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Right now, I am listening to the Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix and I just cannot get enough of it.
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You guys, I tried my mochi ice cream the other day, and I was lifted off of this planet into just another galaxy entirely.
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Hey, weirdos. I'm Elena.
And I'm Ash. And this is Morbid.
hey it's spooky season it is we are in it what is it like when you listen to this october something yeah it's not that right now but it's it's that right now well that was that was super deep elena that was deep right now it's like sometime in september and that's still spooky season it's pre -october it's pre -october but now it's october if you're listening eve halloween um and we you know what it feels a little like christmas because we got We got some delightful gifts from—we went to our P .O.
box. The Poe box. The Poe box.
And we got—you guys always send the coolest shit.
We really do. We have it decorating our pod lab all the time because you're awesome, and you're so fucking talented that it makes me sick.
And it's so nice of you.
You make me sick. You make me sick.
And it's so nice of you just to, like, send us cool trinkets that you make.
And to, like, use your skills to give us a gift. That's the thing.
It's just really cool.
You talk about the first thing we received because I think it's one of the coolest gifts I've ever gotten in my life.
I'm just like in awe of this.
So it's from, I want you to listen to this so you can go look it up on Etsy.
Go order these. Let's blow her shit up.
It's Gingers Paperie.
Paperie. And it's, let's see, gingerspaperie .etsy .com.
And it's paperie, P -A -P -E -R -I -E, gingers before that.
so this lovely lovely lady i don't know if she wants us to say her actual name let's not say just in case you don't want me to yeah um but she made us the most beautiful customized journals like scrapbooky kind of journals that are so pretty very specific to us yes we sat there this morning and went through every fucking page every little piece of paper every detail they are the most beautiful things i have ever seen she's so talented and every like couple pages there would be like an insert where you would like pull out even more paper yeah like a little pocket little yeah and there was just
cool like little articles cool poems cool like Like, old ads from, like, vintage ads.
Yes! Like, Ash got, like, a bunch of vintage, like, hairstyling ads.
Yeah. And I got a bunch of, like, old pharmacy ads and, like, apothecary stuff.
And, like, there was, like, an old, like, this ancient -looking -to -tell -like -science textbook page that was in there.
It was so cool. And she put a Zodiac wheel in mine.
She included stickers in the back.
Honestly, just the coolest, most thoughtful gift. It was really sweet.
It really made our day.
and you can order off of her etsy shop and like customize your journal with her like they even had our initials on the front yeah it's amazing i love it so much so thank you so much yeah you're amazing that was just so fucking cool it really was yeah and then we got this really cool piece of artwork and i don't think it came with a card or like the card got lost somehow but it's this framed piece um and it's a it's like a cross stitch no it's not i don't think think it is a cross stitch it's like beads oh it is they're almost they almost look like little rhinestones oh shit and it's a it's a drawing
of me and Elena standing back to back Elena's got black on and I have white and a black skirt and we're standing in front of this circle and it says keep it weird morbid and it's so cool and if you send it to us you're the fucking tits yeah it was really cool name yourself name yourself show yourself because this is cool it's going up on my side of the wall and I'm really excited there's a literal perfect spot for it that's the thing I happen to have the perfect spot so I said can it go on my side of the wall oh it is it's like diamondy yeah because it just like it's like glittered when you put
it down sorry all my papers are gonna go that's really fucking cool yeah it's really pretty and I I'll I hello I'm so tired I'm sorry ma 'am this is Wendy's ma 'am I don't even know what I was gonna say yeah oh I oh I was gonna say I want to know I don't know if this person who made it if this is like their original drawing because I've seen a sticker with that too yeah the same which is such a cool one yeah it's cool so if you drew it I love you we'll post a picture of it I don't know you guys like just rule you're just awesome and so many people sent us cool books to read and sometimes people
send books for like the kids which is really sweet yeah we appreciate all of of it we just appreciate you so much you don't have to send us anything oh oh that's another one before we get into it i promise we're gonna get into it but do you have i would like to shower you with love i do okay good um hold on so i got a really cool one from uh let me see the store her like little place is bricks by penelope bricks by penelope and she takes bricks bricks and she paints them to look like books and shit and she got me a brick and painted it to look like the butcher and the wren i'm gonna take a picture
of it because it's so fucking cool it's so cool it went right in the bookshelf like right there you would really next to me you would never even know that it's a brick because it's so smooth smooth and beautiful and just like the details like because obviously the butcher and the wren cover has like the eyeball and then there's something in the eyeball it's so so impressive it is so fucking cool i just what a banner day i know and we needed it this morning because both both of us got our flu shots oh my god and i think we were just exhausted like you know you're fine after a flu shot but yeah
like sometimes your your immune system immunes you know which is good my immune system immune so hard that i want to find it yeah i just didn't sleep well last night because i was just like uncomfortable i just and felt great.
And your arm got so sore.
So we were just a little tired this morning and just not ourselves.
I thought I was going to yak.
Yeah. So it was a nice little like it was a nice thing because Mikey came in like fucking old Saint Nick with a big sack full of peel box stuff.
Gifties. And we said oh goodies.
He's literally stroking his beard like Santa Claus would.
Obsessed. And so you guys really killed it and we appreciate you.
And we're going to post some of it because it's just really cool.
you guys are so cute and you are sweet and kind you're lovely you're demure you're very mindful cute cute cute so by the time this comes out people will be like what is that people are already the trend is over people are done with that but I'll never be done with that personally speaking of very cutesy cutesy very demure very mindful um I think by the time you heard this it's gonna be like what October 7th you said Mikey October 7th and that means guys guys that our collection our morbid collection with spencers will be launching spencers remember do you guys remember the fucking like remember
you would go to the mall with your friends and you'd be like oh my god do you guys want to go in the back of spencers and giggle a little bit we can laugh back there we have a collection now with them we do we have sweatshirts i'm literally wearing one right now she actually is these sweatshirts are really fun i love them so comfortable too so comfy i recommend sizing up as much as you can because then you'll just be like wearing a blanket essentially yeah this is we have a blanket there's a blanket there is a blanket there's earrings there's press on nails there's press on nails there's i think
a like a oh makeup brushes there's a palette even a makeup palette like an eyeshadow palette there's cups mugs we We got cups.
We got cups. We're drinking out of cups, being a bitch. It's great.
It's our chair and it's our problem.
It is. It's not even a problem.
It's a great thing to have. So it's really fun.
And go check it out.
It's in stores. Yes.
We're going to be doing a little visit to the Spencer's stores.
Yeah. And I can't wait.
Yeah, it's going to be exciting.
Yay. Pop off. Buy it.
Oh, hold on. I just have to, I need you to, I'm going off on a spiel here, okay?
here we go I need you to watch secret lives of Mormon wives on Hulu but you told me I might not be able to no I think you'll be fine I decided because I was thinking so I watched it in two days I started it on Saturday morning and just watched it while I decorated for Halloween loved that watched it the next day drew even got into it damn and I was thinking about some of the other things that happened and I don't want to like spoil it for you but you just you have to to watch it it's so good I'm interested I keep just saying like what's gonna happen to mom talk is this gonna destroy mom talk and I've
seen so many people like so many of our listeners like I've posted stuff on insta and they've been responding to it and I just wanted to say I'm having the best time I love just talking about mom talk and Mormon wives hanging out it's so good oh I love one of my favorite things is when uh our listeners are all like we're all enjoying the the same thing yes and then like we'll post about it and I get a bunch of messages that are just like vibing with it and I'm like I love this it's so fun because it feels like hanging out with a bunch of people I was just gonna say it's like a big hang sesh it's
true I love that all right I'll let you get to everything now all right um before I begin John and I are watching Only Murders in the Building and it's really good so for the uh last couple of seasons I was gonna say how many seasons is that up now four I think but it's oh wow really good I watched a little A little bit of season one.
Steve Martin, A +, Selena Gomez, so fucking good.
So good. Yeah, I watched a little bit of season one, and then I, for no reason, I just fell off of it.
But I want to get back to it.
It's a cozy show. I love it.
It is a cozy show. But you know what?
I'm going to talk to you about some cemeteries today.
Cozy. Because cozy, I suppose.
I think they are. So I have a wild cemetery.
Do you? Wild. Wild.
It is the Westminster Burying Grounds in Maryland.
Okay. uh it is a cemetery that's at the westminster presbyterian church which is now not the church anymore it's called westminster hall okay um and they it was created in 1786 the burial ground damn that is going back quite a ways it's old it was actually made before the church was even erected and the church was erected over it which made some catacombs happen what yeah yeah so there's that that's terrifying and this happens to have a very famous resident does it mr edgar allen poe himself i know him you know him i've heard of his work i love your work and yeah i love your work he was actually
initially buried in an unmarked grave because of his strange end of his life um but you know then they won't talk about that don't worry but uh later according according to morbidlybeautiful .com, which is a very interesting website.
A bunch of children from a local school raised money to get him a marker at the entrance of the cemetery.
They called the fundraiser Pennies for Poe.
That's hilarious and adorable.
I remember learning about that.
Did you really? Yeah, when we talked about Edgar Allan Poe in school.
That's so funny. Yeah.
Yeah. He was buried actually three different times in that cemetery.
That's crazy. I feel like you probably shouldn't disturb anybody's body that much. Yeah, I mean, he's so wily.
Like, he was wily in life.
He was wily in death.
He still is. The marker that was made at the entrance of the cemetery was made with, you know, some of the raised funds.
And it had this little, like, medallion thing on it with his image on it.
And it's been stolen.
And it was stolen and ended up being found in a flea market in Charleston, West Virginia.
What the fuck? Yeah, because I guess one of them was, like, bronze or something, or copper, one of those.
And then the newer one was marble.
Oh, wow. And they stole the marble one.
Because that's expensive.
But then it showed up in a flea market in West Virginia.
Don't steal things from graveyards.
That's for fucking sure.
Don't steal things from anywhere.
Don't steal things.
Specifically not from graveyards.
But, like, definitely don't steal from graveyards.
That's bold and brazen.
Yeah. So, people that are also buried in that cemetery a lot, like, near Edgar Allen Poe, are his wife, Virginia Clem Poe, and his mother -in -law, Maria Poe Clem.
Whoa. You may be like weird that they have the same last names but reversed, and you would be correct, but that's because his wife was his cousin.
I always forget that.
Troubled man indeed.
And then someone tells me that, and I say...
And you go, oh, okay.
First cousin? Yeah, I'm pretty sure.
Okay. I think she was also young.
I remember that part.
He was like 26 or something.
She was like 14. 13 or 14, yeah.
He was a situation.
situation. We're going to a restaurant where he drank in the cellars.
Yeah, he drank a lot, so it was definitely that.
Let's go drink in the cellars that Edgar out.
There you go. Drink in the cellars with me where Edgar Allen Poe drank so I know it's real.
So I know it's real.
Well, people will see Poe hanging out in this place.
The cemetery? Yeah, the cemetery.
Often just standing over his own grave. He would.
He really would. And he's always seen like wearing a long black coat he's wearing a black fedora like a big one and he's always got a scarf covering part of his face almost like he's trying to hide that's spooky which is really creepy um people believe he may be feeling some you know regret for how his life panned out because like sure he's pretty famous now but like at what cost and he really wasn't when he was he really wasn't as much yeah so his death was gnarly and i'm sure he is even puzzled by it still so yeah um so let's go on a little side tangent here, and let's talk about Poe's Mysterious
Death really quick.
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Hey there, my weird weirdos.
I want to take a minute to recommend another podcast called Who Took Misty Copsey?
In September of 1992, 14 -year -old Misty Copsey leaves the Washington State Fair with her best friend and is never seen again.
Her body is never found.
At the time, western Washington is home to prolific serial killers like the Green River Killer, which leads to different theories on who's responsible for what happened to Misty.
Over the course of eight episodes, host and cold case investigator Sarah Kalin speaks with Misty's friends and family, looks at police records and different anonymous tips to try to figure out if Misty's disappearance is the work of a serial killer or someone who knew her.
No suspects are ruled out.
After 33 years, Sarah Kalin hopes to answer the question, who took Misty?
You guys are going to love this.
If you listen to Morbid, we know that you love a cold case and we always tell you a cold case is never cold.
So definitely give this a listen.
Definitely look into the case.
Listen to Who Took Misty Copsie wherever you get your podcasts.
podcasts. So I'm not going to I'll go into like a kind of generalized look at it because I really would like to go into this a little further later.
Elina, I think you should do an episode on that.
I feel like that'd be good.
There's many theories about his death that I think would be very interesting to go into because they range from like, you know, being beaten to death to carbon carbon monoxide poisoning so i feel like there would be like evidence of the beating yeah versus if he died of carbon monoxide poisoning i think you should do that for maybe like maybe like halloween oh there you go like that might be a fun one because it's very interesting i don't know if an episode comes out on halloween but but i'll give you i'll give you a little uh generalized yeah got it so september 27th 1849 40 year old poe left
for philadelphia on business business.
He was set to help edit a collection of poems. It was going to be kind of a big deal.
It was for a well -known poet at the time, so this was like a big deal that he was going to edit them, but he never arrived.
And he never showed up, and no one heard a damn word from him.
He was supposed to be going back to Richmond actually during that week for his own fucking wedding because he was engaged at the time to Sarah Elmira Royster Shelton because his other their wife had passed away from consumption oh and it's like he vanished for a full week just vanished no one knew where he was didn't contact anyone and then he was found on october 3rd a week later 1849 on election day and he was a man named joseph w walker was on his way to gunner's hall which was a polling station and like a local public house and outside in the alley he came across a man dressed like shit smelling
like shit looking like shit and lying on the ground basically falling in and out of consciousness and unable to move.
Yikes. So he was like, wow, that's crazy.
And then he looked at him and he was like, that's Edgar Allan Poe.
Fuck. So he was like, can I call someone for you, sir?
You okay? You good?
And by call, I mean write a letter because it's 1849.
And Poe was like, yeah, you can write a guy named Joseph Snodgrass.
Snodgrass. who was apparently a friend an editor um in possession of a really cool name and also he side hustled as kind of like a doctor -ish medical person side hustled as a doctor -ish medical kind of person imagine bringing your your new mans around your family and they're like oh what do you do and he's like i'm a doctor -ish medical kind of person for my side hustle yeah you know it was the 1800s so that was pretty normal it's giving doctor death so he did he wrote him according to smithsonian .com he wrote it on october 3rd 1849 dear sir there is a gentleman rather the worst for wear at ryan's
fourth ward polls who goes under the cognomen of edgar a poe and who appears in great distress and he says he is acquainted with you he is in need of immediate assistance yours in haste joseph w walker he is in need of immediate assistance so let me post this send it to you hope it gets to you soon enough but he did write yours in haste post haste i'm russian he was brought he eventually he showed up and he was brought to you know get some medical attention and he spent four days in and out of you know basically in and out of dying essentially yeah um he was in and out of consciousness and he
died on october 7th during that time he was hallucinating he was going into fits bitch what this episode comes out on october 7th whoa it happens again it happens again i didn't even wow that's weird That's so weird, because Mikey literally just told us that.
Yeah, we wouldn't have known that.
What the fuck? Damn.
Why does that always happen?
That's so weird. Damn.
I meant for that to happen, totally.
I got full chills about that.
Well, during this whole time, he was hallucinating.
He was going into fits, and he was screaming the name Reynolds over and over.
To this day, no one's been able to determine who the fuck Reynolds is, and it's also documented that he was discovered in dirty old clothing that wasn't his.
That's weird. They were not his clothes.
No one knows who these clothes belong to, why he looked like such shit, why he was hallucinating, and why he was screaming the name Reynolds, and then he just died.
That's weird. I mean, sometimes when you're about to die, you hallucinate and talk to people that aren't there.
But he was really going through it.
And he was so bad that he couldn't recollect what had happened to him.
Yeah, that's strange.
Do you think there's a possibility that he just went on a bender?
Well, that's the thing.
So he was also supposed to be in a sober era.
Yes. So this is doubly, you know, he was trying.
And, you know, again, there's so many theories that go into this.
Like, there's something called cooping back then where these people on election day would, like, kidnap someone, like, beat them and kidnap them and dress them in disguise and make them go vote for who they wanted them to.
Yeah. yeah and then release them again and sometimes they would like keep them in a room and like ply them with alcohol and shit and like make them do it oh that'd be really sad if that happened there is a theory that like cooping was responsible for this and that maybe like that's what it was which would be wild and just really fucking sad yeah it's like it's fascinating and really tragic and sad um but like we'll go into it at a later date i think for sure but just know the man had had a strange, troubled, you know, weird death.
Yeah. Troubled life.
So seeing him like contemplating his choices over his own grave after he's died seems pretty fucking Poe -y to me.
I feel like that would make for the beginning of an awesome movie.
Right? Just Poe standing over his own grave. And then you just like delve into his life and choices.
That'd be sick. Somebody made that yet?
Well, and he also shows up at the altar inside of like what was the church, Westminster Hall now, a lot.
like he'll just be walking around in there that's cool um and every year since then this is just interesting to me every year since the 1940s a mysterious figure visits poe's grave on his birthday oh i knew this which i think is january 19th i'm pretty sure i'm looking up really quick um and he leaves three red roses and a half empty bottle of cognac which is supposed to be poe's favorite poison of choice and then he toasts to him and then just leaves every year and apparently Apparently one year and he leaves these people leave notes sometimes.
One year there was a note that said, Edgar, I haven't forgotten you.
And according to America's Haunted Road Trips, the original person who did this, like started this whole thing, died in 1998.
There's proof of that.
Oh, shit. But they haven't revealed who it is.
It's never been revealed.
And then someone else took it up after them.
Obsessed. After that person died, someone else has taken it upon themselves to do that.
That's the kind of lore that I want going on in my gravesite.
Like, be nice at my gravesite.
and just be dark and leave me weird poison and roses.
One thing I would think he'd be pretty psyched about is after he died, one, he became insanely famous.
Yeah. But two, all his shit is so synonymous with like gothic culture and like, you know, spooky ravens and shit like that.
He's like the OG goth king.
Yeah, it's true. Like he was fucked up, which I think kind of, yeah, like he was fucked up but obviously his like works are so gothic and wild and like you know the deep deep lore of Mr. Poe the deep deep lore but that's Edgar Allan Poe hanging around that's fucking cool there's also something that's called the screaming skull of Cambridge there tell me all about that which was what initially actually brought me to this cemetery it would bring me to that cemetery I said a screaming skull what and I was like I bet it's not an actual screaming skull no it is fucking awesome yeah because i was like
oh you're gonna tease me with this and then it's gonna be something stupid nope nope screaming skull apparently a minister a local minister was murdered nearby and after he was buried his skull kept screaming relentlessly all hours of night and people said the shrieking would drive people mad because it would not stop so they dug him up up.
This is like in the 1800s.
They dug him up, they gagged the skull, encased it in concrete, and then decapitated him and placed the concrete screaming skull next to his grave. I sort of feel like there was a better way to go about that.
Probably. I just sort of feel that way.
It kept screaming. Good.
I would too. I'd be like, guess what?
Exactly. You fucked up.
I'm gonna get louder.
I'm getting louder and sometimes they can still hear screaming coming from there screaming skull it's like I ain't getting no sleep because of y 'all y 'all ain't getting no sleep because of me that's the minister that's the minister's skull that's it so really was that um there's also a few more stories like lucia watson taylor She was a 16 -year -old girl who passed away.
That's a really pretty name.
I know, right? In 1816.
Her ghost can be seen.
She has very long, dark hair.
Of course. She's wearing a flowing dress.
Obviously. She can be seen on very dark and foggy evenings in full -body apparition.
And she's always seen kneeling and praying over her own grave. Ooh.
And that's a real person in a cemetery.
Yeah. You can find her grave. and it says her epitaph says blessed with peculiar sweetness of temper a mind pure and exalted a heart pious and faithful she died beloved and lamented early bright transient chased as morning she sparkled was exalted and went to heaven that is so beautiful and i was like wow people really loved she i was gonna say what a loved like woman young woman like yeah that's a beautiful engraving and also it would have been hella expensive very expensive but it's just like damn like that what that's a beautiful epitaph like beautiful that really is they also just knew how to
say shit way better back they really did but i was like she sounds like a a seriously cool chick but then you wonder i'm like why is she praying over her grave i know Oh, I hope she did make it to where she wanted to go.
I know. I'm like, I hope wherever it is, you're happy.
Maybe you're just, I'm hoping it's like a residual thing.
It's not just actually.
But there's another kind of creepier story that is from the catacombs.
Because there's catacombs here because the church was built right over the cemetery.
That is too much, one might say.
And in the catacombs, there's a story of a woman named Leona Wellesley.
She was a woman from a local asylum who was said to be so mad that they buried her in her straitjacket to keep her restrained in death.
Unnecessary. Yeah, that's what I say.
Not demure, not mindful.
Yeah, not mindful at all.
People say they can see and feel her following them around and she will laugh in your ear maniacally.
Good. Which I was like, I probably wouldn't do.
I would do the same.
Yeah. Also the groundkeeper from long ago named Old Valance.
obsessed he was the grave digger and the groundskeeper he'll chase your ass out of there if you fuck around in there well fuck around and find out he kept those grounds perfectly and he will not tolerate shenanigans good and when he chases you out he'll do so with a shovel so it's just a ghost coming at an old valance ghost running at you with a shovel go hit your head out of there get out of there and apparently there are rumors of a lot of premature premature burials that happened here.
Sorry, sorry, Qual?
Yeah, you heard it right, premature, because it was in the time when a lot of that would happen often.
Like, they didn't have all the technology to know when someone was actually dead, which is why they had all those, the bells and the other things where they could, like, you know, grave alarms, essentially.
Holy fuck. This happened a lot.
So, I mean, that's a perfect recipe for a ghost, if you ask me.
Absolutely, it is. And the catacombs are especially haunted down there because of this.
Yeah. Because they They are some of the oldest graves.
There was also a lot of grave robbings down there, especially in the catacombs.
Worst kind of individual.
Yes, truly. Worst kind.
Full on body snatchings as well.
Because this was in the time, there's a medical college nearby.
And it's an old medical college.
It was in the times when students or people hired by medical colleges would come snatch cadavers to use in the cadaver labs.
So that's not great for the people who are buried there.
And also bodies were just moved into different areas or gravestones were moved and just left, like, bodies in different places because of, like, code violations and shit when they were, like, redoing this whole place.
Oh, wow. So they have actually, like, there's rumors that they found bodies, like, under walkways and shit.
Oh, man. Yeah. With, like, no graves.
That's really sad. Yeah.
So it's gnarly, you know, in these streets sometimes.
It do be. But when the church, and this is just what I'll leave you on for this one, when the church ceased being an actual church around 1977, in the late 1970s, early 80s, local school children would use the graveyard as a playground because 80s.
You probably shouldn't do that.
There were reports of people witnessing kids throwing around human skulls and shit.
I don't have a lot to say about that.
Yeah. And at the same time, so much to say about that.
Yep. that's a that's a fucked up kid that's that's a lot if i was a child and somebody threw a skull at me i'd leave i'd leave i'd leave i'd leave wherever i call an adult say mom can you pick me up i'm scared yeah that would that would not be something i would engage in no when i was little and i would hope my children would have something to say about that as well they're better than that if i threw a human skull at one of my kids they would not just catch it and go about their days like they'd be like why did you do that if you threw a human skull at one of your kids we'd have to have a serious talk
with you. I'd say John.
John, it's gone too far.
John, I'm on my way.
We got to talk to this crazy.
If another kid threw a human skull at one of my kids, they'd be like, this doesn't feel right.
Yeah. You know, I feel I haven't confident in that.
And also it'd be on site.
It's true. Just kidding.
It's true. But yeah, so that's Westminster Hall and Burial Ground in Baltimore, Maryland.
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Many. Bachelors Grove Cemetery, which is in Illinois, is one of the most haunted locations in the world.
Oh, we love to see it.
In this world. In our world.
Yeah, our universe, if you will.
We love to see a globally recognized haunt.
We sure fucking do.
Now, this cemetery happens to be the oldest one in all of Cook County.
the first burial on record there took place in 1834 damn yeah long time ago all together there's about 80 graves on site but that scared the shit out of me that was a crazy bark either Sidney or Blanche was like that's wrong she was like she said there's about 78 she said don't you dare round up I don't know why I made your dog Southerner they became Southerner one of them is Blanche you know devereaux the blanche devereaux she's southern braille no no you know but the thing is a lot of these graves have been dug up vandalized like this place is desecrated and people treat it like shit people
get it together so guess what if you're creating graves yeah if you're gonna go visit this place it i found differing opinions on whether or not it's open to the public like some people say it's closed some people are like no you can go in the daytime no it's still fun I don't know.
So, like, enter at your own risk.
But only if you're there to be nice.
Yeah. And respectful.
Yeah. If you're there to steal headstones, I don't know you.
And I don't like you.
And you know what? You're not listening to our podcast because our listeners are respectful.
Exactly. So, turn this off if you're not.
Turn it off. But anyway, the cemetery most likely gets its name from the Batchelder family who settled there around 1820.
So, it's not the Bachelor reality show?
No. Well now it is Now it is Because over time The spelling of the name Probably changed Depending on the source And eventually When the family No longer owned the property There was a group of single men Who moved to the area And that's That's funny It was like four or five single men They were like Oh my god Bachelor's Grove That's why they Started calling it that Now eventually Ownership transferred over To the Fulton family Around the early 1900s It seems One of the youngest Fultons Buried in the cemetery Is Emma Fulton Who's only one year old When she passed away And she'll come back later
so remember that oh i'm a forever but according to ghost city tours everything was going pretty well for quite some time while the cemetery was under the fulton family but around 1950 the mid i think it's the midlothian turnpike it was rerouted and the bachelor's grove became an even more rural area than it once was okay so the turnpike used to like like it was a very frequently traveled road but when they relocated it the old turnpike didn't really have a use anymore so it's like really rural now creepy yeah now since it was out of the way of all the hustle and bustle for the city of the city
it was the perfect place for the 60s teens to get their lovers lane vibes oh hell yeah it was of course then of course for party animals they could have their woods parties they could get drunk and go crazy in the cemetery they could get lit exactly but unfortunately that came along with a lot of vandalism including grave digging.
Again I say get it together.
Get it together. Get it together.
I was not out here grave digging.
No. I was never ever grave dug and I never ever will.
No and you are a pretty reckless teen and you weren't grave digging.
This is true I partied in the woods but we just partied in the woods like I didn't fuck anything up.
If you came across a grave you left it be.
If I came across a grave I'd probably leave to be honest. I'd be like well we shouldn't be be here this this is hallowed ground this is disrespectful but this is not the only time this thing is this the next thing that i'm going to talk about has happened but in 1973 the chicago tribune reported that seven teens were quote -unquote seized while they were in the middle of trying to dig up a grave what the fuck was the purpose like that's wily well they do tell us the purpose oh the police said the youths arrived wednesday night got out and prepared to resume zoom digging when the policemen announced
themselves the youths told the police they were doing it as a lark which is like a joke just like a fun little they were doing it for lols yeah just doing it for the plot like that's super duper funny it's all for the plot kicking it with the boys larking it up yeah just digging up dead bodies are you fucking kidding me bro who are you yeah that's the thing they got in trouble i think um most of them like had to be bailed out and like to do some community service shit why are you bailing them out probably their parents let them sit in there i would have if i was my kid i'd be like you just dug
up a grave why don't you think about your fucking life you just desecrated a grave you think about your fucking life and i'll think about my choices yeah say contemplate your shit yeah we'll do this separate but police presidents definitely became more regular once they realized how bad the vandalism was becoming because it got really bad to the point where people were just like knocking over headstones stealing headstones that's become such a frequent thing that there are so many graves that are just unmarked i hope that they are so fucking haunted yeah like those people like i hope they are being
driven mad yeah i hope so too i truly do yeah that's the thing you steal a gravestone out of a graveyard or you knock one over intentionally like or like vandalize one in any way i hope you have the the haunting you deserve i agree because just what are you getting getting out of that yeah it's so fucking go to a rage room yeah i just don't get it take a walk what are you doing yeah sit down my teeth are so peaceful just take a walk yeah i have some fucking headphones on and transport to another time and place what are you doing knocking shit over i don't get it no but because the vandalism was ramping
up police presence definitely became a more uh frequent site yeah but even as recently as 2009 there's been vandalism discovered with with people literally spray painting the tombstones.
Man. Like, get a life.
Yeah, truly. But some people also say the cemetery became a very popular place with satanic worshippers and even the mob.
Whoa, the mob makes an appearance.
Yeah, obviously before police presence got a little heavier there.
Yeah. But there's a swamp behind the cemetery.
And it said that after they took people out there, you know, to kill them mob style, they just throw their bodies into the swamp.
Yeah. I mean, what else are you going to do, you know?
Damn, that's crazy.
That's some mob shit right there.
That is some mob shit.
And then as far as the satanic worshipping goes, police say that they found chicken heads littering the ground and, trigger warning, dead dogs on the property.
That's fucked up. Which, you know, lends itself to satanic worshipping rumors.
Lends itself to asshole behavior.
I agree. Is what it does.
I agree. Yeah. One of the paranormal researchers that they had on the Ghost Adventures episode because – On the Ghost Adventures.
There was a Ghost Adventures episode.
episode john stevenson he was one of the paranormal researchers and he said he remembers being at the cemetery when he was younger and he said he actually saw what he assumed was some kind of satanic ritual going on because people were dressed in these black robes like standing around a fire and chanting things at the same time damn that's pretty scary it's pretty satanic could be fires and chanting robes robes togetherness together community vibes spooky vibes i'm like Like that could have just been witches.
Yeah, that could have just been some witches vibing.
I agree. To be honest. Well, one of the most famous ghost sightings and my particular favorite ghost sighting in Bachelor's Grove is the woman in white or the Madonna as she's called.
I've seen this one, this picture.
Oh my God. In a few books.
I want it. I was always fascinated by this picture.
It's so beautiful. Yeah, I remember because I was one of those kids who would look at haunting books like all the time.
Yeah. Like obsessively.
We know that about you.
And pictures, like there's like the brown ghost or something like that, which is like, and it's like a photo of this like specter coming down the stairway.
Oh, coming down the staircase, right?
And it's like the brown lady or something like that.
I think she's supposed to be wearing like a brown outfit or something, but it looks like a fucking terrifying ghost. I know the one you're talking about.
I was so obsessed with that picture, but it fucked me up.
I also think, well, if it fucked you up and it still is, I think they debunked that one.
did i think they debunked that one oh yeah it was like somebody like put something on the like lens of the camera or something like fucked with the negatives i'm gonna look this up because i've been holding on to that for oh no i'm sorry to have crushed your life but but you know what this picture you're about to talk about is another one yeah that i remember just obsessively staring at this photo and just being like is this fucking real because i just couldn't comprehend it they They haven't debunked it.
Whoa. They haven't debunked it.
Nobody's been able to.
We'll post the picture because she was captured.
The Madonna of Bachelors Grove was captured in a now famous photograph.
It's the one we're talking about.
It is stunningly, hauntingly, breathtakingly beautiful.
I will never be over it.
I honestly want to get a print for this room.
Honestly, I agree. It's a gorgeous photo.
It's so – it's like melancholy.
But whimsical. It's so beautiful and spooky.
It's very, very beautiful.
Yeah. In the photo, she's got this long brown hair and she's wearing a white flowing dress.
And she's sitting on top of a checkered tomb, kind of looking off into the distance.
And parts of her are like translucent.
Yeah. It's gorgeous.
And they haven't been able to debunk that one.
This one? Yeah. Yeah, no. That one, I was looking it up.
I haven't found any evidence of it at least. No, not this one.
Yeah. But other people claim that they've seen this woman wandering around the cemetery.
And they say she seems to be looking for something or someone.
Sometimes she's seen leaving flowers on other graves.
In early sightings, she was seen holding a baby.
But in more recent sightings, she doesn't have the baby anymore.
Which is interesting.
Now, there's a grave in the cemetery, and its headstone just says infant daughter.
So some people think these two things are connected, like the Madonna and the infant daughter.
okay um something super creepy but sweet is that people will now leave baby toys at that infant daughter grave site oh my god yeah that's scary it seems that the first reports of the madonna of bachelor's grove came from a radio radio show in the 70s where someone called in with a sighting but there are two main theories as to who the woman could be and they both actually come from the same family so there's katherine i think it's vote fulton and then luella fulton rogers And they were sisters -in -law back in the 1930s.
According to grunge .com, the infant daughter marker could be the grave of Marsha May, who was Catherine's daughter.
Apparently, there was, like, some turmoil in the family around the time that Marsha passed away because, obviously, she passed away when she was a baby.
Yeah. And for whatever reason, Catherine's parents wouldn't allow their grandchild, a Fulton, to be buried on Vogt land.
Hmm. So when Catherine passed away, she wasn't buried in the Fulton plot, but somewhere far away.
And some believe that her spirit roams all the way back to Bachelor's Grove where Marcia ended up being buried to like check in on her daughter.
Oh, okay. I love that.
Yeah. Yeah. Now, others believe that the woman in white isn't actually Catherine, but her sister -in -law, Luella.
Unfortunately, Luella died right near Bachelor's Grove on the week of her 60th birthday.
She died in a hit -and -run accident.
And she happens to be buried in Bachelors Grove Cemetery next to her sister, Emma Fulton.
Now, Emma's headstone was stolen from the cemetery by some asshat.
And because this happens so frequently, the stone wasn't handed back, like wasn't put back in the cemetery.
Instead, it was handed over to Tinley Park Historical Society for safekeeping.
Yeah. Because they don't want people just to like go back and steal it all over again.
Yeah. Yeah. But those who believe that the woman in white is Luella point to a photograph that bears a striking resemblance.
We'll post it. And they say that she's most likely wandering around looking for her sister's headstone.
Oh, my goodness. Yeah.
That, like, breaks my heart.
I know. I'm not sure which one I believe.
Yeah. Like, I feel like either could fit.
It makes sense. Both of them.
Yeah. And either way, it's really fucking sad.
Yeah, because she seems just lost and, like, very unsettled.
And they care for the baby, like, a lot.
Yeah. And it's interesting that whoever the woman in white was, was carrying a baby for some time, but now isn't.
That is really interesting.
Yeah. Now, another paranormal happening that's been reported on for decades at this point, with many people saying the same thing, is the disappearing farmhouse.
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It's also called The Magic House and The Phantom House.
All right, spill that shit, because I'm in.
The Chicago Tribune wrote, The site also has a disappearing house.
At night, people see an old one -story farmhouse.
it's been spotted on both sides of the dirt road as you enter the cemetery people who don't know each other all draw sketches of the same house even down to the lamp burning faintly inside they're flabbergasted to know there's no house there what so people all say like people really agree on like most of the details they all say that the house is a white victorian era house with a porch a swing and a white picket fence what the fuck the only thing that really varies about this story that people will give is where they see the house and whether it looks solid or translucent some people say it looks
like a legit house that is just there and then other people say it's like almost translucent and then every in every story the house either shrinks the closer you get to it or it just completely disappears oh my god i want to see this there's also no evidence that a house ever existed on the property no no so like no hello hello hello that's bonkers that one is crazy spectral spectral house and the thing the other thing is that like people will go and they'll experience that like they'll see the house it'll disappear it'll shrink and then they'll go back with somebody else and be like i have to
show you this and they hope it happens again most people have never seen it twice oh i love it isn't that That interesting.
I want to see it so bad.
Once in a lifetime shit.
Now, another paranormal sighting is the blue light phenomenon, and this is the most reported one from Bachelors Grove Cemetery.
Oh, okay. According to research done by Peter, I think it's Crapia.
He's the founder of Bachelors Grove Cemetery and Settlement Research Center, and he's done a ton of writing about the different haunts here, so definitely check them out.
But he said the first report of this seems to come from Jack Hermanski back in 1970.
1970. Jack was out in the cemetery and he said he saw this blue light and he said as he watched it, the light, quote, grew as large as a basketball, blinked in 10 to 20 second intervals, and rapidly changed positions.
So the sightings differ and opinions about when it's sighted also differ.
Some people say they see it during the day, but other people say it only comes out on clear, very moonlit nights.
I love that. Some people have been chased by this light, they claim.
stop some people also say they felt compelled to follow it and have started to follow it and have made it pretty far and then they'll be startled when it appears right behind them like it'll be like leading the way and then you'll like you'll lose track of it and you'll turn around it'll be right behind you and you're like what do you want what's up what's up like what are you trying to tell me what do you need what's going on that's creepy one account also says that they were pushed to the ground by the light but i don't personally think the light would be that rude yeah i like the light i don't
want the light to be that rude i don't think it is yeah now on ghost adventures they actually did see a blinking light off in the distance it's fucking clear as day i couldn't tell if it was blue because of the night vision camera yeah but they captured it and it like moves and everything it was creepy yeah that is spooky Now, one of the more rare reported sightings is the Yellow Man.
Yellow Man? Mm -hmm.
Peter Kripia wrote that the first written record talking about the Yellow Man sighting was in October of 1984.
The Chicago Sun -Times reported that researcher Norman Basile, I think it is, saw the apparition and took a photo using a 1 ,000 -speed film.
Norman Basile told them, A month and a half ago, I saw an apparition standing by a tree.
It was a yellow figure, a man with a hat, probably in his 40s.
Now, so that's like what got reported.
But apparently that night, Norman and a group of paranormal researchers, including Dale Kazmarek, I think is how you say it.
He's the president of the Ghost Research Society.
And he also, I don't know if it's him who's responsible, if it's somebody in that society that took that famous picture of the white woman, the woman in white.
Oh, shit. shit um but he was also camping with norman and they were all you know doing research but it was one of the other researchers supposedly who saw the yellow man and there actually wasn't a photo taken and they were all so shaken because after the apparition disappeared they saw quote red streaking lights and watched in disbelief as a single tree began to shake frantically what isn't that fucking terrifying that is terrifying after they saw that they packed up and got the fuck out of there fuck that i agree but another woman saw the yellow man apparition while she was investigating the area she
was actually getting bored because she wasn't experiencing anything like she went here with these hopes of you know seeing the house catching the lady in white nothing was happening yeah and she was thinking like i'm gonna pack up and head out of here soon like nothing has happened and that's when she saw the apparition oh shit yeah Yeah.
So the upper ocean was like, all right, you're going to leave. Let me show you something.
Now, the crazy thing about this experience is that she was there with two other people and she's the only one who saw it.
That's weird. But she literally saw it and just started running.
She left. She was so scared.
She was like, fuck this.
Nope. Another woman who was investigating the cemetery, Nina Jankowski, was distracted and standing by one of the graves in the lot when she saw something out of the corner of her eye.
And at the time she started to feel really dizzy and lightheaded She said but obviously she didn't want to miss the opportunity to photograph whatever this was So she whipped around to take the photo and she realized that her camera was on a completely different setting than the one She'd put it on She said once I started feeling dizzy It was almost as though I was surrounded somehow surrounded And being guided to take this photo when I grabbed my digital camera I noticed that it was turning on and off by itself and it was on a different setting than the one I had chosen earlier That's weird. Yeah
Yeah. Now, other haunts include people seeing Phantom old timey cars like still driving on the road.
Other versions of the blue light.
There's also people that see like red lights, too.
OK. Some people have seen a Phantom black dog either sitting at the entrance or running along the paths of the woods.
I love a black dog.
I do, too. And guess what?
One of our listeners has been to this cemetery.
Of course. And wrote us a captivating tale about multiple experiences that they've had.
So this is Lady's Tale.
Hell yeah. Lady says, Hey y 'all, Lady here.
I love you and your podcast so much and I binge nearly everything in about three weeks.
I haven't heard Bachelors Grove brought up before.
Until now, Lady. Until now.
And just wanted to share a few of my experiences from back in the day when I wasn't as much of a little bitch about spooky things.
All of these stories took place in the years of 2005 to 2007 while I was a teenager.
So they're probably less dramatic than what really happened but they are things I will also never forget.
I also apologize that my broke ass is writing this on my phone since I don't have a working computer.
All names have been changed.
So they wrote, Bachelor's Grove is a haunted cemetery in Illinois.
It's pretty infamous for many reasons, including producing one of the clearest pictures ever produced of a spirit.
There are many fascinating tales about this place, and I have a few of my very own, which probably aren't going to be exactly what you're expecting.
I have three scary ass experiences and an ending palate cleanser that's relatively funny.
To set this up in order to get to the cemetery, you have to park at a forest preserve across the street and walk a trail that's about half a mile long.
The entrance to this trail has a chain across with a sign saying no trespassing.
So I'm assuming it's closed.
I was just going to say, maybe that gives us a little tip.
Yeah, which naturally no one gave a shit about.
But the forest preserve parking lot would close at sundown.
So there was also a long back trail where you would need to park in a neighborhood and walk a few blocks to the forest edge where that trail began, and eventually it meets up with the main trail leading into the cemetery.
Everything about this place is straight -up creepy.
Because of all the stories surrounding the cemetery, it naturally brought out flocks of teenagers that like to go there at night, and it was also a place to party.
Thankfully, we never partied out there, and a few times we went during the day and would clean up garbage left over from other people.
Aw, that's nice. It is.
From the first time I went there, I had a respect for the area.
The graves were over 100 hundred years old, and this was a sacred place that others abused, which I do regret taking entertainment from it.
However, I'm glad I had these experiences because they've stuck with me all these years.
So to get to the juice, my first experience came at about 9 p .m. on a summer night when I was 16.
My best friend Maggie and I decided to go to the back trail since all our plans fell through.
We walked a few blocks and came to the street that leads to the back trail.
We were joking around, being kind of loud and annoying.
We get about a block away and my friend grabs my arm and just stops me.
Maggie says, what the fuck?
And points toward the entrance of the trail.
There's a massive buck standing in the entrance.
Now deer are very common in Illinois, so this isn't unheard of.
However, this deer did not move and it wouldn't take its eyes off our faces.
We stared at it for a minute and I said, fuck no, let's go.
Maggie said to wait a minute since it'll just move.
I decided I did not want to be gored by a deer that night, so refused and said, Nope, I have the keys.
Let's bounce. I like that a forethought.
Yeah, that's smart.
Yeah. As we went back and forth, a car drove past this deer and it didn't move.
It kept staring at us and that image still haunts me.
We started walking quickly to the car and turned back a few times and the deer never moved.
What the fuck? After walking a few blocks, we lost sight of the entrance, thankfully.
But once we turned back, there was a dog sitting in the middle of the street just looking at us.
If it was the deer, I would have literally combusted in the middle of the street.
You're not supposed to run from a potential predator, but we just booked it the remaining few blocks to my car.
Isn't that weird? That's creepy.
It's like, I feel like there's like spirits like in the animals looking out for this place.
Now, second spooky.
At this time, my mom and stepdad had an amazing dog named George, RIP.
And he was a huge Rottweiler and German Shepherd mix.
He was the best dog I've ever met.
He was extremely friendly and well -trained.
The only time he would ever get aggressive is if you were playing that way or if he came across other dogs.
And even then it was out of excitement.
I never saw him act aggressively towards other people for no reason.
One day another friend Amanda and I decided to go to Bachelor's Grove and take Rocky with us.
I think the dog's name was Rocky but it got messed up at the first part.
Oh okay. Since it was during the day we parked across the street and went to the cemetery, walked around a bit and left after about an hour of just hanging out.
During this time we passed multiple people and a few of them even came up to Rocky and petted him and did small talk.
In hindsight, it's kind of weird of people to do hiking banter when trespassing in a cemetery.
But anyway, Rocky was so happy since he loves the attention in the forest. Walking the short trail back to the car, a large man wearing a black leather trench coat was walking the other direction toward the forest. Not really weird, and we initially were not scared because there were people in the cemetery, so we weren't necessarily alone.
When we were about 30 feet away, Rocky just stops.
I immediately got freaked out because he usually tries to approach people and I usually have to hold him back.
But Rocky then stood in front of me and started growling toward this guy.
I had to kneel down and wrap my arms around his chest to keep him from attacking that guy.
The dude didn't even look at us.
He walked straight past us and nearly ran into the dog since he didn't even move over.
He never looked back, and after he turned toward the entrance of the cemetery, Rocky calmed down enough for me to keep him walking to the car.
So that was weird. So that was weird. Final spooky in the last time I have ever been to the cemetery.
Amanda and I had a sleepover, and being the degenerate teenagers we were, we stayed up all night and thought it would be really cool to go to the bachelor's grove at dawn since we'd never done that before so it's summer still and we get there at about 5 30 a .m and the sun is rising it was a little foggy near the ground but clear outside luckily the forest preserve parking lot was unlocked so we could take the short trail we got to the entrance of the trail and for some reason i just immediately felt dread i don't know how to explain it it wasn't like a fight or flight or fight thing it was just
an intense sadness but i just ignored it and we start walking.
We never talked this whole way, which I didn't realize until after the fact.
Every step that I took felt heavy.
My whole body felt like it was fighting to push through the space in front of me just to take a step.
All the while, the dread is growing.
I even feel kind of lightheaded.
About halfway down the trail, I stopped.
Amanda also stopped and looked at me, and we just turned around and started walking back to the car.
Now my fight or flight kicked in.
We went back to the car and shared that we both felt similarly.
It was terrifying. I've never felt that intense feeling of dread ever again, and I really hope I never do.
I literally never went back after that day, and I never will.
Holy shit. Which, that had to be, like, such an intense feeling.
That had to be something, yeah.
Now for a relatively funny story.
A few weeks before my final visit, a huge group of us rowdy teenagers decided to go to the cemetery to hang out, because why not violate a peaceful place when you're bored and have nowhere to go?
See? Just what we were talking about.
As long as you're not tipping headstones.
Yeah. Yeah. So it was completely dark out, and we needed to take the back way.
The walk was fine, but we were super loud.
We get to the cemetery, and we break off into groups and walk around.
After about ten minutes, another group shows up, running in, terrifying, and said the thing all teenagers dread, the fucking cops are coming.
The cops! Everyone books it in different directions.
Keep in mind, this is not a maintained forested area.
So outside the short main trail to the cemetery, it's a fucking forest. So me and, like, three others trudge into this haunted hell forest, trying to find a path to the street so we can just walk back to the car.
After about an hour of using our Nokia phones for light, we finally get to the street.
So I am a 5 '3", petite, white -ass girl, and let me tell you what people saw walking out of this haunted hell forest. I was wearing black shorts and a dirty white tank top, and I was torn all up from the thorns and branches.
I had small cuts all over my body, including my face, that were just dripping blood at this point.
Anyone driving past at that moment saw a child walk out of this haunted forest covered in blood all over my body.
And no one stopped.
Anyway, you guys are great, and I hope you come to Dallas or Chicago one day.
Stay weird. Thanks, lady.
Holy shit. Interesting cemetery.
That cemetery sounds gnarly.
I want to go to there.
I want to go to there.
I want to go to there, and I want to see the Madonna.
And I want to see the disappearing house.
Yes. I think we should go.
Chicago's not even that far.
Let's go. I have family in Chicago.
You do? Hi, Tom and Greg.
There you go. Hi, Tom and Greg.
We love you. you. We do.
They love you so much. I love them.
Love. There's so much love here.
I think we need to go.
I think we're going to go.
We need to see these freaking cemeteries.
Let's go see some cemeteries.
I want to see the Westminster Burying Grounds but that's just in Maryland.
That's not even that far.
Road trip. Cemetery road trip.
Let's do it. Oh my god.
Someday. Someday. Wow.
Someday it's just going to be bopping around to cemeteries.
Until then, we hope you keep listening.
And we hope you keep it weird. But not so weird that you don't go visit these cemeteries respectfully, because they just sound so cool, don't they?
Respectfully. R -E -S -P -E -C -T.
Fully. I know what it means to cemeteries.
Oh, my God. That was great.
Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
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