Ghostly

Is the Villisca Axe House Haunted? Content advisory: This episode discusses a real mass murder in which six children were killed, plus violence, death, and a 2014 self-harm incident. If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (U.S.), any time. On a Sunday night in June 1912, eight people went to sleep in a modest two-story house in Villisca, Iowa, and none of them woke up. More than a century later, the case is still unsolved, the house is still standing, and you can still book a night inside. Kicking off our October series, Haunted Murder Houses, Rebecca follows the children who never stopped playing, while Pat lays out the suspect list: a confession that got taken back, a state senator with a grudge, and a hired man with a payroll alibi. You decide: genuine haunting, or entirely senseless talk? The History In 1912, Villisca was a small railroad town of about 2,000 people with nearly 30 trains stopping every day. On June 9, Josiah and Sarah Moore, their four children (Herman, Katherine, Boyd, and Paul), and two young overnight guests, sisters Lena and Ina Stillinger, came home from the Children’s Day program at the Presbyterian church. Sometime after midnight, someone entered the house with Joe Moore’s own axe and killed all eight. Mirrors and windows were draped, faces were covered, and the killer slipped out before dawn. Townspeople trampled the crime scene, and the suspects followed: state senator Frank Jones, the hired man William “Blackie” Mansfield, and the traveling preacher Rev. George Kelly, who confessed, recanted, and was acquitted in 1917. No one was ever convicted. Restored to its 1912 appearance in the 1990s and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, the house is now open for tours and overnight stays. The Hauntings The children who never stopped playing — balls that roll across the kids’ room on their own, and doors that bang shut, according to former owner Darwin Linn. When WHO Radio’s Van and Bonnie spent the night, three balls “just took off all in different directions.” The man with the axe — in 1930, newlywed Bonnie Ritner said she saw a man holding an axe at the foot of her bed. Visitors have reported the same “shadow man” ever since. Lena’s closet — a closet door that banged behind Darwin Linn as he carried guests’ coins downstairs, and a 1999 investigator who called the house “borderline demonic.” Footsteps on the stairs — ordinary overnight guests hearing someone climb the stairs and walk overhead when nobody else was in the house. “But we knew what we heard.” The night things got real — a 2014 overnight that ended in an emergency, and the longtime caretaker who stopped staying the night afterward. Music Credits Music performed by Michael Rivers. “Pat Facts” and “Ghost Story” themes by Mondo. “Time for a Debate” theme by Gail Gallagher — gailgallaghermusic.com Weigh In Got a ghost story? Call or text us. Hear the phone number on the episode. You might hear it on the show. Vote by texting the episode title with YES (believer) or NO (skeptic), plus a haunting score from 1–10. Listener Mail Email [email protected] or the contact form at GhostlyPodcast.com, or write us at PO Box #264, Geneva, IL 60134. Support the Show Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, or join us on Patreon at GhostlyPodcast.com (tiers from $1–$10). Sources History The Ax Murderer Who Got Away — Smithsonian Magazine Villisca axe murders — Wikipedia Josiah B. and Sara Moore House — Wikipedia The Villisca Axe Murders — Iowa Cold Cases Henry Lee Moore — Wikipedia The Man from the Train — Wikipedia Hauntings & Paranormal Reports Villisca Axe Murder House — US Ghost Adventures (official site) Ax Murder House — Sioux City Journal Van and Bonnie Spend the Night at the Villisca Ax Murder House — WHO 13 Team of Ghost Hunters Investigate Infamous Villisca Axe Murder House — KETV My Experience at the Villisca Ax Murder House — JHS Black & White Strange Occurrences Abound at the Villisca Ax Murder House — Roadtrippers Why Did a Ghost Hunter Stab Himself Inside a Famous Axe-Murder House? — VICE The Time a Ghost Hunter Stabbed Himself at My Axe Murder Museum — VICE

It's one of the most impressive train stations ever built in America, and for most of its life, it's been standing completely empty. This episode, Rebecca tracks down the spirits who never left Buffalo's Central Terminal, while Pat digs into how a building this grand ended up abandoned for over forty years. You decide: genuine haunting, or entirely senseless talk?

Is Mary King’s Close Edinburgh’s Most Haunted Street? Beneath a grand 18th-century stone building on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile — one that gives no hint of what’s underneath — sits an entire street frozen in time. Rooms, staircases, even fireplaces, sealed beneath the foundations when the Royal Exchange went up in 1753. Mary King’s Close was home to merchants, tradespeople, and, in 1645, some of the city’s worst plague victims. Today it’s one of the most investigated haunted sites in the UK, and almost every tour still ends in the same small stone room, in front of a pile of children’s toys. This week, Rebecca walks through Wee Annie, the EVP session at Andrew Chesney’s house, the Coltheart family’s disembodied limbs, a namesake ghost caught on infrared, and a real University of Edinburgh study that found something genuinely hard to explain — while Pat digs into who Mary King actually was, what Edinburgh’s Old Town was really like, and why the close’s most famous “true story” doesn’t hold up to the historical record. Is Mary King’s Close genuinely haunted, or is four centuries of plague, poverty, and marketing doing a very convincing impression of one? You decide. What We Cover in This Episode The History (with Pat): Who Mary King really was — a 1630s textile merchant and one of the few women in 17th-century Scotland to hold full burgess rights What Edinburgh’s Old Town actually looked like: 8-to-12-story tenements, no sanitation, and a city crammed onto one narrow ridge The 1645 plague outbreak that devastated the close — and why the popular “300 people sealed in with a named plague doctor” story doesn’t hold up against the historical record How the Royal Exchange was built directly on top of the close in 1753, sealing it underground for 250 years Andrew Chesney, the close’s last documented resident, forced out between 1897 and 1902 The Real Mary King’s Close opening to the public in 2003 after years of restoration The Hauntings (with Rebecca): Evidence #1 — Wee Annie: Japanese psychic Aiko Gibo’s 1990s encounter that turned one small room into the close’s signature haunting — and its ever-growing pile of donated dolls Evidence #2 — Andrew Chesney’s House: an EVP session that allegedly caught his voice telling investigators to “just get out” Evidence #3 — The Coltheart Family: a 17th-century lawyer’s household terrorized by a disembodied arm, a phantom child, and a vanishing dog Evidence #4 — Mary King Herself: an infrared photograph said to show the close’s own namesake still walking her old street Evidence #5 — The University of Edinburgh’s Haunting Experiment: a real 2001 academic study that found a statistically significant gap between “haunted” and “ordinary” sections of the close Weigh the Evidence As always, it’s not up to us,  it’s up to YOU. After listening, text us the episode title, add YES if you’re a believer or NO if you’re a skeptic, and give it a haunting score from 1 to 10. (312) 869-9929 Or head to our social pages and tell us which piece of evidence convinced you — and which one Pat managed to talk you out of. Music Credits Music for this episode was performed by Michael Rivers. “Pat Facts” and “Ghost Story” themes by Mondo. “Time for a Debate” theme by Gail Gallagher — gailgallaghermusic.com Support Ghostly Podcast Love digging into the world’s most haunted locations with us? Join our Patreon for ad-free episodes, early access, bonus investigations, and a say in which haunted location we cover next. Become a Ghostly Patron » Got a ghost story of your own? Email us at [email protected] or write to us at PO Box #264, Geneva, IL 60134. Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review wherever you listen — it’s the easiest way to support the show and help other ghost-story lovers find us. Sources for This Week’s Episode Mary King (merchant) — Wikipedia Mary King’s Close — Wikipedia Edinburgh City Chambers — Wikipedia Edinburgh: The Old Town — Britannica The Eerily Abandoned 17th-Century Streets of Edinburgh — History Skills Lost Edinburgh: The Great Plague of 1645 — The Scotsman Eerily Fascinating Mary King’s Close in Line for Tourism Award — Edinburgh News The Plague in Scotland — National Library of Scotland The Real Mary King’s Close — Official Site Who Was Mary King? — Real Mary King’s Close Blog Edinburgh’s Plague Doctor: The True Story — Real Mary King’s Close Blog Mary King’s Close — Atlas Obscura 400 Years of History, Previously Buried — Traveling Boy Mary King’s Close — Exploring GB Mary King’s Close — Introducing Edinburgh Haunted Edinburgh: The Ghostly Spectres That Still Walk Mary King’s Close Today — Edinburgh News The Ghosts of Mary King’s Close — Spooky Isles The Ghosts of Mary King’s Close, Edinburgh — Haunted Rooms Ghost Finders Scotland Investigation — Ghost Club The Ghosts of Mary King’s Close — The Scotsman The Haunting Experiment of Edinburgh Castle (Wiseman/Watt study) — Association of Paranormal Study Mary King’s Close — Ghostwatch

Is Preston Castle Haunted? In this episode of Ghostly, we head to the tiny Gold Rush town of Ione, California, to explore Preston Castle — a red-brick, Romanesque Revival reform school with a dark past and a reputation as one of the West Coast’s most active haunted locations. Built to correct troubled boys, the castle instead became the site of beatings, escapes, and at least one unsolved murder. Decades after it closed, staff, tour guides, and paranormal investigators all say the same thing: it never really emptied out. History of Preston Castle Established in 1890 by the California State Legislature as a progressive reform school for juvenile offenders; the cornerstone was laid December 23, 1890, in front of roughly 2,500 spectators Built in the Romanesque Revival style — considered the finest example of that style in the Mother Lode — using bricks manufactured at San Quentin and Folsom prisons from locally quarried sandstone The first wards were accepted June 13, 1894, and the school officially opened July 1, 1894; electricity arrived the following year via a water-wheel-powered Pelton dynamo At its peak, the school held around 800 wards, employed 200 staff, and worked roughly 1,000 acres of surrounding farmland across some 50 buildings Discipline behind the scenes was harsh: public lashings, isolation, military-style drills, and “dunking baths” meant to treat lice were all part of daily life for the boys sent here The school closed in 1960 when the state opened newer facilities, and the castle sat vacant and deteriorating for more than 40 years Local preservationists fought off demolition; the nonprofit Preston Castle Foundation leased the property in 2001 and took full ownership in 2014 Today it’s a California Historical Landmark (#867) and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with the Foundation running public tours and events on-site Reported Paranormal Activity Visitors, staff, and investigators have reported disembodied footsteps and voices, sudden temperature drops, physical touches ranging from a light brush to a hard poke, and cameras or recorders draining batteries or glitching with no explanation. It’s earned Preston Castle a spot on nearly every “most haunted place in California” list out there. The Ghost of Anna Corbin The castle’s most well-known haunting centers on Anna Corbin, the head housekeeper who was like a mother figure to the boys at Preston. In February 1950, she was beaten and strangled in a basement storeroom. Three separate trials followed — and nobody was ever convicted. Locals believe her spirit still can’t leave, and that she’s the one still walking the basement, and the halls, checking on “her boys.” The Infirmary Widely considered the most consistently active room in the building. The infirmary treated wards who fell ill, and some — including 8-year-old Grant Walker and 20-year-old Nicholas Hamilton — never left. Visitors report figures standing at the infirmary windows that vanish the moment they’re noticed, along with faint voices and movement in a room that should be empty. The Basement Beyond Anna’s room, the basement as a whole has a reputation as the heaviest, most unsettling part of the castle — cold spots with no source, shadow figures along the walls, and a dread so strong some investigators refuse to go down at all. On Camera: The Ghost Adventures Investigation When the Ghost Adventures crew investigated Preston Castle, they captured EVPs including “I don’t know,” “talk,” and “get out of here,” along with mist and orbs moving near their own heads on camera. More than one crew member came out of the basement with fresh, unexplained scratches — and Zak Bagans reportedly behaved so differently down there that the rest of the crew wondered if he’d been influenced by Anna herself. Spirits of the Wards Some of the castle’s activity is tied to the boys who lived — and in some cases died — here. Reports include child-like laughter with no children around, faint crying, and small shadow figures darting through the halls. Two names recur often in the lore: Sam Goins and Herman Huber, both shot by guards during separate escape attempts in the early 1900s. Listen now: GhostlyPodcast.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Vote on the Evidence: Do you think Preston Castle is truly haunted? Cast your vote at GhostlyPodcast.com/polls Follow us: Instagram | Facebook | X (Twitter) Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review! And tell us – do you believe? #GhostlyPodcast #PrestonCastle #IoneCalifornia #CaliforniaGhosts #Paranormal #HauntedHistory #HauntedReformSchool #SpookyTravel Patreon and GhostlyX Join our Patreon for all sorts of great extra Ghostly, including early, commercial-free episodes. Join today: ghostlypodcast.com/support/ We want to hear from you with your ghost stories! Email us at [email protected]. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at GhostlyPodcast. Music for this episode was performed by Michael Rivers “Pat Facts” and “Ghost Story” themes by Mondo “Time for a Debate” theme by Gail Gallagher gailgallaghermusic.com Sources for this week’s episode Preston Castle Foundation — History Preston Castle Foundation — Tours The Harsh, Eerie History of Preston Castle — Merced County Times The Preston Castle: A Tragic Blend of Mystery, History, and Horror — Calexplornia Historic Haunt — San Joaquin Magazine Preston Castle — Haunted US Preston Castle Ghost Stories and History — BeyondHaunted.com The History of Preston Castle — Paranormal Legacy Preston Castle (episode) — Ghost Adventures Wiki Preston Castle: A Paranormal Investigator’s Paradise — 209 Magazine Preston Castle — Haunted Reform School — Hauntpedia Ghost Hunt: Preston Castle in Ione, California — Ghostly Activities

Is Wrigley Field Haunted? Welcome to the final episode of the Ghostly Summer Rewind! We’re closing out our summer trip through the vault with a hometown favorite – and our milestone 100th episode. This one originally aired in the summer of 2022. We saved it for last on purpose: it’s dropping during Cubs–White Sox Crosstown weekend at Wrigley, which felt like the perfect note to end the summer on. Thanks for riding out the Rewind with us! New episodes return this fall! It’s Ghostly’s 100th episode! Wrigley Field is an iconic building in Chicago and the home of the Cubs baseball team. But it’s also filled with ghost stories of past managers, announcers, and fans. Is it haunted?  Listen and vote! Questions Explored in this Episode Where is Wrigley Field located in Chicago? What was the neighborhood like before and now? Who built it and why? How did the Cubs end up playing there? Who named it Wrigley? How has it changed over the years? What was the curse of the Billy Goat? Who are Charles Grimm, Steve Goodman, and Harry Caray and do they haunt the park? Listener Mail This week’s listener mail is about a helpful ghost. Have a spooky story or question of your own (or someone you know)? Send your story or question to [email protected] and we might read it on the podcast. You could be on a future episode of Ghostly! History of Wrigley Field Pat explores the history of Wrigley and how it came to be built where the Chicago Lutheran Theological Seminary was located. He tells us about the Federal League, the Chi-Feds (Chicago Whales), and Charles Weeghman. Learn how the field came to be the home of the Chicago Cubs and also how the Chicago Bears once played there. The Debate Pat and Rebecca debate if the field is haunted. The three famous ghosts are Charles Grimm, Steve Goodman, and Harry Caray. All have been seen around the park and Grimm is said to call the bullpen phones in the middle of the night. Visit our website, www.ghostlypodcast.com, to learn more about Ghostly, and, of course, give us your opinion on our polls.  Support Ghostly How can you help support Ghostly? Leave us a rating and a review. Support us on Patreon! Check out all the rewards of becoming a Patreon supporter of Ghostly, including our new show, GhostlyX! Ghostly Gear right on our website at ghostlypodcast.com/store! T-shirts, Hoodies, Masks and more. Sources for this Week’s Episode Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrigley_Field and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_Billy_Goat MLB.com– https://www.mlb.com/cubs/ballpark Ballparks.com: https://ballparks.com/baseball/national/wrigle.htm Last Word On Sports: https://lastwordonsports.com/baseball/2020/10/14/haunted-wrigley-field-a-tale-of-its-haunts/ America’s Haunted Road Trip: http://americashauntedroadtrip.com/wrigley-field-is-the-ballpark-haunted/ Windy City Ghosts: https://windycityghosts.com/wrigley-field/ Waymarking:  https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMTX7T_Wrigley_Field_Chicago_Illinois Mysterious Universe: https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2019/04/haunted-wrigley-field-and-the-curse-of-the-billy-goat/ Huff Post: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-ghost-of-wrigley-fiel_b_12692296 Music for this episode was performed by Michael Rivers Intro: “III. Allegro moderato from Gargoyles”by Lowell Liebermann Outro: “Dream Images (Love-Death Music)” by George Crumb Bumper: “Ghost Waltz” by Lowell Liebermann “Pat Facts” and “Ghost Story” themes by Mondo “Time for a Debate” theme by Gail Gallagher gailgallaghermusic.com