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- [00:00]
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- [01:53]
Derek Hayes
Good evening and welcome to Monsters Among Us. I am your guide, Derek Hayes. Oh, what a pleasure it is to have you with us here tonight. Thank you for tuning in. Now, as you've probably already suspected, we're switching things up a bit here this evening because this episode marks the beginning of the end of season 20. And as we've done since nearly the beginning, we're gonna send this season out in style. That's right, Hometown Legends is back. Your local lore, your regional tales, and your hometown urban legends. And as luck would have it, I was able to divide all the hometown Legends I received this season into two categories. East of the Mississippi and west of it, right down the middle. So east versus west it is again, beginning tonight with the east. Now, before we push play on this first entry, a quick word of warning. These legends by nature, tend to be a gory affair. Lots of murder, neglect, abuse, self harm. It's all in tonight's episode. So consider this your blanket trigger warning. That sort of thing does lie ahead. But I promise we won't go into too many of the gruesome details. Now, with all of that out of the way and with the concept explained, let's get right in to the action. And to kick off the end of season 20, we begin in Virginia. Please welcome Zed to the program.
- [03:44]
Jed
Hey, this is Jed from Big Island, Virginia. I hope I'm not too late for Hometown Legends. This is about a really interesting place nearby called Devil's Marble Yard. In essence, it's basically a field of boulders that goes up a fairly steep slope. It's a fun little hike. It's really cool. All these boulders you can climb all the way up to the top. The view is fantastic. You might even see some fossils and things like that around there. But it has a cool legend attached to it. There's a lot of different variations of it locally, but the one that has the most detail is this. So the area that is now available as the Marble Yard used to be occupied by Native Americans. And unlike the way it is today, it was a very green and lush landscape. And apparently there was a large stone altar at the top of this hill that was used for worship on nights that had a full moon. So a Protestant couple met the Native Americans. And apparently the Native Americans thought they were spirits because they look different from the local tribes. Of course, they ended up being missionary and started converting some of the Native Americans to Christianity. However, that following year, apparently there's a big drought and the Native Americans felt that their conversion was the reason for this. And so they supposedly burned the missionary couple alive on the altar. And as the flames started to reach higher and higher, there was a big thorn and lightning struck the altar. And the altar basically exploded, causing all this rock to tumble over the mountainside. Hence why it's now a big boulder field. Basically, it's an interesting legend, and I'm not sure why it's called the Devil's Marble Yard. It doesn't really have much to do with the story, and I mean crude Appalachian folklore. It leaves more mystery than answers, questions. But I thought it was always an interesting little story to this great little hike here, the Jackson National Forest. And I just wanted to pass that little paranormal legend along there for hometown legends. Hope you enjoy it and let the listeners do as well.
- [06:26]
Derek Hayes
Thank you, Zed. The Devil's Marble Yard. Now, when I was younger, maybe 15 or 16, my dad took me and my brothers west for two weeks. We visited family in Wyoming and Utah. We road tripped all the way from Ohio. And on the way there, we stopped at all the sites, every viewpoint, every monument, every roadside attraction of which there were many. But as we did so, we began to notice a trend. Each of these amazing and awe inspiring locations were all named after the devil. The Devil's Slide in Utah, Devil's Tower in Wyoming, Devil's Kitchen in Colorado. Trust me, this is just the tip of the iceberg, so we can easily say that the Devil's Marble Yard is not alone. Now, Zed wondered how many of these places came to be named after such a controversial character. Well, I've linked to an article explaining all of that in detail. But essentially, white settlers moving west in the 19th century renamed these features that stuck out to them, and as their numbers increased, the new name was used more and more until it finally became official. And since many of those that came out west at that time were religious folks, the Devil was top of mind, and surely any inhospitable piece of property must belong to him. Now, there are movements to have the names of some of these places switched back. Some have been successful. Most have not. Now, if you'd like to learn more about the Devil's Marble Yard, I have a link in tonight's Show Notes. In fact, there will be a lot of links posted in tonight's Notes, and if you're able, it'll be fun to hunt those down and follow along as you listen. Go to monsters among us podcast.com and click on the Show Notes tab. Now folks, we need to get this first AD break out of the way. But when I come back, more hometown legends from the east right after this. Now when it comes to business, one of the biggest growth hacks is realizing you don't have to do everything yourself. Upwork makes it easy to bring in the right freelancer when you need them so you can stay focused on what you do best. Upwork is a one stop platform to find, hire and pay expert freelancers across the web and software development, data and analytics, marketing, business operations, and more. Upwork helps you grow your business by giving you fast access to specialized talent across 125 categories so you can fill gaps, launch projects faster and scale support up or down without committing to a full time headcount. You can browse profiles, review past work and get help scoping the role so you can hire with confidence and get started quickly with business. Plus, you can access the top 1% of talent on Upwork and with AI powered shortlisting, you'll get matched to the right freelancer in under six hours. No endless searching required. Upwork also cuts down operational hassle by handling things like contracts and payments all in one place so you can spend more time running the business. Thousands of growing businesses already trust upwork to hire flexible, high quality freelance talent for everything from one off projects to ongoing support. It's free to sign up and posting a job is is easy. Visit Upwork.com right now to post your job for free. That's Upwork.com to connect with top talent ready to help your business grow. That's up. W-O-R k.com upwork.com I know, I know replacing your AC and house heater can
- [10:43]
Charlie
put a strain on your budget.
- [10:45]
Derek Hayes
Now we did get a few entries from outside the country this go round and they lump them both in with the east just to keep things even. And before we launch into the first one, I first need to share with you a creature of Filipino lore, a creature known as the Aswang.
- [11:08]
Narrator (Aswang Description)
As a mythical creature in Filipino folklore, the Aswang shapeshifts and feeds on human flesh and blood and pregnant women's fetuses. Vampire like with a long thin tongue to draw children out of their mother's wombs, the creature lusts uncontrollably for raw meat, especially human flesh. Possessing a shapeshifter nature, the Aswang is often portrayed as a combination of several supernatural creatures such as vampires, witches, and werewolves, all of which make it particularly feared. In local traditions, it is said to have been an individual who lost control of his spiritual self, allowing its inner darkness to manifest within monstrous forms. The Aswang is believed to morph into different forms, such as animals or even other people, to fool its victims. By day, it often impersonates an ordinary human, hiding its true nature and mingling among the locals. Nevertheless, at night, it it reveals its ghoulish form and goes on the hunt.
- [12:12]
Derek Hayes
Now that clip from the YouTube channel See youe in History Slash Mythology. And now that you're familiar with the Aswang and all that it's said to be capable of, please welcome Jade out of California.
- [12:30]
Jade
Hi everyone. Here's the hometown legend from the Philippines. My name is Jade and I'm from SoCal. This actually happened to my mom when she was younger, so it took place in the 1940s. My mom grew up in the Philippines where Aswangs are known. I think for the most part, Aswangs are shape shifting humans. One night there was a commotion in my mom's house. She said that her siblings and her parents were quiet sweet the leaving their house to look at something outside. It was in the middle of the night so they told her to stay in the house and do not go outside. She of course didn't listen and snuck out to see what was going on. And there up on one of the trees sat a huge bird. She said aside from the bird being almost one sized, it had red eyes that glowed. But the most unexpected thing about the bird was that it was smoking a cigar and blowing the smoke towards them. Awesome podcast Derek. Thanks.
- [13:49]
Derek Hayes
Thank you Jade. This is not the first Aswang story we've shared here on the program, but it is the first one that we've shared in a long time and certainly it is the first cigar smoking bird I've shared to date. Absolutely wild stuff, Jade. And we thank you again for sharing your mother's story. Now up next, we return to Virginia. This time it's Jody that has a hometown legend. Ready to roll.
- [14:27]
Jody
Hello Derek. My name is Jody and I'm from Virginia. My story took place about 10 years ago. A few friends and I had been hearing stories for years about a haunted tunnel in a neighboring city that we wanted to check out. The tunnel was originally part of the railroad system back in the 30s or 40s and has been decommissioned for decades. As the story goes, there are a few different ghosts that reside there. People have claimed to hear children laughing and singing, and upon turning off your car in the middle of the tunnel, you can hear them getting closer and closer to your vehicle and upon leaving, you can supposedly see handprints on your car. Another story is of a woman crying that will approach your car from behind and she disappears as soon as she reaches you. I don't know about the validity of either of these stories, but I wanted to see if I could experience it for myself. My friends and I charged up a video camera to bring with us and headed out to the tunnel around midnight. When we got there, I went to turn the camera on and nothing happened. Screen was black. Power light didn't come on. I laughed and asked my friend, are you sure it's charged? He said yes and attempted to turn it on himself. Same thing. Black screen, power light off. We drove into the tunnel and sat with our car off and windows down for 15 minutes or so, listening intently. All I could hear was water running as a small stream runs down either side of the tunnel. I chalked this up to the source of the laughing, singing or crying. I figured this could be a case of audio pareidolia with nothing eventful happening. We started the car back up and headed out. As we got to the other side of the tunnel, I tried to turn the camera back on and it started right up. Full battery. I thought this was odd as we tried to no avail. Just minutes prior, I asked my friend to go back through the tunnel from the other direction and I would film. Now that our camera was working, I hit record and we started through the tunnel from the the opposite direction. We did not stop this time however, but we did drive through slowly and I panned the camera around to see each angle of the tunnel. Now, keep in mind, while I was filming, we all stayed quiet to see if we could capture any audio. Once we got to the end of the tunnel, I stopped filming and went to watch the video back. The file was 15 minutes flat, and the thumbnail was static. This was very strange, as the video couldn't have been any more than a couple minutes, and normally the thumbnail is the first frame of the video starting up. Now, when the video played, there wasn't any picture at all. It was just weird, garbled static with small blips of color, almost like a TV trying to pick up a weak signal. The audio in the video was muffled, and within seconds, I could hear my own voice cussing at my friends and screaming at them. I sounded angry and scared in the audio. Scared the hell out of us. Listening to it, the last thing I could make out was myself saying, please just go us out of here. And what sounded like myself crying. I was absolutely horrified hearing this. One of my friends said, what the hell was that? I have no idea. I handed him the camera for him to review it himself. He went to load up the video and got an error message. The thumbnail was now blue and the timestamp was all zeros. He went to play it, and it just kept giving him an error message. This is by far the strangest, most terrifying thing that's ever happened to me. My friends now have all said something is very wrong with that tunnel, and we haven't gone back after this occurrence. No other files ever did anything like that on the camera. I wish I could chalk it up to some hardware malfunction, but what we heard was clearly my voice in distress. And that is the scariest part. Thanks for listening. Take care.
- [17:51]
Derek Hayes
Thank you, Jody. You know, tunnels are freaky enough without the idea of unseen hands messing up your clear coat and disembodied crying in an old, dusty tunnel. That is the stuff that hometown legends are made of. But that mysterious video, A video that honestly doesn't even sound plausible. Well, those sorts of details go beyond an innocent legend and a few ghostly giggles. In fact, it sounds like a plot device in an awesome early 2000s horror flick. So whatever went down that night, I think your suspicions are correct. There is something strange about that tunnel. Amazing stuff, Jody. And thank you again for calling in. Now, folks, if you would like to share your story on the air, give our hotline a call at 888-608-NIGHT. That's 888608, Nig HT. Or you can record a Voice memo and email it to me at Monsters among us podcast gmail.com. now back to the hometown legends, and for this next one, we're going to the Sunshine State. Please welcome Stephanie to the program.
- [19:25]
Stephanie
Hi, Monsters among us. And Derek, this is your friend Stephanie from the Tampa area. And I'm calling in with a hometown legend from Ybor City in Tampa. This is my husband's story. He wouldn't get on and relate it himself, but it concerns his time at the Don Vincente Hotel in Ybor City. Now, it used to be an inn, but it's no longer an inn. It's office spaces. And a couple of Years ago, probably 20, 23, I think, he had many occasions where he went and did some business with some of the people that were using the basement area of that former hotel. So you had to be buzzed in. And he got in and was waiting in the lobby to meet one of the people working in the basement. And he was looking at his phone and he felt something tugging on his left sleeve. At first he thought, well, maybe caught it on something. He looked around and he was really kind of in the middle of the lobby area. Didn't matter too much, didn't think about it too much. And then a few minutes later, he felt a pretty distinct tug on his right sleeve. And again, nobody around. Now, eventually somebody came up or called him down into the business area down the basement, and that was it. I've been down there as well. It's really nice. And there's a bar area and there's a bathroom that was featured in an episode of the Dead Files where they had their psychic go in and relate all this thing about a woman who's down in the basement in the bathroom. Anyway, one of the people that my husband was working with also told me that he saw her trying ascending the stairs, and he thought it was a real person at first. And then she just disappeared. So it's still going strong. Unfortunately, you have to be having business to go into that location now. But was a pretty cool building and still has a ghost running around. Have fun.
- [21:32]
Jade
Be spooky.
- [21:36]
Derek Hayes
Thank you, Stephanie. Now, ghostly activity shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that knows the history of this building because it's pretty dark. Here's a clip from the television program Stephanie mentioned the Dead Files, explaining exactly what they think went down there.
- [21:57]
Interviewer
So I understand the location's an inn now it's a hotel. It's been that way for about 11 years. But I understand way back when it was actually a clinic or a Hospital.
- [22:06]
Expert (Jose Luis Avellanal story)
It was one of the most famous medical clinics in Tampa. This was not merely an outpatient clinic. This was a modern hospital. The key figure in understanding that building is a man by the name of Jose Luis Avellanal. He had so many lives, so many disguises. Born In Tampa in 1903, the only child of privilege, and his father operated the clinic.
- [22:32]
Interviewer
Was he a doctor?
- [22:33]
Expert (Jose Luis Avellanal story)
Honestly, I'm not sure whether he had a medical degree or not. He had been investigated by the government for running a diploma mill.
- [22:43]
Interviewer
So basically, what with this diploma mill, he could have made himself anything he wanted to be.
- [22:47]
Expert (Jose Luis Avellanal story)
He was anything he wanted to be. The strangest aspect of this was Avellinal's obsession with death and eternal life. Avellinal. He was constantly petitioning local boards to experiment on cats, to restore cats lives. And God knows whether he was ever experimenting with humans there. But he was simply convinced that only he had the truth.
- [23:21]
Interviewer
So given what you know about this man right now, he's a pathological liar. He's obsessed with the dead. He's got a narcissistic personality, to say the least. Would you be surprised if tomorrow you found out there were bodies in his basement?
- [23:34]
Expert (Jose Luis Avellanal story)
No.
- [23:39]
Derek Hayes
Now, with claims like that, how could the place not be haunted? Now, I did do some double checking because not everything you see or hear on television is true. But it turns out that at least this part of the story is, the building did serve as a clinic for a number of years. And from what I understand, that basement area where much of the activity seems to occur served as the hospital's morgue. So take all of that any way you'd like, but be sure to thank Stephanie for taking the time to call in real kinship, vital companionship and fellowship. Now, I don't know about you, but I like keeping my money where I can see it. Unfortunately, traditional big wireless carriers seem to like keeping my money too. After years of overpaying for wireless, I finally got fed up with the crazy high bills, bogus fees, and quote, unquote, free perks that actually cost me more in the long run. And I switched to Mint Mobile. I went from paying $80 a month to just $15 a month with Mint. Stop overpaying for wireless just because that's how. How it's always been. Mint exists. Purely to fix that. Mint Mobile premium wireless plans start at just 15 bucks a month. All plans come with high speed data and unlimited talk and text delivered on the nation's largest 5G network. Bring your own phone number, activate your esim in minutes, and start saving Immediately. No long term contracts and no hassle. Even in our rural mountain town we have great coverage with Mint. When we first signed up, I was shocked by the quality and you really can't beat the price. So ditch overpriced wireless and get three months of premium wireless service from Mint mobile for just 15 bucks a month. If you like your money, Mint Mobile is here for you. Shop plans@mintmobile.com CMAU that's mintmobile.com MAU upfront payment of $45 for 3 month 5 gigabyte plan required equivalent to $15 a month new customer offer for first 3 months only. Then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details. Their experience setting up for the next mission invested as well. Now this next call takes us to West Virginia by way of Kansas. Please welcome Matt to the program.
- [26:26]
Matt
My name is Matt. I currently live in Kansas, but I'm from West Virginia. I lived in Nitro, West Virginia in the 90s and we used to right across the mountain called Moose Lodge Mountain. We were able to climb, I mean it was certainly a huge climb. We were able to climb this mountain and play for most of the day up there and make it home at a good time at least when we were exposed to. But if you weren't paying attention, you could wind up being up there. It'd be dusk, which is much earlier with the coverage of the trees. All the older kids in school had mentioned this place called the Devil's Tea Tents. And I'm sure like every state has something like this. This is somewhere in the Moose Lodge. We've never seen it. We had a fort we built. We had done all sorts of things up there. We never found this place. So we went out to find the double seat hip which is like, you know, this place that, you know, some directions are pretty loose. We're kind of going off hearsay. So after a long journey which is going to put us back at home in dark so where we've already like screwed ourselves on beginning hole we find the Devil's Teeth which is just by an old Civil war graveyard with all these headstones that are just destroyed like it'd be super old. And it's on the side of the hill. We get to the top of the table. The table overlooks Nitro the city. So like we found like this place, this beautiful place and there were things everywhere. Like there was a cauldron, there were animals. Headstones were thrown from the table on down under. So we had heard about a story that somebody committed suicide up there. Then I believe that there was some truth to this. I don't know. In middle school, we're kind of piecing things together. We're trying to be scared but not too scared. But when we finally made it to the tea table, things were different. Like the feeling was different. Obviously we were at a graveyard. It was at dusk. We're going to be going home in the dark. There's obvious double worshiping items. Worshiping of some sort. Items that are strung about headstones or broke. And then all of a sudden those things began to be thrown at us. So like pebbles and small, like acorns are just like things. And the one thing I recall was a can. Like as soon as this can got thrown, I was like, we all have to run. And so we ran as fast as we could, falling here and there, scared. It's all get out. And we made it off of this lodge mountain. I think we're all grounded. But double tea table, scary, terrifying place. All right, thank you. Hope you liked it.
- [29:15]
Derek Hayes
The Devil's Tea Table. Yet another unusual geological formation named after old Scratch himself. Now, the Devil's Tea Table might start to rise in popularity here soon because for the first time in a long time, the 60 foot tall natural rock table was recently made more accessible thanks to new backroads built in the area. It's located near Burning Springs, West Virginia. And according to my research, you can visit it yourself. But if you do heed Matt's warnings, the place just might be harboring something supernatural. Thank you again, Matt, for sharing. Now off to a state that we very seldom visit here on the show. Please welcome Taylor, head of the state of Rhode Island. Foreign.
- [30:18]
Taylor
Hey, Derek, this is Taylor and I'm calling in with a hometown legend. I am from Rhode island and this story is about Mercy Brown, who is an alleged vampire. And she was born in 1872 to George and Mary Brown. And this poor family just experienced so much tragedy. George's wife Mary died at 36 years old to tuberculosis. And almost all of his children died before the age of 25. All of tuberculosis, including his daughter Mercy, who died in 1892 at just 19 years old. And many people thought that because there were so many deaths in George's family, that something supernatural must have been happening. And so they thought that somebody in his family may be be a vampire or undead. And tuberculosis was largely misunderstood at the time and therefore it bred a lot of superstition. But George Brown was persuaded. He gave hesitant permission to the townspeople to exhume the bodies of his Family members, which. This took place in Exeter, Rhode island, which is kind of more towards the southern part of the state. So the people of Exeter exhumed the bodies of George's family members, largely in order to inspect for signs that one of his family members was undead. And while most of the family was at a pretty typical level of decomposition, it was Mercy's body that said to have been pretty much entirely intact. Like, it said that there was still blood in her heart, said that her hair and fingernails had continued growing while she was dead, and that there were virtually no. No signs of decomposition to her body. Now, it's important to note that she had died in January of 1892. So it gets pretty cold in New England. And they exhumed their bodies a couple months later. So it's probably very likely that it was the cold that was preserving Mercy's body. But, of course, the villagers saw this as, like, a sure sign that Mercy was undead. She was a vampire. And this was also in the height of New England's vampire hysteria. Rhode island was labeled at the time as the vampire capital of America. There were a lot of rumors of vampires in this area. They were kind of already, like, taking this and running with it. And the villagers believed at the time that only by killing the vampire, the supposed undead, that they'd be able to save George's son, Edwin, who was 24 years old at the time, and he was very sick with tuberculosis. So they took out Mercy's heart and her liver, they burned it, and they put it in a tonic for Edwin to drink, which is so incredibly gross. But they believed that this would cure him because at this point, again, they thought it was a vampire curse. And unfortunately, it didn't work because Edwin died less than two months later at 24 years old. And still, like, even after that, like, Rhode island was a hotbed for rumors of vampires. And the legend is still strong today. It still exists today. A lot of people here still visit Mercy's grave, especially around Halloween. And they'll go, you know, take pictures, visit. There's, like, evidence of rituals taking place at her grave site. There's actually another grave in West Greenwich, Rhode island, which is a little bit further north of Exeter. And that belongs to Nellie Vaughan. She died in 1889. She was 19 years old. And she's another alleged vampire, which, from the research that I've done previously, I don't think it was thought that she was a vampire at the time of her death. But it's kind of like rumors circulated after that, and it Kind of became like another alleged vampire story. But people have reported hearing a young woman's voice, like, right around her gravesite saying, quote, unquote, I am perfectly pleasant. Which is interesting because multiple people have reported that. And the grave site said to be cursed. Folks claim that nothing grows on her grave. No vegetation, nothing. Like, even though there's been many attempts to plant there. And what I think is the creepiest thing about this grave is that at the bottom of Nellie's gravestone, there's an inscription that says, I am waiting and waiting, watching for you. Which is, like, beyond creepy. I don't know why they put that on there. So that's my hometown legend. And as we know, Rhode Island, New England, like, we're just, like, full of legends, creepy stories, ghost stories. There's so much history here. But this one is definitely one of my favorites. So I love the show. I love what you're doing with it. You're all doing just such an incredible job. And I will keep binge listening because I have been for weeks now. And take care.
- [35:09]
Derek Hayes
Thank you, Taylor, for that perfectly told tale. Mercy Brown, a name that pops up in nearly every general vampire conversation, if there is such a thing. A very well known cautionary tale and a tragic one as well, like Taylor mentioned. And I believe this is the very first time we've discussed Mercy here on the program. And given the popularity of this story, I'm not sure how that's even possible. Taylor also mentioned that this sort of practice wasn't limited to Mercy Brown or the state of Rhode Island. In fact, it happened enough that the movement picked up a name. They called it the New England Vampire Panic. And a few other unfortunate souls that suffered similar superstitions as Mercy were Henry Ray of Connecticut, John Barbour of Vermont, Frederick Ransom in Vermont, and Sarah Tillingshast in Rhode island, in addition to Nelly Vaughan, who was mentioned in the call. But aside from making the world's most disgusting tea, I wondered what other practices were applied to those unfortunate. Dad. And to give us a crash course on that information, we turned to one of my favorite television programs of all time. Sightings.
- [36:36]
Sightings Narrator
Tuberculosis played a major role in the vampire folklore of the 1800s. It was believed that those who died of TB could come back and infect the living. So a ritual developed to ensure that a corpse's eternal resting place really was eternal.
- [36:52]
Sightings Expert
What they actually did was take the bones here in the chest and jumbled them up like someone had just taken their hand and kind of moved it around in that fashion. They then took the two femora, the upper leg bones crossed, this one here and this other one on top of it. They then took the skull and placed that right in this area and then they closed the crypt back up.
- [37:12]
Sightings Narrator
The graves were opened anywhere from two weeks to a year after burial graves with dearly departed loved ones or anyone who died of tuberculosis.
- [37:22]
Sightings Expert
What floored me is just that people could actually believe that someone dying of tuberculosis could actually cause the death of loved ones. And there are accounts in New England especially of men going into the graves of their daughter and removing their hearts and burning them. And you know, fathers doing it to sons, sons doing it to fathers. I mean very close family family units.
- [37:41]
Derek Hayes
Absolutely gruesome. And remember, these are just the cases that we know about and the practices that we've heard about. I doubt we even want to know the details that have been lost to history. But we thank you again, Taylor, for bringing this story to the program. Like I said, this might be Mercy's first appearance on the show and it's been a long time coming. He was the second batter that
- [38:14]
Interviewer (UK segment)
Ryan
- [38:15]
Ryan Reynolds
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- [39:14]
Derek Hayes
Don't understand that fact.
- [39:16]
Expert (Jose Luis Avellanal story)
You have not been paying attention for
- [39:17]
Derek Hayes
more than off guard.
- [39:22]
Poet or Musician
Levitate the clock forgets the numbers. Place floorboards we split in borrowed tongue. I sit up right before the ceiling comes undone. There's a pressure where the dog should be like someone adjusting gravity. I don't scream. I smooth the sheets as if you come the the knee. You don't say sleep, you say a line you say I've always Been on time. Soft nights Silver hum Take me to your spaceship I know what I become.
- [40:14]
Derek Hayes
Now, that was Soft Night by our friends over at School for Boys. Matt was kind enough to share the tune with us, a tune that romanticizes the alien abduction phenomenon. His words, not mine. Excellent stuff, my friend. And if you like what you hear, there's a link in tonight's show. Notes. Now, this subsequent entry takes us back to Virginia yet again. The Commonwealth is really representing here tonight. So please welcome my friend Secret back to the program.
- [40:51]
Secret
Hey, Derek and everybody, it's your girl Secret again. And I've got another one for your hometown. Legends from my state of Virginia, not far from where I live now in Clifton, Virginia, there is the Legend of the Bunnyman. There is Bunnyman Bridge in Clifton, Virginia, in the county of Fairfax, not far from where I grew up in Prince William County. Now, there's many different versions of the legend. Some say he was an escaped inmate from Lorton Prison. Well, not really true, but there was apparently in the 1970s, a guy, he had been seen around in white bunny costume. And I believe there were allegations of sex abuse of children or murders of children or murders of people, something like that. Now, I could be fuzzy on some of the details, however, the legend goes that the tunnel at Bunnyman Bridge is haunted. Some of the legends state that he was an escaped crazy and that his ghost now haunts the Bunnyman Bridge and murders people at midnight if you stick around. And supposedly there are screams of children that come from inside the tunnel where he allegedly murdered his victims. Now, this is where it gets interesting for me as a paranormal investigator and a medium. I'm passive. I just sit there and go to paranormal sites and investigate. That's all I do. General impressions of the site, you know, the feelings I get. I try to sense things. I'm more of a sensitive than a true medium type thing. So having been to the actual Bunnyman Bridge many times, especially at night, especially at midnight, and also a few times on Halloween when things are supposed to get really creepy and spooky. Yeah, there are some really weird, strong paranormal vibes that you get there. I went there with my mentor, may she rest in peace, and one of my sisters, who was also an investigator with my mentor and I. And we went there and the three of us being sensitives and mediums and having some equipment, we did have an instance where our recording equipment suddenly failed and the brand new batteries were dead suddenly. I mean, this was like around 2005 or 6, so camcorders were expensive, but we did have some digital recording equipment, so we're trying to capture ambient background noise and, you know, voices and such. It suddenly failed and brand new batteries were dead. So I have heard screams there on a couple of occasions. However, I'm pretty well versed in wildlife, and they were definitely, in my experience, the screams of a Dixon, a female fox calling for her mate, which do sound very much like a woman or child screaming. Now, I will say there are some really kinky things around that bridge. We did get some pretty paranormal heebie jeebies around the bridge. You know, three sensitives at the witching hour with our equipment failing like it did. I'm not going to sit here. Oh, it's the Bunnyman. But there's definitely some kind of energy or something around that bridge, some kind of impression that was left around that bridge that could have been negative. And I'm a big proponent of the theory that energy gets left behind from people and events as we move through areas and history and so on, and it deposits in locations, so it very well could be that. But there's definitely some bad vibes in that area. Yeah. So that's the story of Bunnyman Bridge. So keep it spooky. And there's another one for your hometown legend in Virginia. Catch you on the flip side.
- [45:38]
Derek Hayes
Thank you, Secret. Now, we've covered the Bunnyman Bridge of Fairfax, Virginia in a couple of different episodes. Season 14, episode 20, and again on season 15, episode 2. So you can hit up those show notes and or episodes for a full deep dive. But there is no arguing. The Bunnyman is certainly a hometown legend staple. And with a name like Bunnyman, how could it not be? Thanks as always, Secret, for making the phone call. Now, folks, before we move on to our next hometown legend, a quick update on the T shirt. Pre order that awesome Dogman design by Mr. Jonathan Dodd. Well, they've been printed and as of the time of this recording, they're on the way to my mother's house where she'll quickly get them all shipped out. And that means that the design will be available in the shop soon as well. So keep your eyes open at monsters among us podcast.com and by clicking the shop tab now. You thought Bunnyman was a crazy story. Wait until you hear about this next infamous individual. Dylan, welcome to the program.
- [47:00]
Dylan
Hey, Derek, new fan of the show. Been listening a lot and I had an experience that happened to me when I was younger with my cousin. I'm from upstate New York. My name is Dylan. It's a small town legend.
- [47:12]
Derek Hayes
It's hill called Star Hill.
- [47:14]
Dylan
And a guy went up there and went crazy I guess, and his name was Hatchet and killed a whole bunch of people. The legend is when you go up there at nighttime, you can see the people you killed.
- [47:24]
Charlie
And well, I didn't believe it.
- [47:26]
Dylan
And my cousin's been up there multiple times and he said, you want to believe it, I'll take you. One night we went up there during the summer when I was about 17. It was about midnight we went up there and I walked in there and we found this abandoned cemetery with an Oakland grave. I didn't think anything of it and I kind of just walked around yelling at things, challenging it, telling it to itself. Well, I regretted everything I said to that night. I had so many things happening that night, it was crazy. I heard voices from behind me that were not there. I heard a little girl's voice come to the woods saying, follow me. Follow me. Help me, save me. I seen a bright light coming from the woods. I didn't know what to think of it. To this day, I don't know what
- [48:09]
Charlie
to think of it.
- [48:09]
Dylan
I don't ever will never set foot on that hill again. Thank you very much for listening to my story. Big fan of the show.
- [48:16]
Derek Hayes
Thank you, Good night. Thank you, Dylan. Now some may know this monster is the Potato Hill Killer. Potato Hill and Star Hill are very close together. And it's my understanding that both locations were part of his hunting grounds. Now, I'm not all that interested in true crime, so stories like this often fly under my radar. But given that this is the hometown Legend special, I feel like it fits right in. Now this one is gruesome, folks be warned. But here is the true story of Bernard Paul Hatch. On April 26, 1973, the mutilated body of Mary Rose Turner was found by police in a freshly dug makeshift grave. She was footless, armless and faceless. Earlier that day, a local farmer reported seeing a green car dragging what appeared to be a human body apparently tied to the rear of the vehicle, driving north on Potato Hill Road. A state trooper later found Turner's body nearby. And after following a bloody trail on the roadway, investigators determined that the 56 year old new York mother had been out for an early morning walk when she encountered Hatch, who tied her to his 1966 green two door Plymouth satellite and fatally dragged her along the road. Hatch had been working the graveyard shift at a nearby gas station the night of Turner's killing. He was indicted on second degree murder charges in Turner's killing. On October 17, 1973. In April of 75, a jury found Hatch guilty. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison. The case, which involved the discovery of bodies in shallow graves on Potato Hill, was described as the longest and most expensive trial in Oneida county history. Bernard Hatch, 81, died at Fishkill Correctional Facility Regional Medical Unit on November 8, 2021. Now, I could find no mention of a hatchet being used, so perhaps that part of the story was born from his last name, Hatch. Those are easy dots to connect. But hatchet or not, he was a madman. And I imagine the scars he left on not only the families of the area, but those two hills as well, will live on for a long time. So, Dylan, that's a gnarly recount, but we thank you again for giving us all the ick.
- [51:05]
Charlie
And I'll tell you something.
- [51:08]
Derek Hayes
She jumped up within no time.
- [51:12]
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- [51:43]
Derek Hayes
Good. And they have chosen not to. Now off to my boyhood home of Ohio for this next one. Please welcome Charlie to the program.
- [51:58]
Charlie
Hi, Derek. This is Charlie from Believe in Bizarre. I am calling because I have two stories about hometown legends I wanted to share with you. But the first one is a story that my dad told me when I was kid. It took place in our town. I grew up in Garfield Heights, Ohio, and our neighbors were called the Psychos. It should have been pronounced seco. They spelled it like that, but they pronounced it Psycho. It was a family, right? There was a dad, a mom and two sons. One was like 19, the other was like 16. And the same about them. They're bad kids. They were objectively bad kids. The older boy, this is the reason my dad bought a shotgun when I was a kid. This kid would walk around the neighborhood with an axe. He'd walk around our block multiple times a day just holding an axe. That being said, the story is not about him. This story is about the dad and the younger brother. So the younger brother decided to hit a lick, as the kids would say. Now, you robbed. Held up his mom's store that she worked at just up the street. It was A drive through liquor store. So he held it up with his friend one evening, it was a Friday night, and they robbed the place and they didn't get caught. But that same night, his dad found out about what happened and he decided to do something about it. So what he did was late that night, that same night, I guess it was the next morning, it was like 2 in the morning, he grabbed his pistol and what he ended up doing was shooting the mother in the head. He shot his youngest son in the head while they were sleeping. It was a level house, so you'd walk in. I know the way it was laid out because I had friends that lived there. I'd been to this house. He dragged the chair, the recliner, to the top of the steps. You'd see this when you walked right in. And he waited for the oldest brother to come home from a date. He came home late. It was like 4 or 5 in the morning. And what happened was he came to the front door and he saw his dad sitting there in the recliner pointing the pistol at him. And as he looks at his dad, his dad says, I killed your mother. I killed your brother, and I'm gonna kill you. And after I kill you, I'm gonna kill myself. The next thing that happened is he shot at that son, but he missed. He hit the door. The kid ran, jumped his car, got out of there. But before the police could come, the father did take his own life. That is the story of the seacoast. I've never been able to find news about it, but my dad swore it happened. He woke up the next day with news vans all over the place while he was making breakfast, looking the window because you could see the house from our backyard. I've never been able to verify it, but I believe my dad. So that's the story of the seat. Goes for my second story. I live with my mom. Mostly we lived together in that house, the same house from the last story. But this is a couple years later. We were surrounded by woods. There's like my home, my cul de sac. And just like woods surrounded it. And I, of course, like any young boy, wanted to play in the woods all the time. But my mom, she knew I was pretty superstitious. She came up with a story. To be clear, I do think this is not real. I think she base it totally out of her mind. But she came up with the idea that during the day there was a creature that walked around in the shape of a coyote. And at night he would transform into something called the Coyote Man. What this creature was? It was this guy. He had a beard. He was mostly naked. He wore the skin of a coyote, and he had leaves and twigs in his beard. And the scariest thing to me was that he carried two tomahawks. The heads were made of flint. And I'll tell you what, it worked. I believe this story longer than I really should have. She told it with such conviction. I believe this story. I know it was just Keep Me out of the woods at Night. That's a hometown legend. I'm pretty sure no one else has that. I think it's a funny story. But also, I don't know, maybe there's something to it. I doubt it. But anyway, hope you have a good day.
- [56:26]
Derek Hayes
Thank you, Charlie. Now, I was lucky enough to be a guest on Charlie's podcast Believing the Bazaar about a year ago. I think now we've linked to that episode in the show notes if you'd like to check it out. Now, as for Charlie's entry, let's see if there are any listeners out there that might know about the psychos. Do any of my Cleveland listeners know this story or remember these events occurring? Let me know and I'll be sure to follow up. And as for the Coyote man, believe it or not, I've received Coyote man reports from Ohio before. Closer to my neck of the woods, though one particular case out of the Zanesville area comes to mind. A coyote walking on its hind legs. So eerie stuff, Charlie, especially if both stories end up being being true. Thank you again for calling. It's always great to hear from you. Now, folks, real quick, before we dive into tonight's last submission, we've recently added a brand new perk to the Beyond, a weekly newsletter released each and every Friday. Written by our team members, Connor and Delaney, the newsletter includes an even deeper dive into the week's topics, strange news stories, musings and more. If you're a Patreon member, give it a gander. It's available for all tiers. If you're not a Patreon member yet, you can join us by heading to monsters among us podcast.com and by clicking on the Patreon tab. A big thanks to Delaney, Connor and Sarah for bringing that project to life. Now folks, for tonight's final entry, the last effort the east has to give, please welcome Beth out of the uk.
- [58:29]
Beth
Hey Derek. My name is Beth and I live in a city called Liverpool in the United Kingdom, just across the pond from you guys. Liverpool is well known for multiple reasons, but most famously known for Liverpool Football Club and the band the Beatles are also from Liverpool. I'm calling today with a hometown legend story about a street in Liverpool called Bold Street. Bold street is a vibrant and well known street in Liverpool city centre and is well known for independent shops, restaurants and bars. At the top of the street is a church called St. Luke's Church. Liverpool was heavily bombed during the Blitz in World War II and St. Luke's Church was badly damaged but it still stands to this day. Locally the church is known as the Bombed Out Church and is still used today for weddings and events, albeit not having any roof. Liverpool's tragic wartime past makes the bowl street area a high for for interesting paranormal stories and phenomena. Most noted is a phenomena called the Bold Street Time slip. Many people have claimed to experience strange and unexplained shifts in time whilst walking along Bold Street. According to some accounts, individuals briefly find themselves in what seems to be another era where the buildings, surroundings and even the people appear to come from the past. Over the years, descriptions of the so called Bold street time slip can differ. Some say that they were taken back to the Victorian period, whilst others report scenes resembling the 1950s or the 1960s. Witnesses often mention seeing vintage cars, old fashioned clothing and retro shop fronts. One of the most well known stories dates back to the 1990s when a woman reportedly had a bizarre encounter whilst walking down the street. As she made her way along, she suddenly felt an unusual sensation and realized that her surroundings had completely transformed. The modern street had seemingly disappeared, replaced by traditional shops, horse drawn carriages and people dressed in Victorian clothing. Shocked, she believed that she had somehow slipped back in time. She later claimed that she even interacted with people during this experience, speaking to shopkeepers and passersby who appeared unconcerned by her modern appearance. After a short while, just as suddenly as it began, everything returned to normal and she found herself back in the present standing in the same spot on Bold Street. Following her story, tales of similar experiences spread, giving Bold Street a lasting reputation for its mysterious and unexplained time slip phenomenon. Now I have lived in Liverpool for 32 years now and I walk down Bold street regularly and I have never experienced any paranormal phenomenon or any time slips. However, if I do, I will definitely get in contact and let you guys know. Thank you so much for all the work that you put into the podcast. Thank you guys. Have a wonderful day.
- [61:38]
Derek Hayes
Thank you Beth. Now I've heard of the street. I couldn't recall the name but as soon as I heard the word time slip, I knew exactly what Beth was talking about. Now, a little digging tells us that the first account of someone experiencing a time slip on Bold street occurred in July of 1996. An off duty police officer named Frank was taking a shopping trip with his wife down Bold Street. And just as he was about to cross the road into his favorite bookshop, an old fan with the name Caplan's emblazoned on the side sped past him, beeping an old fashioned horn as it went by. Not thinking anything of it at the time, he continued across the road, then stopped in his tracks when he looked up at the store that he thought was Dillon's and found it was instead called Cripps. He looked up and down Bold street, only to see old fashioned cars surrounding him and people wearing clothes straight out of the 1950s and 60s. It was then that he noticed a woman wearing 1990s clothing. She stood out against the crowd. She was standing by a nearby shop window, looking equally confused. When Frank crossed the street to speak to her, he noticed that there were shoes and handbags and umbrellas in the store window of what he thought was a bookshop. The pair entered the shop together, and as they did so, it turned back into a bookshop before their eyes as soon as they stepped over the threshold. Now this story has gained quite a bit of popularity over the years, retold on podcasts and books and magazines and even on TV shows. But one podcaster in the UK took the story one step further. Danny Robbins, creator of the uncanny podcast, decided to get to the bottom of this mystery. A few years ago, he put a call out in hopes of finding Frank, the very first person to report a time slip event on Bolt Street. Well, sadly, he was not able to make a connection with this mystery man. But he did meet someone who claims to be the other woman in that story. The 20 something young lady in 90s clothing. Now, luckily, I was able to find a portion of the interview he did with Julie, the accidental time traveler.
- [64:11]
Interviewer (UK segment)
Remarkably, a woman named Julie came forward who believes that she was the girl in 90s clothing that Frank saw in the bookshop that day. She has never spoken publicly about this before, but she has come to Bolt street to meet me. Julie, Hello.
- [64:29]
Julie
Hi.
- [64:30]
Interviewer (UK segment)
You are real?
- [64:30]
Julie
I am.
- [64:31]
Interviewer (UK segment)
I couldn't believe it when you emailed me. I really thought that this was all just an urban legend. In 1996, Julie was in her 20s and had never experienced anything that she thought was paranormal.
- [64:42]
Julie
So I stood here and I looked into the window and the display was old fashioned, like 1940s. These vintage shoes and handbags, they look really good quality. And I thought, oh wow. I didn't know whether it was vintage or they just put on an old fashioned 40s theme. And then I turned and seen the people. I've probably seen about 12 people, but they were in like 1940s, 1950s clothes.
- [65:09]
Interviewer (UK segment)
When you say that, what do you mean?
- [65:10]
Julie
The men that's looking at my mind more is that they had Max and hats on and distinctively remember a man with a big paper under his arm.
- [65:20]
Interviewer (UK segment)
So do you go into the shop?
- [65:21]
Julie
Yeah, I went to the shop, open the door and as I went in, initially everything was old fashioned displays. It was dark inside. And then as I turned around, the shop became lighter again. Next to me there was just book displays and seen aside for Dylan's, as I'm coming to come out of the door, a man in 90s clothes. Now this is the first person I'd seen in normal 90s clothes grabbed my arm. He said, did you see that? I was like, yeah.
- [65:51]
Interviewer (UK segment)
And that man is Frank.
- [65:53]
Julie
Yeah.
- [65:53]
Interviewer (UK segment)
Both of you experienced this moment at the same time?
- [65:55]
Julie
Yeah. All I could think of was get out, get out of here as quick as I can.
- [66:01]
Interviewer (UK segment)
How scared were you in that moment?
- [66:03]
Julie
I was really scared because part the of me thought why they don't come back, why they got this door and those people are still, it's still old. Still old past the time.
- [66:15]
Derek Hayes
Now, of course, I have no way of knowing if this woman was actually there that day back in 96, or if she indeed traveled through time or slipped through it more accurately. But she does look to be about the right age and she's gaining nothing but scrutiny for sharing her story, so it's kind of hard to dismiss this outright. I tried to find other first hand accounts from folks that have also experienced time slips on Bolt street with no luck. But I'm all ears. If you have an experience, give me a call at 888-6089. Absolutely incredible stuff, Beth. And what a way to end part one of the hometown Legends finale special. A big thanks for calling it. And folks, that's gonna wrap things up for part one, Terror in the East. But I'll be back here on Thursday with part two in the western portion of this season finale special. So be sure to join us then. Now, 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 Be sure to give us a follow on our social media accounts, join our Discord Discord server, give us a like and follow on YouTube and leave us a rate and review wherever that sort of thing is possible. Don't forget you can catch the show every Saturday evening at 10 o' clock Eastern on the Unex Digital Network. Just visit on xnetwork.com to tune in. Now. Tonight's score was provided by Iron Cthulhu, Apocalypse Co AG Music and Carl Casey at White Bat Audio. Now why don't you watch our film Shadows in the Desert? You'll have a good time, a spooky time, and it's free. Search Shadows in the Desert on Tubi, Amazon prime or go to borregotriangle.com to learn more. Now be sure to tune in to Monsters Among Us Junior New episodes drop every other Wednesday and join us in the beyond for a boatload of extra content. Content monsters among us podcast.com and click on the Patreon tab. All right, gang, go look for a ghost in your town, but be careful doing so. Now you keep it spooky and have a good night. Sam.