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Wndyri Plus subscribers can listen to Morbid early and ad-free. Join WNDYRI Plus in the WNDYRI app or on Apple podcasts. You're listening to a Morbid Network podcast.

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Kill List is a true story of how one writer uncovers a global conspiracy, taking matters into his own hands to warn those whose lives are in danger. Follow Kill List on the WNDYRI app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of Kill List early and ad-free right now by joining WNDYRI Plus.

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Hey, weirdos. I'm Elaina. And I'm Ash. And this is Morbid.

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Hey, it's spooky season.

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We are in it.

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What is it? When you listen to this, October something?

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Yeah, it's not that right now, but it's that right now. That was super deep, Elaina. That was deep. Right now, it's like sometime in September, and that's still spooky season.

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It's pre-October. It's pre-October. But now it's October if you're listening.

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It's Halloween Eve. Halloween. Halloween. And we, you know what? It feels a little like Christmas because we got some delightful gifts from... We went to our PO box. The PO box. The PO box. And we got... You guys always send the coolest shit. You 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.

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You make me sick. And it's so nice of you just to send us cool trinkets that you make.

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And to use your skills to give us a gift.

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That's the thing because- That's just really cool. You talk about the first thing we received because I think it's one of the The coolest gifts I've ever gotten in my life.

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I'm just in awe of this. So it's from... I want you to listen to this so you can go look it up on Etsy because- Go order these. Let's blow her shit up. It's Ginger's Papery.

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Papery.

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And it's, let's see, gingerspapery. Etsy. Com. And it's Pappery, 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 Her actual name. Let's not say your actual name, just in case. So I'm not going to, just in case you don't want me to. Yeah. But she made us the most beautiful customized journals, like scrapbooky journals that are- That are so pretty. That are 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.

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She's so talented. Every couple pages, there would be an insert where you would pull out even more paper. Yeah, like a little pocket. Yeah. There was just cool little articles, cool poems, cool Easter ads. From vintage ads.

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Yes. Ash got a bunch of vintage hairstyling ads. I got a bunch of old pharmacy ads and apothecary stuff. There was this ancient looking to tell science textbook page that was in there. I love that. It was so cool.

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She put a Zodiac wheel in mind. She included stickers in the back.

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Honestly, just the coolest, most thoughtful gift. It was really sweet. It really made our day.

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You can order off of her Etsy shop and customize your journal with her. They even had our initials on the front.

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Yeah, it's amazing. I love it so much. That was so cool. So thank you so much. You're amazing. That was just so fucking cool.

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It really was. And then we got this really cool piece of artwork, and I don't think it came with a card or the card got lost somehow, but it's this framed piece. And it's like a- A cross stitch? No, it's not. I don't think it is a cross stitch. It's like beads. Oh, it is. They almost look like little rhinstones. Oh, shit. It's a drawing of me and Elaina standing back to back. Elaina'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. It's so cool. If you send it to us, you're the fucking tits.

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Yeah, it was really cool.

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Name yourself.

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Name yourself.

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Show yourself. Because this is cool. It's going up on my side of the wall, and I'm really excited.

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There's a literal perfect spot for it.

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That's the thing I happen to have the perfect spot. So I said, Can it go on my side of the wall?

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Oh, it is. It's diamondy. Yeah. Because it's just like, it's like, glittered when you put it down.

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Sorry, all my papers are going to go rustling.

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Oh, that's really fucking cool.

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Yeah, it's really pretty. Hello? I'm so tired. I'm sorry.

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Ma'am, this Wendy's.

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I don't even know what I was going to say.

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I just love it. I just love it. I'm speecheless.

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Oh, I was going to 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.

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Yeah, which is such a cool one.

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Yeah, it's cool. So if you drew it, I love you. We'll post a picture of it.

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I don't know. You guys just rule a little bit.

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You're just awesome. And so many people send us cool books to read. And sometimes people send books for the kids, which is really sweet.

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Yeah, we appreciate all of it.

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We just appreciate you so much. You don't have to send us anything.

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Oh, that's another one. Before we get into it, I promise we're going to get into it. But I would like to shower you with love. Do you have the- I would like to shower you with love. I do. Okay, good. Hold on. So I got a really cool one from... Let me see. The store, her little place is Bricks by Penelope.

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Bricks by Penelope.

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And she takes bricks and she paints to look like books and shit. And she got me a brick and painted it to look like the Butcher and the Ren. I'm going to take a picture of it because it's so fucking cool. It's so cool. It went right in the bookshelf, like right there, right next to me.

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You would never even know that it's a brick because it's so smooth and beautiful and just the details. Because obviously the Butcher and the Ren cover has the eyeball, and then there's something in the eyeball. It's so, so impressive.

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It is so fucking cool. I just What a banner day. I know. What a banner morning. And we needed it this morning because both of us got our flu shots. Oh my God. And I think we were just exhausted. You're fine after a flu shot. But sometimes your immune system immunes, which is good.

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My immune system immune so hard that I want to find it.

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Yeah, I just didn't sleep well last night because I was just uncomfortable. I just didn't feel great. And your arm gets so sore. So we were just a little tired this morning and just not ourselves.

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I thought I was going to yaq.

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Yeah. So it was a nice little... It was a nice thing because Mikey came in like fucking old Saint nick with a big sack full of peel box stuff.

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And we said, Oh, goodies. He's literally stroking his beard like Santa Claus wood.

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I'm obsessed. So you guys really killed it. And we appreciate you. We're going to post some of it because it's just really cool.

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You guys are so cute and sweet and kind.

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You're lovely. You're demure. You're very mindful.

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Mindful. Cutes and cutesy.

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By the time this comes out, people will be like, what is that? The trend is over. The trend is over.

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People are already done with that, but I'll never be done with that.

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I think it's hilarious, personally.

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Speaking of very cutesy-cutesy, very demure, very mindful. I think by the time you heard It's going to be what, October seventh, you said, Mikey? October seventh. And that means, guys, that our collection, our morbid collection with Spencers, will be launching.

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Spencers, remember?

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Do you guys remember the fucking... Remember, you 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. We can laugh back there.

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We have a collection now with them. We do.

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We have sweatshirts. I'm literally wearing one right now.

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She actually is.

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These sweatshirts are really fun. I love them.

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So comfortable, too.

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So comfy. I recommend sizing up as much as you can because then you'll just be wearing a blanket, essentially. Yeah.

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This is so nice. And we have a blanket. There's a blanket. There is a blanket. There's earrings.

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There's press on nails.

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There's press on nails. There's, I think, makeup brushes.

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There's a palette, even. A makeup palette, like an eye shadow palette. There's cups. There's cups. We got cups. We got cups. We're drinking out cups being a bitch. It's great. It's our chair and it's our problem. It is. It's not even a problem.

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It's a great thing to have. So it's really fun. And go check it out. It's in stores. Yes.

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We're going to be doing a little visit to the Spencer's stores. Yeah. And I can't wait.

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Yeah. It's going to be exciting. Yay.

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Hop off by it.

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Oh, hold on.

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I just have to... I need you to... I'm going off on a spiel here. Here we go. I need you to watch Secret Lives of Norman Wives on Hulu.

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But you told me I might not be able to hang.

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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.

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Damn.

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I was thinking about some of the other things that happened, and I don't want to spoil it for you, but you have to watch it. It's so good.

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I'm interested.

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I keep just saying, what's going to happen in Mom Talk? Is this going to I'm going to have you to Mom Talk? What's going to happen in Mom Talk? I've seen so many people, so many of our listeners, I've posted stuff on Insta and they've been responding to it. I just wanted to say I'm having the best time. I love that. Just talking about Mom Talk and Norman Wives. Just hanging out. It's so good.

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Oh, I love one of my favorite thing is when our listeners are all... We're all enjoying the same thing. Yes. And then we'll post about it and I get a bunch of messages that are just 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 that are really cool.

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I was just going to say it's like a big hang sesh. It's true. I love that. All right. I'll let you get to everything now.

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All right. Before I begin, John and I are watching Only Murders in the Building, and it's really good. So for the last couple of seasons.

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I was going to say, how many seasons is that at now?

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Four, I think. But it's really good.

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I watched a little bit of season one.

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Martin Short, Steve Martin, A+, Selena Gomez. So fucking good. So good. Yeah.

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Yeah, I watched a little bit of season one, and then I, for no reason, I just fell off of it.

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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. Cozy, I suppose. I think they are. So I have a wild cemetery. Do you? Wild. It is the Westminster Burying Grounds in Maryland. Okay. It is a cemetery that's at the Westminster Presbyterian Church, which is now not the church anymore. It's called Westminster Hall. Okay. And it was created in 1786, the burial grounds.

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Damn, that is going back quite a ways.

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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.

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What?

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Yeah. Hello? So there's that. That's terrifying. And this happens to have a very famous resident.

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Does it?

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Mr. Edgar Allan Poe himself is in this cemetery. I know him. You know him. I've heard of his work.

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I love your work.

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I love your work. He was actually initially buried in an unmarked grave because of his strange end of his life. But, you know. Then they loved it. We will talk about that. Then they loved it. Don't worry. But later, according to morbidlybeautiful. Com, which is a very interesting website, a bunch of children from a local school money to get him a marker at the entrance of the cemetery. They called the fundraiser, Pennies for Poe. That's hilarious and adorable.

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I remember learning about that. Did you really? Yeah. When we talked about Edgar Allan Poe in school.

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That's so funny. Yeah. Yeah. He was buried actually three different times in that cemetery.

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That's crazy. I feel like you probably shouldn't disturb anybody's body that much.

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Yeah. I mean, he's so wily. Like, he was wily in life. He was wily in death. He still is. Yeah. The marker that was made at the entrance of the cemetery was made with some of the raised funds, and it had this little medallion thing on it with his image on it, and it's been stolen. 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.

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Because that's expensive.

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But then it showed up in a flea market in West Virginia. Don't steal things. Don't steal things from graveyards. That's for fucking sure.

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Don't steal things from anywhere.

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Don't steal Yeah, they're typically not from graveyards. But definitely don't steal from graveyards.

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That's bold and brazen.

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Yeah. So people that are also buried in that cemetery a lot, like near Agrielen Poe, are his wife, Virginia Clem Poe, and his mother-in-law, Maria Poe Clem. You may be weird that they have the same last names, but reversed, and you would be correct, but that's because his wife was his cousin.

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I always forget that. Troubled man indeed. And then someone tells me that and I say...

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And you go, oh. Okay. First cousin? Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Okay. I think she was also young.

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I remember that part.

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He was like 26 or something. She was like 13. She was like 13 or 14. Yeah. He was a situation.

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We're going to a restaurant where he drank in the cellars.

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Yeah, he drank a lot. So there's definitely that.

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Let's go drink in the cellars that Edgar- There you go. Drinking the cellars with me where Edgar and Poe drink, so I know it's real.

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So I know it's real. Well, people will see Poe hanging out in this place. Nice. Often just- The cemetery? Yeah, the cemetery. Often just standing over his own grave. He would. He really would. And he's always seen wearing a long black coat. He's wearing a black fedora, 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. People believe he may be feeling some regret for how his life panned out because sure, he's pretty famous now, but at what cost?

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And he really wasn't when he was alive, right?

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He really wasn't as much, yeah. So his death was gnarly, and I'm sure he is even puzzled by it still. So let's go on a little side tangent here and let's talk about Poe's mysterious death really quick. Let's.

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I have an incredibly long a list of moderately irrational fears that I bring to therapy all the time because therapy is a great tool for facing your fears and finding ways to overcome them. Sometimes the scariest thing is not facing our fears in the first place and holding ourselves back. I know that sometimes my fear of social realization my social anxiety, could get in the way of things, and then I would miss out on super fun events with my friends. So I bring that fear of social anxiety to therapy, and I work it out with my therapist. If you're thinking of starting therapy, give better help a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule. And all you have to do is fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist. And you can switch therapists anytime for no additional charge. Overcome your fears with Betterhelp. Visit betterhelp. Com/morbid today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp, h-e-l-p. Com/morbid. I'll go into a generalized look at it because I really would like to go into this a little further later. Elaina, I think you should do an episode on that.

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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 being beaten to death to carbon monoxide poisoning.

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So I feel like there would be evidence of the beating versus if he died of carbon monoxide poisoning. It's pretty interesting, though.

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I think you should do that for maybe Halloween. Oh, there you go. That might be a fun one because it's very interesting.

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I don't know if an episode comes on Halloween, but- But I'll give you a little generalized look at it.

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So September 27th, 1849, 40-year-old Poe left for Philadelphia on business. He was set to help edit a collection of poems. It was going to be 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 wife had passed away from consumption. Oh, fuck. 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 third, a week later, 1849 on election day. And he was found... A man named Joseph W. Walker was on his way to Gunners Hall, which was a polling station in 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.

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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.

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Snodgrass.

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Who was apparently a friend, an editor, in possession of a really cool name. And also he side hustled as a doctor-ish medical person?

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Side hustled as a doctor-ish medical person. Imagine bringing your new mans around your family and they're like, Oh, what do you doing? He's like, I'm a doctor-ish medical person for my side hustle. I side hustled.

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Yeah, you know. It was the 1800s, so that was pretty normal. He's giving doctor death. So he did. He wrote him, According to the smithsonian. Com, he wrote it on October 3, 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 hast, Joseph W. Walker.

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He is in need of immediate assistance. So let me postmark this, send it to you, hope it gets to you soon enough.

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But he did write yours in hast. Post hast.

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I'm Russian.

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He was brought. He eventually, he showed up, and he was brought to get some medical attention. And he spent four days in and out of, basically in and out of dying, essentially. He was in and out of consciousness, and he died on October seventh. During that time, he was hallucinating. He was going into fits. Bitch.

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What? This episode comes out on October seventh. It happens again. It happens again. I didn't even... Wow. That's weird because Mikey literally just told us that.

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Yeah, we wouldn't I've known that. What the fuck? Why does that always happen?

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Why does that always happen?

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That's so weird. Damn. I meant for that to happen. Totally.

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I got full chills about that.

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Well, during this whole time, he was hallucinating. He was going into fits, and he was screaming the name Reyland Reynalds over and over. Reynalds. To this day, no one's been able to determine who the fuck Reynalds is. 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 belong to, why he looked like such shit, why he was hallucinating, and why he was screaming the name Reynalds, and then he just died.

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That's weird. I mean, sometimes when you're about to die, you hallucinate and talk to people that aren't there.

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But he was really going through it. And he was so bad that he couldn't recollect what had happened to him.

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Yeah, that's strange. Do you think there's a possibility that he just went on a vendor?

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Well, that's the thing. So he was also supposed to be in a sober era. Yes. So this is double. Sober king. So this is double. He was trying. And again, there's so many theories that go into this. There's something called couping back then where these people on election day would kidnap someone, beat them and kidnap them and dress them in disguise and make them go vote for who they wanted them to.

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Yeah.

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And then release them again. And sometimes they would keep them in a room and apply them with alcohol and it and make them do it. Oh, that'd be really sad if that happened. So there is a theory that like, couping was responsible for this. And that maybe that's what it was, which would be wild.

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And just really fucking sad.

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Yeah. It's fascinating and really tragic and sad. But we'll go into it at a later date, I think, for sure. But just know the man had a strange, troubled, weird death, troubled life. So seeing him contemplating his choices over his grave after he's died seems pretty fucking Poe-y to me.

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I feel like that would make for the beginning of an awesome movie.

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Right? Just Poe standing over his own grave.

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And then you just delve into his life and choices.

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Yeah, that'd be sick.

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Somebody made that yet?

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Well, and he also shows up at the altar inside of what was the church, Westminster Hall now a lot. He'll just be walking around in there. That's cool. 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. Can look it up really quick. And he leaves three red roses in 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 one year, and 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, 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.

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That's the lore that I want going on in my gravesite. Right? Be nice at my gravesite and just be dark and leave me weird poison and roses.

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One thing I would think he'd be pretty psyched about is after he died, one, he became insanely famous. But two, all his shit is so synonymous with gothic culture and like, spooky ravens and shit like that. He's like the O. G. That's what you want. O.

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G. Goth King.

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Yeah, it's true. Like, he was fucked up, which I think, yeah, like he was fucked up. Like emo goth. But obviously his like, works are so gothic and wild and like, you know.

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The deep, deep lore of Mr. Poe.

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The deep, deep lore. But that's Egaran Poe hanging around. That's fucking cool. There's also something that's called the Screaming Scull of Cambridge there. Tell me all about that. Which was what initially actually brought me to this cemetery.

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It would bring me to that cemetery.

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Because I said, A Screaming Scull? What?

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He said, Hey, what's that about?

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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 going to tease me with this, and then it's going to be something stupid. Nope. Nope. Screaming Scull. Apparently, a minister, a local minister, was murdered nearby. What? 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. This is 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.

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I feel like there was a better way to go about that.

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Probably.

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But it kept screaming. I just feel that way.

[00:25:27]

But it kept screaming. Good. I would, too.

[00:25:30]

I'd scream louder. Exactly. You fucked up. I'm going to get louder.

[00:25:34]

I'm getting louder. And sometimes they can still hear screaming coming from there. Screaming skull.

[00:25:40]

You know that gif where it's like, I ain't getting no sleep because of you all. You all are getting no sleep because of me. That's all I'm thinking. That's the skull. That's the minister in his death.

[00:25:51]

That's the minister's skull.

[00:25:53]

Gagged it all.

[00:25:54]

Just gagged it all. That's it. So really was that. 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. That's a real person in this cemetery. You can find her grave. It says, her epitaph says, blessed with peculiar sweetness of temper, a mind pure and exaltet, a heart pious and faithful, she died beloved and lamented. Early, bright, transient, chaste as morning doe, she sparkled, was exalled, and went to heaven.

[00:26:47]

That is so beautiful. And I was like, wow. People really loved her.

[00:26:53]

I was going to say, what a loved- Woman woman. Young woman.

[00:26:59]

Yeah, that's a beautiful engraving. And also it would have been hella expensive.

[00:27:03]

Very expensive. But it's just like, damn. That's a beautiful epitaph.

[00:27:09]

It is. That really is. They also just knew how to say shit way better back then.

[00:27:14]

They really did. But I was like, she sounds like a seriously cool chick.

[00:27:18]

But then you wonder, I'm like, why is she praying over her grave? I know. I hope she did make it to where she wanted to go.

[00:27:26]

I know. I'm like, I hope wherever it is, you're happy. Maybe I'm hoping it's like a residual thing. It's not just actually. But there's another creepier story that is from the Catacombs. Because there's catacombs here because the church was built right over the cemetery.

[00:27:44]

That is too much, one might say.

[00:27:47]

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 strait jacket to keep her restrained in death.

[00:28:00]

Unnecessary.

[00:28:01]

Yeah, that's what I say.

[00:28:02]

Not demure, not mindful.

[00:28:04]

Yeah, not mindful at all. People say they can see and feel her following them around, and she will laugh in your ear maniacly.

[00:28:12]

Good.

[00:28:13]

Which I was like, I probably wouldn't do.

[00:28:14]

I would do the same. Yeah.

[00:28:16]

Also the ground keeper from long ago named Old Valence. He was the grave digger and the groundskeeper. He'll chase your ass out of there if you fuck around in there.

[00:28:28]

Well, fuck around find out.

[00:28:30]

That's what they said. 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 Valence ghost running at you with a shovel.

[00:28:44]

Go hit your head with the shovel. Out of there.

[00:28:46]

Get out of there. And apparently, there are rumors of a lot of premature burials that happened here. Sorry, Kuaal? Yeah, you heard it right. Premature because it was in the time when a lot of that would happen often. 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 grave alarms, essentially. Holy fuck. This happened a lot. 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, because they are some of the oldest graves. There was also a lot of grave robbings down there, especially in the catacombs.

[00:29:24]

Worst individual.

[00:29:26]

Yes, truly. Worst kind. Full on body snatchings as well, because this was in the time... Why? 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 were buried there. No. And also bodies were just moved into different areas or gravestones were moved and just left bodies in different places because of code violations and shit they were redoing this whole place. Oh, wow. So they have actually, there's rumors that they found bodies under walkways and shit. Oh, man. Yeah. With no graves.

[00:30:09]

That's really sad.

[00:30:10]

Yeah. So it's gnarly 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 his 80s.

[00:30:30]

You probably shouldn't do that.

[00:30:31]

There were reports of people witnessing kids throwing around human skulls and shit.

[00:30:36]

I don't have a lot to say about that. And at the same time, so much to say about that. That's a fucked up kid. That's a lot. If I was a child and somebody threw a skull at me, I'd leave.

[00:30:51]

I'd leave wherever I was at.

[00:30:54]

I'd call an adult. I'd say, Mom, can you pick me up?

[00:30:56]

I'm scared. Yeah, that would not be something I would engage in when I was little. No. When I was little, and I would hope my children would have something to say about that as well. Yeah, 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 day. 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.

[00:31:13]

I'd say, John, John, it's gone too far. I'm on my way.

[00:31:17]

It's gone too far.

[00:31:18]

John, I'm on my way. We got to talk to this crazy.

[00:31:19]

If another kid threw a human skull at one of my kids, they'd be like, this doesn't feel right. Yeah, no. I feel I am confident in that.

[00:31:26]

It also would be on site. It's true. Just kidding.

[00:31:29]

It's true. But yeah, so that's Westminster Hall and Burial Ground in Baltimore, Maryland.

[00:31:34]

Wow.

[00:31:36]

Yeah.

[00:31:46]

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[00:33:59]

All right, well, my cemetery is Bachelors Grove Cemetery. And according to many, honey, many.

[00:34:08]

Many.

[00:34:09]

You said. Many. Bachelors Grove Cemetery, which is in Illinois, is one of the most haunted locations in the world.

[00:34:16]

Oh, we love to see it.

[00:34:19]

In this world.

[00:34:21]

In our world.

[00:34:23]

Yeah, our universe, if you will.

[00:34:24]

We love to see a globally recognized haunt.

[00:34:28]

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.

[00:34:38]

Damn.

[00:34:39]

Yeah, long time ago. Altogether, there's about 80 graves on site, but... That scared the shit out of me. Oh my God. That was a crazy bark.

[00:34:47]

Either Sydney or Blanche was like, That's wrong.

[00:34:49]

She was like,.

[00:34:51]

She said, There's about 78.

[00:34:53]

She said, Don't you dare round up.

[00:34:56]

Don't you round up.

[00:34:57]

Tell them the truth. I don't know why I made your dog Southern.

[00:34:59]

They became Southern. It happens. Well, one of them is Blanche, you know? Deverot. Blanche Deverot, she's Southern belle.

[00:35:05]

I know. 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?

[00:35:17]

If you're- You're desecrating graves. Yeah.

[00:35:19]

If you're going to go visit this place, 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 silly fun. I don't know. So enter at your own risk. But only if you're there to be nice and respectful. If you're there to steal headstones, I don't know you and I don't like you.

[00:35:41]

And you know what? You're not listening to our podcast because our listeners are respectful.

[00:35:45]

Exactly. So turn this off if you're not.

[00:35:47]

Turn it off.

[00:35:48]

But anyway, the cemetery most likely gets its name from the Batchelder family who settled there around 1820.

[00:35:55]

So it's not the Bachelor Reality Show?

[00:35:57]

No. Okay. Well, now it 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 owns the property, there was a group of single men who moved to the area. That's funny. It was four or five single men.

[00:36:12]

They were like, Oh, my God, bachelor's gross.

[00:36:14]

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. She'll come back later, so remember that.

[00:36:29]

Oh, Emma forever. Sure.

[00:36:30]

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, I think it's the Midlothian Turnpike, it was rerouted, and Bachelor's Grove became an even more rural area than it once was. Okay. So the Turnpike used to... 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 really rural now. Creopy. Yeah. Now, since it was out of the way of all the hustle and bustle of the city, it was the perfect place for the '60s teens to get their Lovers Lane vibes on.

[00:37:10]

Oh, hell, yeah, it was.

[00:37:11]

Of course. And of course, for party animals, they could have their woods parties, they could get drunk and go crazy in the cemetery.

[00:37:18]

They could get lit.

[00:37:20]

Exactly. But unfortunately, that came along with a lot of vandalism, including grave digging.

[00:37:27]

Again, I say, get it together. Get it together. Get it together. I was not out here grave digging. No, I was a teen.

[00:37:36]

I was never, ever grave dug, and I never, ever will.

[00:37:38]

No. And you are a pretty reckless teen, and you weren't grave digging.

[00:37:40]

This is true. I partied in the woods, but we just partied in the woods. I didn't fuck anything up.

[00:37:46]

If you came across a grave, you left it be.

[00:37:48]

If I came across a grave, I'd probably leave, to be honest. I'd be like, Well, we shouldn't be here.

[00:37:52]

This is hallowed ground.

[00:37:54]

This is disrespectful. But this is not the only time this thing, this next thing that I'm going to talk about has happened. But in 1973, the Chicago Tribune reported that 17s were, quote, unquote, seized while they were in the middle of trying to dig up a grave.

[00:38:08]

What the fuck was the purpose? That's wily.

[00:38:11]

Well, they do tell us the purpose. The police said, The youths arrived Wednesday night, got out, and prepared to resume digging when the policemen announced themselves. The Youths told the police they were doing it as a lark, which is like a joke.

[00:38:24]

Just like a fun little joke.

[00:38:25]

They were doing it for lalls.

[00:38:27]

Yeah, just doing it for the plot.

[00:38:29]

That's super duper It's funny.

[00:38:30]

It's all for the plot. Kicking it with the boys.

[00:38:33]

Larking it up.

[00:38:34]

Yeah, just digging up dead bodies. Are you fucking kidding me, bro?

[00:38:37]

Who are you? Yeah, that's the thing. They got in trouble. I think most of them had to be bailed out and do some community service shit.

[00:38:45]

Why are you bailing them out?

[00:38:47]

Probably the parents.

[00:38:48]

Why don't them sit in there.

[00:38:49]

I would have. If that was my kid, I'd be like, You just dug up a grave. Why don't you think about your fucking life?

[00:38:52]

You just desecrated a grave. You think about your fucking life and I'll think about my choices as a parent. Say, Contemplate your shit. We'll do this separate.

[00:39:00]

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 knocking over headstones, stealing headstones. That's become such a frequent thing that there are so many graves that are just unmarked.

[00:39:16]

I hope that they are so fucking haunted.

[00:39:19]

Yeah, like those people.

[00:39:20]

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 or like vandalized I advise one in any way. I hope you have the the haunting you deserve. I agree.

[00:39:34]

Because just what are you getting out of that? Yeah. That's so fucking... Go to a rage room. Yeah. I just don't get it.

[00:39:40]

Take a walk. What the fuck are you doing?

[00:39:43]

Yeah.

[00:39:43]

Sit down. My teeth. Graves are so peaceful. Just take a walk. Yeah, I agree. Put some fucking headphones on and transport to another time and place. What are you doing? Knocking shit over.

[00:39:51]

I don't get it. No. But because the vandalism was ramping up, police presence definitely became a more frequent site. Yeah. But even as recently as 2009, there's been vandalism discovered with people literally spray painting the tombstones. Man. Like, get a life.

[00:40:07]

Yeah, truly.

[00:40:08]

But some people also say the cemetery became a very popular place with Satanic worshippers and even the mob.

[00:40:15]

Whoa. The mob makes an appearance.

[00:40:17]

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, to kill them mob-style, they just throw their bodies into the swamp. Yeah.

[00:40:30]

I mean, what else are you going to do?

[00:40:32]

Damn, that's crazy.

[00:40:32]

That's some mob shit right there.

[00:40:33]

That is some mob shit. And then as far as the Satanic worshiping goes, police say that they found chicken heads littering the ground and trigger warning, dead dogs on the property. That's fucked up. Which lends itself to Satanic worshiping rumors.

[00:40:48]

Lends itself to asshole behavior. I agree. Is what it does.

[00:40:52]

I agree. Yeah. One of the paranormal researchers that they had on the Ghost adventures episode because- Ghost adventures. There was a Ghost adventures researcher's 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 Satanic ritual going on because people were dressed in these black robes, standing around a fire and chanting things at the same time.

[00:41:17]

Damn. That's pretty scary. It's pretty Satanic. Could be. Fires and chanting. Robes. Robes. Togetherness.

[00:41:25]

Together.

[00:41:26]

Community. Vibes.

[00:41:28]

Spooky vibes. I'm like, that could have just been witches doing some cool shit.

[00:41:30]

Yeah, that could have just been some witches vibing. I agree. To be honest.

[00:41:35]

Well, one of the most famous ghost sightings, and my particular favorite ghost sighting in Bachelors Grove, is the Woman in White or the Madonna, as she's called.

[00:41:44]

I've seen this one, this picture. Oh, my God. In a few books. I want it. I was always fascinated by this picture.

[00:41:52]

It's so beautiful.

[00:41:54]

Yeah, I remember because I was one of those kids who would look at hunting books all the time, like obsessive We know that about you. And pictures, there's the brown ghost or something like that, which is like... And it's a photo of this specter coming down the stairway.

[00:42:11]

Oh, coming down the staircase, right?

[00:42:12]

And it's like the brown lady or something like that. I think she's supposed to be wearing a brown outfit or something, but it looks like a fucking terrifying ghost.

[00:42:21]

I know the one you're talking about.

[00:42:22]

I was so obsessed with that picture, but it fucked me up.

[00:42:25]

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. Fuck. Yeah. It was like somebody put something on the lens of the camera or something. No. And fucked with the negatives.

[00:42:39]

I'm going to look this up because I've been holding on to that for decades.

[00:42:43]

Oh, no. I'm sorry to have crushed your life.

[00:42:45]

Oh, no. But you know what? This picture you're about to talk about is another one that I remember just obsessively staring at this photo and just being like, is this fucking real? Because I just couldn't comprehend it.

[00:42:58]

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.

[00:43:20]

Honestly, I agree. It's a gorgeous photo. It's so... It's like melancholy. But whimsical. But beautiful and spooky. It's very, very beautiful. Yeah.

[00:43:31]

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, looking off into the distance, and parts of her are like, translucent. Yeah.

[00:43:42]

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.

[00:43:50]

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 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. Something super creepy but sweet is that people will now leave baby toys at that Infant Daughter gravesite. Oh, my God. Yeah. That's so scary. It seems that One of the first reports of the Madonna of Bachelors Grove came from a 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 Votre Fulton, and then Louella Fulton-Rogers, and they were sisters-in-law back in the 1930s. Okay. According to grunge. Com, the infant daughter marker could be the grave of Marsha May, who was Katherine's daughter.

[00:44:58]

Apparently, there was some turmoil in the family around the time that Marsha passed away, because obviously, she passed away when she was a baby.

[00:45:05]

Yeah.

[00:45:05]

And for whatever reason, Katherine's parents wouldn't allow their grandchild, a Fulton, to be buried on Voteland. So when Katherine 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 Marsha ended up being buried to check in on her daughter.

[00:45:27]

Oh, okay. I love that.

[00:45:29]

Yeah. Yeah. Now, others believe that the woman in white isn't actually Katherine, but her sister-in-law, Louella. Unfortunately, Louella 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. Because this happens so frequently, the stone wasn't handed back wasn't put back in the cemetery. Instead, it was handed over to Tindley Park Historical Society for safekeeping because they don't want people just to go back and steal it all over again. But those who believe that the woman in white as Louella 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.

[00:46:20]

Oh, my goodness. Yeah. That breaks my heart.

[00:46:23]

I know. I'm not sure which one I believe. I feel like either could fit.

[00:46:27]

It makes sense, both of them. Yeah.

[00:46:28]

And either way, it's Really fucking sad.

[00:46:30]

Yeah, because she seems just lost and very unsettled.

[00:46:34]

And they care for the baby a lot. And it's interesting that whoever the woman in white was was carrying a baby for some time, but now isn't.

[00:46:42]

That is really interesting. Yeah.

[00:46:44]

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.

[00:46:59]

What happens when a hacker uncovers hundreds of murder plots targeting people all over the world? Each of them posted on a hitman for higher site on the dark web, with their photos, habits, and intimate details all used against them. What happens when they learn that the threat is coming from the person closest to them? Or what is the psychological profile of a father who would murder his own son and wife all to hide a drug addiction and years of embezelment. How do we understand the actions of the most complex and twisted minds? From cases of serial killers, relationships turned dark, to manipulative scammers, preying on the insecurities of regular people. What WNDRI's Exhibit C is your partner in crime. Listen to the best of true crime by following Exhibit C on the WNDRI app wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to hit true crime shows like Kill List and Killer Psyche early and ad-free right now by joining WNDRI Plus.

[00:48:07]

It's also called the Magic House and the Fantom House.

[00:48:11]

All right, spill that shit because I'm in.

[00:48:13]

The Chicago Tribune wrote, The site also has a disappearing house. At night, people see an old one-story farm house. 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.

[00:48:33]

What?

[00:48:34]

So people all say, people really agree on 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.

[00:48:45]

What the fuck?

[00:48:47]

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 almost translucent. And then in every story, the house either shrinks the closer you get to it or it just completely disappears. Oh, my God.

[00:49:14]

I want to see this.

[00:49:16]

There's also no evidence that a house ever existed on the property.

[00:49:19]

No. No.

[00:49:20]

So like, hello?

[00:49:21]

No.

[00:49:22]

Hello?

[00:49:24]

That's bonkers. That one is crazy. Spectral house.

[00:49:29]

And the The other thing is that people will go and they'll experience that. 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. I love it. Isn't 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. Okay. According to research done by Peter, I think it's Krapia. 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 Hermansky back in 1970. Jack was out in the cemetery and he said he saw this blue light. He said as he watched it, the light, 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 cited also differ. Some people say they see it during the day, but other people say it only comes out on clear, very moonlit nights.

[00:50:36]

I love that.

[00:50:37]

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. It'll be leading the way, and then you'll lose track of it and you'll turn around. It'll be right behind you.

[00:50:58]

And you're like, What do you want?

[00:51:00]

What's up?

[00:51:01]

What's up light?

[00:51:01]

What are you trying to tell me?

[00:51:03]

What do you need?

[00:51:04]

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.

[00:51:14]

Yeah, I agree. I like the light. I don't want the light to be that rude.

[00:51:17]

I don't think it is.

[00:51:18]

Yeah.

[00:51:19]

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 moves and everything. It was spookey as fuck.

[00:51:33]

It was creepy. Yeah, that is spooky.

[00:51:35]

Now, one of the more rare reported sightings is the yellow man. Yellow Man.

[00:51:39]

Yellow Man.

[00:51:40]

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 Bacil, I think it is, saw the apparition and took a photo using a thousand-speed film. Norman Bacille 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 what got reported. But apparently that night, Norman and a group of paranormal researchers, including Dale Kasmarek, 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, okay.

[00:52:26]

Oh, shit.

[00:52:26]

But he was also camping with Norman, and they were all 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.

[00:52:56]

Fuck that.

[00:52:58]

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. She went here with these hopes of seeing the house, catching the lady in white. Nothing was happening. Yeah. And she was thinking, I'm going to pack up and head out of here soon. Nothing has happened. And that's when she saw the apparition.

[00:53:20]

Oh, shit. Yeah. So the apparition was like, All right.

[00:53:23]

You're going to leave. You're going to leave. I'm right here. 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 Jinkowski, was distracted and standing by one of the graves in the lot when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. At the time, she started to feel really dizzy and light-headed, she said, but obviously, she didn't want to miss the opportunity to photograph whatever this was. She whipped around to take the photo, and she realized that her 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 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.

[00:54:16]

That's weird. Yeah.

[00:54:18]

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 red lights, too. Okay. 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. Of course. So this is Lady's Tale. Hell, yeah. Lady says, Hey, 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, a lady.

[00:55:00]

Until now.

[00:55:02]

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 are 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 a half a mile long. The entrance to this trail has a chain across with a sign saying no trespassing.

[00:55:58]

So I'm assuming it's closed.

[00:56:00]

I was just going to say maybe that gives us a little tip.

[00:56:02]

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.

[00:56:33]

Oh, that's nice. It is.

[00:56:35]

From the first time I went there, I had a respect for the area. The graves were over 100 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 9:00 PM 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 loud and annoying. We got 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 just move.

[00:57:31]

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.

[00:57:36]

' I like that, a forethought.

[00:57:37]

Yeah, that's smart. As we went back and forth, the 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. 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 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. I feel like there's spirits in the animals looking out for this place. Now, second spooky. I love that. 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.

[00:58:33]

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 Bachelors Grove and take Rocky with us. I think the dog's name was Rocky, but it got messed up at the first part.

[00:58:47]

Oh, okay.

[00:58:48]

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 small talk. In hindsight, it's weird of people to do hiking banter when traspassing 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 flicked 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.

[00:59:43]

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.

[00:59:51]

So that was weird.

[00:59:52]

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.

[01:00:04]

Dawn.

[01:00:05]

So it's summer still, and we got there at about 5:30 AM, 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 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 light-headed. 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.

[01:00:59]

I I literally never went back after that day, and I never will. Holy shit. Which that had to be like such an intense feeling.

[01:01:07]

That had to be something, yeah.

[01:01:08]

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?

[01:01:19]

See, just what we were talking about.

[01:01:20]

As long as you're not tipping headstones. 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 walk around. After about 10 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 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 five, free, 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.

[01:02:15]

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.

[01:02:28]

Holy shit.

[01:02:29]

Interesting cemetery.

[01:02:31]

That cemetery sounds gnarly.

[01:02:33]

I want to go to there.

[01:02:35]

I want to go to there.

[01:02:36]

I want to go to there, and I want to see the Madonna, and I want to see the disappearing house. I really want to see the Madonna. I think we should go. Chicago is not even that far. Let's go. I have family in Chicago. You do. Hi, Tom and Greg.

[01:02:48]

There you go. Hi, Tom and Greg.

[01:02:50]

We love you. We do. They love you so much. I love them.

[01:02:52]

Love. There's so much love here. So I think we need to go.

[01:02:56]

I think we're going to go.

[01:02:57]

We need to see these freaking cemeteries. Cemetery.

[01:03:00]

Let's go see some cemeteries.

[01:03:02]

I want to see the Westminster Burying Grounds, but that's just in Maryland. That's not even that far.

[01:03:07]

Road trip. Cemetery. Bitch. Cemetery road trip. Cemetery road trip. Let's do it. Oh my God. Someday.

[01:03:14]

Someday. Wow. Someday it's just going to be bopping around the cemeteries.

[01:03:18]

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. Falee.

[01:03:31]

Find out what it means to cemeteries. Oh, my God.

[01:03:34]

That was great.

[01:03:36]

Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

[01:05:00]

If you like Morbid, you can listen early and ad-free right now by joining WNDYRI Plus in the WNDYRI app or on Apple podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery. Com/survey. Looking for a technology partner to help you reach your business goals? With cybersecurity solutions from Vodafone, your business can hack off the hackers. And with our collaboration tools like Microsoft 365, your business can bring the team together wherever they are, keeping your business secure and productive. Make technology work for you with solutions and support from Vodafone. Search your business can today.