Lore: Trick or Treat 4 – From the Beyond

Host: Aaron Mahnke
Date: October 24, 2025

Episode Overview

In this special Halloween "Trick or Treat" installment, Aaron Mahnke offers listeners a chilling journey into tales of “otherworldly communication”—stories where the living cross paths with the dead, and where messages from beyond the grave alter the course of events, for better or worse. From spectral warnings in the Canadian Arctic to ancestral interventions in Hawaii, a vengeful Danish noblewoman, and an all-too-real "ghost" story from the deadly Panama Canal, Mahnke unearths unsettling ways the veil between life and death becomes dangerously thin.

Key Stories and Discussion Points

1. Augustus Richard Peters’ Final Journey

[01:03–13:23]

• Peters, a Hudson Bay Company post manager, dies at 33 in the frigid Arctic (1853), longing not to be buried at remote Fort McPherson. His wishes are ignored.
• Years later (1859): Widow pushes for his exhumation and return south, requiring a 300-mile dogsled journey to Fort Good Hope, continued another 500 miles by new handlers.
• To lighten the load, Peter’s frozen body is eventually strapped directly to the sled, exposed to the wild—but that’s not all that’s at risk.
• Supernatural Incident:
  • On the seven-year anniversary of Peters’ death, handlers and dogs hear a commanding man’s voice (“March!”) in the empty wilderness.
  • The voice repeats on a subsequent night, with no person found—only the corpse and frightened dogs.
  • Peters’ body is finally interred at Fort Simpson.
• Postscript:
  • One handler and Peters’ friend both sense “Peters’ presence” in their room ([12:56]):

    “The sensation was so strong that he had covered his face with a blanket. Completely overwhelmed, as soon as the feeling passed, Ross turned to MacFarlane in excitement, asking if he had felt it, too.”

  • They conclude Peters’ spirit protected his remains from the hungry sled dogs, unwilling to let anything—alive or dead—stop his long-awaited reburial.

2. Napua Stevens and Hawaii’s Night Marchers

[13:24–18:27]

• Story of a young girl (later Hawaiian star Napua Stevens) walking home at dusk.
• She’s forced mysteriously to the ground as she hears drums and chanting:

  “Something grabbed the back of her neck and her face was shoved into the dirt... She could hear them, a whole host of feet marching right by her head. The pounding of their feet matched the pounding of the drums.” ([14:42])

• A single Hawaiian word is uttered—her ancestor claims her as blood, saving her from certain death at the hands of the “night marchers.”
• Cultural context:
  • The night marchers (“Hua ka ipo,” “spirit ranks”) are feared ghosts of ancient Hawaiian warriors, appearing on sacred nights.
  • To survive an encounter: Lie face-down and show deference—if seen, the living are killed and become spirits themselves.
  • Quote:

    “If they see your eyes on them or they think that you aren’t showing enough respect, then they’ll stab you with their spears. And then there will be one more spirit wandering the island that night. Yours.” ([17:50])

• Napua, despite her fame, retold this encounter for the rest of her life.

3. The Ghostly Reputation of Ingeborg Skeel

[18:28–25:09]

• Ingeborg Skeel, a 16th-century Danish noblewoman, defied gender norms—running estates, improving churches, and growing her wealth.
• Her assertiveness led to a reputation for cruelty and meanness, cemented by dark folklore.
• Folktale focus:
  • On her husband’s death anniversary, Ingeborg demands her coachman, Klaus, find news from the afterlife or she’ll have him killed.
  • With a priest, Klaus summons the late lord, who appears in “a fiery red carriage drawn by flaming horses” ([21:30]):

    “Tell her that I'm in hell, and there’s a chair in making for her. It’s finished—all but one leg. And when that is done, she will be fetched.” ([21:56])

  • Klaus brings her husband’s ring as proof.
• After her death, Ingeborg’s ghost reportedly haunts the renovated Vogard estate—some say she drowned architects, maimed thieves, and tortured tenants.
• Despite an exorcism attempt, her spirit is a tourist attraction—yet the legend goes her haunt will end once her hellish chair is finished.

4. Mistaken Death on the Panama Canal

[30:07–34:31]

• Recounts the dire, death-riddled construction of the Panama Canal (over 25,000 lives lost).
  • “Doing the math, that’s 500 deaths for each mile of the canal.” ([31:04])
• The story of Ella Louise and Edward Ray:
  • She receives a telegram stating her husband (an iron molder) had died. Grieving, she unexpectedly sees Edward—thin, ghost-like—at her door weeks later, thinking she’s seen his ghost.
  • In reality, a mix-up: Edward’s wallet was stolen and, when the thief died, he was misidentified as Edward.
• Edward returns for another 22 years of life, finally dying at home (not in Panama), demonstrating that “calls from the beyond” aren’t always supernatural.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the thinness of the veil:

  “Maybe it’s the feeling that some sort of rule has been broken, or that the veil between life and death might be less of a wall and more of a window.” ([01:20])

• On Peters’ ghost:

  “He had frightened them off, and he had kept his corpse safe. After all, he had waited seven years to be buried in the correct spot. He wasn’t about to let a pack of dogs get in his way.” ([13:16])

• On surviving the night marchers:

  “If you find yourself in Hawaii someday and you hear the drums, it would be in your best interest not to look. Close your eyes and lie face down in the dirt like Napua Stevens. Prostrate yourself, showing deference to them.” ([17:10])

• On Ingeborg’s fate:

  “Tell her that I’m in hell, and there’s a chair in making for her. It’s finished—all but one leg. And when that is done, she will be fetched.” ([21:56])

• On the dangers of the Panama Canal:

  “The highest concentration of deaths, though, came during the construction of the Culebra Cut, or as it came to be known, Hell’s Gorge.” ([32:14])

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:03] – Intro to episode theme; Augustus Richard Peters story begins
• [13:24] – Napua Stevens and the night marchers
• [18:28] – The legend of Ingeborg Skeel
• [30:07] – The Panama Canal and the story of Edward Ray

Episode Tone & Style

Mahnke’s trademark style—somber, atmospheric, and tinged with dark wit—permeates the storytelling. Each tale is steeped in historical detail, folklore, and a pinch of skeptical commentary, leading listeners to ponder whether the distance between the living and the dead is as vast as we hope.

Conclusion

“From the Beyond” delves into global tales of spectral messages and near-misses—where the living are protected, warned, or even fooled by supposed contacts from the other side. Mahnke leaves the audience with the sense that while sometimes the dead speak for a reason, sometimes the real miscommunication is among the living themselves.