History Goes Bump: Ghost Tours For The Mind

A region of California north of the San Francisco Bay Area is known as "Wine Country." Two of the counties within this area are Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley. This section of California is known for world-class wine and food and has a beautiful countryside that wine enthusiasts get to enjoy as they drive from tasting to tasting. There are hundreds of wineries between these two counties. One would...

Paranormal Conversations are random, off-the-cuff discussions on all things paranormal. On this 15th episode, we are joined by podcaster Shawn Grimm who hosts The Big Grimmbowski Podcast. Shawn has experienced what we call the Paranormal Trifecta: he's seen a cryptid, seen a UFO and experienced ghostly activity. The cryptid sounds like a very bizarre variation on Bigfoot. And one of the ghosts see...

St. Ignatius Hospital dates back to the 1890s and was started by a group of nuns from Montreal. For over seventy years it served as a healthcare facility and then reopened as an assisted living facility that shuttered in 2003. The building was left to decay for many years, but was taken under the wing of the Colfax Chamber of Commerce and the Whitman County Historical Society in 2015. Tours have b...

Rockwood Mansion is located off Marsh Road in Wilmington, Delaware. The Victorian mansion has stood for over 170 years. The 72-acre site has a park with gardens, paved trails, picnic areas, the mansion, carriage house and ghosts! This home is considered the most haunted house museum in the state of Delaware. Join us as we explore the history and hauntings of Rockwood Mansion! Music used in this ep...

The city of Vicksburg was indelibly marked by the Civil War. After it surrendered, rumors claimed that the Union pillaged the city. Many of the historic locations there have a spiritual residue because of that fact. One of these places is the Cedar Grove Inn. The inn was not only a residence, but it eventually served as a Civil War hospital and morgue and has had infant deaths and accidental shoot...

Paranormal Conversations are random, off-the-cuff discussions on all things paranormal. On this fourteenth episode, we are joined by our listener Brandy. She shares her paranormal experiences from when she was younger and now that she has started investigating. She's had some interesting and wild experiences! We talk about the Old Economy Village, Hillview Manor, a haunted cemetery, a cool sign fr...

Greeneville is part of what is referred to as the Tri-Cities in Tennessee. This is a region that comprises the bigger cities of Kingsport, Johnson City and Bristol and smaller towns in Northeast Tennessee. This is part of Appalachia, a place known for its legends and spirits. Two locations here add to that reputation: The General Morgan Inn and the Old Greene County Jail. Join us as we share the h...

Located in Glimmerglass State Park, Hyde Hall is a limestone regency era mansion that reminds visitors of a bygone era. The home is massive and would take nearly two decades to complete and the owner, George Clarke, died upon its completion. He now apparently haunts his former home. Join us for the history and hauntings of Hyde Hall! Music used in this episode:  Main Theme: Lurking in the Dark by...

The Smithsonian Institute is the world's largest museum and is located in Washington, D.C. There are dozens of museums that are a part of the Smithsonian and together they showcase the history and culture of America and the world. And this is also the world's foremost research center. Priceless art, collections featuring memorabilia, fossils, animals, ancient Chinese bronzes, stamps, flags, poster...

Paranormal Conversations are random, off-the-cuff discussions on all things paranormal. On this thirteenth episode, we are joined by paranormal investigator and writer Gina Black. She has been published by Paranormality Magazine and hosts her own blog, She Haunts Official. Her Instagram and TikTok are awesome and can be found under @shehaunts. Join us as we delve into experiences that she has had,...

Joan Crawford was an icon of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Her dramatic looks and stunning ability to take on any character, made her a highly sought after actress. The actress' reputation was marred though after her death when one of her adoptive daughters wrote a scathing memoir that became a movie depicting Crawford as a horrible mother who was mentally unstable and abusive. On this episode, we...

There is a deep and rich history to Edinburgh Castle in Scotland. Over thousands of years, the castle has served as a fortress, a royal residence and a prison. The castle still serves military purposes, but is open as a museum and tourist attraction today. There are many ghost tales connected to the castle, including spectral dogs, musical apparitions and the spirits of prisoners of war. Join us a...

Cleveland's Franklin Castle is not really a castle, but is actually a glorious Victorian mansion named for the street upon which it sits. The former Tiedemann residence is cloaked in rumors and innuendo that has lead to it famously being known as "The Most Haunted House in Ohio." Many people have passed through the doors here from bankers to smugglers to members of the German socialist party, medi...

Paranormal Conversations are random, off-the-cuff discussions on all things paranormal. On this twelfth episode, we are joined by paranormal investigator and author Sylvia Shults. She has been working in the paranormal field for several decades and has authored a number of books including "44 Years in Darkness," "Fractured Spirits," "Grave Deeds and Dead Plots," "Hunting Demons" and her latest boo...

Like so many countries in Europe, Poland has been witness to centuries of history from medieval times, through World Wars, communism, democracy and its utter erasure from existence. Overseers to much of this history in Poland have been castles. Many of them have ghost stories attached to them. But it's not just the castles. Churches and landmarks also have their legends. Join us as we talk about t...

The Golden Lamb Inn is the state of Ohio's oldest hotel. The hotel has been the gathering place for residents of Lebanon for over 200 years. Through the years, it has changed ownership and names and hosted a variety of presidents and famous people. But the one constant has been the symbol for which it is named: the Golden Lamb. The deep history of this inn includes a connection to war, stage coach...

Cemeteries are always fun to visit and when they have ghost stories connected to them, it's even better. On this Haunted Cemeteries episode, we feature cemeteries in Alabama, Ohio, Texas and Nebraska. As taphophiles, we also treasure the unique and odd that can be found in cemeteries and we are going to share some of that here too, as well as a very solemn cemetery for infants. And who doesn't wan...

Asheville is a smaller city in North Carolina where I had the pleasure of experiencing one of my favorite ghost tours. While on that tour, I heard about a mass shooting involving a man named Will Harris. This happened many years ago and the violence and the residue of that event seems to have left an energy that still traverses the same area where the crimes took place to this day. Join me as we e...

Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst in Trenton, New Jersey is a very unique military base in that it is the only tri-service base in the United States Department of Defense. All six armed forces branches have units stationed there. The name is derived from the United States Air Force's McGuire Air Force Base, the United States Army's Fort Dix and the United States Navy's Naval Air Engineering Station...

Most of us as kids were raised with the warning that you better be good, for goodness sake, or you would end up on Santa's naughty list and thus receive coal in your stocking. But as we trace back the various traditions associated with the holiday season, we come upon a character that has been around longer than good old St. Nick and the warnings that came with him, were far more dire. On this red...

Cleveland sits on the opposite side of Lake Erie from Canada. While this proximity is not worrisome to us today, there was a time when Cleveland was worried that Canadians might invade their city. They needed a military group for protection and so they formed one. This group eventually was known as the Cleveland Grays and they built an armory that is today a museum. A haunted one apparently. Join...

Is there a curse on the Palmyra Atoll and did it have anything to do with the murder of Muff and Mac Graham? There are some weird supernatural connections to this true crime. This is a tragic tale about a couple who were just out enjoying their dream and met a terrible end. Intro and Outro music: Bad Players - Licensed under a non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-assignable, single-site, worldwide...

The White Hart Stag was once the personal badge of the king, and businesses and people would display it to show their allegiance. Today, there are still dozens of inns in the United Kingdom that bear the name White Hart. Each of them is unique, but all are very historic having stood for over hundreds of years. Many of them are reputedly haunted. Join us as we venture around the United Kingdom and...

Tombstone calls itself "The West's Most Famous Town" and it really is just that. This town was the epitome of the Wild West with gunfights, raucous saloons, gambling, brothels, mining and lots of death. The town is a tourist attraction today with many locations claiming to be haunted. Join us as we explore the history and hauntings of Tombstone! Music used in this episode:  Main Theme: Lurking in...

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! Here is a peek into our bonus material over at Patreon. There is probably nothing more terrifying than a ghost without a face. In Japan, anything that is paranormal or supernatural is called Yokai. One of these Yokai is a Noppera-Bo, which is a faceless ghost. Another name for these apparitions is gesichtslosgeist. These are entities who have no identity. The...