S19 Ep51: Monsters, Myths & Murder: Hometown Legends 19 Part 1 (Sn. 19 Ep. 51)

Summary

Monsters Among Us – S19 Ep51: Monsters, Myths & Murder: Hometown Legends 19, Part 1

Host: Derek Hayes
Date: October 7, 2025

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Overview

In this highly anticipated, once-a-season event, host Derek Hayes curates listener-submitted hometown legends from across the United States. From classic ghost stories and regional cryptids to tales of true crime and uncanny mysteries, this season’s “Hometown Legends” finale features firsthand accounts, deep dives into the tales' origins, and thoughtful commentary from Derek and the Monsters Among Us team. The atmosphere is tactilely spooky, nostalgia-rich, and—as always—committed to "keeping it spooky."

Warning: Many stories involve tragic events (murder, suicide, abuse). Listener discretion is advised.

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Key Stories & Discussion Points

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1. The Glowing Tombstone – Leaton, Missouri

Caller: Sarah ([03:40])

• Legend: Mineral Creek Cemetery reportedly possesses a glowing tombstone for a young woman jilted at the altar, who allegedly died of heartbreak or suicide. Upon exhumation, the family found dirt under her fingernails, suggesting she was buried alive. Ripley’s Believe It or Not investigated and observed the glow, though subsequent stones glowed when the original was replaced.
• Scientific Theories: Stone composition reacting to daily temperature swings; reflections. Yet the glow persisted without external light.
• Cultural Impact: University pledges tried to steal the stone; gained nationwide attention.
• Sarah’s take: “I love, love, love this podcast. Keep it spooky.” ([05:36])

Derek’s Insight ([05:56]):

• “The legend of a glowing tombstone sounds unique, but it might not be as unusual as you might first suspect.”
• Similar legends exist in NE, TX, IN, MI, LA, and especially in Everett, MI—where railroad ghosts illuminate local grave markers.

Notable Segment:

• [07:59] – Derek plays a clip with eyewitness testimony and “actual video evidence” of glowing headstones in Michigan, available in the show notes.

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2. Haunted Railroad Tracks – San Antonio, Texas

Caller: David ([12:47])

• Legend: The infamous “Ghost Tracks” supposedly feature the spirits of children killed in a (possibly apocryphal) school bus accident. Locals claim to experience invisible forces pushing their cars over the tracks—complete with child-sized handprints appearing on dusted bumpers.
• Skeptical TV Attempts: “Zak Bagans and Ghost Adventures, they tried to debunk the railroad tracks... But it is true.”
• Other San Antonio Legends: Donkey Lady of Upper White Road/Donkey Lady Bridge and the mourning woman of Halloween Creek.

Derek's Commentary ([15:20]):

• Area was recently re-graded, eliminating the physical aspect of the phenomenon. “That’s a bummer for sure… at this point, that’s about all we have, so it’s sad that it’s gone, but David, we sure do appreciate you keeping the legend alive.”

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3. The Soaked Ghost of Ellis School – Elgin, Illinois

Caller: Vince ([17:58])

• Legend: “Emma Ellis,” a student, is said to haunt Ellis Middle School, wandering the halls soaking wet and making shoes squeak—despite the fact that the school never had a pool, and Emma was actually a real principal, not a drowned student.
• Personal Experience: Vince recounts numerous instances of unexplained noises, door openings, and the inability of staff to debunk the sounds—fueling the legend.
• Notable Quote: “Never did find an explanation... I’m chalking it up to a tulpa of some sort. After years and years of students telling and passing on this legend.” ([21:48])

Derek’s Reflection ([22:09]):

• “There was no pool at this school, yet the existence of that facility is pivotal to the ghost’s origin story... Maybe it's because it's fun to imagine more to the world than what we can see."

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4. Little People Knockers – Orange County, California

Caller: Ali ([25:25])

• Legend: In the hills east of Chapman, teens would drive at night hoping for “little people” to knock on their car—a persistent legend paralleling Mexican duende lore.
• Cultural Note: “Once I got to high school, it was a thing people would do... drive out there... see if they could find the little people.”
• Personal Link: Ali references a friend who claims to have seen a gnome, and notes possible cross-cultural influences from Mexican folklore.

Derek’s Commentary ([28:50]):

• Ties legend to a previous call from John (Season 19, Ep. 46), featuring mysterious knocks on a minivan in the same region—all unexplained despite checking for physical causes.

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5. Alice the Hanging Ghost – Johnson City, Tennessee

Caller: Greg ([32:59])

• Legend: The story of "Alice," a student who hung herself in her dorm at ETSU, commemorated by a supposed stained glass effigy of a hanging woman.
• Personal Tie: Greg’s family regularly visited the site for scares; later, he and a friend experienced unexplained noises, footsteps, and whispers inside the house where the glass now resides.
• Current Status: The window has been moved but reportedly remains a locus of paranormal activity. “It was scary as crap.” ([35:35])

Derek’s Research ([35:40]):

• Shares news clips on the window’s history, ties to railroad tycoon George L. Carter, and the window’s moves around campus.

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6. The Execution of Mary the Elephant – Irwin, Tennessee

Caller: Anonymous/Greg ([38:01])

• True Crime Legend: Mary the elephant killed her handler in 1916 after being provoked. Unable to kill her with rifles, authorities hung her from a crane—a story still haunting Irwin’s reputation as "the hanging elephant town."
• Derek’s Research ([40:15]):
  • Shares 2005 interviews with firsthand witnesses describing Mary's vengeful response to being stabbed behind the ear, and the grisly details of her death: “She slammed him down there so hard... that man's body splattered all over that gravel road.” ([41:41]), “The chain broke… people really scattered…” ([43:02])

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7. The Haunted Party House – Park Forest, Illinois

Caller: Aaron ([44:35])

• Legend: The alternative scene’s “party house” had persistent hauntings: objects moving, weird feedback during band practice, random footsteps in an empty house.
• Creepiest Night: “We could feel someone up there. Clearly no one in sight... It’s too much. But yeah, that house was super haunted.” ([46:40])

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8. Real-Life House of Horrors – Poughkeepsie, New York

Caller: Archer ([49:03])

• Local Legend Turned Fact: For decades, locals suspected James Nichols of foul play after his wife’s disappearance in 1985 and their son’s earlier mysterious drowning.
• Grisly Discovery: After Nichols’ death, a construction crew found his wife’s remains sealed in a secret room behind a bolted refrigerator, confirming long-held suspicions.
• Quote: “He would always say creepy things like, ‘You’re never gonna find her.’ But they had no proof… until they found her remains in a secret wall.” ([51:55])

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9. Margaret Hollow – Tragic Legend of Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania

Caller: Natalie ([54:29])

• Ghost Story: The “Woman of Margaret Hollow” was said to have been murdered after becoming pregnant by a powerful man and thrown under a bridge. Her ghost is said to haunt the area, looking for her lover’s whereabouts.
• True Crime: Natalie’s grandfather actually helped discover Margaret Martin’s mutilated body as a boy in 1938. The victim’s story evolved into a staple of local folklore.
• Quote: “When my grandfather was a young boy, him and his friends… found her in the burlap sack under the bridge.” ([55:22])

Derek’s Note ([56:54]):

• Real story is even more gruesome and entirely unsolved.

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10. Tall Betsy, the Lady in Black – Bradley County, Tennessee

Caller: Matthew ([58:29])

• Origin: Based on real 19th-century accounts of a tall, gloved woman frightening pedestrians. Became a “boogeyman” legend for children—“Get home before dark or Tall Betsy will get you.”
• Modern Impact: Businessman Allen Jones resurrected her as a Halloween mascot, organizing a block party that attracts 10,000+ trick-or-treaters. Tall Betsy is now memorialized in local culture, complete with rhyming legends.
• Quote: “If you linger till after 10, we want you to know you are a has been cause Betsy will tuck you under her arm… She will have you for breakfast. I do not jest.” ([62:31], poem recited by Derek)

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11. Bigfoot in East Texas – Jefferson’s Marion Monster & The Caddo Critter

Caller: Pete ([64:34])

• Community Reputation: Jefferson, TX, touts itself as the “Bigfoot Capital of Texas,” home to the annual Texas Bigfoot Conference and both the Marion County Monster and Caddo Critter.
• Firsthand Experiences:
  • A local saw an upright “bear” (not a bear) run away on two legs at Graffiti Bridge ([65:38]).
  • Pete & wife, camping at Caddo Lake in April 2024, heard three unnervingly loud and deep “whoops” at night: “By the time she started recording, it didn’t do it again... It was pretty scary at the time. And I had heard a couple of other Bigfoot stories that happened there at the Caddo State Park." ([67:15])
• Orbs: Also mentions stories of orbs and other light phenomena in the woods nearby.

Derek’s Commentary ([70:14]):

• “That area is big on Bigfoot… enough to make me wonder what exactly is going on down there.”
• Plays a local journalist’s recollection of a Bigfoot sighting, tying in the area’s “Bigfoot fever.”

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• Sarah (Missouri): “She was still there, but she had dirt under her fingernails. So since then, they say on certain days her tombstone glows.” ([04:05])
• David (San Antonio): “You can go outside the car and look at the bumper... there are handprints of children all in a line. And that cannot be debunked.” ([13:40])
• Vince (Elgin): “After this incident, we decided to try and ignore the noises, even though they never stopped, never did find an explanation…” ([21:38])
• Greg (ETSU): “There would be nothing lit on the house except a backlight on a stained glass window of a woman hanging. And it would scare the crap out of us.” ([33:43])
• Archer (Poughkeepsie): “He would always say creepy things like, ‘You're never gonna find her.’ But they had no proof that he was the one…” ([51:36])
• Matthew (Tennessee): “If you linger till after 10, we want you to know you are a has been. ‘Cause Betsy will tuck you under her arm and you can bet that is a cause for alarm…” ([62:31], poem)
• Pete (Jefferson, TX): “We heard the loudest, deepest whoop... it was pretty scary. You hear stories, but when you're there, with that lung capacity and volume, it's a whole different thing.” ([67:20])

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Episode Structure & Flow

• Derek’s remarks weave together the stories, offering context, regional comparisons, and historical research.
• Listener calls are given room to tell their story in full, preserving the local tone and rumors.
• After each main segment, Derek returns with regional lore, scientific skepticism, or supplementary tales.
• Show Notes: Derek frequently refers listeners to supplementary media, videos, and primary articles on the Monsters Among Us website.

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Engaging Elements

• Atmospheric Soundscapes: The episode features a custom soundscape recreating the unnerving isolation of the East Texas woods before a possible Bigfoot vocalization ([72:41]).
• Original Language: The summary preserves the unique voices, cultural flavor, and vivid storytelling of the original callers.
• Memorable, Chilling, and Sometimes Tragic: The tales range from classic folklore to verified murder cases, reflecting the wide variety of legends that persist in America’s small towns.

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Conclusion

Part one of this two-part finale is a tapestry of American folklore: haunted cemeteries, phantom children, regional cryptids, and small-town tragedies—each interwoven with Derek’s signature blend of skepticism, enthusiasm, and respect for the unknown. The episode invites listeners to immerse themselves in the creepy, the unexplained, and the all-too-real, all while encouraging audience interaction and submission of local legends.

Don’t miss: Part Two of the Hometown Legends finale, dropping Thursday.

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Keep it spooky.

Transcript

[Derek Hayes]

What do you think makes the perfect snack? Hmm, it's gotta be when I'm really craving it and it's convenient. Could you be more specific? When it's cravinient. Okay. Like a freshly baked cookie made with real butter, available right down the street at am, pm Or a savory breakfast sandwich I can grab in just a second at a.m. p.m. I'm seeing a pattern here. Well, yeah, we're talking about what I crave, which is anything from AM pm. What more could you want? Stop by AM PM where the snacks and drinks are perfectly craveable and convenient. That's cravenience. AM pm Too much. Good stuff.

[Announcer/Commercial Voice]

It's.

[Derek Hayes]

Good evening and welcome to Monsters Among Us. I'm your guide, Derek Hayes. It is a mighty pleasure to be with you here tonight and I'm super excited that you've chosen to join us this evening because tonight is a special night, a once in a season sort of event, a long running tradition that's been part of this program since, I believe, season two, the Hometown Legend season finale. Now for you newbies, hometown legends are simple. Their stories, legends, rumors, tales or yarns from your hometown, the town you live in now or a place that you've spent a considerable amount of time in. Now, the rules here are quite flexible and as a result we receive a wide sampling of stories. And for those wondering where and how hometown legends came about, I'll do my best to remember. The concept came to me early on and I believe I came up with the idea because I was still struggling to get calls at the time, or maybe at this point it was mostly ghost stories that we received and I wanted to make a move to better include all facets of the paranormal landscape. That and I knew there were listeners out there that did not have an experience of their own, but still wanted to contribute to the show in some way. So what started as a ploy to get more calls has become a bit of a show on its own. And this season's effort will likely top them all. But before we get started tonight, a quick warning. Most of these hometown legends stem from some sort of tragic event. Murder, suicide, abuse, neglect, you name it, and it'll probably be mentioned here tonight. So let that be your warning and without further ado, please join me in welcoming our first guest of the evening from the state of Missouri. Please welcome Sarah to tonight's program.

[Sarah]

Hey, Derek and Sarah and Delaney and the Monsters Among Us family. I'm Sarah, I'm calling from Missouri and I have a hometown legend for you. I used to live in a very small town in Leaton, Missouri. It only has about 550 people. We have a cemetery there called Mineral Creek Cemetery, and there's this glowing tombstone there. So I guess the legend goes that the woman was about to be married and her groom stood her up at the altar, leaving her jilted at the altar. And I guess like all jilted women at that time seem to have done, she killed herself or she died of a broken heart or whatever. Anyway, I guess a little after her funeral, the cemetery caretaker noticed that her grave had been disturbed and her family wanted to make sure that her body hadn't been taken. So they dug her up and she was still there, but she had dirt under her fingernails. So since then, they say on certain days, her tombstone glows. So now, a cool part of the story is that in the 50s, I guess there were some frat boys from the University of Central Missouri, and they learned about the legend. And for a few years their pledges had to try to steal the glowing tombstone. And then Ripley's Believe it or not caught wind of the story. And then they came to investigate and they suspected that maybe the stone was made from, like, a natural material that glows whenever the temperature, like, varies. I guess if it varies like 40 degrees during the day and night, then this material will glow. But when they removed the stone, a different stone started glowing. So they thought, well, maybe it's just a reflection. But then when all the lights were shut down and it was an overcast night, it was still glowing. So they had to admit that something spooky was happening. So that's our hometown. And like everybody else, Derek, I love, love, love this podcast. Keep it spooky.

[Derek Hayes]

Thanks for calling in your hometown legend, Sarah. Now, the legend of a glowing tombstone sounds unique, but it might not be as unusual as you might first suspect. St. Patrick's Cemetery in Shell Creek, Nebraska, is said to be home to a glowing stone as well. Veal Station Cemetery in Springtown, Texas, and Riverview Cemetery in Aurora, Indian also have reports of the same activity, as well as Weiniger Cemetery in Bayern Center, Michigan, and Strauss Family Cemetery in Lafayette, Louisiana. And there is one other well known glowing tombstone legend on our radar that I would like to share with you here tonight. The Mitten State's very own glowing stones of Forest Hills Cemetery in the town of Everett. Now, legend has it that railroad workers once lived where the cemetery sits. Now, this was the 1830s or 40s, and as railroad workers were wont to do back in those days, they were prone to take up the bottle. And one of those heavily intoxicated workers was the cook's son, Marco. The cook worried about Marco stumbling home night after night. So each evening he would light candles that led from the tavern back to their. One of these evenings, Marco was stumbling home following the candles lit by his father, when he came upon a group of men that stabbed him and threw him in the river nearby. Upon hearing the news, the cook ran to the river and dove in in search of his lost son. But the water overtook him as well, causing both men to perish that evening. So legend has it now is that the cook, he would light these candles. And then after he perished or died trying to save his son, someone continued to light the candles, and nobody could.

[Greg]

Figure out who was doing it.

[Delaney]

They thought someone lit them a pathway to get back.

[Greg]

But when they got up to the area where they thought was lighted, there was no light there.

[Derek Hayes]

Well, after that, the superstitious men abandoned the camp.

[Delaney]

And by 1861, Forest Hill became a cemetery.

[Derek Hayes]

And ever since, something unexplained has been.

[Greg]

Happening as where I'm standing now, we're.

[Derek Hayes]

On this hill, the headstones started glowing.

[Greg]

And then there's no rhyme to reason to it.

[Derek Hayes]

I mean, nobody can figure out everybody's been here. There's been many studies, there's been books.

[Greg]

Written about this cemetery, and they just couldn't. Can't figure out what, what's causing the headstones to glow.

[Derek Hayes]

Glowing gravestones gotta be a pretty good prank, right? I'm not joking.

[Greg]

I actually personally have seen them and I've never.

[Derek Hayes]

I haven't been scared of anything.

[Delaney]

I don't believe in ghosts, but they.

[Derek Hayes]

Were glowing that evening, and this was in 2000, 2007 and 8. I haven't done it since because I.

[Greg]

Was satisfied and I didn't want to put myself in harm's way.

[Derek Hayes]

And thinking if I keep going back.

[Delaney]

And maybe, I don't know, you never know, supernatural stuff, who knows?

[Derek Hayes]

Now, believe it or not, they're interviewing the chief of police there in Everett, whatever that's worth. And that clip comes courtesy of Corey adkins over on YouTube. And here's the kicker and the main reason I'm bringing this clip up because it doesn't only cover a cool and relevant subject, but it also offers up a bit of proof. If you watch the video, they actually have footage of the tombstone glowing. You can see what appears to be two lights just a few feet apart at first. Then the third light appears over top the left light, creating a bit of a triangle shape before that top light brightens, then extinguishes itself. It's super interesting and well worth a look. If you go over to our Show Notes at monsters among us podcast.com and by clicking on the Show Notes tab. If you're not driving or something, I highly recommend you open that page up and follow along clicking on all the notes that we offer up. There's a ton of additional information there that Delaney and I have gathered specifically for you in this episode, so be sure to unlock an additional layer of Monsters Among Us by visiting tonight's Show Notes. Any big thanks to Sarah once again for calling in. Now folks, time to pay the bills. But when I come back, I have a plethora of paranormal stories to share with you. Don't touch that dial.

[Announcer/Commercial Voice]

Of having wants.

[Derek Hayes]

And desires for the future.

[Announcer/Commercial Voice]

How do we know we need to see doctors now?

[Derek Hayes]

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[David]

Hey dear case and Martha's among us listeners. This is David in Boston Park, Texas, originally from San Antonio. When I look at San Antonio, there's a lot of legends over there. This is for Hometown Legends episode, okay? We have stories like the haunted rail tracks in San Antonio. They've even appeared on Television. A couple times, people like Zak Bagans and Ghost Avengers, they tried to debunk the railroad tracks. But as somebody that lived close to those rail tracks, I can tell you it is true that if you put your car in neutral right before you get to the railroad tracks, which is like an uphill slant, you know, to it, that car will be pushed over the railroad tracks. It will be definitely pushed over it. And you can go outside the car and look at the bumper. And if you put, like flour on the bumper, you will see that there are handprints of children all in a line, a line of handprints. And that cannot be debunked. I mean, that said, Bacon tried to debunk it and all that. He said all kinds of things. But trust me, this happened multiple times. We went there and it was same result every time. And people say it was those are children that died in a school bus accident. But actually there's no record of that happening there. So what happened there? That's a real mystery. Why are there spiritual children pushing vehicles over the rail tracks? And people say it's an optical illusion that it looks like the rail tracks are like a little uphill. But even if that is uplifting that part, why the hell are handprints of children pushing the vehicle over the rail tracks? It's still being pushed over rail tracks. And they're on the south side of San Antonio because other legends on that area, like the Donkey lady of Upper White Road seen close to Donkey Lady Bridge, which is a natural thing, they close off the bridge because too many people are trying to look for that creature. There's woman Halloween Creek, which is on the house coast of San Antonio. Legend says the creek flooded the house that looked close to the creek and a woman died before they came rescue her. To this day, every time the creek raises up, whenever it starts flooding, you can hear screaming from the banks of the creek. You know, no one's there, but yeah, there's all kinds of spooky legends of San Antonio. But, yeah, you do a great job. I love the podcast. Keep it spooky.

[Derek Hayes]

Thank you, David. Oh, yes, those infamous tracks. Now, for those of you that were hoping to check this legend out yourself, I have a bit of bad news for you. Courtesy of KSAT, ABC News 12 out of San Antonio. It's a famous San Antonio urban legend. The ghost tracks at the Shane Road railroad crossing. That stake right there is the center of the track. The crossing is shutting down temporarily on Monday. Union Pacific is adding a siding track that will go through here. A railroad spokesman said the project will change the elevation of the site and the phenomenon that's brought so many people there. The spokesman said the project wasn't proposed because of the phenomenon, but having it go away is a side benefit for the railroad. It's drawn people to do unsafe stuff at an active train crossing, he said, chasing a decades old ghost story that won't even survive until Halloween. As part of the work, the railroad is going to be adding gates and lights to the crossing as well. Whether or not there were any ghosts to begin with, they don't want any more. Now my sources tell me that the Union Pacific Railroad Company went through with those plans, regrading the area, adding gates, lights and and even an additional track causing the phenomena to end permanently. Which is a bummer for sure. But I remember this location from an episode of the television series Fact or Paranormal Files. And if you can find that episode, you can take a look at the legend in action and maybe even hear a few alternatives explanations. Sadly, at this point that's about all we have, so it's sad that it's gone. But David, we sure do appreciate you keeping the legend alive here with us. So thank you again for taking the time to call in. All right folks, if you have a story you would like to share here on the show, give my hotline a call at 888-608-night. That's 888608 NIG HT. Or you can record your story as a voice memo and email the file to me at monsters among us podcastmail.com now folks, this next entry comes to us from a familiar voice. Please welcome Vince from Illinois. Back to the program. Foreign.

[Delaney]

Vince from Chicago. I've been meaning to send this in for quite some time. Every time I hear you mention submissions for hometown Legends, I tell myself to send in my call, but always get sidetracked and forget. Well, not this time. So my hometown legend is based out of Elgin, Illinois. Part of it is pure fiction, a way for eighth graders to freak out the new seventh graders. Similar in a way that seniors in high school mess with freshmen. The other half makes me consider that there could be some truth to the tale, if not completely disconnected, with a backstory created to explain the phenomena. So the story goes that Ellis Middle School was named after a former student, Emmy Ellis, when in reality Emmy was an actual person. She was an elementary school principal and then the head of the English Department of Elgin High School. The story is that Meu Ellis was a student who attended the middle school who died in the school swimming pool. This is where liberties really go wild, because Ellis doesn't have and never had a swimming pool. But it was said that the pool used to be under the gym where two science classes are located, near the locker rooms. And in some versions, those locker rooms actually replaced the swimming pool itself. Well, Emmy would wander the halls soaking wet in her regular clothes somehow, and she would make the lights flicker and her shoes would squeak on the tile floors in the hallway, but only around the gym and the nearby classrooms, including the auditorium, the band rehearsal room, and the choir rehearsal room. The only time that you could see her was later in the day, usually after school had already let out, so you had to be in the building during some sort of after school activity, but you could hear her at any random time during the school day. So this is where I think that the backstory was created and embellished to explain some of the happenings that actually occurred and that I had experienced multiple times in my two years at Ellis, along with fellow classmates. So I took orchestra as my elective, and we would have rehearsal in the auditorium during the first period of each day. Behind the auditorium was a hallway that led to the choir room, instrument storage room, a couple random offices, and the band rehearsal space. There was one entrance exit to the outside of the school back there as well. Now, I paint this picture to explain why someone could or would be in that back hallway. So on more than one occasion, orchestra, band, and choir rehearsals would be in progress, and we'd all hear the squeaking of shoes and doors opening and closing in the back. Now, aside from the door that leads outside, there are only two doors on either side of the auditorium that led into that hallway, which had large windows on the top half, meaning we could see if anyone was heading into that back hallway. This means that whoever was opening doors and walking around would have to already be back there. So in choir or in band, more than once, a director would come out to the auditorium to find out who's walking around and not in class. Unfortunately, there was no answer. I do recall one morning I arrived late and was coming from the back hallway after grabbing my instrument. Not five seconds after I walked out onto the stage, we heard the doors opening and shoes squeaking again. My orchestra director whispered at me to run out back to catch whoever was back there. At almost the exact moment I swung the door open to the hallway, the band director and choir director did the same thing. We looked at each other, wide eyes, mouths open, nervously said hello to one another, and slowly closed doors to our respective areas. After this incident, we decided to try and ignore the noises, even though they never stopped, never did find an explanation after searching and searching. So I'm chalking it up to a tulpa of some sort. After years and years of students telling and passing on this legend of this fake meu. Ellis, have a good one. Keep up the great work. I look forward to every episode, every day.

[Derek Hayes]

Thank you Vince, for calling in a haunted school. What a shocker. A dime a dozen those stories are, but that doesn't make them any less spooky. And apparently those stories don't even need to be true to reach that spooky benchmark, as Vince here can attest. But I'm very curious about that detail. There was no pool at this school, yet the existence of that facility is pivotal to the ghost's origin story. If that detail is as well known as it seems, why do people still believe in the legend? Why do they continue to play along? Well, maybe it's because it's a great story. Maybe it's because it's fun to imagine more to the world than what we can see. Or maybe an alternate timeline is to blame here. Regardless of the cause, though, it's great hearing from you, Vince, as always, and we thank you again for taking the time to share your hometown legend. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. October 10th is World Mental Health Day, and this year BetterHelp is shining the spotlight on therapists, people who truly make the world a better place. Therapy has been there for me when I really needed it, and I really believe the right therapist, who you can speak freely with without judgment, can really change everything. Betterhelp therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully licensed in the US A short questionnaire helps you get matched with a therapist who meets your needs and preferences. And if for some reason you're not vibing with your therapist, you can switch therapists at any time. You can join a session with a therapist in just a couple of clicks. The convenience of it being online really helps fit therapy into your busy life. This World Mental Health Day, we're celebrating the therapists who've helped millions of people take a step forward. If you're ready to find a right therapist for you, BetterHelp can help you start that journey. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.commau Again, that's betterhelp.com forward/MAU now, folks, this next submitter is a good friend of the show. I first met him at the premiere of our film Shadows in the Desert. You can catch that movie for free on Tubi, by the way. And he's also responsible for the amazing Monsters Among Us junior theme song, which I've been told by many people is even better than our main theme, which I will admit is high praise. Anyway, please join me in welcoming our friend Ali to tonight's season finale.

[Ali]

Hey, Derek. Sarah Delaney, everyone at Monsters Among Us, this is Ali with another hometown legend. From my hometown of Orange County, California. I was actually inspired to call this in because of John's call from Nevada on season 19, episode 46, when he said he was driving from Las Vegas to Newport beach and heard knocking on his car. It struck me because that was a persistent hometown legend. I heard growing up in Orange county that if you drove out into those hills, kind of like east of Chapman, that there were little people out there and that they would knock on your car. It was just one of those rumors you just heard growing up that you couldn't confirm back in the 90s because we didn't use the Internet for that. You couldn't really do that back then. And I didn't give it much stock because it was always like, oh, a friend of a friend or my cousin's friend or something. It was always kind of like a once removed thing. But back before Google Maps and MapQuest or anything, kids would just drive out there in the middle of the night to see if they could find the little people or if the little people would knock on their car. And then once I got to high school and people started getting their driver's licenses, it was like a thing people would do. They would drive out there, you know, get lost, just to see if they could find the little people and if the little people would knock on their car. I remember there were some older kids at the time I worked with who tried it themselves one weekend and then came back and went like, oh, no one knocked on our car. We were way out there. But yeah, it was the thing people did. It was a persistent legend. Another thing about those hills out there is that, like, Orange county is known for being suburbia, but those hills are really dark to this day. They're pretty undeveloped. And they were even less developed back then. I mean, a lot of that part of Orange county was less developed. So it was a really kind of spooky place to us growing up. And there were legends that, you know, little people were out there and they'd knock on your car because they didn't want us there. I know you mentioned Derek, that a lot of these calls and stories come from Southern California and parts of Mexico. And it's really interesting because a really good friend of mine I grew up with saw what he called a gnome to this day when we were kids. And when he told his dad, his dad wasn't surprised and said there were little people where he came from in Mexico, they called duende. Essentially the same thing, in his dad's opinion. And these are persistent legends in Southern California at least, you know, in Orange County. And whether it's a regional thing that's a West Coast, Southern California, you know, Mexico phenomenon, or whether the legend has kind of traversed the area or both, I don't know. But all I know is that thought it was just really interesting because John from Las Vegas was curious if anyone else knew about this and had experienced this. And I haven't experienced it, but I absolutely know a lot of people who claim they did or claim their friend did growing up in Orange County. It's a hometown legend that John probably knew nothing about, but I guess experienced himself. So there you go. Thanks so much, Derek. Have a good night.

[Derek Hayes]

Thank you, Ali. Now, Ali references a previous encounter that took place in the same area. So let's jog our memories on that entry from John in Nevada and from season 19, episode 46. Here is a truncated version of those events.

[Announcer/Commercial Voice]

We decided to travel down from Las Vegas to Newport beach in our minivan. And it was probably about close to midnight pulling into Orange County. We were Traveling down the 91 to the 55 off of I15, headed towards Orange County. We're traveling about 80 miles an hour in the van in the fast lane. There's suddenly two knocks at the front of the car. And then a couple seconds later, two knocks on the passenger side door on the outside. Then two knocks on the middle row door a couple seconds later. Then two knocks on the back panel of the car. A couple seconds later, two knocks on the rear of the car. And as this is happening, we're all starting to say, who's doing that. And then two knocks at the driver's side back panel. A couple seconds later, two knocks on the middle row door. And then two knocks on my door. It was just extremely odd that it circled the entire car. And we were looking for anything that could have been hitting the doors at all, anything stuck to the car, and there was absolutely nothing.

[Derek Hayes]

Thank you again, John. Now, for those of you unfamiliar with this area, if you know where Disneyland is, the spot is only about five or six miles northeast of there, near the Santa Ana river, the very same river that runs past the mountains that I live in. And since I do live in the relative vicinity, the Greater SoCal region if you will, I have all sorts of paranormal books on the area and I scoured each and every one of them hoping to find some mention of this phenomena, but sadly we came up short. Poking around the map, however, did help me realize that this area is also very close to Black Star Canyon, a place that gets mentioned on these Hometown Legend episodes quite often. And I can't say that there's a tie in there, but given its reputation and history, I figured I'd better at least mention it. But beyond that, I don't have much more to offer to this story, at least not at this time. But my door is always open. So if you have any info, by all means send it our way. And thank you again, Ollie, Great hearing from you, per usual. And folks, this seems like a good reminder to check out our sister show Monsters Among Us Junior all for the youngsters. They too can call in their stories at 833 Maukids or email them in at monsters among us jrmail.com or you can just tune in and hear creepy tales from the tiniest of storytellers. Now episodes drop every other Wednesday and with nearly 25 episodes in the back catalog, it's a perfect road trip listen for the entire family. So go check out Monsters Among Us Junior wherever fine podcasts are sold. Now what might not be family friendly is this next entry, a gruesome tale from Greg the Volunteer State of Tennessee.

[Greg]

Hey there first time caller. This is Greg in East Tennessee. When we were young growing up this would be 1970s, we'd go to my grandparents house in Johnson City. My father being the oldest, still had a few brothers and sisters living at home and aunt Bobby, her favorite thing was to tell us the local ghost stories and then drive us around at night and scare the crap out of us. So the best and the last thing that we would visit every time we did this was Alice the hanging woman at ETSU East Tennessee State University. They only lived a block or two from the college and we would drive down there. There was a white Victorian house that was still part of the campus and the legend was that a girl had hung herself in her dorm room and then an art student friend had made an effigy, a stained glass window of a hanging girl and you would go by and at night there would be nothing lit on the house except a backlight on a stained glass window of a woman hanging. And it would scare the crap out of us. It was really good. It was the finale to the night. Fast forward 10 or 15 years and I ended up at East Tennessee State University and had a friend who was taking the college radio courses and had a radio show. And the radio station was housed in the same building that Alice the Hanging Ghost was in. So I actually got to go into the building and my friend that had the radio show would not go in without something to drink and a friend, somebody to sit with him. He said that the noises, the steps above and below and around and the whispering and the voices were too much. And so he always would ask for a friend to have a drink with him and then go and sit for an hour while he did his radio show and come out. So I actually got to spend a night or two in the house. It's all online. It's easy to check out Alice the Hanging Ghost at etsu. The picture that you see is a stained glass window. I think there are trees beside the girl. But as a kid and after hearing the story from my aunt, we were looking for ropes, so we saw ropes. It was scary as crap. All right, that's it. Johnson City, Tennessee. Thank you all very much. Bye bye.

[Derek Hayes]

Thanks for calling in, Greg. Now, I took a look at this stained glass window and apparently its history is ingrained with that of ets and it all begins with a railroad tycoon named George L. Carter. ETSU is no stranger to ghost stories.

[Ali]

One of those at ETSU is the.

[Derek Hayes]

Supposedly haunted stained glass window from the Carter Mansion. That stained glass window has lived a few places on campus. George L. Carter passed away in 1936.

[Ali]

And the university acquired his mansion in 1944 and began using it as a women's dormitory.

[Derek Hayes]

Soon thereafter, the students began to tell.

[Delaney]

Stories of strange noises in the house.

[Derek Hayes]

Centered around a stained glass window. That building was torn down in 1984, but the stained glass window stands watch in Nix Hall. Nick's hall also housed the library from 1931 to 1999. Now that clip courtesy of WJHL News 11 out of Johnson City. And according to some other articles, I got my hands on the activity and the stained glass window has since moved yet again, this time to the D.P. culp Center. And yes, apparently the activity continues there as well. Before I move on, I will mention that there are several clips in the show notes that will allow you to lay eyes on this possessed piece of art. And I can't say for sure that it does depict a hanging woman. I don't see that necessarily But I will say the window is creepy as all hell even without that detail. So go to monsters among us podcast.com and smash the Show Notes tab to take a look for yourself and be sure to let us know what you think. Thank you again, Greg for calling in. Alright. Do you remember when I told you that these hometown legends have a tendency to be dark in nature? Well, this next one might take that notion to extremes. Please welcome Anonymous out of the state of Tennessee.

[Announcer/Commercial Voice]

Hey there.

[Greg]

This would go probably under the hometown legend. And this is not a tale of the paranormal, but it is a little macabre and a good story if you've never heard it before. So this is in the early 1900s, I think. 1916 is what the Internet says. And the circuses traveled around the country by train and generally they would offload and it would be a big event. People would come out to watch them unloading the animals and things and then they would march everything down Main street right through the center of town. So this was in Kingsport, Tennessee in 1916. I've heard varying stories on what happened, but an elephant, Mary the elephant, got mad at somebody and stomped them to death. I've heard the story that it was a random person, a lady that she grabbed out of the audience on the side of the road. And I've heard the story that it was her trainer that was doing something that was making her angry and she killed him. But regardless, somebody died that day. And the big to do was what to do with the elephant. They decided to shoot it. Several people tried to shoot it and kill it, but nobody had a gun that was big enough to penetrate her skin. So what was arrived upon was a hanging in Irwin, Tennessee, which was about, I think 20 or 30 minutes away from Kingsport. There was a crane that was used to pick up boxcars and other rail type things. Big crane, big ass heavy crane. And they decided to hang the elephant. So they shipped the elephant by train down to the Irwin train yard where a noose made of chain was affixed to her and they hung her to death. So Irwin today is still the hanging elephant town. Again, not paranormal, but pretty weird if.

[Announcer/Commercial Voice]

You never heard it.

[Greg]

I hope everybody has a great day. I'll call back soon.

[Announcer/Commercial Voice]

Bye.

[Derek Hayes]

Now. How can we have a great day after hearing about that? Damn, the old days were pretty brutal. Nora caller seems a little unsure about the details surrounding these horrific events. So I took the liberty, or Delaney did rather, of finding a local source of information that could help fill in a few of the gruesome details. And one of the first things that I discovered was that there is a true version of this event. And we are lucky enough to hear about it from a witness that was present that tragic day. The following interview was conducted back in 2005 by WBIR, NBC News 10 out of Knoxville. This is Alma Brown Taylor, who was only five at the time, but got a front row seat to the event that gave Murderous Mary her infamous nickname. When the news came out, circus was coming to town, all the farmers wanted to come bring their children. My mother and a lot of other folks had their children up in these paths, watch the elephants being taken to be watered. A new elephant handler named Red Eldridge led the path of the pachyderms. He was riding on top of Mrs. Mary's head. Alma saw the moment Mary got that nickname. It started over a watermelon rind. When Mary reached over with her trunk to get that and put it in her mouth, he took his pick and punched her behind the ear. She took her trunk and just deliberately reached up, wrapped it around him, brought him out and slammed him down. And that gravel road, the best I can remember, that man's body splattered all over that gravel road. She slammed him down there so hard. Jesus, that's rough. But believe it or not, that wasn't the end of Murderous Mary's bad day. And coincidentally enough, that was not our only firsthand account of the events that took place that day. Lawson Reams was 6 the day that Mary was hung. He'd snuck up on the roof of a boxcar to get a better view of the action. I'll let him tell you how her final moments went as he witnessed them firsthand.

[Greg]

The chain broke the first time on the pool, but the people really scattered.

[Derek Hayes]

Out of the way in a hurry when they.

[Greg]

When they saw that elephant fall and hit the ground. And the second chain broke her neck.

[Derek Hayes]

And that killed her. What a grisly way to go. And hopefully she lost consciousness before the first chain snapped. Now, I find it hard to blame Mary here. If a little creature 1/100th of my size hooked me behind the ear, I might contemplate doing the same thing she did. The problem here is that she followed through with those actions. And apparently, even for animals, actions have consequences. Now, thank you for taking the time to share this wild and tragic story, caller. What a thing for a town to be known for. Alright folks, the show is nowhere near being over, but it is time for another quick break. But don't go anywhere because you're really going to enjoy What I have coming up for you next. I'll be right back. All right, folks, our next hometown legend takes us back to Illinois. Please welcome Aaron to the program.

[Aaron]

Hey, Derek. Aaron here calling from Chicago, longtime listener and patron. First time caller, wanted to call in and take you up on your hometown legends offer. Grew up on the south side of Chicago in Park Forest. Kind of famous for being the first post World War II planned community and also the site of the largest meteorite shower in a highly populated area in March of 2003. But kind of want to shoehorn in a hometown legend about the party house. If you were in like the, you know, alternative or party scene in the early aughts in the south burbs, definitely would have known about this house. Shout out to Davo if you're listening. Essentially, this house was super haunted. Stuff would fall off of shelves, stuff would go missing and then be found again. You know, you'd hear weird stuff. We're playing like a little punk rock band and every once in a while we try and play in the basement. And you know, one, it's just super creepy down there. Even if it's brightly lit, super creepy. You know, our instruments wouldn't work right. The vibes were definitely off too. So it never got the mojo going. Really weird feedback, weird like, you know, equipment just malfunctioning altogether. But anywho, all things must come to an end. That summer of 03, I think his dad finally put the house up for sale and, you know, they moved out. And while I was still on the market, my buddy showed me how to get in if I wanted to. And my buddy and I were kind of, you know, pre gaming over there, just the two of us waiting to see what was going on for the night. You know, whole house is empty. We're just in the back room having the first rip of the night, and all of a sudden we start to hear somebody walking around upstairs. And we're like, oh man, are there like squatters in here or something? So we like grab the baseball bat that's always at the back door and you know, we're hollering like, who's up there? Who's up there? You know, we go upstairs, it's an empty house, so there's not like anywhere to hide. But, you know, you could still feel that somebody was there. You know, you get that sense of like a presence, you know, and super creepy. We could feel someone up there. Clearly no one in sight. Go back downstairs, go to the basement, kind of look around. But again, it's super creepy, so didn't really do too thorough of a job. And that's not where the sound is coming from anyways. They're like, all right, well, maybe we're just stony baloney and, you know, making it up or something. So I went back to the back room and, you know, take another ripper, and here's somebody walking around all over again up there. And they're like, all right, we gotta get out of here. It's too much. But, yeah, that house was super haunted. Also, weirdly enough, this guy was my neighbor as a kid on the other side of town. My backyard neighbor. And in high school, he was my backyard neighbor all over again on the other side of town. So a lot of weird quirks. Anywho, that's what I got for this story. For a hometown legend. Really appreciate everything you and your team do, Derek. Keep up the good work and keep it spooky, y'.

[Announcer/Commercial Voice]

All.

[Derek Hayes]

Thank you, Aaron. The infamous haunted party house. I lived in a couple of quote unquote party houses in college. Now, there were no ghosts that I can recall, but there sure were a lot of parties. So it's pretty cool that this place has a reputation for not only being a hangout spot, but for having a fun little invisible guest there as well. Thank you again, Aaron, for sharing your hometown legend. Now, folks, don't forget to pick up some Monsters Among Us merchandise. The holidays are right around the corner. Any shirt, bag, patch pin, or sticker pack would make a great gift for that MAU lover in your life. So visit monsters among us podcast.com and click the shop tab. Get started now before things begin to sell out. Now, our editor Connor tells me that this next entry is except exceptionally eerie. Let's see if he was right. Archer out of New Jersey. Welcome to the show.

[Announcer/Commercial Voice]

Hey, Monsters Among Us crew. This is Archer from New Jersey, but I used to live in Poughkeepsie, and this is a hometown legend that actually became true. Not paranormal, but it is something that was just so gruesome that I think you'll want to share it Anyway, so in 1985, a teacher went missing in Poughkeepsie. Her car was found at the Galleria Mall with the doors unlocked, and her son had died mysteriously drowned in the pool in the backyard. He was like 20 years old or something years earlier. And everybody had a lot of suspicions about the husbands killing one or both of them. So 1985, the wife, Ms. Nichols, is reported missing. And in 2013, one of my brother's best friends from high school Was part of a construction crew that basically went through people's houses after they were deceased. Now, the name of this guy was James Nichols, and he lived to the right. Bold age of, like, 85. And he was a hoarder. He said, you know, you could barely move once you got into the house. Every room was packed with boxes and crap and trash, you know, throughout. They found several dead cats throughout the home. And this wasn't a big home. Now, when they got down to the basement, they found a refrigerator that was, like, bolted to the wall. And when they tried to remove the refrigerator from the wall, it ended up pulling an entire piece of the wall off. Now, behind it was a steel door with a doorknob that had been broken off. They had to excavate the entire house. So they ended up going into the room, and inside the room, they can see cellar doors to the outside. But outside, those doors had been paved over by a cement patio in the backyard. So there was no way into this room. And in the back of the room, behind tons of boxes and trash, was a garbage. Big, green garbage can. And inside it, they found hair, bones, skull wrapped in a trash bag. And it was the wife who'd been missing 30 plus years. Now, the husband was always a suspect, but the police had nothing on him. But he would always say creepy things like, you're never gonna find her. But they had no proof that he was the one who made her disappear. Until my brother's friend and the excavation crew found her remains in a secret wall in this guy's basement. She was killed by blunt force trauma to the head, so it's clear that he killed her. And since he died before they found the body, got away with it. So that's the hometown legend. Everyone suspected this guy. Nobody could prove it. And then it took an excavation team coming through the house and all the trash to find a secret wall and a secret door where her body was.

[Derek Hayes]

Thank you, Archer. Yikes. It kind of makes it sound like you can get away with a murder if you hide the body well enough. And, you know, I once met a guy that worked down at the Ohio power coal pits near where I grew up. They dig these massive holes and then just fill them back in once they'd scraped all the coal free. Well, this guy, whose name I can't even remember, Told me that if he wanted to hide any bodies, he'd sink them in the pond the day before they fill it in, Sealing the body forever under hundreds of feet of earth. Now, there's a reason I can't recall this dude's name. We didn't exactly become friends after that comment. What he told me stuck with me even to this day. And I'm reminded of what he said when I hear this horrid story from Archer. Just a little too on the nose. And no, I don't believe there are any missing persons from that area that would suggest this guy was anything except weird. And let me tell you, if being weird becomes a crime, we're all gonna have problems. Nevertheless, thank you again, Archer, for sharing your hometown legend. Now, I'll be right back with more legends right after this.

[Aaron]

One portion of the building may be salvaged.

[Derek Hayes]

Back to you guys. Now, speaking of murders, this next one too covers that solemn subject. Brace yourselves for Natalie's entry out of the state of Pennsylvania.

[Sarah]

Hi, I'm Natalie. I'm from Northeast Pennsylvania. This story takes place in the little town of Tuncanic, Pennsylvania. When I was a kid, this is a story that our mother always told us. And as we got older, she started telling us the true story behind it. So it was always something that has stuck with me. So the ghost story is the end of Margaret Hollow. On top of a small bridge, which is in Tuncannock, Pennsylvania. There was a woman who was pregnant and her boss had gotten her pregnant. And no one could know because he was a big powerful man. And when he found out, he had someone follow her. And they grabbed her and cut her up and put her in her sack and threw her under the bridge so that no one would find her. But then some boys came and they did. It says that if you park on the bridge and you wait in the night, she will come and she'll ask you where he is. And I know it seems silly, but my mom would do this and she'd have one of us get out of the minivan we were in. And when she got to the end of the story, one of my siblings would bang on the window and me and my sisters would scream. It was always funny. But turns out that the story of Margaret Hollow is actually kind of true. So Margaret was a real woman and she was murdered. She was caught up and put in a sack and thrown into that bridge. Now Margaret Hollow is at the end of the road from my grandparents property. And when my grandfather was a young boy, him and his friends used to put traps out there under the bridge to cut muskrats and things like that in the winter. And it was him and his friends that had found her in the burlap sack under the bridge. And my stepmom was super into this story and had written about it in college and had talked about it and I often think about it still and every time I take someone up there I tell them about it and what happened to her. But yeah, you can look it up and find stuff about her. It was an unsolved crime. The part about her boss I think is an assumption made by my mom. It was something that was never proven at the time and it's still something that no one really has answers to. Yeah. Thank you.

[Derek Hayes]

Thank you, Natalie. Now, as gnarly as all that sounds, I'm afraid the real story might be more gruesome. According to the Wikipedia page, at least 19 year old Margaret Martin vanished on December 17, 1938 after meeting a man who claimed he had a secretarial job. Four days later, her brutalized body was found in a creek 25 miles from home showing signs of strangulation, beating and attempted dismemberment. Despite a massive manhunt, dozens of suspects and even a false confession, the case remains unsolved to this day. Margaret's killer was never found. A little bit too true crime for me, but take a drive down Margaret Hollow Road between Tankannock and Center Moreland late at night and let me know if that story slides more into the paranormal realm and out of the true crime one. Either way, thank you again Natalie for sharing that entry. Oh, and I also found the original New York Times newspaper article covering this murder. I thought that was interesting enough to share in tonight's show Notes alright, in keeping with the theme of ghostly women, please welcome Matthew, who takes us to Tennessee for the third time tonight.

[Matthew]

Hello Derek, this is Matt from Tennessee and I have a hometown legend for you. In Bradley county, that's in the far east corner of Tennessee, we have a local ghoul called Tall Betsy or the lady in Black. In the late 1800s and into the early 1900s, there are actual news stories about an abnormally tall woman who wore dark clothes and yellow work gloves and she would frighten pictures pedestrians on Church Street. So you can actually find these articles if you dig. They're pretty interesting. There's no solid evidence that our tall woman was a goblin or a witch, but she did become a local boogeyman. Parents began telling their kids, get home before dark or Tall Betsy will get you. So fast forward to the 1980s and Bradley County's downtown area, which was once the cultural center of the town, is becoming drab and underutilized. So a prominent local businessman who had grown up hearing these stories of Tall Betsy. He proposed this big Halloween block party, which he would manage under the condition that this character, Tall Betsy, was officially adopted as the mascot. The businessman fashioned some folkloric backstory for this character. One detail is that she snatches kids up on Halloween, of course, and drags them into the old mausoleum on Fort Hill Cemetery. So now, every Halloween, Tall Betsy appears on Centenary Avenue, a historic neighborhood. And it's such a popular event that some 10,000 trick or treaters show up. This local legend has become a staple of our Halloween ritual. And it all started with a true or somewhat true story. To wrap this up, I think the archetype of a tall, scary lady who snatches up kids is an interesting one. And you probably know plenty of them. I know of one. In Abbeville, Alabama, there's this tall lady named Huggin Molly who emerges from the shadows to grab you up into a grim embrace. She has a restaurant named after her. It also reminds me of a disturbing creepypasta from Japan, Hachi Shakusama, which means eight foot tall. And she comes after kids, too. Anyway, I hope you can use this. I enjoy your show. It always makes me feel cozy, even when it creeps me out. Thank you.

[Derek Hayes]

Thanks, Matthew. Tall Betsy. Now that is a name. Kudos to whoever came up with it. Now, according to the man that is said to be responsible for Tall Betsy's resurrection, a man named Alan Jones, before she was a Halloween goblin, she was once a real person.

[Greg]

The best I can tell, it was right around the turn of the century. She was a lady that was very tall. She would go out and walk the streets of Cleveland late at night.

[Derek Hayes]

Now that clip courtesy of a short documentary on the subject that I found over on Facebook, simply titled Tall Betsy. A link to the full production can be found of course, in tonight's show notes. But if there's anything that you want to know about Tall Betsy, learning about her is quite easy because she's one of the few hometown legends that comes with her own poem that covers everything that you need to know. She comes out only on Halloween on Centenary Avenue. She can't be seen. Tall Betsy is the lady in black for scary night owls. She has a knack. Now if you're good and go home early, you won't get get by this gruesome girly. But if you linger Till after 10, we want you to know you are a has been cause. Betsy will tuck you under her arm and you can bet that is a cause for alarm to Fort Hill Cemetery. She will go to her mausoleum with you in tow. If you don't escape before sunrise, I warn you now, you will be her prize. She will have you for breakfast. I do not jest. You'll be on the menu, but not as her guest. Your bones she'll dump in that old well at Arnold school and no one will tell your parents the worry and threat. They'll search all over for you, I'll bet. So go home early on Halloween night and November 1st you'll be alright. Trick or treating is so much fun, but if you see Tall Betsy, you better run. It seems like Mr. Jones has turned a legend into a legendary experience. He's convinced an entire town to go all in on Betsy. And not only am I here for it, but judging by the attendance of this celebration, many others are as well. Now, I'd somehow never heard of Betsy before tonight. So a big thanks to you Matthew for the introduction. Missing Person section Downtown Lad Folks, here's how this is going to work. This next call is your final entry for the episode, but the good news here is that this is only part one of your season finale. Hometown Legends Special Episode Part two will be released for Thursday's episode. So be sure to tune in then to hear the back half of these amazing calls. Now, speaking of amazing calls, this next one is one of my favorites out of the entire bunch. Please welcome Pete to the program.

[Announcer/Commercial Voice]

Hey Derek, this is Pete from Texas and this is for your Hometown Legends. We're originally from West Texas. Back in 2014 we attended the annual Texas Bigfoot Conference in Jefferson, Texas. That's in far East Texas in the piney woods. And I retired shortly after that and we want to live somewhere nice but still be in the state of Texas. So we remembered the tall pine trees and decided to look for property over here. And the following year we moved over here. Didn't realize that Jefferson, Texas has its own Bigfoot. It's called the Marion County Monster or Marion Monster. At the time there was an article about a young boy coming home from school. I believe he was walking home. I can't remember if it was in the late 60s or in the 80s, but anyway, apparently there was a Bigfoot that trailed him in the woods and scared that little kid and even made the newspaper in Marshall, Texas, the Marshall Messenger. Anyway, you had mentioned Jefferson not too long ago. Jefferson still holds the annual Texas Bigfoot Conference in mid October every year and it's also been declared the Bigfoot Capital of Texas by no less an authority than the local mayor. We're smack dab between Lake of the Pines And Caddo Lake. Caddo Lake has its own Bigfoot. It's called the Caddo Critter. We're also not that far from the Foulk, Arkansas where the Foul monster made the Legend of Boggy Creek movie famous with the Fouc monster. We're not far away from out, so this whole area is squatchy. Anyway, our own personal experience when we first moved here, there's a place called Graffiti Bridge and it's northwest of town and it's called that because the kids go hang out there and the whole thing's covered in graffiti and that's where they go party. Well, a local resident was driving home one night and thought he saw a bear back around February of 2016. And so as he got closer, the bear jumped up and took off running on two legs. So apparently it wasn't a bear. And I don't think that incident made it into the newspaper, but just the word of mouth with the locals here. But my wife and I had an experience at Caddo Lake in April of 2024 and we like to camp during the fall, winter and spring because it's not as hot. And so there had been a lot of rain and Caddo Lake floods a lot. So the camping spots up close to the water were all flooded out. So we had to camp further away from the water. So it was only my wife and I and another elderly couple that was two spaces over and they had a little lap dog and we were staying in a pop up trailer. They went to bed around 11pm so after they went to bed, we went to bed around 12:20. And right after we went to bed, we're laying there and when you're in a pop up you can hear everything because it's kind of a glorified elevated tent is all it is really. And so we're laying there and we heard the loudest, deepest whoop that came from the area where was flooded. Where normally we would have camped. There weren't any campers over there. And after the first whoop we were like, did you hear that? And it's like, yeah. While we're fumbling around, it does it a second time. And so I told my wife to grab her phone to record it. So as she's getting her phone and trying to hit record, it did a third whoop. And this was loud and deep. And I mean it was pretty scary. I wouldn't think before I would hear people tell their whoop stories. It didn't even sound scary. But when you're there, the volume of the Lung and the capacity. By the time she started recording, it didn't do it again. We laid there quietly listening, and nothing else happened the rest of the night. I think they were just warning each other, letting each other know that, hey, we'd gone to bed, the coast was clear. At least that's the impression I got because, I don't know, just the way it all went down. It's as if they were watching us the whole time. And as soon as we went to bed, they were signaling that we'd gone in for the night. It was pretty scary at the time. And of course, we're in Texas. We don't go anywhere unarmed. But even though being armed, it was still a pretty scary deal. And I had heard a couple of other Bigfoot stories that happened there at the Caddo State Park. Someone called in and said him and his wife stayed in the cabins that are there and were having their honeymoon when something large walked up outside their window and they heard the bipedal footsteps and then heavy breathing and they had the blinds and curtain closed. And then it's as if it could see through the wall or could sense they were there. And then it just walked off and kept going in the direction it came from. That encounter I heard on another show and then I heard another guy that came back with a brother for a high school reunion. And they happened to stay at Caddo Lake. And while they didn't encounter the cattle critter, they did see orbs or balls of light up in the woods during the night. But anyway, that's my hometown legend here at my new adopted hometown of Jefferson, Texas. The Marion monster, the cattle critter, all of those Bigfoot type things are over here, whatever it is they are. Anyway, thanks, Derek.

[Derek Hayes]

Thanks for calling in, Pete. Texas Bigfoot has been brought up a lot lately, or maybe it's just out there and I'm just now starting to take notice. But Pete is right. That area is big on Bigfoot. The county of Marion has three reported sightings, according to the BFRO. Neighboring Morris county also has three reports, but adjacent Harrison and Cass counties have eight and 10 reported sightings, respectively. That's a decent amount, I'd say enough to make me wonder what exactly is going on down there. Now, I've linked to an article that Delaney dug up that we think might be the very same one that Pete referenced here in his call. But I think I can do you one better. Coincidentally, YouTube randomly showed me the following clip just this morning. It's a full episode of the Travel Channel show we're travels from 2006. And halfway through the production, the crew ventures to Jefferson, Texas, the very town in which Pete is calling from. And there they talked with a newspaper reporter that broke the story that Pete had mentioned. His name was Dwayne Dennis. And here's how those events went down. In his own words, courtesy of Weird Travels, he heard a noise. He turned around and looked, and he said there was a huge man. He had hair all over him, and he was very tall and big. And he started running, and he said he tore the soles off of his shoes before he got to his home. While doing his journalistic legwork, Dwayne Dennis happened upon a rather surprising footprint. It would have taken an artist to make that footprint. It was yay long, five toes. And I just don't think that a person could make something that quick and be that realistic.

[Aaron]

Well, that puts me in the thing.

[Announcer/Commercial Voice]

That I think is true.

[Derek Hayes]

Now, from that point on, that part of Texas has been gripped with Bigfoot fever, and rightly so, based on the amount of activity we were able to dig up here. Now, before we duck out of here for the evening, I wanted to first offer up a quick little experience to you. In his call, Pete had mentioned that when he hears people describe whooping sounds, howls, and other strange vocalizations, vocalizations that they suspect may be coming from the big guy, that it doesn't really affect him. In fact, he claimed that the sounds really aren't all that's scary. But when he found himself out there in the expanse of wilderness and he heard that sound, it invoked an entirely different feeling. So to give you a bit of a taste of what he was describing, I asked our editor, Connor to build a little soundscape for us, putting you in the bayou, out under the stars, beneath the light of the moon, where all you can hear are the crickets, the frogs, the water lapping. And then suddenly, when you're actually out there in the darkened woods, stuff like this takes on a whole different meaning. Now, a big thanks to Connor for putting that together, and another big thanks to Pete for calling in, and a huge thanks to everyone else that called in here this evening. And why not throw a massive thanks out to all of you listening here this evening. We couldn't do it without you. Now, like I said, I will be back here on Thursday with part two. But until then, Monsters Among Us Podcast is written and produced by me, Derek Hayes. Copyright Red Crow Media. Additional support is provided by Sarah Carter Hayes, Delaney Bowers, and Connor Ryan. All media used in this production is done so under the protection of fair use. Give us a Like and follow on our social media pages. Give us a Like and follow on YouTube. Leave us a rate and review wherever you can. And be sure to join us on our Discord server. And don't forget that you can catch the show every Saturday evening at 10pm Eastern on the Onax Digital Network. Just visit on xnetwork.com to tune in. And lastly, tonight's score was provided by Iron Cthulhu Apocalypse Co He Music and Carl Casey at Whitebat Audio. Don't forget about our film Could A Borrego Triangle to tune in. And don't forget international fans, you can finally watch the film by going to the website now. Don't forget to join us in the beyond either, monsters among us podcast.com and click the beyond tab. And I guess while I'm at it, don't forget to join us here on Thursday for the conclusion of season 19's hometown legend finale Special. Now, until I see you again, keep it spooky. And of course, have yourselves a good night. Sa.