Castle of Spirits True Ghost Stories

They arise from the earth and take flight through dark skies. Incandescent enigmas that tumble and twirl like sentient beings made of light. Some stay awhile, mesmerizing witnesses into shocked gasps and mumbled curses. Others dart back out of existence as quickly as they appear, leaving their startled observers to wonder what it was they just saw. Although they vary in size and color and frequenc...

The Castle of Spirits library is chock full of true reader-submitted paranormal accounts spanning 25 years, and in this bonus podcast episode, the Ghostkeepers dip into that burbling cauldron to serve up three real-life encounters with the infamous luminary of urban folklore, Bloody Mary. In "My Sister's Slumber Party," a fun night of scary-story telling ends in the appearance of a...

Bloody Mary is a rite of passage for children throughout the world. It is a divination ritual best played in a darkened bathroom with a mirror, a candle, and a small group of friends that invariably ends in screams. Often attributed to such infamous historical luminaries as Queen Mary I, Mary Queen of Scots, and Elizabeth Bathory, she is known by a variety of monikers: Mary Worth, Mary Whales, Mar...

A woman in rural Texas is tormented by mysterious gnome-like creatures called Duendes. In New Zealand, a young man is haunted by the specter of an unwelcome visitor who takes up residence in his home. And podcast co-host Vince is awakened in the middle of the night by a phantom touch at the foot of the bed. Three paranormal stories, all true. Creepy things are afoot both in and out of the Castle,...

The phenomenon of the Top Hat Man—known also in popular culture as Hat Man, the Smiling Man, and the Grinning Man—is one that bears serious discussion and consideration for anyone interested in urban legends, cryptids, and all things paranormal. In episode 13 of the Castle of Spirits Podcast, ghostkeepers Vince and Jane dip their feet into the icy waters surrounding this fascinating figure of mode...

Why are hospitals so often the scenes of ghost sightings and paranormal activity? Can the phenomena be blamed on the spirits of those who died there? Or is there something more to it that paranormal researchers are overlooking? Tune in to Episode 12 of the Castle of Spirits Podcast to hear hosts Vince and Jane ruminate on emotional vortices, energetic epicenters, electromagnetic nexuses, time slip...

Listen to a first-person account of a real-life encounter with a Banshee in Dublin, Ireland—followed by the sighting of a roadside hooded ghost in Wales. Plus: Jane details her own experience witnessing an unearthly dancing light during a cemetery ghost hunt in the 90s, and high school students in Colombia become severely ill after playing with a Ouija board! Stories: Banshee Encounter (submitted...

Take a deep dive into the history, mystery, myths, and misconceptions of the Ouija board, and listen to numerous firsthand accounts from Castle of Spirits website visitors and podcast listeners. If you missed your chance to participate, you can still submit your feedback through the Lounge, or share your Ouija board experience for others to read! Stories: I Let Them In (2) (submitted by Bridgette,...

Tune in as ghostkeepers Vince and Jane pick two true terrifying tales from the Castle’s monstrous story archive—"The Watcher" and "Waketop Walkers"—then dive into discussion on the phenomenon of disembodied voices, ghost ships, oceanic specters, the Smurl family haunting, and phantom touch syndrome. Is that even a thing? And did a creepy ghost lady once try to pull Vince underw...

Does the ghost of Anne Boleyn really haunt the Tower of London? Are ghosts just fragments of the past forever stuck on loop, or is there a consciousness behind them? These are a few of the questions posed by Vince and Jane as they settle into the Castle Lounge for an evening of spooky fall banter, including: retribution ghosts, coast to coast wendigos, and Bigfoot. Also, the ghostkeepers present t...

Back in the early 80s, a series of unexplained incidents in a medical laboratory led to the discovery of a phenomenon called the Fear Frequency—an inaudible vibration that can cause people to sense and even see things that aren’t there. Is it possible that infrasound frequencies may be responsible for at least some reports of paranormal activity? Podcast hosts Vince and Jane ponder this and other...

Have you ever seen something you can’t explain? Something you might have glimpsed on the side of the road as you were driving by, or spied out of the corner of your eye on a dark and moonless night? In Episode 6 of the Castle of Spirits Podcast, Jane recalls her unexplained encounter with a Dover Demon-like creature, and the ghostkeepers read two true horrifying tales: The Farmhouse From Hell and...

Is it possible that the more you talk about the paranormal, the greater the chances are that you’ll begin to experience it? And what part does the phenomenon of frequency illusion play into our perception of what we label “paranormal”? Listen as ghostkeepers Vince and Jane explore true ghost stories and attempt to answer the unanswerable before veering into conversations about random phantom smell...

Where will you haunt when you die? And do you even have to be dead to be a ghost? Join ghostkeepers Vince and Jane as they contemplate the nature of ghosts and talk about all things paranormal. Also: padlocked vampire graves, crazy clapping ghost ladies, Ouija boards, doppelgangers, the paranormal friendship litmus test, and what we can learn about humanity from the graffiti discovered in ancient...

Castle of Spirits ghostkeepers Vince and Jane tackle a veritable smorgasbord of spook, sharing true ghost stories from the voluminous library archives and holding discourse on a potpourri of paranormal topics including hunched and skulking humanoids, haunted B&B’s, and a romantic first date at the Winchester Mystery House. Also, Jane talks about her past experiences lurking in graveyards in th...

Join intrepid ghostkeepers Vince and Jane as they wind their way through the castle to the library, where they rummage through the vast archives of 4,600+ reader-submitted ghost stories to bring you their favorites—ultimately leading to discussions of sundry spooky subjects including the ghosts of Alcatraz, late-night calls from beyond the grave, time slips, a possibly haunted brewery in Salt Lake...

In the inaugural episode of the Castle of Spirits podcast, we follow newly appointed ghostkeepers Vince and Jane as they brave cold drafts and navigate dimly lit corridors on the hunt for things that go bump in the night. Along the way, they stop by the castle library to read a few of their favorite true ghost stories, then slip into spine-chilling chats on weird cemetery encounters, the infamous...