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I have been listening to the Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club, which actually Elena recommended to me.
She did not listen to it, but she said, girl, this title sounds so you.
And let me tell you, it did. I've been listening to it while I walk and I am absolutely loving it.
I love all the different narrators. I love Audible.
There's more to imagine when you listen.
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Hey, weirdos. I'm Elena. I'm Ash. And this is a mini morbid.
Mini, mini, mini. many, many morbid, many morbid, many morbid, many morbid.
We told you there's just not going to be minis anymore.
No way. Fuck a mini. It's a quote unquote.
Mini Morbid. Cause you know what? You got the theme song.
You need the song. So we'll keep the name, but it's an Elena mini anyway.
So. get ready for a fucking two hour case.
Yeah, we know that just doesn't exist. This one won't be.
This one's not going to be like Zack and Addie long where I was like, oh, this is a mini and it was an hour and a half.
That was really good, but I will tell you, I was sitting on an ottoman for that and my butt fell asleep and like. so fucking nasty but i had swast that was just not okay it was a long one but there was so much information i couldn't leave it it was a good one Well, today, I don't think we really have a lot of business to attend to, and we don't really do that with minis, even though, you know, we've been through this.
But... But, all right, so here's what we were going to do.
We were going to make today spooky roads.
I fully intended to do that. She did. I did.
I went into it and I was like, all right, you know, I was looking for some roads.
I came across some and I'm like, I don't know.
And then I kind of was like, you know what I'm feeling, I'm feeling my Scottish roots today.
So I was like, let's go to Scotland. Let's get some Scottish spooky roads.
Let's make Papa proud. Yeah, I want to make my dad proud.
And, you know, like, let's do this because Scotland is the most haunted place on earth, like literally.
So I went in, I went in thinking I was going to get a road and you didn't.
I came out with a totally different episode.
So what did you get exactly? What are we talking about? talking about today.
So what I decided to do was I came across this place called Mary King's Close.
Mary King's Close. Yes. It is bonkers bananas.
I had no idea that it existed. Now I want to go to it.
Let's plan a trip. It's spooky. It's horrible.
It has. And what we're also going to be talking about is a place called Norlock. that is no longer there anymore, but it's connected to this Mary King's clothes, and it has its own fucked up shit.
So... It's just all, and there was too much and I was like, I can't, I can't not dive into this.
This is going to be incredible. Also, I can only see your eyes right now.
And they're just twinkling and like moving and bugging out of your head.
And it's really funny. because i'm just really excited i'm like you're literally like this is gonna be so fucking good scotland's the best i'm so excited I can't.
Our Scottish listeners, I love you because you guys have the best fucking country.
Oh, well, tell them what your idea was. Oh, so this is my idea.
So because while I was looking through Scotland for cool stuff, I came across so much more.
I kept writing things down being like, well, I'm going to cover that.
Well, I'm going to cover that too. And I was like, you know what, we do an Australian Madness episode because Australia just provides and provides and provides.
Australia is the band that keeps giving.
It truly is. We love Australia. And so I decided we got to do... a new series that we're going to throw in there every once in a while between Australian madnesses and the spooky roads and the listener tales.
We're going to do some Scottish madness because they have way too much.
Way too much. Way too much. We can't ignore it.
We got to talk about the Loch Ness Monster.
It's not a true crime, but it's something.
But it's cool and it's fun. But it's cool.
It's morbid. And you know what? The Loch Ness Monster is in... um the lock that sits outside of urquhart castle which is your last name so that's just like my castle so that's like my lineage but i don't have that name so there's that it's it's wild it's wild so without further ado Let's dive in.
Like I said, Scotland has the distinction. of being called the most haunted place on earth.
Ooh. In Mary King's Close... has the distinction of also being called one of the most haunted places on Earth.
On Earth. On Earth. Earth. Earth. but certainly in scotland well and very much in edinburgh so oh i love saying that town edinburgh It's a city.
Well, town city, you know. And it's beautiful.
Gorgeous. Beautiful. Do you speak from experience?
I don't, but I wish I did. I have a plan to go to Scotlandbury in the near future.
Fuck yeah. Can I come? yeah am I in the plan am I in the plan sure so Scotland you know You're just doing the damn thing.
So today we're talking about Mary King's Close and we're going to start by explaining what a close is because I didn't know what a close was.
Yeah, me either. I just acted like I did.
Yeah, good. Because I don't know a lot of people who know what a close is.
I don't think this is like common knowledge, especially to like...
Can I guess? Sure. Is it like a hotel? No.
Okay. Well, fuck me, right? I was a good guest.
So in the 17th century, Edinburgh's old town was getting insanely full, like overcrowding becoming a huge problem.
Okay. It was just becoming a big issue for them and they needed to figure out how to fix it.
But they also didn't want to bankrupt themselves.
And there was also the problem that was stopping them from just simply expanding the city outwards.
There was this huge wall around the city that they built as protection.
From what? From just everything. Because this is the 17th century.
You've got to protect your ass. Just from everything.
There's just shit happening. happening well i mean i feel like today is the 17th century it honestly is so but they they built those for protection which is great but you can't build your city outwards now because you can't take those walls down.
So what's the only option for growth? You start squeezing houses in on top of each other and start building them way up.
Oh. Oh, okay. Yeah. So some houses on these streets were like eight stories high.
Oh, that's cool. Yeah. And what's weird, so the whole thing with Edinburgh back in the day was it was like Edinburgh Castle and then...
It slowly went down on a slant. So it's like everything started going down on a slant.
So they started building those bottom houses up to like meet the...
The top portion of that slant. Okay. Slants are always spooky.
It's a very spooky slant. Every haunted house is on a slant.
There you go. It's a slant. Now, of course, if you had money, you lived at the top, like the penthouse.
I mean, duh. You lived at the top of the hill, you lived at the top of the buildings.
We all the way up. It was mostly because you were too good to be sitting down there where all the sewage was running everywhere.
And the rats and all the animals, the cattle, just it didn't smell good down there.
All the trash. Just bad stuff. All my fam.
So, you know, the smell was definitely not bougie.
And if you were bougie, you were not going to be down on the bottom.
If you were bad and bougie, you were not hanging out. there no way so that's so the poorest people were the ones that were down on the bottom for a second it sounded like you said the poorest people like they were like very porous oh i was i thought you said the poor and i was like i did you're like that's exactly what i said you fucking idiot No, the porous, like they're absorbent.
Yeah, those people, you know. How they be living.
A very specific demographic was placed down there.
Now that we're recording together, I can't stop laughing.
I know, right? I missed you. I missed you.
It's safe. Don't worry. Shut up. It is. Don't worry.
We're very far apart. And we already quarantined together.
And we're related. It's fine. It's fine.
We know where we've been. We're not going anywhere, don't worry.
So yeah, the poorest people are at the bottom.
And as you went down that slant, it just got poorer and poorer.
And poorer. And darker and stinkier. And just bad all around.
So these crowded streets and offshoots were called closes.
Or closest, excuse me. Okay. And they kind of spread out like a spider web.
Like they were just dark, narrow alleys and roadways that were just like... on either side these big tall very crowded tenement houses and office buildings and This sounds ominous as fuck.
It's real ominous. And so they all ran off of the Royal Mile. which is a famous area still around.
And it's where tourists now flock. And it's a one mile stretch of streets that run between Edinburgh Castle. and hollyrood palace hollyrood yes love it hollyrood hollyrood i love that um so it's right between a palace and a castle You know, can't miss it.
The Royal Mile. Yeah. So they used to lock off the gate at the Royal Mile on either side to keep the undesirables out at night.
I mean, fuck them, right? Like, that's crazy.
So Mary King's close is the most infamous of these closes.
Why is that? Now, that's because most of these closes ended up being taken apart or like demolished later to build other buildings and offices and such on top of them.
Okay. because they wanted to start leveling the city out.
Right. So they just kind of like buried and sealed off like whole parts of these, the city.
Like underground. So they were burying homes underground?
Yeah. They took the people out first, right?
They did. Okay. From what I've read. I mean, I don't know. it was the 1700s who knows really shit got wild it could have happened but so basically underneath the city are these like cavernous cities like underneath that's cool Which is so, like, it's the amount of history that's under people's feet there.
You just don't know. It's unbelievable. But Mary King's close is infamous because... um it it didn't exactly get like sealed off so back in the 17th century It was suddenly very important that a new Royal exchange be created to continue trade between old town and new town. you know 17th century shit yeah you know they needed the tea bags and the coffee and the silk You know.
So they find an area that will work perfect for what they need to build this royal exchange.
Okay. Which is this like massive building.
And they look and they're like, oh shit, that's Mary King's Close.
That's the place where we want to build that building.
So we can't build it there. But we're going to figure out how.
They're like, we need that location. We want to build this massive royal exchange on top of it, which, by the way, now is still standing. this royal chain.
So it happens. But it's called the Edinburgh City Chambers now.
And instead of just taking the entirety of Mary King's Close and just demolishing it like they did with a lot of them or just like filling it in.
What did they do? So what they did was they just took the top floors off of all the buildings.
Mm-hmm. like just the top floors, and then they paved over the existing floors to use them as the foundation to build this massive building on top of.
What? So they made Mary King's Close an underground web of roads and alleys?
Just underground? That's the coolest shit I've ever heard.
Literally, it's a road in the basement of this massive Royal Exchange building.
So can you go there now? You can now. When are we going?
I'm saying. So now you would think that even this way, you were like, that's clearly going to be abandoned because it's like underground.
But it wasn't. It wasn't. So some people left because they were like, I'm not going to live my life underground.
But a lot of businesses kept running down there.
So you would just like, I'd be like, oh, I got to go to the cleaners like underground.
And you just literally go underground. people kept living like buried under there and it was dark it was spooky it was like this underworld wouldn't it be a word that I really hate called moist.
Oh, for sure. And like, what's that word that basements are?
Musty. Yeah. Oh, I'm sure it was all of those things and more as we'll find out.
Okay. The last people to hold out there was the Chesney family, and it was actually Andrew Chesney.
And he didn't leave until 1902. Wow. Yeah.
And the Close was sealed off because the city chamber's building wanted to expand even more. but they ended up unsealing it.
So apparently if you go down there, it's this like spooky labyrinth with old storefronts and housing fronts.
My God. It leads down a hill and it empties into what was the Norlock.
But it was like, what Norlock was, was a man-made lock.
It was built on, it was created on marshland.
Now, a lock is just like a lake, right? Yeah, like a lake.
Or am I dumb? Yeah, no. You're not. It's like a lake.
Okay. Like, you know, Loch Ness. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Okay. So this was just not a like spontaneous lock that happened.
They made it. Like a natural. They made it because they...
Basically what they wanted to do was they wanted it to act as a deterrent against invaders at Edinburgh Castle.
Okay. So there was already a giant volcanic rock face surrounding the castle.
Oh, you know. There still is. Oh, shit.
It's badass, but like, you gotta protect your castle.
So they were like, let's put a giant body of water. in front of it doesn't just take a fucking volcano we need this water too every castle needs a boat So, and it did, it stopped people for quite a bit, but then it would like freeze over in the winter and people would just go slip sliding right over.
Yeah, so that's not awesome. But then Norlock became something.
Very sinister. A massacre. Among other things.
So it's a super dark place. Like super dark.
People often used to, this was one of the places, the most popular places to commit suicide.
Oh, so we're going to get sad now. Yeah, and there was also a lot of public executions by drowning.
Oh, because that happened for a long time.
This was also the case where they used to dunk witches for the swimming test.
Oh my God. Yes. But like, no, obviously.
Yes, but no. So in 1628, this is crazy. In 1628, a man by the name of Mr. George Sinclair was sentenced to death and he was sentenced to death for...
Having an incestuous relationship with his two sisters.
Well, then that's not okay. Yeah, he was real gross.
So, like, bye, Mr. Sinclair. Now, his two sisters were also brought along for punishment because what the hell, right?
Yeah. And it's like one of them was younger.
Pretty sure like it's like pretty sure it wasn't.
Pretty sure he was just molesting them. But like, OK, yeah.
Murder them, too. That's right. Great, great, great, great.
So his younger sister's sentence was commuted by the clergy right before, so she was saved.
Oh, good. But the other one had to go. Not so lucky.
She had to go. Now, what they did was they took...
George Sinclair and his sister put the mini chess together.
Uh huh. They locked the chest. And then they just dunked it right over.
Drilled holes in the chest and then threw the chest into Norlock.
Wow. What a way to go. They gave no fucks.
Not one. Zero fucks. Because it's like not only are you drowning.
Zero fucks were given. Slowly, but you're cramped into a chest with your brother who's probably been molesting you.
Oh, wow. Holy shit. No, thanks. Like, no, thank you.
Like, you got us here. And what's crazy is two centuries later in like the 1800s.
Workers were building over this disgusting Norlock and they were making...
What is now the Prince's Street Gardens, which is like beautiful.
Oh, great. And they were building a drain because they were draining the well.
Yeah, it really did. They came across a chest that contained two skeletons.
Oh my God. That's like horrific, but also like really cool.
It is. Cause I'm like, imagine finding that.
I can't imagine that. That must have been bonkers.
So that's crazy. And I mentioned the witch dunkings.
And this was before, obviously the Scottish, Scottish age of enlightenment.
Um, But this was when more than 300 witches were tried on the banks of the loch or nearby.
So they're just trying them like on the beach.
Oh, yeah. Because what they would do is they'd bring you down.
They'd drag you down. Then they would tie them thumb to toe.
Oh, drag them down the banks, throw them into the water.
And then here's the rub. If they sink, then they were like, Oh, good.
You're free of evil spirits. But you're innocent.
Whoops. Guess you died. But at least you're not a witch.
Right. That's that. And if you floated, it was seen as witchcraft, and they quickly burned you at the stake to cleanse your soul of the evil spirits.
That's a catch-22. You're real fucked either way.
Fucked either way. You literally die either way.
So as soon as they're like, we're going to try you for a witch, you're like, oh, well, okay, but goodbye, family.
Right. That's... That's that. Oh, that's so that's so fucked up.
Scottish Scotland actually killed more witches than I think anyone in really than anyone in europe because of like the crazy leadership at the time that was going on which i want to do a whole episode on that would that be fun It's crazy.
It'll be a Scottish Madness episode. It will, because we got to.
So that's crazy. So many witches... accused witches I'm like so many witches so many accused witches were thrown in this water and just died at the bottom And then the lock was also a dumping ground for waste and it just like became polluted.
It was like a cesspool of like poisonous things.
Like it was just awful. Right. And this started creating noxious gases that would cause hallucinations and also like feelings of sickness. to all these people in Mary King's clothes.
Oh, no. Yeah. So... Hallucinations? Yeah, it would like fuck with you.
Oh my God. Yeah, it's like no joke. What is this place?
It's crazy. see that's insane that's why i couldn't stop also it's nuts this is fucked but isn't the word noxious like it's so cool oh i love i love the feeling of that word right say it certain words just feel good coming out of you that's one of them So back to Mary King's Close.
It was called Mary King's Close because closes were usually named after really important really well respected residents of that close okay so Mary King was a resident who in 1603 made her own she was like a fabric merchant and she made her own business all by herself and After she became a widow, which was nuts for ladies at the time.
Right. So she was just like a bad bitch.
Mary King was that bitch. She was. And it was just like a huge sign of respect and status to have a close named after you.
So like... She was one of the only women to have it happen.
Like usually it was named after men. I mean, bummer that it was this one.
Yeah, I mean, it's not an awesome one, but I don't really know if a lot of closes were really doing great, but this one just happens to be.
At least she's notorious for being haunted.
Yeah. And I mean, I think she's still down there.
So that's cool. So we'll get to that. Now, the plague really messed shit up when it came to Edinburgh.
They typically do. Yeah. And that was in like 1644, but then it like really hit its stride in like 1645.
You know what I'm talking about. It's like the black plague, the bubonic plague.
We all know what it is. The black death.
Get your masks. It's the worst. And it's very, thinking about it now and hearing how contagious it was, it's a little too scary.
A little too scary. But it was actually from the fleas that hitched on the rats.
And rats are often blamed for causing this, but it's actually the fleas that were on the rats.
Oh, see, I never knew that. Yeah, rats get like a bum rap now.
So what happened was like the fleas will hitch a ride on the rat.
The rats are all down there doing shit. And then the fleas will either jump off into like hay or like. fabric or on people.
It's not like people are taking tons of baths down there.
So they're just immediately getting infected by it.
Ew. Yeah. And so what the black plague is, or the bubonic plague, it's a lymphatic infection.
So it makes all of your lymph nodes swell up. and sometimes they would burst and rupture skin and shit.
Holy fuck. And it's like under your armpits and your groin, like those kind of things.
It's really bad. They're called bubos. So that's like what those swollen glands are.
So that's where the name bubonic plague comes from.
And you would also, if you got this plague, because we all know the Black Plague is really bad.
Correct. You know. But when you actually look at what it did to you, you're like, holy shit.
Hit me up. There was muscle cramps, seizures, gangrene. necrosis of the extremities high fevers chills continuous aggressive vomiting which would become so bad it could rupture your intestines oh my god Yep.
Oh, and also delirium and coma sometimes too.
Oh, just, you know, toss those in for a little sprinkle.
It was a bad trip. That's like... A bad trip.
Yeah, that's not okay. And when you think about thousands of people getting this, all suffering from this shit, you're like, what the fuck? yeah I mean we're just thinking of COVID-19 right now which is horrific in and of itself but it's like when you think of you think of people like this is so fucking gross but you think of people using the bathroom and like Like there wasn't plumbing.
So where did your barf go? Just over the fucking window.
Well, that's the thing. You would just do it in a chamber pot.
And then you would just throw that out the window.
So somebody else. Exactly. And it's like. what they didn't have then and what we have now and look at how bad COVID-19 is and what we have to fight it.
And it's like, you look back then they had nothing.
So the closes were literally the perfect breeding ground for this kind of thing.
Right. Shit was rough down there. Especially underground, you would think.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Because there's no ventilation.
Right. There's sewage everywhere. People are just emptying their waste everywhere. exactly how you're thinking about it open the window splash it out and they would literally just like call out like it's coming and then they would just like throw it out the window And if you happen to be walking by, you might get doused in somebody's shit.
You know, like we all have bad days, but if you're having a bad day, just think at least you didn't walk by somebody's fucking bomb.
For real. Bomb throw. And honestly, thinking about this, it's like, and now I'm thinking about like some people getting upset.
We have to wear masks. Yes. And I'm like, at least you're not covered in somebody else's vomit.
She was so bad back then. You know what?
At least you don't live underground. Exactly.
Oh boy. The town of Agde in France is famous for sun, sand, sea and sex.
But lately, life on the coast has taken a strange turn.
The town's mayor, a respected pillar of the community, has been arrested for corruption.
His wife claims he's been bewitched by a beautiful clairvoyant.
Then there's the mysterious phone calls that local people have been getting.
I am the Archangel Michael. The whole town has been thrown into chaos.
As the mayor is unable to carry out his duties, I would like to address you all.
Legal proceedings have been initiated. Join me, Anna Richardson, and journalist Leo Schick for The Mystic and the Mayor as we investigate a story of power, corruption, and magic.
Binge all episodes of The Mystic and the Mare exclusively and ad-free right now on Wondery+.
Start your free trial in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or the Wondery app.
So yeah, so you might just get hit with somebody's chamber butt while you're walking by.
So it was basically a festering P2 dish of nightmares down there.
Good band name, I call it. Festering petri dish of nightmares.
I love it. There was bugs and rats carrying the infected fleas. and other not so fun things just living alongside you down there and it was just becoming overrun with disease.
But that sounds like today because there's murder hornets and aggressive rats.
But you know what? Where did the murder hornets go?
I have a theory. Somebody fucked up the simulation somewhere and they were like oh shit we said that we were going to do the murder hornets but like Maybe they'll all just forget about it.
It's like, where did they go? Like, I want to know.
Maybe it's too hot for them. I don't know.
Maybe it is. Maybe they all turned into bad guys.
Maybe they took one look at all of us and were like, you guys aren't worth it.
Fuck that shit. I'm good. They're like, you guys actually are murder hoarders, so.
We're out. I see our job here is unnecessary.
You are your own murder hornet, so we do not need to do this for you.
No, thank you. So back then, Dr. George Ray, alongside Dr.
I'm going to say it wrong probably, and I apologize.
Johannes Politis? Sometimes that's Johans or Johan.
Johan. Johan. Yeah, that sounds better.
I went to school with a kid whose name was like, everybody would be like, Johannes?
And he'd be like, it's just fucking Johan.
And it honestly, when I said it like phonetically, I was like, that's not how you say names ever.
Like, you never say names phonetically. It just always is something different.
If you said my name phonetically, it would be Ashley Gough.
Exactly. So we're not okay. So Johan. So yeah.
So, you know, the two plague doctors. We're going to talk mostly George Ray is like the most known.
Okay. They were the city of Edinburgh's official plague doctors and they were true angels.
Oh. I mean, plague doctors are fucking angels.
Obviously. They put themselves directly on the front line.
They set to saving lines and lives. What?
And they did this by lancing. They would go into people's homes during the plague.
And they would lance the infected lymph nodes and glands to rid the infection out of your body.
Like where do you put it though? And they would use this like, well, they would do it in like to a pot.
But they would use like a red hot thing to like, so it would also cauterize the wound kind of thing.
It hurt you really bad. It would hurt. But at least you were getting the fucking bubonic plague out of you.
Accurate. So they did this while wearing, just because I'm like, plague doctor outfits?
The shit. I am forever jealous. Forever jealous.
Every time I gown up to go into an autopsy, I'm like...
But why don't I look like a plague doctor?
Because I don't know why you don't. They wear full leather, black leather cloaks.
I mean, that's metal as fuck. I'm already in, like I'm already in, sign me up.
And then they wear those infamous plague doctor masks that look like a bird beak.
And what was in that beak part was it would be filled with a mixture of like pleasant smelling plants and herbs.
And that was just to block out the smell of like your patients.
Weren't there like some kind of leaves in there too that were supposed to like fight against the plague?
Yeah, I think it was all based and mostly it was to keep the smell out.
Yeah, I mean, that makes sense. But it was also to protect them.
Right, right. But they would wear like the cool...
Do you think they wore top hats too? Like can we just say that they did?
Oh fuck yeah they did. Even if they didn't they did.
Like, don't worry about it. They wore pop hats.
Obviously. Yeah. So the poor were... So, I mean, obviously this close was just full of...
The poorest people. The unfortunates, like the poorest of the poor.
Now there's like hundreds of people in these closes that are just... overrun with plague.
I mean, this place is just a festering place right now.
So they got out who they could, they saved who they could.
But then it came time that they were like, you know what?
You're too ravaged down there. So they just left them in there and they bricked it up and let them all die down there.
Shut the fuck up. Yup. and they just either way and there are there are things that say you know that that didn't happen and that they let them quarantine kind of down there or whatever but then either way they were they were left down Right, like with no help and like no way to get out.
And that's the other thing. I'm like, when people get upset and are like, I, you know, it's... quarantine is like taking away my freedom at least no one bricked you in your house and let you die right There's that.
So yeah. So you know what? I'm trying to give people perspective here.
Right. Anytime you feel like you're like, wow, my freedom's being taken away by being asked to stay inside and not infect the rest of the human race.
At least they didn't brick you into your house.
Really having your freedom taken away? Is the government literally coming and bricking up your whole screen?
You know what, Poe? Are we really that far from that?
No, we're really not. I'm kind of just waiting.
We're really not. So yeah, so it officially became abandoned in 1645.
Okay. But it had a resurgence. It didn't get abandoned.
That was it. Like, it came back. People moved back down there.
So obviously... A lot of suffering and death occurred in this underground city.
Yes. It's often referred to as, like I said earlier, the most haunted place in the world.
And people tend to see a woman in black A lot of people see this woman dressed in black who they think might be Mary King.
They said she doesn't seem like a dark energy.
She doesn't give any aggression off. She's just kind of like walking around.
She's just chic as fuck. She's just like surveying her clothes.
She's just wearing Coco Chanel pants. That's all she's doing, obviously.
There's also a worried looking man wandering around that a lot of people see.
I mean, why do you think he's worried? They're about to brick him in.
Yeah, he's just worried as fuck. Same. I mean, I feel bad.
There's also a lot of disembodied floating heads.
That people see. Wow. Okay. Which can you imagine being in like an underground cavernous city and a floating disembodied head just like...
That reminds me of Harry Potter, like the bus driver.
Or like nearly headless Nick. Yeah. yeah it's just it's very why do they call you nearly headless nearly headless why are you nearly headless So most sadly, though, there is often sightings of a little girl named Annie.
Oh, I'm saying. Little orphan Annie. Now, it's said that Annie was a victim of the plague.
And that she was abandoned there by her parents to die of it.
Well, fuck them. I know that's real shitty.
Now, a well-known Japanese psychic, I found her name to be Aiko, which I'm hoping that's what her name is, but she's well-known.
Okay. She's a Japanese psychic. She came there with like a whole crew from Japan to like investigate this place.
Cool. She went down there, immediately started speaking with Annie.
Oh, I love that. Yeah. And she was like, okay, this little girl is about eight years old.
She's dressed in like raggy clothing. Yeah.
She has a dirty face that's like streaked with tears.
She's crying. Oh my God. She's upset. And apparently Annie told her, I lost my favorite doll.
And I just want a doll so I don't feel lonely.
Oh my God. I just got like goosebumps. I know.
But they were sad goosebumps. Well, so the psychic was like, okay.
I'm going to be right back, Annie. And she like went, she bought a doll with like a tartan skirt.
And she brought it back to Annie's room and she placed it on a shelf and she was like, this is your doll.
Why are you trying to make me cry? So now...
In something referred to as Annie's room, where she had put the doll, visitors have left hundreds of dolls, stuffed animals, notes, teddy bears.
Oh my God. They're just piled up. they're cheering up the afterlife and the good news is that people say that when they do see her now She's happy.
Oh my God, stop. She's not crying anymore.
Stop. Yeah. That's the most beautiful haunting. story i've ever heard and when we go i'm gonna bring annie like five dolls literally i want to bring annie like all the dolls all of them like all take everything i have I'm going to buy her American Girl dolls.
Yes, that's a ridiculous waste of money, but okay.
Because everyone should have the American Girl dolls.
That's true. Guys, American Girl dolls were the shit.
I wouldn't know because I never had one.
I wasn't loved as a child. You know what I had though?
The books. I got the books. The books were awesome.
And I think you had the books because I got the books.
I'm pretty sure they were your books, to be honest with you, you fucking asshole.
They 100% were my books. Yeah, whatever.
Dude, those books were great. I have some of those books still.
Those books are sad as shit, some of them.
They were. They were tough. But they told you shit about history.
Mm-hmm. I'd be like, yeah, enough about American Girl dolls.
Enough about all your fucking dolls, Alina.
Yeah, I loved those dolls. So people will walk by a room down there.
And they will claim to see, a lot of people have claimed to see a stack of dead bodies in a room.
Great. That's what you want to wander upon.
And it's like, you're going down there, you're on a tour and you're like, what, what, what's that?
Did you guys just like stack a bunch of dump?
You guys go and clean that up. And then they're just gone.
When they go to show them to somebody. That's spooky.
And what they think is it must have been like there, there was clearly had to have been temporary morgues set up in like some of the rooms.
So it's not far off. People will also not just see the disembodied floating heads, they'll just see random limbs, like infected limbs.
Oh. Mm-hmm. Just like scattering the streets.
That's what's so weird. It's like, so you'll just walk down by something and just be like, oh, that's like a gangrenous like fucking leg. right just that like just that that right there right and then it's just gone That's weird.
There's nothing attached to it. Picturing this in your head is real weird.
It takes you to a place. I'm just like... I'm picturing like this like...
Hallway where the floor is dirt and then there's just like streets like everywhere with just like yucky.
That's basically it. I'm going to post photos of it.
It's wild. I'm so excited to see pictures.
I want to go here so badly. Let's do a live show there.
We really need to. There was two college students who actually stayed the night there and like recorded and the shit they heard and saw is like pretty spooky.
I barely survived Lizzie Borden's house.
Oh yeah, I don't think you could survive.
No. So I watched a documentary by haunted Scotland and they visited the close and did an investigation, like a full investigation.
They picked up some terrifying sounds. Oh, this is there is like clear audio at one point of a man just wailing.
Like very clearly a man just down the hallway wailing.
That's horrific. Screaming. It's the most off, like just... upsetting things.
It's so weird, too, to be like, we were there and that was happening, but we didn't hear it, but this picked it up.
Isn't that so weird? Yeah. Well, and then they also do EVP.
And they get EVP. They get a ton of EVP.
And some of the scariest ones were... Come back, get her.
That's the baby. Oh, no. And then there was, hello, I'm trying to get through.
So it was like somebody being like, hello, I'm trying to talk to you guys.
I'm trying to get through. Oh my God. That's kind of like cool.
What's hilarious about these? And I found myself like, I was like, wow, this was a very American moment for me.
Oh God, what'd you do? Because I'm listening to it and I'm like, holy shit, they all have Scottish accents.
Like the EVPs have Scottish accents. Which like blew my mind for some weird reason.
Wait, what? Like, isn't that weird to think about?
Like, you're like, why do I always think that ghosts are just going to be like American accents?
Did you really think that? What a filthy.
You just said it and I was like, wait, why are you so like, yeah.
Yeah, well, I just wasn't expecting it. Like when you hear, I've only heard mostly EVPs where it sounds like an American accent.
No, that is a good point. And hearing a ghostly voice with a Scottish brogue is like... I was like...
That's awesome. Well, when you were saying about Annie earlier, I like heard like when you were saying it, I like in my head, I was like, oh, and she probably had like a cute little Scottish brogue.
And it's like I. hearing it is very cool.
Like you're just like, Oh my God, that's Scottish ghost.
Right. That's really cool. Yeah. Mainly because I just love Scottish brogues.
I know. Love Scottish brogues. I love a Scottish brogue and an Irish brogue.
Yeah. I worked at an Irish pub for a wicked long time and I like missed that sound.
Yeah, they have the best. Irish and Scottish have like the best, just like, you can just listen to them talk all day.
And I love that they just say the C word like it's bitch.
Like they're just like, you fucking cunt.
Oh, I love it. It's like a term of endearment.
I love it so much. They just know. They get it.
They get it. They're the real ones. Remember when everybody got mad at me for saying cunt and I was like, I'm Irish.
It's fine. We're like, we have Irish and Scottish ancestry.
I was raised at a pub. Exactly. So there you go.
But yeah, it was very American of me to just assume that all ghosts have American I know, that was funny.
And I never knew that I thought that until I heard a Scottish accent on an EVP.
And suddenly I was like, oh shit. That's really funny.
I wish I had been with you when you had that realization.
It was a real revelation. Sorry if you just heard my phone beep.
Why are you so popular? I got a CNN notification, but I know I don't even want to look at it.
So I'm just going to live in this spooky moment.
Live in the now. So during a spirit box session in the Chesney house, which the Chesneys were the last ones to leave the clothes.
Okay. they were the holdouts um and andrew chesney was the last one to go in like 1902 yeah So they picked up someone saying, chase away Patty.
And then someone said, Ewan. Oh, you love that name.
And when I heard the name, I was like, that's literally what we would have named a boy if we had one.
Ewan. Ewan. And when I heard it, I was like, oh, you're like my future babe.
Because you're totally going to have one more.
No, thank you. Yep. They also said, you listen here.
You must leave here. Okay, bye. And I'd be like, cool, cool, cool.
My Uber has been waiting. Speaking of the C word, somebody does say it.
Yes, I knew it. Which I love that even the ghosts are like, you're cool?
You're fucking cool? So somebody said, you must leave here.
Then somebody said, Julie, hear me. Then one man whispers aggressively, keep them here.
And he says it just like that. No, no, no.
It's literally like he's whispering to his friend, like, keep them here.
Because we're going to do something. It's fucking terrifying.
Oh, that's ominous. Then some woman says, that's Snake at the door.
Oh, shit. Then somebody and it's like they're like talking back and forth at each other.
There's like full blown conversations. It's like when we were at the house and we heard somebody say hello.
It's like they... it's like sometimes you don't realize that they're here and they don't realize that we're there.
Like they don't realize that they're the ghosts.
They're just like, Oh, we're just having a conversation.
Do you hear that? Like, right. So, and then they heard, I won't ask her.
Then a woman says, what is that cutthroat?
Cutthroat? Yeah. And then a few voices did say Annie.
They said Annie. And then one clear as day says, Annie, come back.
It's like a woman saying, Annie, come. Oh, my God.
I'm getting chills left and right. And then a man says, David, you cunt.
Yes, I love him. That reminds me of Schitt's Creek so much.
And then when they asked if Andrew Chesney, the father, the last one to leave, they said... is andrew chesney here with us immediately you hear him say he is oh my goodness and then someone else says he's with us Oh my God.
Like full-blown answer. And then a woman yells, Paul.
Are you here? Like screams it. Like she's nervous.
And then somebody says, can we see Alfie?
And they keep mentioning Alfie. It gets like Alfie gets mentioned a lot.
Is the cutest name. That is a really cute name.
I would name one of my kids Alfie. But the one that, like, really fucked me up was the, like, keep them here.
Yeah, fuck that. I like David, you cunt.
You can't. So now during another session, a couple of members of the group, like, all of a sudden started feeling this overwhelming sickness and they couldn't breathe.
It's the noxious gas. It might be. And that's the thing.
Like a lot of people pointed to like, oh, it's paranormal that they feel that.
And it's like, No, it just might be this methane gas.
That'll do it. Maybe it's a combo. It's probably still fucking them up.
And it was between two specific rooms that these people were feeling this.
So this person started doing a spirit box recording right there.
They were like, what the fuck's going on right here?
Right. And they said they heard a woman humming.
Like she was just like. like doing the laundry absent mind mindedly like just going about her day just humming and then they turned it on and they ended up catching her on camera humming Like, you can hear the humming.
Oh, my goodness. And they didn't think they were going to be able to keep, like, hear it because they were like, it might just be me hearing this.
Mm-hmm. Then there's the last story of the Mary Close, Mary King's Close, is there was a story about a woman who I believe her name was Alison Ruff.
Okay. Or Alison Rowe. I'm not exactly sure.
And she murdered her son-in-law down there.
I mean, was he a coon? And his, well, his name was Alexander Kant.
Oh my goodness. And I think those names are correct.
I've seen them a couple of places, but. They probably are.
Either way, in 1530, Alison Ruffer Rowe murdered Alexander Kant.
Do we know for why? They don't know, but they said that she was the mother-in-law, so who knows?
I mean, we know those can be tough relationships.
Sometimes it can be tough. Right. And she was caught.
She was executed very close to the close.
Oh. His ghost is seen and heard a lot of the time.
And it seems like he's in like this time loop of the day that of like the time he was murdered.
Oh God, like a murder groundhog day? Yeah, like he just keeps reliving his death over and over again.
No, thank you. And so this place that this happened in the close is called the murder house.
I mean, why wouldn't it be? Like, fuck that.
So... People see him. They don't, I don't think there's a lot of sightings of her.
Sometimes people see her coming up behind him while he's like running away.
Oh, no. Which is crazy. But they opened Mary King's Close back up in 2003.
And they created a full blown tour. Shut up.
Where people dress in period clothing and take on personas from the time.
Who are you going to be? And we'll lead your sorry ass through this close.
And I want to do it so bad. I need to go and I need to hear.
David you can't. David you can't. I just need to hear that.
It's what I need. I need it in my bones.
I just need it. It's what I live for. And these people who work there, too, have said that, like, there's parts of the clothes that they will not go into by themselves because they're, like...
I just won't do it too much. And then there was like tons of stories and interviews I saw with like staff members that like work in the gift shop or work doing the tour. that have all these like- I don't know, but it must be awesome.
Like just fucking limbs. I hope so. Just hands.
Just necrotic limbs. Right. Just hands. But...
I need to go here. And all these staff members gave all these different... stories of I was down here, I saw boots walking down the hallway, I heard this, I heard that.
Dude, we have to go. We have to go. We're getting our Scottish listeners so stoked right now.
We are. And we're coming for you, Scotland.
We are doing it. As soon as the Cove Cove is over, we're going to the Close Close.
As soon as the vid is over. So yeah, that's Mary King's Close and a little bit about Norlock. that's like a brief overview too.
I was going to like, that was really good. it blew my mind that I didn't know this existed.
A whole underground city, like that's so cool.
I saw this thing on Twitter the other day where this like underwater place was coming up. because the water is like sinking there and it's like, it's basically like a house.
Yeah, I should send it to you. It's so weird.
That shit's so bonkers. Also, now that we're done, I was like, I didn't want to interrupt with like another stupid thing.
But I totally forgot to tell you. And because we were talking about like people without heads and like people that don't have bodies.
On my way here, I've been like moving all day, but when I was driving here in the town that I was moving from, There was a dude, I shit you not, I swear on ma, there was a dude riding his bike and he was wearing a costume and where it was like his head was cut off, so I couldn't see this dude's head or woman.
So he looked like the headless horseman on a bike?
Yes, and he was... fucking playing either a guitar or ukulele.
I shit you not. I swear on my life. That is the single greatest thing I have ever heard.
I laughed so hard and I waved. I was like, I love you.
I need to know who it is, what motivation he had this morning where he was like, Here's what I'm gonna do today.
I think he was like, the world is legitimately on fire and everybody hates each other.
So I'm gonna play a tune on my bicycle. But I'm gonna be a headless hero.
I'm gonna put on my headless horseman cape.
I'm going to bust out my ukulele and I'm going to ride around town.
I had to do a double take because I thought that maybe I was suffering from like... noxious gas hallucinations before I even knew about what you were going to talk about.
But I literally whipped my head around and he was there and I laughed and I waved.
I wish you could have taken a picture. I hope that maybe when I go back tomorrow to get a few more things, I see him again.
I hope so. Whore. Oh, my God. I just said him or whore.
Him or whore, if you're listening. Him or her.
Him or her, if you're there. Oh, you know what?
That actually reminds me really quick. I should have said this in the beginning, but hopefully this person sticks around if they're listening.
Oh, what? Oh, God. So the other, and I told you about this, the other day I ran, I was walking with my kids in the town that I live in.
I'm sorry. Fucking so angry that I wasn't with you because I'm always with you.
Yeah. And I happened to run into somebody that listens to the podcast, like a listener.
That is the coolest shit ever. And they recognize me, which like blew my mind apart.
And I just wanted to apologize to them because I didn't ask their name because I was so awkward.
And they've now seen like how awkward I am in real life.
You are pretty awkward in real life. And I was also like sweating.
I was pulling. Well, it's hot out. I was pulling the twins in like this giant like wagon and I was pulling them like uphill. and this person and uh her family had just like parted for me to like get through and i was like thank you so much and they were so nice and she was like i listen to the podcast like holy shit and I was like oh my god Elena texted me and then I was like and then we left we parted ways and I was like I didn't ask her her name or anything I feel like such a dick And Elena was like genuinely embarrassed.
She texted me. She was like, the coolest thing just happened.
But I forgot to ask who this person's name was. feel like an asshole.
I felt like such a dick. Like I seriously contemplated getting in my car and driving down that street to see if I could find it.
Just to be like, I'm so sorry. Oh, my God.
She would have been like, well, you're a fucking actual weirdo.
People are like, you're a psycho she's like I'm actually unsubscribing but I just wanted to say if that person's listening um Thank you for being so sweet and for moving out of the way so I could bring my big giant wagon through. have now been recognized twice because you also got recognized at the Starbucks that I also frequent.
Probably I'm there more than you. It's a strange thing, and I'm just very awkward anyway.
I'm pissed. I'm sure I'll be awkward, but I want someone to know me. know me just fucking know me it's the Gemini in me that wants to be recognized and it's the Capricorn in me that's like get away from me But I just, she was so sweet and it was very cool that she recognized me and like said, I listen to your podcast.
And I'm so sorry I didn't ask your name.
And if you're listening and you want to shoot me an email or DM and be like, I'm the one you ran into, please do, because then I will shout you out here.
So sorry. Destined to meet neighborhood friends.
I hope so. You guys can wave at each other.
We'll be friends now. I love that. Yeah.
We love new friends. Yeah, we do. So I just wanted to throw that out there.
I meant to do it in the beginning of the episode, but hopefully you hung in there until now.
Exactly. So yeah. So that was cool. Mary King's close is crazy.
I can't wait to go. We need to set the date.
Norlock is insane. It's not there anymore, but the grounds that it was on, um, is there and all the spookies are there.
When we go, we should wear plague masks so that we aren't affected by the noxious gas.
I want to wear a plate and just like just anyway for the spirit.
It's just for the spirit. I don't know why you didn't get one for COVID-19.
I honestly, I feel remiss. I feel crazy that I didn't do it.
Like I'm still- I feel remiss. embarrassed that I didn't think of it until today I love it so maybe I'll get one just so I can well we're gonna need it for a little while honestly If you want to see pictures of this place, you can go ahead and follow us on Instagram.
At Morbid Podcast. You can hit us up on Twitter.
At Amorbid Podcast. You can send us a Gmail, especially if you're the lovely person that Elena ran into the other day.
Please. Please do at morbidpodcast.gmail.com.
And if you're feeling so inclined, donate to the Patron.
Patreon.com slash morbidpodcasts. We hope you keep listening.
And we hope you keep it weird. But that's the way that you live in a close and you live underground and then you're headless and then all your limbs are everywhere and you get the bubonic plague and they have to, what is it called? lance it when they have to I was gonna say stamp it and they have to lance you open and then that's really bad and then they just throw your head over somewhere and then you just live the rest of your life with no head in them but at least you get some dolls, Annie.
I love you so much. Oh my god, I can't wait to bring you a doll.
I'm like, yeah, just don't keep it that weird because it's sad.
It really is. Bye, David. You're cool. Thank you.
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