Ghostly

Ghostly Paranormal Podcast
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A paranormal podcast that debates ghost stories and you decide if they are real.

  1. 4d ago

    LaLaurie Mansion

    Is the LaLaurie Mansion Haunted? Content advisory: This episode discusses the torture and deaths of enslaved people in 1830s New Orleans. Some of the language is graphic, though never explicit. It may not be suitable for all listeners. This episode of Ghostly visits the LaLaurie Mansion. Every night in the French Quarter, people gather on the corner of Royal and Governor Nicholls and tilt their phones up at a three-story gray house that nobody is allowed to enter. In 1834, a kitchen fire exposed what Delphine LaLaurie had been doing to the people she enslaved. A mob tore the house apart, and Madame escaped, never to face trial. This week, Haunted Murder Houses heads to New Orleans. Rebecca follows the little girl on the roof and the man in chains, while Pat separates what the 1834 record actually shows from almost two centuries of legend. You decide: genuine haunting, or entirely senseless talk? The History Delphine LaLaurie was a wealthy New Orleans socialite famous for her lavish parties at 1140 Royal Street. Rumors about how she treated the people she enslaved circulated for years. Then, on April 10, 1834, a kitchen fire broke out. Bystanders broke down the doors to the slave quarters and found seven people in restraints, and the cook, chained to the stove, said she set the fire herself. A mob wrecked the house, and Delphine fled to Paris, never to face trial. The house standing today was rebuilt after 1838, and the most gruesome versions of the story first appeared in books written more than a century later. Nicolas Cage bought the house in 2007 and lost it to foreclosure two years later. The Hauntings Leah, the little girl on the roof: According to the lore, an enslaved child fled Madame’s whip and fell from the roof. Since the 1800s, passersby have reported a ghost child on the rooftop. One guide’s dead streetlamps flickered on the moment she said the girl’s name. The man in chains: The house’s most-reported ghost. Tenement tenants in the 1890s said he attacked them and then vanished. A housekeeper who didn’t know the house’s history saw “a tall dark man with chains around his neck” and never went back. Madame never left: After the Civil War, when the house was a girls’ school, students showed up with scratched arms and blamed “that woman.” Visitors still report a woman watching from the upper windows. Screams, moans, and the smell of smoke: The cook chained to the stove is said to remain. A stench of burnt, rotting meat comes and goes with no source. The house that won’t keep an owner: The 1837 buyer lasted three months. A boarding house opened in 1884 and closed soon after. Jules Vignie was found dead in the attic in 1892. A tenant who complained of “sprites” was murdered in 1894. Nicolas Cage reportedly never spent a single night there. Rebecca also has a first-person story from the sidewalk on Royal Street. Tune in for that one. Music & Sound Credits Music performed by Michael Rivers. “Pat Facts” and “Ghost Story” themes by Mondo. “Time for a Debate” theme by Gail Gallagher — gailgallaghermusic.com Weigh In Got a ghost story? Call or text us (hear the number in the episode). You might hear it on the show! To vote, text the episode title with YES (believer) or NO (skeptic), plus a haunting score from 1–10. Listener Mail Email info@ghostlypodcast.com or use the contact form at GhostlyPodcast.com. You can also write to us at PO Box #264, Geneva, IL 60134. Support the Show Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, or join us on Patreon at GhostlyPodcast.com (tiers from $1–$10). Next Time on Ghostly Haunted Murder Houses wraps up with the Lizzie Borden House. The new episode airs 10/28/2026. Stay Ghostly. Tags: #GhostlyPodcast #LaLaurieMansion #MadameLaLaurie #HauntedNewOrleans #FrenchQuarter #HauntedLouisiana #HauntedMurderHouses #ParanormalPodcast #TrueHauntings #HauntedHistory #GhostStories Sources Delphine LaLaurie — Wikipedia Delphine LaLaurie — 64 Parishes (Carolyn Morrow Long) Mistress of the Haunted House — 64 Parishes What Really Happened at the LaLaurie House? — Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans 1889: Lalaurie Mansion — New Orleans Magazine The LaLaurie Mansion 1832 — BlackPast Delphine LaLaurie and Her Haunted Mansion — Legends of America LaLaurie Mansion — Atlas Obscura Madame Delphine LaLaurie: The True Story — Ghost City Tours Can I Go Inside the LaLaurie Mansion? — Ghost City Tours Nicolas Cage: Movie Star, Foreclosure Victim — CNN Money Haunted New Orleans Mansion That Nicolas Cage Lost to Foreclosure Lists for $10.25M — New York Post (via AOL) Haunted French Quarter Mansion Once Owned by Nicolas Cage for Sale — WWL-TV The Ghosts of the Haunted LaLaurie Mansion — Ghost City Tours Working at the LaLaurie House — Reddit r/Paranormal The Most Haunted Places in Each State — Ranker MARDI-GRAve: The LaLaurie House — Dread Central The Ghosts of LaLaurie Mansion — Marlene Pardo Pellicer Haunted Crime Scenes: The City That Loves the Dead — Crime Library The Most Haunted Place in Louisiana: The LaLaurie Mansion — The Advocate Goth Chick News: Mad Madame LaLaurie — Black Gate Beyond Depraved: LaLaurie Mansion’s Death Attic — Vocal Media Inside Madame LaLaurie’s House of Horrors — Urban Legends, Mystery & Myth 50 Most Haunted Places in America — Best Life https://ghostlypodcast.com/episode/194-lalaurie-mansion

  2. Oct 14

    Lemp Mansion

    Content advisory: This episode discusses several deaths by suicide in the Lemp family. If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (U.S.), any time. Is the Lemp Mansion Haunted? In this episode, Ghostly heads to the Lemp Mansion, and we have a special guest. Kyle Maiden spent the night at the Lemp while driving Route 66 across the country, and he tells us what happened after the last staff member went home. Pat tells us the sad history of the Lemp family. Special Guest: Kyle Maiden Kyle Maiden is the founder of Picard, Projiq, and HUMAN Project Delivery, an innovator in project management delivery, and the host of Project Management After Dark. On a cross-country trip down Route 66, which once ran right through St. Louis, he booked a night at the Lemp Mansion. He came back with stories, and he shares them with us on this episode. Follow Kyle on Instagram: @kyle.maiden The History German immigrant Johann Adam Lemp arrived in St. Louis in 1838 and is credited with bringing lager beer to the city. His son William built the Lemp Brewery into the largest in St. Louis and bought the mansion at 3322 DeMenil Place, connected by tunnel to the family’s lagering caves. Then tragedy took over. Favorite son Frederick died at 28 in 1901, and William Sr. shot himself in his bedroom in 1904. Daughter Elsa died by suicide in 1920. Prohibition shut the brewery, which sold at auction in 1922 for a fraction of its worth, and that December William Jr. shot himself in his office, in the same house where his father died. Charles Lemp, the last of the family to live there, followed in 1949. The mansion became a run-down boarding house until the Pointer family bought it in 1975 and turned it into a restaurant and inn. In 1980, Life magazine named it one of the most haunted houses in America. In September 2026, the Pointers put it up for sale. It stays open through December 2027. The Hauntings The Lavender Lady — William Jr.’s ex-wife Lillian, who wore nothing but lavender. Guests report a purple apparition, the scent of lavender by her portrait, and a smoky silhouette of a woman caught on film in the bar doorway. Charles and his dog — the last Lemp, still said to walk the halls with his Doberman. Investigators asked, “Is there anyone here with us?” and caught a dog barking on the recording. The man with the key — a 2004 tour group found a guest room standing open with a key in the lock, then remembered passing a pale older man with a key in the hallway. No one like him was working or staying there that night. The peeping ghost in the ladies’ room — William Jr.’s old private bathroom, where women still report a man looking over the top of the stall. The house that wouldn’t let anyone stay — boarders hearing knocks and footsteps, renovation workers who walked off the job, and staff who watch glasses fly off the bar and hear the piano play by itself. Rebecca also has a first-person story from the attic, and Kyle tells us about his own night in the mansion. Tune in for both. Music & Sound Credits Music performed by Michael Rivers. “Pat Facts” and “Ghost Story” themes by Mondo. “Time for a Debate” theme by Gail Gallagher — gailgallaghermusic.com Listener Mail Email info@ghostlypodcast.com or the contact form at GhostlyPodcast.com, or write us at PO Box #264, Geneva, IL 60134. Support the Show Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, or join us on Patreon at GhostlyPodcast.com (tiers from $1–$10). Next Time on Ghostly Haunted Murder Houses continues with the LaLaurie Mansion — new episode airs 10/21/2026. Stay Ghostly. Tags: #GhostlyPodcast #LempMansion #HauntedStLouis #HauntedMissouri #Route66 #HauntedMurderHouses #ParanormalPodcast #TrueHauntings #HauntedHistory #GhostStories Sources History History of the Lemp Mansion — Lemp Mansion (Official Site) The Haunted Lemp Mansion in St. Louis — Legends of America St. Louis’ Haunted and Historic Lemp Mansion Is for Sale — St. Louis Public Radio St. Louis’ Haunted Lemp Mansion Is for Sale, but Stays Open Through 2027 — Haunted Attraction Network Hauntings & Paranormal Reports The Lemp Mansion — Prairie Ghosts (Troy Taylor) Lemp Mansion Haunted History — KSDK 5 On Your Side This Is What It’s Like to Take a Ghost Tour of the Lemp Mansion with a Psychic — St. Louis Magazine Lemp Mansion Investigation — Aislinn Marshall Lemp Mansion EVPs — Aislinn Marshall (SoundCloud) The Lemp Mansion — Dread Central Local Haunted House Offers Real Thrills and Chills — Lancer Feed Ghost Photographed at Notoriously Haunted Mansion in St. Louis? — Coast to Coast AM America’s Most Haunted Bathrooms — Roadtrippers Syfy — Ghost Hunters Season 6 Episode Recap, “Lemp Mansion”

  3. Oct 7

    Villisca Axe Murder House

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

  4. Sep 30

    Buffalo Central Terminal

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

  5. Sep 16

    Mary King's Close

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

  6. Sep 2

    Preston Castle

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

  7. Jun 10

    Leap Castle

    Is Leap Castle in County Offaly, Ireland Haunted? Tucked into the quiet farmland of County Offaly, just north of the small town of Roscrea, sits a castle that has been unsettling visitors for the better part of eight hundred years. Leap Castle has survived clan warfare, a brother murdering a brother mid-Mass, the discovery of a pit holding over 150 human skeletons, a civil-war burning, and decades as a roofless ruin. This week, Rebecca dives into the legends of the Bloody Chapel, the oubliette, the Red Lady, the ghost children Emily and Charlotte, the Governess, and the bizarre entity known only as “the Elemental,” while Pat lays out the documented, true-crime-level history that makes this castle’s reputation almost too easy to believe. Is Leap Castle genuinely haunted, or is eight centuries of trauma just doing a very convincing impression of a haunting? You decide. What We Cover in This Episode The History How Leap Castle got its name — and the legend of the brothers’ deadly leap that decided who got to build it The O’Carroll succession war of 1532 and the murder of a priest at the altar of his own chapel The 19th-century discovery of a hidden oubliette beneath the chapel floor — and the three cartloads of human remains pulled out of it The 1922 burning of the castle during the Irish Civil War, and the fifty years it spent as a roofless ruin How the Ryan family rebuilt Leap Castle from a ruin into the private home — and haunted-tour destination — it is today The Hauntings Evidence #1 — The Bloody Chapel: the apparition of the murdered priest, Thaddeus, and EVP recordings of murmured prayers Evidence #2 — The Oubliette: the pit of forgotten prisoners, and the theory that disturbing their remains “woke” the castle Evidence #3 — The Elemental: Mildred Darby’s chilling first-person account of a grey, sheep-sized entity with a face unlike anything else in Irish folklore Evidence #4 — The Red Lady: the tragic spirit of an imprisoned woman, said to wander the upper floors in mourning Evidence #5 — Emily, Charlotte & the Governess: two ghost children and the nanny who still seems to be looking after them — and after blonde-haired guests Vote As always, it’s not up to us — it’s up to YOU. After listening, head to our social pages and tell us: which piece of evidence convinced you, and which one did Pat manage to talk you out of? Genuine haunting, or centuries of trauma playing tricks on the imagination? Cast your vote and join the conversation. Music & Sound Credits Music for this episode was performed by Michael Rivers. “Pat Facts” and “Ghost Story” themes by Mondo. “Time for a Debate” theme by Gail Gallagher — gailgallaghermusic.com Support Ghostly Podcast Love digging into the world’s most haunted locations with us? Join our Patreon for ad-free episodes, early access, bonus investigations, and a say in which haunted location we cover next. Every pledge helps us keep the lights low and the questions coming. Become a Ghostly Patron Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review wherever you listen — it’s the easiest way to support the show and help other ghost-story lovers find us. Sources Leap Castle — Wikipedia History — LeapCastle.net (Official Site) The O’Carrolls — LeapCastle.net The Irish Castle Where Workers Found Three Cartloads of Human Bones — Love Ireland A Journey Through Time: The History of Leap Castle — IrishHistory.com Leap Castle: Ireland’s Most Haunted — European Waterways Leap Castle County Offaly: Ireland’s Haunted Fortress — Connolly Cove The Bloody Chapel — LeapCastle.net (Official Site) The Elemental — LeapCastle.net (Official Site) The Red Lady — LeapCastle.net (Official Site) Emily & Charlotte — LeapCastle.net (Official Site) Are you ready to be spooked by Leap Castle? — Ireland.com Leap Castle is the most haunted castle in Ireland and this story proves it — Irish Central The Most Haunted Castle in Ireland | Irish Ghost Stories — Emerald Isle The Ghosts of Leap Castle, Roscrea, Co. Offaly — Haunted Rooms Leap Castle Ireland: The Oubliette, the Elemental and Five Centuries of Violence — Haunted Silence The Governess of Leap Castle County Offaly: A Haunted Tale — Kinnitty.com Exploring the Paranormal at Leap Castle — Celtic Elegance The Haunting of Leap Castle: Ireland’s Most Haunted Fortress — Paranormal Case Files Haunted History: Dive Into The Secrets Of Leap Castle — Spirit Shack Leap Castle, Co Offaly: Ireland’s Most Haunted Castle — My Real Ireland Ireland’s Biggest Haunt – Leap Castle — Beyond the Bizarre

  8. May 20

    187 Trans-Allegheny Asylum West Virginia

    Is the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, West Virginia haunted? Episode Summary This week on Ghostly, we walk into the largest hand-cut stone masonry building in North America — the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, West Virginia. Pat traces the building from its hopeful 1858 origins under the Kirkbride Plan, through the Civil War occupation, the catastrophic overcrowding, the 1949 Charleston Gazette exposé, and into the dark summer of 1952 when Dr. Walter Freeman’s “Operation Ice Pick” lobotomized 228 West Virginians in twelve days. Rebecca brings the paranormal — Lily, the little girl in Ward R whose toys still move on command; Jacob, the alcoholic patient with a real paper trail who was first contacted on Ghost Hunters in 2008; Ruth, the man-hating spirit of the Civil War wing; the lobotomy recovery room and its growling shadows; and the nurse whose body lay undiscovered at the bottom of a stairwell for months. It is a story of good intentions, of a system that failed the people it promised to heal, and of the spirits who — by every account — never left. In This Episode Pat’s History Notes Construction begins in 1858 — Black convicts from Western Penitentiary at Staunton are transferred to the build site by order of the governor; German and Irish stonemasons later cut blue sandstone from Mount Clare, West Virginia The largest hand-cut stone masonry building in North America — over two million tons of hand-dressed stone, twenty-three years of labor, designed by Baltimore architect Richard Snowden Andrews The Kirkbride Plan — Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride’s belief that architecture itself could heal a troubled mind; staggered wings, wide windows, open grounds as a “special apparatus for lunacy” Doors open in October 1864, during the height of the Civil War — Union and Confederate forces both occupy the partially built structure The crushing math of overcrowding: 250 patients by design, 717 by 1880, 1,661 by 1938, more than 2,600 by the 1950s — patients sleeping in shifts, sharing beds in rotation 1949 — Charleston Gazette journalist Charles Armentrout spends three weeks inside and reports the asylum looked “like a hogpen” and “smelled even worse”; the doors stay open another forty-five years The West Virginia Lobotomy Project (1951–1953) — Dr. Walter Freeman’s transorbital lobotomy campaign nicknamed “Operation Ice Pick”; 228 West Virginians lobotomized in twelve summer days in 1952; nearly 900 permanently damaged statewide May 1, 1994 — after 130 years of operation and a class action lawsuit, the asylum closes; patients are transferred to the William R. Sharpe Jr. Hospital The early 2000s restoration — the building reopens as a historical site and museum, restoring its original 1864 name Rebecca’s Paranormal Evidence Lily of Ward R — the nine-year-old girl said to have been born and died of pneumonia inside the asylum, her fourth-floor room filled with decades of donated toys, the “mommy” EVP, and the rubber balls that roll on their own Jacob the Alcoholic — first contacted by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson on the 2008 Ghost Hunters episode; admission records later turned up Jacob Ayers, admitted 1890–1892 as a delusional alcoholic “convinced everyone was hiding his beer”; still active in the Civil War wing on K2 meters and flashlights Ruth and the Man-Hating Wing — the female patient on the first floor of the Civil War wing who allegedly throws objects at male visitors; the Ward 2 “get out” EVP; one woman’s account of severe head pain and overwhelming sadness on the women’s ward The Lobotomy Recovery Room — disembodied growling, tall shadow figures seen by two investigators on the same night, screams from the empty electroshock room, slamming doors and hysterical laughter from locked rooms The Nurse in the Stairwell — the staff member killed by a patient and hidden at the bottom of a stairwell for months; the third floor still haunted by “Elizabeth” and “Big Jim,” doors closing on their own, knocking from the inside of locked doors Music Credits Music for this episode was performed by Michael Rivers “Pat Facts” and “Ghost Story” themes by Mondo “Time for a Debate” theme by Gail Gallagher — gailgallaghermusic.com Support the Show Love what we do? Join us on Patreon for bonus episodes, early access, and behind-the-scenes content. Every pledge helps us keep digging up the dead. Become a Ghostly Patron » And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts. It’s the best way to help other believers and skeptics find the show. Got a Ghost Story? Ghostly has an official phone line. Call or text us with your spooky encounters — and if you leave a voicemail, you might hear it on the show. You can also vote in our latest polls. Text the episode title. Add YES if you’re a believer, NO if you’re a skeptic. Then give it a haunting score from 1 to 10. Phone: (312) 869-9929 Email us your stories: info@ghostlypodcast.com Show Notes & Sources Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum — History Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum — Wikipedia Explore Our History — Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum (Official Site) The Kirkbride Plan — Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum Thomas Story Kirkbride — Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum Legacy Pages How The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum Went From A Curative Retreat To A House Of Horrors — All That’s Interesting Weston State Hospital — Asylum Projects Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum — Legends of America The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, Then and Now — American Journal of Psychiatry Weston State Hospital — SAH Archipedia The Doctor Who Lobotomized 228 West Virginians in Just 12 Days — When In Your State American Horror Story Doctor Is Real — Dr. Walter Freeman — Ghost Walks Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum — Paranormal Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum — Official Ghost Tours Terrors Of The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum — US Ghost Adventures Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum — US Ghost Adventures I Spent the Night in a Haunted Asylum and I Still Can’t Explain What I Saw — Washingtonian The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum: West Virginia’s Haunted Hospital — Road Unraveled A Visit to the Trans-Allegheny Asylum — CrimeReads The Legend of Lily — Theresa’s Haunted History of the Tri-State Little Lily of the Asylum — Spookt Trans Allegheny Asylum — Little Lily and the Kitchen — Ghost Walks Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum and the Haunting Enigma of Lily — America’s Most Haunted Ghost Adventures: Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum (2009) — Fandom Paranormal Lockdown: Trans-Allegheny Recap — Gretal’s Ghosts Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum Ghost Hunt — What We Captured on Camera — Paraghosts The Haunted Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum — Beyond Haunted Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum’s Famous Ghosts — Spartan Shield The Haunting History of the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum — WOWK 13 News A Journey Through the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum — WV Ghosts Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum Reviews — TripAdvisor Shadow Man Encounter at Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum — YouTube Watch: Something unexplained caught on camera at Trans-Allegheny — WBOY

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About

A paranormal podcast that debates ghost stories and you decide if they are real.

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  • Creator
    Ghostly Paranormal Podcast
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    220
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2018 - 2025
  • Show Website
    Ghostly

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