Ope, A Ghost

Everyone is just dying to get in, or so the old joke goes, but these ghosts refuse to leave the cemetery. Join us as we stroll among the tombstones at two very haunted cemeteries. First, we’ll visit the burial place of Edgar Allan Poe at the Westminster Burying Ground where the ghosts range from Poe himself to the apparitions of grave robbers. Next, we’ll travel to Hollywood and visit the Hollywoo...

Sometimes, two things go together so well they’ve come to epitomize togetherness. Peanut butter and jelly or Bonnie and Clyde come to mind, but this isn’t one of those times. In this episode, we look at two completely unrelated locations. The only thing they have in common is they are both haunted. First, we’ll visit Union Station in Kansas City. Missouri. Union Station was the site of a mob rescu...

I hope you have your water bottle for this one because we’re going on a hike. But not just any old hike, we’re going on a haunted hike! Strap on your hiking boots and let’s hit the trails of one of the most haunted forests in Northern Ireland: The Ballyboley Forest. From there, we’ll travel thirty minutes north to Slieveanorra Forest, home of the mysterious gruagach. Next, dust off your trekking p...

Welcome to another Ope, A Ghost Book Club Minisode. Today we look at one of our favorites. Richard Estep is an author, paranormal investigator, and television personality. You may have seen him on Haunted Hospitals, Paranormal 911, or Destination Fear. Estep has written more than thirty books, but today we want to look at The Great American Ghost Trip (2021). In this whirlwind expedition from Colo...

The Conjuring Movie vs. Reality In 2013, moviegoers were engrossed with The Conjuring . The film would become the first of three in the Conjuring series—so far. Based on the true story of the Perron family, the story is pulled from the case files of famed paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. According to Andrea Parron, parts of the real story were left on the cutting room floor because...

The Devil seems to come in two shades: the biblical antagonist and the one we see in films, hellbent (if you’ll pardon the pun) on possessing mankind. In this episode we investigate demonic possession and the rite of exorcism. Join us as we travel to Northern Ireland to explore the case of a women who suffered fifteen years of torment until Canon Rev. William H. Lendrum exorcised her home. Then, w...

Abandoned places can sometimes give off a spooky vibe thanks to empty hallways and large open spaces once filled with activity but are now eerily quiet. Imagine if those same spooky spaces were also haunted. Join us on this episode as we visit two such places. The first is the once abandoned houses that make up Heritage Square, a museum to the architecture of Southern California from 1850-1950. Ma...

Once again, we pack up the Ope, A Ghost van and head out on the road. This time, we’re headed to Eugene, Oregon. Located an hour from the coast and at the base of the Cascades, Eugene is chock full of haunted locations including cemeteries, theaters, parks, and haunted houses. Today we’ll explore the haunted South Eugene High School where a student fell to his death but his ghost lingers. Next, we...

Welcome to another Book Club Minisode! Today we discuss Steve Gonsalves’s A Life With Ghosts: True, Terrifying, and Insightful Tales From My Favorite Haunts . Gonsalves is most recognizable to fans from his work on the Travel Channel show Ghost Hunters . In A Life With Ghosts , Gonsalves shares some of his favorite large-scale investigations and personal experiences after investigating over 1000 l...

In light of the UFO footage recently released by the government, we couldn’t possibly not do an episode on UFOs and aliens, so here it is. Out first story is about what has come to be known as the Averly Abduction. In 1974, an English family driving home after visiting a relative saw a strange light in the sky and soon found themselves driving through a green mist. Upon arriving home, they realize...

Welcome to our first Christmas Mini! As you might have guessed, what better way to celebrate the holiday than to discuss Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. First published in 1843, A Christmas Carol has mostly remained in publication ever since. Dickens is known as the “Father of the Modern Christmas” because before the book came out, things like caroling and decorating trees were not popular. Di...

Libraries are some of the greatest places in the world. Where else can you check out books or DVDs and listen to story time? Some let you borrow things like basic tools or a telescope. Mine has a café and will loan you a fishing pole. Still, most libraries have thing you can’t take home like reference books or ghosts. Wait . . . did I just say ghosts? You bet I did—it’s a paranormal podcast after...

In the fall of 1967, the skies over Point Pleasant West Virginia were filled with strange lights and winged creatures with hypnotic glowing red eyes. The tall, grey man with wings would come to be known as Mothman. Though sightings go back long before the Point Pleasant story, recent sightings in Chicago, Indiana, and Michigan began in 2011. Could the Mothman’s presence be a portent of impending d...

Welcome to an Ope, A Ghost Book Club mini episode. In our second foray into fiction, we read Darcy Coates’s The Carrow Haunt (2018). Meet Remy, a period-dress tour guide of the historic and haunted Carrow House. Remy accepts a position as historian on a paranormal team funded by the enigmatic Mark who intends to investigate Carrow House. Remy and Mark are joined by a psychic, a ghost hunter, and C...

What is it about famous people that draws us in? They sing our favorite songs, and they star in our favorite movies. Some fill us with nostalgia as we remember them from that show we used to watch, and so, we miss them when they’re gone. And yet, some never really leave. Come along on our very own ghostly walk of fame where celebrities linger long after the last curtain call. In this episode we lo...

Welcome to the Crescent City, Pelican City, The Big Easy. Whatever you call it, New Orleans is full of spirit. No town can send the soul over the moon with jazz and Mardi Gras like NOLA, but some souls decided to stay. Enjoy an alligator sausage Po-Boy at the Napoleon House but keep an eye out for the sweeping lady. Visit the Pharmacy Museum where a murderous pharmacists may have killed some of hi...

Welcome to a special Halloween episode. As were approach All Hallow’s Eve, we thought you might enjoy an episode dedicated to the history of Halloween and the ghost story. But that’s not all. If you ring our doorbell and say “Trick-or-Treat,” we’ll drop a few listening submitted paranormal experiences into your pumpkin. Thanks for listening and we hope you are having a wonderfully frightful spooky...

In 2009, moviegoers were enthralled and terrified by The Haunting in Connecticut. The supernatural thriller was promoted as being “based on a true story.”  We wondered how much of the “true story” made it into the film? In this episode, we look at the movie, the 1992 book, and several interviews with the family to uncover what really happened at the former funeral home in Southington, CT. What did...

Nothing screams spooky season like a good old-fashioned haunted house. Come along as we uncover the bumps in the night and the ghostly visitors in two genuine haunted houses. First, we visit the Monroe House in Indiana, today more infamously known by its sinister nickname: the Demon House. Then we take a trip to a late 1700s farmhouse in Litchfield County, Connecticut where one resident has kept a...

Welcome to another Ope, A Ghost Book Club. Today we look at Dr. Bruce Greyson’s After (2021). As cofounder of the International Association for Near-Death Studies, Greyson has studied near-death experiences (NDEs) for 45 years. His book is loaded with the stories of those who experience NDEs. Just as interesting are the conclusions that Greyson makes based on four decades of research. The book is...

When you hear the words Salem, Massachusetts, your mind undoubtedly goes to the Salem Witchcraft Trials and for good reason. Salem is steeped in history . . . and in hauntings.  In this episode, we visit the haunted Burying Point Cemetery and the adjacent Murphy’s Pub. We also stop by the mysterious Salem Inn and an eerie funeral home turned speakeasy turned liquor store named Bunghole Liquors. Th...

It just so happens that the theater has been a place for entertainment for nearly as long as humanity has existed. It also just so happens that theaters are among the most haunted places you’ll ever visit. In this episode, we look at the NederlanderTheater in Chicago and a handful of haunted Broadway theaters. The moral of this story is to pay attention the next time you take in a play. That out o...

The list of cryptids is a mile long, but when it comes to the superstars, Bigfoot is the reigning champ. In this week’s episode, Jonathan visits a 1973 Bigfoot rash of sightings in Murphysboro, IL dubbed the Big Muddy Monster. Heaven takes us down the rabbit hole by discussing some of the more unique Sasquatch specimens. Ever hear of Sheep Squatch? You have now! Big Muddy Monster Festival Creature...

On today’s Book Club Minisode we read T. Kingfisher’s What Moves the Dead, a wonderful retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Kingfisher incorporates all the characters from Poe’s original to create a mesmerizing world that is both fascinating and nightmarish. Did we mention the hares? We think you’ll love this one! T. Kingfisher website Amazon link to buy What Moves the...

What is it about dolls that creeps us out? Maybe it’s because they look a little too much like us. Maybe it’s because they were so real to us as children. Either way, when those dolls are haunted dolls, they become the stuff of nightmares. In this episode we visit two famous haunted dolls: Harold and Robert. Come play with us as we explore the history behind these legendary playthings. No tagbacks...