S20 Ep50: Hometown Legends 20 Part 2: Dread in the West (Sn. 20 Ep. 50)

Summary

Monsters Among Us
Host: Derek Hayes
Episode: S20 Ep50: Hometown Legends 20 Part 2: Dread in the West (April 16, 2026)

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Episode Overview

This season finale of Monsters Among Us takes listeners on a spine-chilling tour of paranormal tales and legends from west of the Mississippi. Host Derek Hayes curates firsthand, voice-recorded accounts of haunted zoos, ghostly figures, mysterious lights, and cryptid encounters rooted in local lore. The episode celebrates America's hometown legends, spanning from Texas to Washington, with a stopover into the wrong side of the Mississippi for an infamous UFO case. Haunted places, cursed statues, supernatural encounters, and eerie family stories set the tone for a nostalgia-laden, eerie night of storytelling.

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Key Discussion Points & Caller Stories

1. Haunted Houston Zoo – The Ghost of Hans Nagel

Caller: Alma | Houston, TX
[03:12–07:50]

• Alma shares the tragic story of Hans Nagel, the first zookeeper at the Houston Zoo in the 1920s, famed for his charisma and animal-handling prowess.
• Nagel died in 1941 in a shootout on zoo grounds, apparently while confronting intruders and a local officer—some rumors dub him a "peeping Tom."
• After his death, staff and visitors began reporting ghostly apparitions (visible shadow figures, flickering lights, electrical problems, phantom noises) believed to be Hans.
• “It’s an interesting story about a person who clearly loved what they did in life, and they died in the area that they loved, and now they can’t seem to leave the area that they loved.” – Alma ([07:41])

Derek’s follow-up ([07:50–10:07]):

• Derek digs into other haunted zoos: Philadelphia Zoo’s “Solitude House,” abandoned LA Zoo in Griffith Park, Fort Worth Zoo and Oklahoma City Zoo all have ghostly reputations.
• “For some reason, I never put those two things together. But Alma has my brain juices flowing.” – Derek ([07:54])

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2. Texas Renaissance Festival Ghost Tour

Caller: James | Houston, TX
[12:19–16:42]

• James and friends take an after-hours ghost tour in Magnolia, TX. Guide tells tales of a beloved festival regular who haunts the wooded footpath.
• While hearing the story, James and his friend feel a sudden cold “hug” behind them. When their third friend stands where the chill originated, he feels it too.
• “It almost felt as if... you go up to say hi to [two friends] and you throw one arm over one friend and one arm over the other friend while you’re behind him. It kind of felt like that.” – James ([14:39])
• All three agree it might have been the friendly ghost, continuing to enjoy the festival in spirit.

Derek’s reaction ([16:42–18:10]):

• “You gotta love a good ghost tour, especially when the ghosts show up.”
• He encourages listeners to support ghost tours and the tradition of hometown legends.

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3. The Connersville, Indiana UFO and Men in Black

Caller: Ash | Southern Utah
[18:10–20:30 (Caller); 20:30–24:05 (Derek recap)]

• Ash relates folkloric memories: a local man took a photo of a UFO, hid it in a safety deposit box, only for it to be stolen after strange “Men in Black” visit.
• Physical evidence was left behind (scorched trees). Ash’s dad remembers the aftermath.
• Derek explains this is actually the “Connersville, Indiana UFO Case” (1967): Reed Thompson photographed a UFO, later visited by unsettling MIB entities years later—“faces… more like plastic than skin.”
• “How unsettling would an experience like that be? Strange non human people in your house asking for photographs you took years ago. This is why you don’t let strangers in your home.” – Derek ([23:04])

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4. Council Bluffs, IA – The Black Angel Statue Curse

Caller: Bernadette | Iowa
[26:34–27:29]

• In a Missouri River cemetery, a black angel statue is said to kill anyone who looks into its eyes at midnight.
• Origin: General Dodge’s wife dreamt of an angel who brought “water of life.” After she finally accepted a sip, she died soon after; the statue was commissioned in her memory.
• “If you gaze into her eyes at midnight, you will meet an early demise.” – Bernadette ([26:41])

Derek’s research ([27:29–29:20]):

• Another “dark angel” statue with similar legend exists in nearby Iowa City.
• “I think it’s kind of weird that there are two similar statues in the same state, both with similar spooky legends. So good for you, Iowa.” – Derek ([28:48])

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5. Onion Head – Louisiana’s Graveyard Curse

Caller: Anonymous | Louisiana
[29:20–30:52 (Caller); 30:52–33:51 (Derek retelling)]

• Local legend near Slidell/Pearl River: Robert Dunn, wrongly accused of murder, was lynched and his mother cursed his tormentors—who later died horribly, allegedly accompanied by threatening messages from “Onion Head.”
• Derek gives the “Onion Head” backstory:
  • Boy born with birth defect, bullied, flees; after a local murder, he’s blamed and hunted down, his body dismembered and buried.
  • The true killer, a drifter, is found after.
  • Survivors are cursed: “If you were there, I’m coming for you too.” ([32:51])
• Derek compares Onion Head to other “food-headed entities” in regional folklore and laments the story’s possible brutality.

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6. The Blue Light Lady – Hays, Kansas

Caller: Matt | Hays, KS
[35:48–37:33 (Caller); 37:33–40:29 (Derek history)]

• Matt recounts family tales of seeing the ghostly “Blue Light Lady,” a Civil War-era nurse said to wander the prairie in a blue dress.
• The real woman, Elizabeth Polly, died during a cholera epidemic in 1867 and wished to be buried atop Sentinel Hill; her body could not be interred at the summit due to limestone, but she was buried nearby.
• Sightings continue; Derek quotes from a local ballad:
  • “She’s up there on that hill somewhere, though her grave has long been lost and her rest is disturbed...” ([37:49])

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7. Brinson’s Hollow & Dead Man’s Hole – Vader & Wenlock, Washington

Caller: Anonymous | Washington
[40:29–46:50]

• “Dead Man’s Hole,” a local deep swimming spot, is reputedly bottomless—story goes a carriage, horses, and driver disappeared without trace.
• Brinson’s Hollow is home to multiple legends:
  • A family’s disabled son labeled a “monster” dies in a fire and supposedly haunts the woods.
  • Circus train crash tale: escaped apes give rise to bigfoot legends.
  • Modern vampire cult rumors after the discovery of empty, freshly dug graves.
• Caller’s family stories: father’s encounter with a possibly large, lurking creature while dirt biking; an episode of missing time where the family and their dogs inexplicably arrive home after being stuck in the mud.
• “The weird part is none of us can remember how we got home... and our dogs were already home, which was really odd because we all very clearly remembered our dogs being with us.” ([45:31])

Derek’s research ([46:50–50:01]):

• Newspaper records confirm multiple mysterious drownings; 1981 Creature Chronicles newsletter documents both entity sightings and disappearances in Brinson’s Hollow.
• “Just might be something strange going on in Brinson Hollow.” – Derek ([49:09])

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8. The Marfa Lights – Texas’ Enduring Light Phenomenon

Caller: Pete | Odessa, TX
[51:28–59:37]

• Pete and family detour to Marfa after a star watch. Initially, they see nothing. On the way home, a blue-green orb appears, seeming to pursue their car—unaffected by speed, it finally vanishes as they near Alpine.
• Shares accounts from a Marfa native: pranks with flashlights, decades of rumors (ghosts, buried treasure, plasma, Native spirits, even verified military tests), and local truckers encountering unexplainable phenomena (light “riding shotgun” with a Pepsi driver).
• “I was white-knuckling the steering wheel... I had not realized how fast I was going until my wife yelled out... I was going 110 miles an hour.” – Pete ([58:14])
• On a return trip in 2024, saw airport lights (red), but the Marfa light they witnessed was blue-green and unique.

Derek’s analysis ([59:37–61:37]):

• Marfa Lights are among the world’s famous “spook lights.” Cited by scientists, indigenous legend (Apache refer to it as “Elsate”), and 19th-century settlers.
• Plays an Unsolved Mysteries interview:
  • “It couldn’t be any kind of car lights... It couldn’t be anything but a ghost.” ([61:06])
• “Whatever the Marfa lights are, you can see them yourself... Go park there some night, turn your gaze to the hills and let us know what you see.” – Derek ([61:29])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Touched by a Spirit on tour. You lucky dog.” – Derek, on James’ ghost hug ([16:46])
• “How unsettling would an experience like that be? Strange non human people in your house asking for photographs you took years ago. This is why you don’t let strangers in your home.” – Derek ([23:04])
• “If you gaze into her eyes at midnight, you will meet an early demise.” – Bernadette ([26:41])
• “And a message was always found at the scene that said, if you were there, I'm coming for you too.” – Derek, retelling the Onion Head legend ([32:51])
• “We all remember being there... trying to get the car unstuck. But then none of us remember the trip home. We just remember arriving home and our dogs were already home, which was really odd.” – Anonymous (WA) ([45:31])
• “It wasn’t airport lights, because we did end up seeing the airport lights. They’re red and they’re smaller. And this was a single bluish green orb... It wasn’t ball lightning. And of course it wasn’t swamp gas, because it’s arid out there.” – Pete (TX) ([59:08])

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Timestamps for Major Stories

• Haunted Houston Zoo – Alma [03:12–07:50]
• Haunted Zoos research – Derek [07:50–10:07]
• Texas Renaissance Festival Ghost Tour – James [12:19–16:42]
• Indiana UFO/Men in Black – Ash [18:10–24:05]
• Iowa Black Angel Statue – Bernadette [26:34–27:29]
• Onion Head (Louisiana) – Anonymous [29:20–33:51]
• Blue Light Lady (Kansas) – Matt [35:48–40:29]
• Brinson’s Hollow and Dead Man’s Hole (Washington) – Anonymous [40:29–46:50]
• Marfa Lights (Texas) – Pete [51:28–61:37]

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Episode Tone & Closing

The episode maintains Derek’s welcoming, spooky-casual style—a blend of research, caller intimacy, and campfire storytelling, peppered with wry humor and deep appreciation for sharing stories. The show closes with Derek encouraging listeners to enjoy the break, revisit old episodes, and keep contributing their tales.

Final send-off:
“So give yourselves a pat on the back. Now go share the show with friends and family to earn a full gold star. Alright folks, I'll catch you all in a few weeks. You keep it spooky and above all else, have yourselves a great night.” ([65:10])

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For More

See episode show notes at monstersamonguspodcast.com for photos, sources, and links referenced throughout the stories.

Transcript

[Derek Hayes]

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Sam. Foreign.

[Derek Hayes]

And welcome to Monsters Among Us. I am your guide, Derek Hayes. Hello everyone and welcome back to the season 20 finale. It's great to have you with us here this evening as I present to you part two of the season finale special, Dread in the West. If you tuned in on Tuesday, you might recall that each of the stories shared on that episode took place east of the Mississippi. Well, tonight's second parter takes us west of that watery divide. And just like on Tuesday, tonight's episode includes mentions of murder, suicide, abuse, violence, and probably more. So let that be your trigger warning. Now, we have a lot to get through here tonight, so let's go ahead and get started. Hailing from the state of Texas, please welcome Alma back to the program.

[Caller/Guest]

Hello, my name is Alma. I'm from Texas in Houston. This story is part of, I guess, the Hometown Legends. Apparently the commissary of the Houston Zoo is haunted. And it's haunted by the first, the zookeeper of the Houston Zoo in the 1920s. His name was Hans Nagel. He was from Germany and he was brought over because he had experience with animals, exotic animals at the time. And he was made assistant zookeeper when he first arrived. And then he kind of moved his way up to zookeeper. He was known for being very talkative, very charismatic. And back in the 1920s, zoos were essentially seen as really cool attractions. So they kind of acted a little bit like the Ringling Brothers. So a lot of it was more about showcasing the animal and how dangerous the animal really could be, versus trying to educate people about animals and respecting them. He apparently had been attacked by a variety of animals. He was stepped on by an elephant. He was attacked by a leopard, a lion. He actually killed one lion when it tried attacking someone who was giving a tour through the lion enclosure. He had to shoot the lion to save the other person. He also apparently was able, the same way that you break, I guess, a horse to be able to ride them. He did that to a zebra. So that kind of shows you how they sort of treat animals back then. Surprisingly, he still treated animals with better respect than most people would have. He apparently could never have children. He and his first wife got divorced because he had spent so much time at the zoo. He married his second wife, and they could never have children. And they actually helped raise a chimpanzee whose mother died at the zoo. And they treated that chimpanzee as their own child. His plan was to raise that chimpanzee as close as humanly possible and then train it as well. Unfortunately, they took the chimpanzee one time to the zoo, and it was mauled by a larger chimpanzee once they got too close to the enclosure. He was very heartbroken over that because they saw that chimpanzee as kind of like the surrogate child. He unfortunately was killed in 1941 during a shootout. He apparently would patrol the zoo grounds, which at the time was a very large piece of land, which is now today a park as well as the zoo. Part of his job that he took it up by himself is to patrol the area, because a lot of people always kept trying to break in, steal animals, or pull tags on animals. And he had seen a lot of mischief, a lot of things happening. He would go and patrol the grounds, and he apparently came up on a group of teenagers, and he was spying on them. A lot of people tend to think that he was kind of a peeping Tom in a way. So he also wasn't a perfect person. And as he was doing that, he was confronted by a police officer who was also patrolling the area. Argument broke out between them about who actually owned the area, who was actually supposed to patrol. Apparently, the police officer says that he became aggressive to the police officer and he thought he was going to get shot by Hans, and so he took out his own guy and shot Hans and killed him. And so basically, Hans Nagel died in the area that he loved. So, apparently now a lot of people talk about how they can hear weird, ghostly sounds there. A lot of those have reported noises in the middle of the night when people are working late, having electronic issues within the building, like power going out. Well, before then, it was, like, flashing lights, things like that. They've also said they see shadow figures. And there's also apparently been apparitions of Hans Nagel. There have been reports of people actually physically seeing an apparition of him on the property. That's our, I guess, hometown legend. It's an interesting story about a person who clearly loved what they did in life, and they died in the area that they loved, and now they can't seem to leave the area that they loved. So, once again, thank you for listening to my story, and I hope you have a great day. Bye.

[Derek Hayes]

Thank you, Alma, for getting us started. Now, Hands sounded like an interesting guy, and I'm sure that makes for an interesting ghost. Now, I'd never really considered the thought of a haunted zoo. For some reason, I never put those two things together. But Alma has my brain juices flowing. So I decided to do a little digging. And surely enough, the Houston Zoo isn't the only one with a ghost or two. And not only did I have success in my search, I might have hit the mother loud. The Philadelphia Zoo is said to be haunted. Chartered in 1859, activity is concentrated in the 18th century Solitude House. Reports include apparitions of a woman in white, phantom footsteps, and disembodied voices. The old Los Angeles Zoo, located in Griffith park, was abandoned in 1965. Visitors report hearing animal noises, seeing shadowy figures in zookeeper uniforms, and experiencing a dark, heavy atmosphere near the old cages. The Fort Worth Zoo is set to harbor a ghost. Reports claim it's the ghost of Michael A. Bell, an elephant trainer who died in 1987. And a woman in white dressed in clothing from the 19th century is often witnessed near the cafe. In addition, the Oklahoma City Zoo is also said to be haunted. The former Aquatics building, specifically is said to harbor the ghost of an old woman and a young girl. And let me tell you, this is just the start. I've linked to a video sharing a few other haunted zoos here in the US monsters among us podcast.com and click the Show Notes tab. And this is the episode to do that. Because I've shared tons of links for these hometown legends. So there you have it. Haunted Zoos in the Ghost of Hans Nago thanks again Alma for the entry

in February of last year. Lodge here on AMA 33 now.

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Now next up on our list is another call from the Lone Star State. Please welcome James to the program.

Hey Derek, this is James. I'm from Houston, Texas and technically this is a hometown legend. Houston's so large that there's like smaller. I wouldn't call them cities with smaller areas that go by different names, but it's still in the greater Houston area. And this one takes place in Magnolia, which is on the outskirts of Houston, like right at the end of Houston's area. But it actually takes place in the Texas Renaissance Festival. I used to go every year and I went one year with me and two of my friends and they were doing an after hours ghost tour. And I'd always wanted to do one. And so I convinced my friends to do the ghost tour with me. And essentially what it was is the park closed at 6 or 7 when it got dark. It was maybe the start of November. So it got dark kind of early, around 6. And you had a tour guide and he would walk you behind some of the shops and you know, around the back and where the people that work there go through. And he would just tell you ghost stories essentially about things that, you know, happen there. It's Texas, so it's not cold. It may be like 65, 70, but like shorts and short sleeve shirt type weather, right? And it's dark and we're walking and it's me and my two friends and he's, you know, telling us like, oh, people hear voices here and you know, people see things here, whatever. And there's a part in the Renaissance Festival if you've never been, where it's like a trail that goes through just a wooded area and it's away from buildings. There's no like shops, there's no anyone in there selling anything. It's just a nice little walk through this wooded area with like a little creek. And he's telling us about this guy who was big in the Renaissance community. He had gone every year, he worked a couple years. He was like friends with everyone, like a real big, you know, person. Everyone knew who he was and apparently he had passed. And people say that in the trail we were in, they would see him because it was one of his favorite places that he liked to be. And he was telling a story about how he was doing ghost tour. And these two women broke off to go smoke and when they flicked their lighter on, in the glow of the lighter, they saw a burly looking guy with a really big beard. And so they freak out and they scream. The guy running the thing comes over and he's like, what's happened? Was that, are you like, are you okay? Is someone hurt? And they're like, no, we saw a guy and they described the guy and he goes, oh, that's whoever. That's the guy that haunts here that everyone knows. And he's telling us the story and everyone's kind of laughing at it. And it's me and my friend and we're standing shoulder to shoulder and then my other friend standing a few feet back and as he's telling this story, the back of me gets really, really cold. Like it's so cold. And again, it's like 65, maybe. So there's no breeze. There's no reason I should be cold. And, like, I'm cold enough to get goosebumps just on my back. My front side is still really warm. And I immediately thought of whenever, you know, a ghost is nearby, they say you get cold, and it almost felt as if. Like, picture you have two friends standing in front of you, and you go up to say hi to them, and you kind of put your head on their shoulders, and you throw one arm over one friend and one arm over the other friend while you're behind him. It kind of felt like that. And so I turn and look to my friend that I'm shoulder to shoulder with, and they look at me and they're like, my back is cold. And I was like, yeah, it's really cold. And we both had the same idea of it might be the ghost of the guy. And so we turned to our third friend and we said, hey, come here. He's like, what? We're like. I'm like, right in between us. And he comes up and he steps right in the spot that I described, where you would be if you were gonna throw your arms over your friend's shoulders. And he's like, wow, it's cold. We're like, yeah. And, you know, they say that that guy was real, real friendly, and he liked talking to people, he liked meeting new friends. So we all just assumed that that was him hearing his story and kind of just, you know, hanging out and listening to someone tell a ghost story about him. Still enjoying the podcast after all these years? All right, see you around.

Thank you, James. You gotta love a good ghost tour, especially when the ghosts show up. Now, I encourage each of you to join one of these tours. They have them all over the country. Line one up next time you're traveling. Or hell, take a tour of your hometown. You might even learn something. At the very least, you're keeping the paranormal industry going and keeping the stories alive. That's a win, win if you ask me. That's an awesome story, James. Touched by a Spirit on tour. You lucky dog. Thank you again for sharing the call. Now, folks, if you have a tale you would like to share here on the program, all you gotta do is call. Dial 888-6089. That's 888608. Nig ht. Or you can record your story as a voice memo and email it to me at monster among us podcastmail.com. now, folks, that MAU Campout episode is fast approaching. Don't sit on those Camping and outdoor stories. Call them in today. Now, won't you join me in Utah for this next one? Ash? Welcome to the program.

[Caller/Guest]

Hi, Derek, this is Ash from Southern Utah. I have a story for your hometown Legends collection. When I started listening to your podcast and I heard the hometown Legends, it got me thinking about what sort of mystical, mythical, weird and unusual stories my town has. And I thought of this one that my dad told me when I was a kid. So, so the nurse of my high school, her husband, this is who it happened to. And what I remember from what my dad told me when I was a kid was that this guy took a photo of a ufo, he put it in a safety deposit box, and then later he was approached by two men in trench coats, bald and hats, very men in black kind of guys. And they were asking him about this photo and he told them, well, I don't have the photo. It's in a safety deposit box. And later the safety deposit box got broken into and the photo disappeared. I just thought this was so interesting. And so when I was listening to your hometown Legends collection, I was like, I need to ask my dad about this because that's all I remembered from, from the story. And so I called and talked to my dad and he knew so many more details than I did. I didn't know it was in the local newspaper. I also didn't realize that this guy saw the ufo, took some pictures of it, and the UFO burned trees like near the house. And my dad said he remembered driving down the road and seeing the burnt trees. And so there was like physical evidence of this. I just found it super, super fascinating. I'm sending you links to some articles I found. I can't find the original one that was in the newspaper from my hometown, but I did find some that tell you more details about the story and what happened. Just wanted to share. Freaking love the podcast. Thanks so much for sharing everybody's stories.

[Derek Hayes]

Thank you, Ash. Well, admittedly this throws a bit of a monkey wrench into the east versus west challenge because this story indeed took place in the east and somehow we didn't catch that until it was too late. So let's just pretend for a few minutes that Indiana is west of the mighty Mississippi. Now, they call this the Connersville, Indiana UFO case and it took place back in 1967. Here's the full story, courtesy of UFO insight.com On the afternoon of January 19, 1967 in Milan, Indiana, at around 3:00pm, 14 year old Reed Thompson was sitting in the family home watching television. After Having just returned from school, however, the calm of the evening room was suddenly disturbed by a sound similar to a train engine outside the property. He turned to face the living room window, expecting to see a train passing by on the nearby tracks in that direction. Instead, he saw a strange light that he first mistook for a streetlight until it began to move around the late afternoon sky. He went to retrieve his camera. As he returned to the window, the bizarre object still clearly in view, he stopped around 5ft from the glass and snapped a picture. He would continue watching the object as it calmly cut through the sky. Reed rushed outside. After scanning the surrounding area for several moments, he managed to pick out the craft approximately 100 yards from his location. It was moving along the top of a group of fir trees. Then, in no more than a second, it vanished from sight completely. Now, the subsequent Men in Black encounter took place a full six years after the initial UFO sighting. Seems like it took them a while to find him. And here's how Reed described the strange man. One was very thin, wearing a hat, apparently male, and so tall, possibly even 7ft, that he had to duck to enter the shop door. This was the first thing that grabbed Reid's attention. The other person was abnormally short, probably under 5ft, also very thin, long haired and apparently female. In spite of the warm weather, both wore heavy gloves and their clothing left no exposed skin. Their faces were flesh colored, but appeared not to be human faces more like plastic than skin. Now how unsettling would an experience like that be? Strange non human people in your house asking for photographs you took years ago. This is why you don't let strangers in your home now. The MIB did a terrible job because the picture is out there and heavily circulated. You can catch a glimpse of it on tonight's show. Notes monsters among us podcast.com and click the Shownotes tab. But essentially it looks like a giant trash can floating in the sky. Wild, wild stuff, Ash. Even if we did play it on the wrong episode. But thank you regardless for sharing your entry.

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And that is Vagrant Tide with high strangeness. Dean from Vagrant Tide is a listener of the show and was nice enough to send it in. If you'd like to hear more, visit the link in tonight's show notes. And a big thanks to Dean and the rest of the gang for sharing here with us. Now, off to Iowa we go for this next one. Please welcome Bernadette to the program.

[Caller/Guest]

Greetings, Derek, Sarah, supporting staff, and of course, dear listeners. You may call me Bernadette. And my hometown legend is from a city in Iowa along the Missouri River. In the cemetery there is a black angel statue. And legend has it, if you gaze into her eyes at midnight, you will meet an early demise. The story behind the statue holds more intrigue, though. General Dodge's wife had a recurring dream. She waited on a rocky shore as a boat drifted toward her through the mist. Heading the boat, an angelic figure holding a small bowl gently offered her a drink. She refused the first two nights, however. On the third night, she sipped the Water of life and felt gloriously transformed. Mrs. Dodge died shortly thereafter. General Dodge commissioned the Black Angel. In memoriam. Derek, I'm glad you perfected your Batman voice. Thanks. And keep it spooky.

[Derek Hayes]

Thanks, Bernadette, for the phone call. Now, if you'd like to lay eyes on this haunted statue, there is a photo up in the show notes. There's nothing really unusual about the appearance, though I will say I'd hate to accidentally bump into this guy in the middle of the night, especially if I didn't know that it was there. Now, oddly enough, Ruthanne Dodge's spooky statue isn't the only one like it in the Hawkeye State. Just down the road in Iowa City, There stands another dark angelic effigy with a spooky reputation. Located in Oakland Cemetery, the 13 foot tall bronze statue marks the burial plot of the Fieldewort family. The angel is a bit unconventional. One winged arm is spread out to the right and the angel's head is hunched over looking down at the grave below, almost making it appear to be mountain. Now people say it's been struck by lightning, that it came over on a boat from Europe and fell into the sea, and that the woman who was buried there committed adultery, then took her own life. Now a link to an image of that monument is available in the show notes. Go take a look. I think it's kind of weird that there are two similar statues in the same state, both with similar spooky legends. So good for you Iowa. And thank you again Bernadette for bringing it. Now folks, speaking of cemeteries, this next entry also takes place in one Please welcome Anonymous out of Louisiana.

[Caller/Guest]

Hi Derek, I am a longtime listener and am calling today with a hometown legend. I would like to be anonymous for this. I have spent most of my life in Louisiana. My family is from New Orleans, but I spent my life between Slidell and Pearl river, which are about half an hour drive north of New Orleans. We have a legend there centered around a graveyard that literally sits outside my old neighborhood called Haweswood. Legend goes that there was a performer named Robert Dunn. He was wrongly accused of killing a girl and was then killed himself in revenge. The true killer was found later, but unfortunately it was too late for Robert himself. His mom obviously got upset and took her own revenge by cursing the people that were involved in the murder. And story goes that those who participated met horrible deaths. And there were messages left behind with their bodies found by Onion Head. Dunn was buried in that graveyard, Haweswood. And there are stories of people hearing footsteps or seeing a large figure said to be his ghost. A big thank you to you and your team for the show. I've been listening for a very long time and continue to do so. Thank you.

[Derek Hayes]

We appreciate the entry caller. Onion Head. Now that's a colorful nickname and you know our caller's version of the story didn't really address how this gentleman came to be called that name. So we did some digging and found an alternative telling that shed some light on that part of the mystery. The following is courtesy of Louisiana Dredd on YouTube. The legend goes that in the early 1900s a young boy was born with a birth defect leaving him with an odd shaped head. He and his mother, a traitor, lived in A shack in the woods.

But that wouldn't stop the local children from bullying him and gave him the

nickname of Onion Head.

One day a girl is reported missing for a few days, then is discovered to be dead.

And the only reasonable option for the

people in the town at the time

was to blame the disfigured guy that

lives in the woods. So a mob formed and made their way towards Onion Head shack. But he was gone by the time they arrived. Instead, his mother comes out just to address the angry mob. And to tell them that a curse will befall anyone who causes harm to her baby boy

didn't seem to deter

any people in the mob because they

hunted the man down and slaughtered him,

cutting his body into 13 pieces and burying them in the graveyard. The next day the police apprehend the actual killer who was just a mere drifter.

The innocent man called Onion Head was

killed unjustly, but he would have the last laugh.

Soon people in the town started dying.

But they all had one thing in common, and you could probably guess what that is. These people were killed in grisly ways.

And a message was always found at

the scene that said, if you were there, I'm coming for you too.

You know, this sounds similar to a few other food headed entities that we've heard about over the years. The melon heads of Ohio, Connecticut and a few other states. Of course, Hollywood gave us Pumpkinhead. And out of Arizona there is a lesser known cryptid called Cactus Head. A canine like creature with a cactus for a head. On second thought, maybe that last one doesn't fit in with the others. But a tragic tale turned into an awesome legend. I just hope that the origin story isn't true. But regardless, we thank you again caller for taking the time to call in. Now gang, it's time for another quick break, but I'll be right back with more right after this.

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[Caller/Guest]

Hey, everyone, check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date?

[Derek Hayes]

Oh, no. We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together.

We're married.

Me to a human, him to a bird.

[Caller/Guest]

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league.

[Derek Hayes]

Anyways, get a'@libertymutual.com or with your local agent. Liberty, Liberty.

[Caller/Guest]

Liberty. Liberty.

[Derek Hayes]

Great. They were helpful.

They always answer the phone. Now, folks, before we move on, our very own researcher, folklorist and co host of Monsters Among Us, Junior Delaney Bowers was a guest host on our friend Steve Berg's podcast, High Strangeness. They discuss how research for both shows is handled and all about her role as my co host on your favorite sister program, MAU Junior. There's a link in tonight's show notes where you can find High Strangeness. That's hi wherever you get your podcast. Now let's bring in tonight's next victim. Please welcome Matt out of Kansas.

Yeah, this is Matt. This one's for the hometown legends in a place called Hays, Kansas. It's home to Fort A State University and there was obviously a ford there some time ago. And the legend goes it's called the Blue Light Lady. The story was she was a nurse who worked during battles and worked on soldiers and someone who had an area of the prairie that she loved to go and set after working tirelessly. She was buried somewhere on the hillside that her actual grave site was moved or you might have to dig deeper into that. But my mom had told me she grew up in Hays and she said that they would go out to this place in the country on one of those nights. They were drinking and they were out at this place that is southwest of Hays and they saw her pass through a pasture, clearly a lady, you know, wearing a dress floating and cross dirt road. And come to find out that like she had actually on an occasion had seen the Blue Light Lady. And my mom had never like ever told me anything paranormal. Like she just like wasn't that type of person to go seeking this or like have a story like this to tell somebody. But that's my legend story. Blue Eyed Lady Hayes can.

Thank you, Matt. Well, you got some of it right. Here is the actual story of the Blue Light Lady, Elizabeth Pawley. By August 1867, a cholera epidemic had broken out among the tents of over 1000 troops. The cholera soon spread to the 1200 railroad construction workers who were sheltering in the camp near the new village of Rome. Elizabeth sought to help the sick and dying soldiers deal with what were, for many, their final hours. Often in the evening, she would walk to the highest limestone bluff a mile and a half southwest of the fort, now known as Sentinel Hill, where she is said to have found some comfort and solace. When it was apparent that she had contracted the disease herself, she pleaded with her husband to bury her on top of that hill. Upon her death, soldiers were detailed to dig her grave on the crest of Sentinel Hill, but only inches beneath the sod, they struck limestone bedrock. Unable to dig a grave on top of the hill, the sorrowful soldiers instead buried her on a lower slope near the fort. She was given a military funeral, buried in the uniform she wore while caring for the suffering, a blue dress and a white bonnet. Now the blue light Lady Elizabeth Polly is so well known and still so loved in the area that songs were even written about her. The following is an excerpt from a song written by Bob Maxwell called the Ballad of Elizabeth Polly. She's up there on that hill somewhere, though her grave has long been lost and her rest is disturbed, for she walks without a word among us, but who count her cost. And of course, there's a statue of Elizabeth as well. And to see that monument and to fill in any blanks I might have left, visit tonight's show Notes. Thank you again, Matt for taking the time to share Elizabeth's story Ever Calling in with your hometown Legend. Now folks, I have some great news to share with you. The brand new T shirts have arrived and are currently being boxed up and shipped as I speak these words, which means that many of you will have your orders over the weekend. The rest will trickle in early next week. And that also means that the shirt is now available in the shop. Just visit monsters among us podcast.com and click the Shop tab. Now for this next entry, we work our way to Washington. Please welcome another anonymous caller to the program.

[Caller/Guest]

Hello, this is for the Hometown Legends. I've got two One's a little short one about my hometown, Vader, Washington. It's in southwestern Washington, very small, but the legend that I heard growing up was about a particular swimming hole in the Oliqua Creek called Dead Man's Hole. So this particular swimming spot, supposedly you can't reach the bottom of the Now I'm sure you can. It's just super deep, really deep for a creek. But the legend is that back in the day, some guy was driving a carriage along the road by the creek and sometimes the legend says he was drunk, other times it just said he wasn't. You know Aware of the curve in the road. Well, supposedly, he missed the churn, and his horses, his carriage, and himself all went into the creek, Never to be found again. And so that's how it got the name of dead man's hole. So I also wanted to share legend about wenlock, Washington, called Brinson's hollow. Now, I've heard a few different stories about brinson's hollow. The most popular one was that there was a family named brinson who had a homestead up in that area. They had a son who had some kind of developmental disability. You know, back in the day, People weren't very kind about that, and so a lot of people started calling him a monster. Well, at some point, their house burnt down, and the young fellow ran off into the woods on fire, didn't know what to do, and just kept running. And so the idea is that he's still out there haunting the woods because of how horrific that death was. I've also heard, like, the standard circus train crash. The apes escaped into the forest, and that's how there are bigfoots out there. They're not actually bigfoots. They're just these descendants from the apes from the circus train. There was also another rumor about, like, vampires making a home in that area. And this one is interesting because I will say that as a child, we used to go up exploring there with my parents. And one time, when we came up, we did find, like, a bunch of, like, freshly dug graves. And my dad said that he thought that it was some modern vampires, like, you know, people who are kind of into, like, the vampire culture and stuff. I don't know if that was true, but it was weird that in the middle of this forest, There was, like, these freshly dug graves, but they were empty. Like, no one had been put in them yet. So I guess my dad was thinking, like, these vampire folks were, like, literally sleeping in those holes at night. I'm not sure, But I do actually have a couple of stories, Personal stories about this area. The first is my dad's story. So I think he was, like, 18 or 19. He and one of his friends, they had some dirt bikes. So they were out there riding their dirt bikes, and suddenly his friend's dirt bike just stopped working. Like, just dead stop. And they couldn't get it on or anything. And they were trying to figure out what to do, and they heard, like, something in the bushes. And, well, my dad said he thought it was, like, bigfoot, but they were both really freaked out. And it just stood there and stared at Them, he said it was pretty far away, but he was like, it's very big. I have no idea how fast that thing was. So they were contemplating whether or not they could both fit on my dad's dirt bike to get out of there, when finally his friend's dirt bike started working again and they just got the heck out of there. So there was that story. And then I have a story from my childhood where we were up hanging out in Brinson's Hollow, and it was me, my parents, my little brother, and our dogs. It's really muddy up there because it's all dirt, like logging roads. And our pickup truck got stuck in the mud, so we were stuck there for a while trying to get it out. We had to, like, gather sticks and stuff to put under the tires to get leverage out of the mud and everything. Well, the weird part is none of us can remember how we got home. Like, we all remember being there, and we all remember the dogs being there and trying to get the car unstuck. But then none of us remember the trip home. We just remember arriving home and our dogs were already home, which was really odd because we all very clearly remembered our dogs being with us. And to this day, none of us can remember, like, what happened between us getting the truck out of the mud and getting home. And, like, we lived in Vader. So it was probably like at least a half an hour drive from where we were stuck. And I was pretty young, so I can't remember, like, if we had a blank spot that was the equivalent of that trip or if it was longer and there might have been more missing time. But, yeah, it was just really weird. So that is the legend of Brinson's Hollow and a little bit of spooky stories pertaining to me and my family. All right, thank you so much.

[Derek Hayes]

Thank you, caller. Now, there's quite a lot to cover here, but let's see what we can do. For starters, the drownings. Delaney managed to find a few old newspaper reports describing similar incidents, one occurring on August 17, 1904, and the other almost exactly 100 years ago, May 25, 1926. You'll have to seek out the show notes to read each of those again. That's monsters among us podcast.com and click the Show Notes tab. Now, as for Prince in Hollow and the High Strangeness, let's set to go on there. Now, in addition to the century old articles Delaney dug up, she also found a paranormal newsletter from 1981 called the Creature Chronicles, an inset newsletter they speak of Brinson Hollow and nearby peak, and they speak of it like it's been a known hotspot for strangeness for a long time. Here's a portion of that newsletter. The area was first inhabited by the Snow family in the 1800s. They must have been aware of the strange happenings as their house was reported to have burned down several times. The Brinson family occupied a cabin there and the youngest daughter disappeared and was never found. This family is the origin for the area's name. In a recent interview, Mike MacLead told Don Peterson of two encounters that he had while living in a cabin below Brinson's Peak. Mike was living off the land between the years of 1971 and 1974. It was his custom to walk alone at nights to make meditate. His first observation was in the daytime. He watched a large form walking along the tree line. At night he could hear something heavy lurking about. There were strange noises that sounded like bear and wolf together. Whatever it was, it always stayed its distance. Mike believed that there was something, but he wanted to prove it to others. He convinced a friend, who we will call Ross, to accompany him, to sit and wait for the unknown animal to return. That is when they both saw it. The creature began to walk across the logging road and did so in one or two steps. Mike described the creature as being taller than him and walking as if humped over. It had light colored hair with a red tint in its eyes, he said, and had very long arms. Mike and his buddy were so scared that they forgot to load their guns and fire. They just got the hell out of there. Now again, that report is from 1981 and the events detailed within it occurred much earlier than that. So I'm starting to agree with our caller. There just might be something strange going on in Brinson Hollow. Awesome stuff caller. We thank you again for taking the time.

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[Caller/Guest]

Hey, everyone, check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date?

[Derek Hayes]

Oh, no. We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together.

We're married.

Me to a human, him to a bird.

[Caller/Guest]

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league.

[Derek Hayes]

Anyways, get a [e-mail] or with your local agent. Liberty, Liberty.

Liberty, Liberty. Except that's gotta be discouraging. This year he's batting.

All right, gang, we're down to the last call of the evening, and for this one, we venture south. Please welcome Pete out of the state of Texas.

Hey, Derek, this is Pete. I'm calling from the Republic of Texas. This is for your Hometown Legend series. My story is about the Marfa Lights, and it's not my hometown, but we did have an experience over there that I wanted to tell you about. It was either the late winter of 2009 or spring of 2010. Around that time, and at the time, we lived in Odessa, and we decided to take the kids on a day trip to the McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis, Texas. We took a tour of the telescopes, and then we attended a star watch party that night. And as we started to leave, when you come down off the mountain, there was a sign that said Marfa was 22 miles away. And so I asked my wife if she wanted to go check out the Marfa lights. I said, we probably won't get another opportunity. It's only 22 miles away. And she agreed. So we headed that direction. And our daughter was about 13 or 14, our oldest son was about 4, and our other son was about 2. And of course, they passed out as we're headed down there. I started telling her about this officer I'd worked with back in the 90s. His hometown was Marfa. And so I specifically asked him about the Marfa lights, and he told me a few things about it. He said that when he was in high school, he and some friends would get on their horses and ride out there because there wasn't anything to do. And they would approach the viewing center at night, and then they would turn some flashlights on over their shoulder, aim it towards the viewing center where the people were at, and then they would ride away on their horses. And so I asked him, I said, so the Marfa lights are fake? That was you guys this whole time? And he's like, oh, no. He said, the Marfa lights are real? He said, yeah, we used to play that prank. He said, but that was just for laughs. He said, The Marfa lights, they've been around forever. And I said, well, what are they? And he said, I don't know. No one knows. But apparently they'd been around since the 1800s or before that. Apparently there had been military experiments where they would surround those lights and they would disappear. There's all kinds of rumors or legends about it, that it's Native American spirits or buried treasures. It runs the gambit. Some people said it was headlights coming off the mountain south of town. But experiments showed that the headlights didn't line up with where the lights are at. And he told me of another incident that happened in. When he was 18, he got hired as a dispatcher at the sheriff's office in Alpine. That's a town about 37 miles east of Marfa. And he would work the midnight shift. And he said there was a young deputy that lived in Marfa, that when his shift would end at 11pm he used to stay there just to shoot the bull. When he finally got tired or sleepy between one or two in the morning, he would drive home. And he said after a while, the guy quit showing up. And when he finally saw him again, he said, hey, man, what happened? He said, you used to come talk to me. He goes, I hadn't seen you in a while. He said. The guy looked around, make sure nobody was listening. And he said one of the nights he was headed home to Marfa on that highway after he had left the dispatch center, he got followed by some lights, and they stayed with his car, and they scared him so bad that from that point forward, all the other guys that would get off at 11 would head back home to Marfa. He would jump in with the convoy because he wasn't going to travel alone anymore in the middle of the night after that happened, it scared him pretty bad. The other incident he told me about was a Pepsi delivery driver that had been driving a delivery truck from Alpine into Marfa. And he stopped by the little cafe in the morning. The employees were already there, and a few farmers were having their coffee and breakfast. And this Pepsi driver comes in, and he was pretty terrified. And apparently he had wet his pants and asked him what happened. And he said while he was going down the highway, a light flew in on the passenger side of the cab of his Pepsi truck. It landed down on the floorboard and basically rode shotgun with him until he hit the city limits of Marfa. At that point, it flew back out the window. So this is all the stuff I was telling my wife, you know, to get her caught up on it and stuff. So we get to Marfa and we go to the viewing center. And I remember when we got there, it was 12 midnight, right on the dot. My daughter didn't want to get out and look, so she stayed in the vehicle with the boys. And my wife and I got out at the viewing center. And after about 10 minutes or so, we didn't see anything. So we lost interest and decided to leave and head back home. As we're pulling out, my wife said, well, that was a complete waste of time. And I agreed. And that's famous last words. We started heading eastbound towards Alpine, and as we got further outside of town, next thing you know, I noticed that we were being followed or tailed by a bluish green light. It appeared to be somewhere between the size of a basketball and a beach ball. And it was about 40 or 50ft behind us and up in the air, and I could not lose it. I wanted to make sure it wasn't my imagination. So I asked my wife, I said, do you see anything behind us? I said, do you see a light? And of course, she turned around and looked. And then she confirmed, yeah, she goes, I see it. Well, of course, my wife and I were both armed, but that doesn't do you any good with something like this. And then I started thinking, well, what if we end up with missing time or abducted or probed? And I was thinking of protecting my family and getting away from it. So I. I was white knuckling the steering wheel, and I had punched it. I had not realized how fast I was going until my wife yelled out, and she's like, babe, slow down. And I looked down and I was going 110 miles an hour. And at this point, I finally slowed down, and that light just ended up disappearing. It never actually approached us or came up next to us or anything and stayed behind us. But it ended up being a pretty terrifying experience. So In June of 2024, my wife and I went back, we took the boys, and we went back to see it again. It wasn't airport lights, Derek, because we did end up seeing the airport lights. They're red and they're smaller. And this was a single bluish green orb or ball of light. And it was a clear night. So it wasn't ball lightning. And of course it wasn't swamp gas, because it's arid out there. It's dry. And so what I would tell anybody is if you want to have an experience, probably your best bet is to drive on that highway between Alpine and Marfa between midnight and six in the morning, if you end up not seeing anything at that viewing center, you're probably going to see something on that highway if you go at night. Yeah, that's the Marfa lights. I don't know what it is or what it was, but it ended up being pretty scary. Anyway, that's our story. Derek, thanks.

Oh, yeah. Thank you, Pete. The Marfa Lights, when one of the world's most recognizable spook lights are ghost lights, mysterious luminous balls of light that appear with enough regularity to be given a name. Joplin, Missouri, has one. Paulding, Michigan, has one. Brown Mountain, North Carolina, has one. And out here in the Borrego Triangle, there's said to be one as well. Now, the running belief from a lot of people that research this sort of thing is that there's a large amount of quartz in the area. And under the right conditions, balls of plasma or energy are somehow produced and released by this quartz deposit. Of course, there's also people out there that are absolutely convinced that it's a ghost winding along the mountainside. Now the mystery continues. But there is one thing for certain. These lights are real. And people have been witnessing them for a very long time. In 1916, Hallie Stillwell was 18 years old when she witnessed the same phenomenon.

[Caller/Guest]

We had decided to come to Marfa

[Derek Hayes]

to attend to a little business.

[Caller/Guest]

We were just visiting and talking, and all of a sudden we saw lights

[Derek Hayes]

over on the Shinhotti Mountains.

[Caller/Guest]

Look.

Howdy.

[Derek Hayes]

It couldn't be any kind of car lights.

[Caller/Guest]

And we first thought probably it was a campfire of Indians or Mexicans or ranchers. But it didn't act like a campfire at all.

[Derek Hayes]

They were peculiar, and I'd never seen

[Caller/Guest]

anything like them before. And of course not. None of us knew anything about it. We were not scientists or anything like that.

[Derek Hayes]

So we said, well, it couldn't be

[Caller/Guest]

anything but a ghost.

[Derek Hayes]

It's just ghost lights. And from then on, we mentioned them as ghost lights.

Now, that clip from another childhood favorite, Unsolved Mysteries, and I've linked to the full episode in the show notes. You can watch it for free. If the Marfa lights have piqued your interest, you might want to check it out now. Believe it or not, reports of strange lights in this area go even further back than that. In 1883, when a young cowhand named Robert Reed Ellison saw a flickering light while he was driving cattle through the pass. Other settlers have told him that they often see the lights, but when they went to investigate, there were no ashes or evidence of a campsite. And years before. The Apache in the area, too, have reported the light, many referring to them as Elsate, a former chief that was killed by the Mexican Army. Legend says Elsate is looking for his way home. Whatever the Marfa lights are, you can see them yourself. Just look for the sign off Highway 90 about nine miles east of town. Go park there some night, turn your gaze to the hills and let us know what you see. A big thanks to Pete for sharing the entry, and a huge thanks to all of our hometown legend contributors this season. What a way to go out with a bang. Now folks, this is the end of the season, which means we're going to take a little time off. Trust me, we need it. So for the next three weeks we'll be releasing some content from the Beyond. Maybe we'll slap together a best of episode or two, so keep tuning in. There'll still be some content released, but we will return on May 12th for the start of season 21. Consider this your opportunity to catch up. Now let's get this out of the way. 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 like us on our social media accounts, give us a like and follow on YouTube, join our Discord server and leave us a rate and review, wherever that sort of thing is possible. Now don't forget, you can catch the show every Saturday evening at 10pm Eastern on the NX Digital Network. Just visit onxnetwork.com to tune in now tonight score was provided by Iron Cthulhu, a apocalypse coda, AG Music and Carl Casey at White Bat Audio. Now folks, watch our movie Shadows in the desert. Visit borregotriangle.com to tune in. Check out Monsters Among Us Jr. New episodes drop every other Wednesday and new episodes will continue to drop over the hiatus. And finally visit us in the beyond for days worth of back catalog and ad free content. Search us out on Patreon, click the subscription button over on Apple, or visit monsters among us podcast.com and click the Patreon tab. All right gang, there is no beyond tonight. There's no secret call tonight. We're getting a jump start on our time off. But I'll be back here in three weeks and all we'll be back to normal. Now on behalf of my team and myself, I want to thank each and every one of you for tuning in and contributing to the show without support from folks like you, this little program would not work. So give yourselves a pat on the back. Now go share the show with friends and family to earn a full gold star. Alright folks, I'll catch you all in a few weeks. You keep it spooky and above all else, have yourselves a great night.

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[Caller/Guest]

Hey everyone, check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date?

[Derek Hayes]

Oh no. We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together.

We're married.

Me to a human, him to a bird.

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league. Anyways, get a [e-mail] or with your local agent.

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[Caller/Guest]

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[Caller/Guest]

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See, that's a premiere host move right there.

[Caller/Guest]

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[Derek Hayes]

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[Caller/Guest]

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[Derek Hayes]

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