghost of Elvis once when he was performing. He said that it happened when he was on stage playing a set and the lights went very dark and everything in the room seemed to stop. He looked up at the balcony, which was suppose to be empty and saw a man standing there. There suddenly was a light behind the man and there was no doubt in Wayne Newton's mind that the figure was Elvis in a jumpsuit. Then he saw his face and Elvis was smiling at him as though he approved of the performance. Then he disappeared, the lights came back up again and the room was full of the sounds of the performance.

The Las Vegas Hilton was a favorite place for Elvis to perform and he seems to be hanging out in the afterlife. His apparition has been seen wearing his traditional rhinestone jumpsuit hurrying in the direction of the stage. When people attempt to interact with the apparition, it disappears. Most interesting is that a ghostly Cadillac joins Elvis at the Hilton. Elvis used to have his own private entrance into the hotel. A concrete wall now stands where that entrance once had been. Witnesses claim to see a man who looks like Elvis driving a red Cadillac around the Hilton and that when he arrives at the concrete wall, he and the car go right through as if the private entrance was still there.

Elvis lived bigger than life. Is it possible for a life like that just to end? Is it just the legend of Elvis that lives on or does he continue on in the afterlife? Are people truly seeing the ghost of Elvis? That is for you to decide!