Is This a Ghost?

There's no sugar-coating this one. It's a haunted doll. This is a haunted doll episode. It's about a super-scary doll that's super-super haunted. We don't know how else to say it. We're in haunted doll territory. You've been warned. This is the story of Robert the Doll. Come for the ghost, stay for the rebrand of bears, killing the head doll, the tricks grandpas play, bad parents making bad ghosts...

Look, I'll just say it: We're not experts in history, but we are experts in ghostology, and the hard truth is, Honest Abe is honestly a ghost. That may be hard for you to hear, because all the ghosts and all the seances and all the spirit photography somehow got scrubbed from the Daniel Day-Lewis flick, because Hollywood is run by lizard people, but listen. There is a ghost in the White House, and...

Deep in the forests of Bavaria lurks an evil presence that feeds on innocent children by luring them in with the promise of gingerbread and candy. This is not that story. It is really something quite different. This is the story of Wolfsegg Castle. Come for the ghosts, stay for the sexual potency of the Hammermuehle in Heitzenhofen, Patrick's secret for pronouncing German names, people in the 16th...

There are lots of laides who wear lots of colors, and Melanie Lanier was one of them. Known now as The Lady in Black, Melanie is part newlywed, part pirate, and all ghost; She also would have been a super-inspirational folkhero that we'd celebrate the heck out of if she hadn't been so squarely on the side of the Confederacy. Ah, well. This is the story of The Lady in Black of Georges Island. Come...

Don't get too excited. South Manitou is an island, yeah, but only in the literal sense. There's not a single palm tree, and honestly? It's no wonder everyone there is a ghost. This is the story of the many ghosts of South Manitou Island. Come for the ghosts, stay for Patrick’s cat’s fat, fat body, the disappearing nuisance of glaciers, the Han Solos of 19th century shipping routes, Death Race 2000...

Did you know Maine is more than just a hotbed of fictional horrors? We’re coming for you, Stephen King. The Pine Tree State is also home to at least one maybe-dead maybe-ghost, and we honor her today on Is This a Ghost? (The answer is…maybe?) This is the story of Mary Howe. Come for the ghost, stay for the Hippocratic Oath for gravediggers, the transcendentalism of Batman, the right temperature fo...

The best thing about Oklahoma is that ghosts don’t like it anymore than you do. Clayton had to plumb the depths of human experience to find a worthwhile ghost story from the The Sooner-Die-Than-Live-Here State, but with the hard work and grit that’s always been a hallmark of this podcast, he managed. Oh, also, you’ll learn this toward the end, but we’re an ESPN podcast now. This is the story of th...

It’s Halloweentime, and we wanted to give you a treat. Or I guess it’s really more of a trick. Well it’s a trick that’s sort of a treat, and it’s this: Patrick is dressing up as Clayton for this Halloween episode, and he’s the one telling the ghost story this time. That’s right, he’s gunning for the big chair, and all Clayton can say is, IF YOU COME AT THE KING, YOU BEST NOT MISS. This is the stor...

Sure, sex is great, but have you ever had the ghost of an airline pilot jump out at you from the overhead bin when you check on your luggage at 30,000 feet, midway to your uber-normie family vacation? It is transcendent. We will not be taking questions. This is the story of Flight 401. Come for the ghosts, stay for two double-dog-dare first-class priests, the Spanish-teacher sweatshirt monster, th...

With great wealth comes great responsibility, and we’re the first people in history to ever mean that. But like, what would you do if your family’s handiwork caused the misery of millions, and led Americans to win the American West, and made you so rich you could drive a brand new Hyundai into the river every single day for the rest of your life? You’d probably become a philanthropist, right? HAHA...

There’s a beautiful house in quasi-upstate Nyack, New York, where the views are stunning, the men are terrified, and the ghosts are legally protected, thanks to one haunted-heart judge who just loved Ivan Reitman. The Ackley house was the first legally haunted house in the United States, and you can literally hit Sleepy Hollow with a rock thrown from the house’s back porch, so you just know that’s...

Pack your bags, we’re going to Taiwan! The Liu mansion is a classic haunted house. And if it’s too scary for you, you can just chill in the ghost-themed diner next door while your big, brave friends get shot by Japense soldier-ghosts in the mansion. This is the story of the Haunted Liu Mansion. Come for the ghost, stay for the the spectral cock-blocks, the proper orientation for jumping down a wel...

Kansas has pretty solid corn, and oh man, such good cows. But did you know it also has…GHOSTS?! dramatic piano notes It’s true! One of those ghosts resides in the Sallie House, and honestly, that ghost does not like you if you have a Y chromosome. Which, like, we get. You know? This is the story of the Sallie House. Come for the ghost, stay for the Forest of Friendship, the ol’ Kansas re-fresh, th...

Yeah, you read that right. It’s time to talk about Bunghole Liquors, home to a handful of ghosts and, we assume, a pretty lucrative t-shirt racket. Some podcasts take you to Salem for the witches; we take you to Salem for the shadowy underside. This is the story of Bunghole Liquors. Come for the ghosts, stay for ghost cats, the absolute cartoonization of tragedy, and Patrick’s foolproof plan to te...

Join us for a jaunt over to merry olde England, to the quaint little town of Pentrefact-. Pontryfact. Pontefricht. Ponte—god, we’re never going to get it right. But there’s a ghost there, and a lot of people call him the most violent ghost that’s ever been documented, which seems like a lie, because it’s not like anyone died. OR DID THEY? Listen to find out! (They didn’t.) This is the Black Monk o...

There are many ghosts at the Myrtles Plantation in Louisiana, and we are legally obligated to tell you that this is one of them. Chloe had a bad life and a bad death, but at least the scene of her horrible murder is now a really swell B&B! Plus, she’s a shadow ghost now, so that’s gotta keep her life interesting. This is the story of Chloe. Come for the ghost, stay for “Misery Loves Ghostany,”...

Not all ghosts have a good reason to walk through your walls every night, but this one is definitely an exception. I don’t care who you are, if you find a dead ghost’s hand in your basement, you need to apologize and give that hand right back. Until then, you deserve every ounce of haunting you get, I don’t care if you are from Brooklyn. This is the One-Handed Ghost of Flatbush. Come for the ghost...

Sure, your house may have broadband and a pretty sweet ice maker, but does it scream? Probably not. But don’t worry, there’s a house out there that does scream so your house doesn’t have to. Behold! The Union Screaming House, a severely haunted house in Union, Missouri, about five miles from where Clayton grew up. And he’s fine! So you will be too. This is the Union Screaming House. Come for the g...

Ah, Memphis. Famous for its blues, its martialized ducks, and its escape-hatch-house gold-burying dead-haunts. You know the ones I mean. This week, we explore the strange history and the confounding truth of the ghost of the Hunt-Phelan house in Memphis, Tennessee. Come for the ghost, stay for the finer points of land surveyoring, stupid shit they did in the 1800s, the surprising mobility of yello...

Everyone knows America invented ghosts, but what you may not know is that Canada has one too! This week, we’re exploring our first international ghost, Bishop Charles Seghers of Vancouver Island, who set out to spread the Good Word, then somehow lost his face. It’s a real cautionary tale about evangelism. This is the story of The Skull-Faced Bishop. Come for the ghost, stay for the good golden lum...

It’s hard to focus on the ghost story when the main character’s name is Zona. It’s just such a cool name. Find a cooler name for a ghost than Zona, we dare you. Eeent, buzzer sound, wrong, you couldn’t. Anyway, her name was as cool as her death was garbage, so that’s the downside of this whole thing. We can’t say much more, because we don’t want to give it away. This is a true crime podcast, okay,...

Out on the coastal edge of the Carolinas, there is a gray, gloomy ghost who is either a deadly harbinger of doom or a really nice meteorologist. Come for the ghost; stay for storied marshes, Jimmy Deathmud, intimate horse love, and I don’t think horses can be ghosts.

Just try to think of a better name for a ghost than “the Bell Witch.” You can’t do it. Don’t even try. Forget what I said earlier, do not even try. The spirit that haunted John Bell and his family back in the early 1800s is a classic American ghost, absolutely chock-a-block with piss and vinegar. She also hangs out in a cave, which is pretty dope. Come for the terrifying tale of the witch; stay fo...

Sure, you’ve heard of hitchhikers, but have you heard of hitchhiker ghosts?! Oh, you have? Well, aren’t you something. Anyway, join us for a little jaunt up to Chicagoland for the story of Resurrection Mary, one of the most famous American hitchhiker ghosts on record. Come for the ghost, stay for the pre-polio lovin’, dumb suburb names, and, for some reason, butt injections. We’ll also finally ans...

Deep in the suburban land of Lululemon and labradoodles lies the lonesome and loathesome Zombie Road. Are there zombies there? No. Is it a road? Not really. Are there ghosts? Oh, my, yes. Join us, won’t you? As we go for a stroll down eastern Missouri’s most haunted road.