Southern Ghost Stories

From the rhythmic hum of a Welsh hymn that accidentally named a city to the oxblood leather "Death Couch" where a Vice President still lingers, Bangor, Maine, is a place where history refuses to stay buried. Join us as we explore the uncanny intersections of the "Queen City's" past, uncovering the chilling 100-year bureaucratic odyssey of Sarah Ware’s remains and the spectral statesmen who haunt i...

In this episode, we’re heading into the backwoods of the Upper Cumberland to talk about an infamous Confederate guerilla fighter, Champ Ferguson. While high-profile rebel calvarymen like Nathan Bedford Forrest and John Hunt Morgan were out leading grand cavalry charges, Champ was fighting a much dirtier, much more personal kind of war in the mountains. He wasn't a general in a plumed hat; he was a...

Today we are diving into the darkness of New York City to prove that real-life monsters are far scarier than anything you’ll see on a movie screen. We’re revisiting the summer of 1981, when New Yorkers realized that while they were lining up for Friday the 13th, a very real "Lower Manhattan Slasher" was stalking the subways and parks with a razor. From there, we cross the water to Staten Island to...

From the gruesome shoes of "Big Nose" George Parrott to the arsenic-laced hospitality of Polly Bartlett and the tragic, rising tides of the submerged town of Kane, Wyoming’s history is written in blood and bone. This isn't the postcard-perfect West; it’s a journey into the "truth over what you want to hear," where outlaws are made into footwear, serial killers become folk legends, and the ghosts o...

 In this episode, we explore some of the darkest corners of Salt Lake City’s history, beginning with the spectacular downfall of Territorial Governor John W. Dawson, whose flight from a scandalous assault led to the exposure of Jean Baptiste, Utah’s most prolific and macabre grave robber. We follow the trail of the "shroud thief" to his medieval branding and exile on a lonely desert island, before...

 Beyond the salty air and the shifting sands of the Carolina coast lies a history written in blood, silence, and unexplained phenomena. This episode deconstructs three of the region’s most enduring enigmas through the lens of objective fact and forensic evidence. We begin in 1901 at the Cropsey home, where a young lady vanished from her porch, only to reappear five weeks later in the Pasquotank Ri...

 In this episode, we venture deep into the jagged peaks and shadowed hollows of North Carolina to uncover the state’s most enduring supernatural mysteries, from the scientifically defiant Brown Mountain Lights to the sterile, cursed soil of the Devil’s Tramping Ground. We pivot from geological anomalies to the chilling world of Appalachian folklore, tracing the dark legacies of mountain "queens" l...

 In this episode we are exploring the chilling intersection of history and folklore across the humid hollows of Tennessee and Alabama. From the "White Thang"—a screaming, pale anomaly that mimics the cries of a baby—to the suffocating nighttime embrace of Abbeville’s "Huggin' Molly," the podcast investigates the regional boogeymen that haunt the Southern landscape. Whether it’s a man-eating serpen...

In this episode, we kick things off with a debate: What is truly the most haunted place in Kentucky? Is it Octagon Hall in Franklin, or Waverly Hills in Louisville? From there, we leave the South for the frozen volcanic rock of Iceland to uncover the real history of the holidays. Forget Santa—meet the 13 Yule Lads, a band of criminal trolls who descend from the mountains to harass households along...

Buckle up  as the American Hauntstorian, Allen Sircy steers you through the hazy intersection of documented tragedy and enduring folklore. From the backseat of a baby blue Cadillac carrying a dying country legend through a blizzard to the frozen "Death Alley" of a fireproof theater in Chicago that became a tomb for six hundred souls, this podcast peels back the layers of history to find the cold,...

The holidays are upon us! I'm taking the day off but I wanted to upload a "Best Of" show featuring some fun and eerie moments from the ghosts of Sumner County show from back in the summer. Some of my favorite haunted places- Monthaven, Cragfont and the old Hendersonville Methodist Cemetery are in this episode. I hope you enjoy it. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Be sure to like, subscribe and...

 Trade the cozy warmth of the fireplace for the chilling reality of two of the South’s darkest Christmas mysteries in this double-feature episode. First, we investigate the baffling 1945 disappearance of the Sodder Children, who vanished from a burning home on Christmas Eve without leaving a single bone behind, sparking decades of Mafia theories and phantom sightings. Then, we uncover the grim pre...

Trade in your candy canes for birch branches as we explore the terrifying global origins of holiday folklore that prove Santa Claus is the exception, not the rule. From the skin-peeling Namahage of Japan and the child-hunting Nalujuit of the frozen North to the suffocating Christmas witches of France and the original bad cop, Krampus, this episode uncovers the monsters that haunt the Twelve Days o...

Move over, Krampus—this episode uncovers the true nightmares of the Yuletide season, taking you on a global tour of the gruesome, the ghostly, and the grotesque. From the visceral horror of France’s Père Fouettard—the butcher who pickled children in barrels—to Austria’s belly-slitting Frau Perchta and the rap-battling skeletal horse of Wales, we explore the dark folklore that transforms the holida...

This episode focuses on Dr. Jules Wallace, arguably one of the most controversial and successful mediums in American history, who perfected the blend of showmanship, psychology, and trickery that defined the Spiritualist craze of the late 19th century. Arriving in St. Louis in 1893, Wallace quickly became a national sensation by staging elaborate séances and "materializations"—where he would osten...

This show highlights Houston's most disturbing true crime and supernatural legends, beginning with the Rice Hotel,  famous as the last resting spot of President Kennedy and now known for the unsettling apparitions of spectral dancers haunting its grand ballroom. The episode also details the gentle, musical haunting of the Julia Ideson Library by its late caretaker and his dog, contrasting it with...

This episode explores the chilling history of Madison, Wisconsin, focusing first on the Capital City Killings—a series of unsolved, brutal murders of seven young women spanning from 1968 to 1982 in the UW-Madison and surrounding Dane County areas. The second half pivots to the supernatural history of the UW campus, describing documented hauntings like the discovery of body parts in Science Hall, t...

Albany, New York, is a city layered with history and secrets, where the past still echoes in its grandest buildings. This episode explores three of its most compelling and eerie legends: the tragic, unsolved 1922 mystery of the Parcella Post Baby, a newborn delivered to an undertaker via U.S. Parcel Post. We then delve into the heart of state power at the Capitol, uncovering the hidden Devil's Fac...

In 1692, they called her the Queen of Hell. This is the story of Martha Carrier, the fierce and unyielding center of the Salem witch hysteria's spread into Andover. While others confessed under duress, Martha stood defiant, even when her own children were tortured for testimony. Driven by political fear attached to her mysterious, legendary husband, Thomas Carrier, and condemned by authorities lik...

After a wild October, I'm getting back into the swing of things and digging into some listener questions. From a Boston witch trial, to ghost stories at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, I'm all over the place. Also, I dive into the story of Jim Clinstock, a professional wrestler who was found dying in the floor of a Charlotte, North Carolina dentist office in the 1940s. I also dig into t...

Allen and Lee are back and this time we are covering Opryland, the beloved theme park in Nashville that was torn down in the 1990s. The property started out as a Native American village in the 14th century before becoming a plantation and then a theme park. Also,  we talk about a tour bus where a country music legend is still kicking around. Lots of fun this week!  And, yes, that is me on the cove...

There were a few hiccups with the audio but we had a really fun live show at the Palace Theater in Gallatin, Tennessee. I got to talk about some really fun Middle Tennessee hauntings with my friend and renowned paranormal investigator, Chinelle Gwartney. From Trousdale Place to Monthaven, there are so many wild ghost stories in the area! Be sure to like, subscribe and leave a review! Check out All...

I had so much talking grave robbing last week I figured I'd spend some more time talking about some notable grave robbers like William Jansen, Harvey Kendall, Charley Keaton and my favorite grave robber- "Old Man Dead" William Cunningham! The shenanigans are through the roof as these daring resurrection men plunder the burying grounds in Cincinnati, Syracuse, Baltimore and Washington D.C. Be sure...

Allen is back talking about one of the most bizarre grave robbing tales in American history- The Harrison Horror! This story rocked the country as ghouls raided the family burying ground of President William Henry Harrison. Just when you think have the answers, the grave robbers changes the question! All of this plus some other grave robbing stories featuring the remains of Presidents Abraham Linc...

It's October so why not drop a bonus episode! I've been teasing my new book, Hexed, but I haven't really had much time to talk about it. Basically, it's one of the wildest voodoo stories I've ever found. It really got me thinking about voodoo and some of the strange stories I've researched over the years so I decided to drop a bonus episode to talk about some of the weirdest and wildest voodoo sto...