Episode 011: Hauntings Pt. II

Hauntings Pt. 2 This episode of The Morticians Daughter is brought to you by The Raven’s Wing Magical Co. We all could use a little extra positive energy. In our homes and in the world. The Raven’s Wing can send some good energy right to your home with their online ordering options. Through their online store you can find handmade body products to pamper yourself like the divine being you are, wearable crystals and stones to add beauty and intention to everyday, herb bundles, burnables, washes, and waters that help to purify and eliminate negativity, and a whole lot more. We help make the world more magical at The Raven’s Wing, available online, or at our stores in Portland and Oakland. Find us at theravenswing.com. -- Hello again, my mortal treasures, I hope you’re ready for more tales of untimely ends and ghostly remnants because we’re about to embark on Part Two of Hauntings. But, before we dive in, I would like to take a moment to ask you all to like and follow The Mortician’s Daughter online. You can find us on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, and Stitcher. Not to mention on social media. I’m on Facebook and Twitter at deathgrrrl. Now that’s grrrl with no i and four rrrr’s so put the grrr in grrrrl. You can find us on instagram at deathgrrrlpod. I certainly appreciate the love because I love you. Now, where were we? Oh, yes, ghosts. Back in Episode 7 we first touched upon the subject of Hauntings in the United States. It’s always fun to circle back, especially this time of year, because, if you think about it, if you could prove ghosts exist you could prove some sort of otherness is out there, be it after life, overlapping dimensions, remnant consciousness, who even knows? Whatever the case may be, ghost stories have always been a point of human fascination. Well, I’m excited. Let’s dive right in. So last time we talked about homes and mansions and hotels and even a mystery house where spooky specters have been reported, but what about an entire haunted town? Well, the historic town of Avilla, Missouri, located right off of Route 66, is home to a number of Shadow Folk and the Avilla Death Tree. [1] Now, let’s break this down. First, we have to talk about the Shadow folk, or shadow people. Maybe you’ve seen one yourself. These shadow figures can sometimes be seen just out of the corner of your eye. Or maybe moving unexpectedly amid the familiar shadows of your room upon waking. Some say the shadow people are ghosts, others claim they are echoes from an alternate universe, some call them “shades from the underworld” while Heidi Holli, who published a book on shadow people, "believes the figures to be negative, alien beings that can be repelled by various means, including invoking "the Name of Jesus"." [2] Anyway, Avilla, Missouri has a real problem with Shadow folk. They have been seen wandering the old, abandoned parts of town, empty houses, and even passing by windows. [3] But the creepiest thing about Avilla goes all the way back to this country’s Civil War. During the war between the states, Missouri was a border state, and its loyalties were divided. Avilla itself was predominantly a Union town and organized a militia to protect itself from Confederate bushwackers who would conduct violent raids while the young men were off fighting in the war. Now, as a reminder, this was back during the civil war so some militias protected against violent racists unlike a lot of the militias we’re seeing in the news these days which are comprised of violent racists. Anyway… During one such raid, a band of Confederates attacked the home of Dr. Jaquillian M. Stemmons, a staunch supporter of the Union and organizer of the Avilla Home Guard. The Home Guard did an impressive job of holding off the hundred Confederate fighters, but eventually they got close enough to set the house on fire and Dr. Stemmons was killed along with other prominent men of the village. [4] Rather than disbanding the Home Guard after this disastrous blow, this event served only to strengthen the town’s resolve to defend itself from the Confederacy and fight the succession. The town’s militia regularly patrolled, later joined by actual Union soldiers, to prevent small bands of Confederate soldiers and bushwackers from conducting guerrilla raids on town. The Home Guard even tracked down bushwackers and killed them after they thought they had put a safe distance between themselves and the town which earned Avilla a reputation for their “pioneer marksmen.” One dead and unnamed rebel bushwacker was found with a bullet hole in his head, decomposing just outside of town so the militiamen decided to hang his skull from a tree as a warning to other would-be raiders. [4] And that’s what brings us to the Death Tree of Avilla. The tree where the skull was hung is said to be an apple tree that no longer bears fruit. Crows can be found perched upon its rotting branches. Supposedly. And I say supposedly because no one actually knows exactly where this tree is located. But the unknown Confederate who was denied a proper burial so his skull could serve as a warning to others is sometimes called the “Avilla Phantom Bushwacker” or “Rotten Johnny Reb” and folx say his headless body can be found wandering the woods near Avilla looking for that skull or more Yankees to kill. [3][5] In addition to haunted towns, there are also quite a few haunted churches in the United States. The most famous perhaps being Adams Grove Presbyterian Church, a Greek Revival-style church built in rural Alabama back in 1853 right alongside a cemetery. [6] The last congregation was held inside the building back in 1974 and the church is currently privately held but was listed on the National Register of Historic Places back in 1986 and remains there today. [7] Visitors claimed to see a confederate soldier warning off trespassers at the graveyard and the church’s former minister can be seen inside through the windows of the abandoned church just before a thunderstorm. And, “Several people have reported seeing a shadowy man with fiery red eyes in both the church and the cemetery”. [7] That might keep me from trespassing. Maybe a church attached to a cemetery seems like a rather obvious place for a haunting, but what about a road? I guess when you consider that 1.25 million people a year die in car accidents and you have to think that most of those are tragic and unexpected, two common pre-qualifiers for trapping ghosts in this world, maybe it’s not so weird to think about a haunted road. A roughly ten mile stretch of Clinton Road in West Milford, New Jersey has led to all sorts of tales of ghostly apparitions from travelers. And in this ten miles you can find an abandoned iron works, a stone bridge haunted by the ghost of a drowned boy, and something called “dead man’s curve”. [8] According to Wikipedia, Clinton Road has been a place for gatherings of “witches, Satanists, and the Ku Klux Klan.” Although, I should add, those three things definitely shouldn’t be grouped together like that. But, all that aside, even mafia hitmen have been known to dispose of bodies in the woods surrounding this 10 mile stretch of New Jersey’s Clinton Road. [9] I think it should also be noted that lots of towns across the country, and perhaps around the world, might know of a stretch of road the locals called “dead man’s curve” because, as mentioned, driving can be dangerous and there’s nothing quite like a blind curve, a moonless night, and a desolate stretch of road to lead to travelers to their doom. Okay, so we’ve covered towns, roads, trees, and churches. For our next stop, let’s head to the ski town of Aspen, Colorado where Pioneer Park, also known as the Henry Webber House, can be found on West Bleeker Street. The man responsible for the house's construction, Henry Webber, was a shoe merchant who grew wealthy off of mining investments during Colorado's silver boom, but his life turned to tragedy. [12] And, some would argue, it was a bit of karmic retribution. [10] You see, Henry Webber’s wife, Harriet, died under questionable circumstances of an overdose of strychnine, which was used at the time to calm the nerves. Her last words, “Henry will know,” left the town speculating that he had a hand in her demise either directly or indirectly when she learned of her husband’s affair with her own niece, Julia. In fact, in the weeks following her death, Webber cast aside proprietary and married his dead’s wife’s niece. [11] The Webbers did not exactly get to enjoy a long and happy life together once Harriet was out of the way. In their home at Pioneer Park, doors and windows would slam and they often heard footsteps and other strange sounds. The couple said they felt a strange presence in the house and “There was also an overwhelming feeling of sadness in certain places,” that was often attributed to the first Mrs. Webber. And the second Mrs. Webber started to show signs of madness herself. When the home was sold after Henry Webber died in 1911, the new owners reported similar unexplained phenomenon. And then the new owners after them. [10] I hope the current residents are enjoying a bit of reprieve from all those spooky happenings. Let’s head to another spot in Colorado: The Stanley Hotel built by Freelan Oscar Stanley of Stanley Steamer and opened on the 4th of July in 1909. Is it built by Stanley or for Stanley? I mean, he’s the one who commissioned its construction but he probably didn’t build it. So built for or by? I’m losing focus here. Okay. Stanley Hotel. Built byfor Freelan Oscar Stanley of the Stanley Steamer Company and opened on the 4th of July in 1909. It is by and large agreed upon that this is one of the spookiest hotels to stay at, depending on what room you pick, but the arguments behind this spookiness vary. So, for those not yet acquainted, the Stanley Hotel is the inspiration for The Shining by Stephen King. The story goes, back in 1974, King and his wife decided to make a quick getaway to the hotel just as it was getting ready to close for the winter season. The guests had gone and only a skeletal crew remained to close up but they let them stay for the weekend. As the only paying guests, they were given Room 217, the Presidential Suite. The mythology of Stephen King tells us he had a nightmare in that room about his son being chased down the corridor of the hotel. He woke up in a panic and went outside to smoke a cigarette. It was then that he began to weave the web of The Shining. Of course, in the novel, The Stanley Hotel is called The Overlook Hotel but King has been quick to make the attribution in interviews. Now, whether or not The Stanley Hotel inspired an eerie sensation in visitors before the notoriety of the book and movie came to pass remains in question, but there are now several ghost stories circulating about the hotel. [14] Thankfully, none involve little girls or twins. After, F.O. Stanley's death in 1940, some say his apparition's appeared to guests at the reception desk. His wife Flora, a pianist, hasn’t been seen, but some at the hotel have reported hearing the tinkling of piano keys. [13] I’m just hoping that’s Flora’s ghostly twist on the old adage “Women should be seen and not heard.” There’s also a chambermaid named Elizabeth Wilson also purportedly lurks about the hotel in ghostly form. She enjoys hovering, walking through closed doors, and wedging her cold, non-corporeal body between unmarried cohabitants of the same bed during the night. She dislikes vacuum cleaners and loose morals and has antiquated standards. I should mention that while it seems to be true that a Ms. Elizabeth Wilson worked for The Stanley Hotel while she was alive, she did die in her own home and not on the grounds. But maybe her spirit got up and went to work the next day. The ghost of Elizabeth Wilson seems to be partial to Room 217 - the same room King stayed in. I should also mention that Room 217 exploded in the 1920s due to a gas leak. No one died in this explosion that took out the room, but Wilson was supposedly injured during this incident, recovered from her injury, and then returned to work. Anyway, stories are weird. The truth gets muddled with the fiction and it’s hard to tell where one begins and the other ends. Of course, the legacy of The Shining overshadows all and it’s hard not to suspect there is some bleedover. Then again, maybe it was the ghosts that put those nightmares in Stephen King’s head all those years ago. Visitors to The Stanley over the decades have claimed all sorts of strange occurrences from creepy laughter and flickering lights to mysteriously moving objects and more. You better book out if you want a chance at staying in Room 217, however. Although, it should be noted, most of the real ghost activity is said to take place on the fourth floor so if you’re visiting in hopes of a supernatural experience and it’s not just a Stephen King or Stanley Kubrick thing, book a room on the fourth floor. If you’re brave enough, that is. According to Stephanie Earls of Out There Colorado, "Overnight visitors opting for the “Ghost Adventure Package” are assigned a room on the infamous fourth floor, a pocket-sized electromagnetic field reader and other ghostly graft, including a mug bearing the chilling message “REDRUM” – murder spelled backward – that King’s novel contributed to the cultural lexicon." I don’t know about you, but the commemorative coffee mug makes the experience seem less scary. Well, that’s our time today and I promised to be brief after I inundated you with some very important information in our last episode. I hope you all took some time to ruminate on your final wishes. Until next time, I’ll be reveling in cooler days and longer nights as we move through Autumn toward Winter and I suggest you do the same. There’s a metaphor in nature. Or something. Thanks for listening. This episode was written and narrated by me, Carly Schorman. For those interested, you can find links to my other work, including my forthcoming novel, on my website: The Malady of Language. Com. Thank you to Mark Anderson and YabYum Music and Arts for producing this show. And thank you to our sponsor, The Raven’s Wing Magical Co, for sponsoring this episode. Until next time, my devilish darlings, stay safe and be courteous in this cruel world. --- [1] https://www.hauntedplaces.org/item/avilla-missouri/ [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_person [3] https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/missouri/avilla-mo/ [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avilla,_Missouri#Legends_and_folklore [5] https://the-fearcollective-blog.tumblr.com/post/41745255356/the-shadow-people-of-avilla-mo-and-the-legend-of [6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adams_Grove_Presbyterian_Church [7] https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/alabama/haunting-history-church-al/ [8] https://www.nydailynews.com/autos/creepy-cursed-curvy-new-jersey-clinton-road-frightening-road-america-article-1.1803331 [9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_Road_(New_Jersey) [10] https://www.werewoofs.com/ghost-stories/wasted-wealth-henry-webber-house/ [11] https://www.aspentimes.com/news/people-of-the-times-9/ [12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_Park_(Aspen,_Colorado) [13] https://www.outtherecolorado.com/features/the-spooky-story-behind-colorado-s-haunted-stanley-hotel/article_4d27194e-cbf6-51f5-abb3-8011e33f66b3.html [14] https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/national/the-stanley-hotels-haunted-reputation-and-how-it-inspired-the-shining