Morbid Podcast: "Dialing the Dead: A Séance with Sam & Colby"
Hosts: Ash Kelley & Alaina Urquhart
Guests: Sam & Colby
Date: September 22, 2025
Episode Overview
This episode brings together the worlds of spooky podcasting and daring paranormal YouTubers. Ash and Alaina, your hilarious Morbid hosts, welcome Sam and Colby—explorers of the haunted and bizarre best known for their investigations and wild YouTube channel—into the studio (as opposed to a bank vault, finally!) for a lively, laugh-filled, and, at times, chilling conversation about haunted houses, cursed locations, kids seeing ghosts, prankster poltergeists, and the trappings of seances both real and… very much faked.
From discussing their obsessive love for Halloween and costume crafts to the darkest moments in their ghost hunting careers, the foursome dives into audience questions, personal experiences, and even a raucous "Would You Rather?" game with some of the best custom paranormal prompts ever.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
Welcoming Sam & Colby
- [01:53] The episode opens with Sam and Colby joining Ash and Alaina live in the Morbid studio. There's instant camaraderie as the group bond over the joys of spooky season and New England fall traditions (apple picking, anyone?).
- Colby: "Never picked an apple. That's like a New England thing we take for granted, I think." (03:41)
Love for Halloween & Costume Crafting
- [04:43–07:00] The hosts and guests nerd out about Halloween parties (L.A. vs. New England), their intense love for the spooky season, and, notably, Alaina’s over-the-top homemade costumes for her kids.
- Elena: “I, like, learned how to sew for that.”
- Sam: "I love how serious you guys, like, take Halloween."
- Alaina: “Next time you’re coming apple picking. See that? You can bake an apple pie...” (07:15)
Sam & Colby: Origin Story
- [07:46–09:16] Sam and Colby recount starting their channel in 2014, shifting from Vine comedy and prank videos to exploring the haunted and the unknown.
- Colby: “At first, we were starting on Vine… then ultimately decided to do what we loved, which was going to abandoned places.”
- Their Midwest roots (Kansas City), the move to LA, and how exploring haunted locations felt like a “full circle” moment.
Escape Room & Haunted Venues
- [09:19–12:31] The duo launched a signature escape room on Hollywood Boulevard and bought a 100-year-old haunted school in Iowa, rescuing it from demolition and turning it into a live-in paranormal research site.
- Colby: (On the escape room) "We made it extremely hard for a reason… success rate is 30%."
- Sam: “For us, October is like our Super Bowl.”
Ferrar School: Hauntings & Investigations
- [12:46–16:23] Staying for a whole week in the haunted school led to ongoing investigations, security cams catching shadow figures and unexplained events, and a distinct darkening energy, especially in the boiler room.
- Colby: “People sprinting out of the school, like getting threatened all the time... it’s like worse than when we came.” (14:39)
- Sam: “Owning a haunted building, you see some wacky stuff.”
Haunted Encounters — At Home and on the Road
- [17:57–20:47] Stories of ghostly attachments, unexpected psychic remarks (including at Ralph’s supermarket), and a haunted Vegas residence where mysterious shadows and poltergeist-like activities occur.
- Sam: “I remember an old guy in… a parking lot stopping me and being like, 'You’re not gonna be okay.'” (18:57)
- Colby: “That house is definitely haunted. For sure.” (19:37)
The Hosts' Own Haunted History
- [22:34–26:51] Alaina and Ash share personal accounts: Alaina’s daughter’s “friend” Skeleton, the ominous “Mister,” childhood ghost sightings, sleepwalking, and their family’s persistent brush with the paranormal.
- Alaina (about her daughter): “She said, 'His bones look old... they’re like brown and dark.'” (23:22)
- Ash: “I used to see a ton of ghosts when I was little… at Elena’s parents house.” (25:59)
Kids, Imaginary Friends, and Sensitivity to Spirits
- [27:08–28:09] Sam suggests children are more open to seeing spirits, sparking more stories of childhood encounters.
Sam & Colby's Most Haunted Experiences
- [44:16–49:11] Discussing their new “Hell Week” series and the terrifying Paris Catacombs trip—illegal, physically risky, and psychically dangerous—with rituals, human remains, and their most chilling audio evidence (guttural screams, direct responses).
- Sam: “Our investigations were absolutely horrifying… there was literal guttural screams back at us.” (45:44)
- Encounters with “cataphiles” (Parisian tunnel-dwellers) and the real physical danger.
Deep Dive: Victorian Seances & Mediums
- [51:30–56:59] Ash and Alaina entertain Sam and Colby with outrageous—and sometimes disgusting—historical methods of mediumship. This includes the infamous “ectoplasm” trick (fabric, lungs, goo, and celebrity clippings regurgitated as ‘evidence’ for gullible audiences).
- Ash: “So it would sometimes include a gauzy substance leaking from… all kinds of places on the medium…” (52:13)
- Sam: “We've never had someone present their ectoplasm. Ectoplasm in a jar.” (58:21)
Mediumship: Real or Scam?
- [62:41–67:03] Honest talk about the ethics of mediumship: notorious psychic frauds, the Sylvia Browne “water” debacle, and whether any percentage of mediums have true abilities.
- Sam: "I think probably 90%, maybe 80, 85% are fake. Honestly, I believe that real... but most people do it for the money."
- Colby: “We've met some that can only see figures… some that use the claromancy… bone throwing…” (68:49)
Belief Spectrum and Openness
- [33:45–37:08] How the guests’ and hosts’ belief in the paranormal has shifted with direct experience, and a discussion of the importance of being “open” to the supernatural for capturing real phenomena.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- On Halloween culture:
- Sam: "For us, October is like our Super Bowl." (05:38)
- On haunted homes and attachments:
- Ash: “Did you bring something into our office?” (18:06)
- On creepy children:
- Ash: “We have a history of like creepy children in this family… I was a creepy child.”
- On famous cases:
- Colby: “Have you guys been to Villisca?” (50:04)
- On skepticism and scams:
- Alaina: “Imagine being that committed to the bit… you are that committed to the scam.” (55:04)
- On mimics and the uncanny:
- Colby: “The doppelganger sort of voice mimicking has happened to us like two or three times.” (96:02)
- Ash (about seeing a mimic in the house): “I literally… was like, were you just in the bathroom?” (98:19)
"Would You Rather": Spooky Showdown!
- [71:14–111:33] The show erupts with laughter and dark hypotheticals—Ouija board possessions, Victorian ghost vloggers, demons biting you when you promote merch, taco-throwing poltergeists, haunted tattoo curses, and more.
- Samples:
- “Would you rather let a Ouija board spirit possess your right hand for 24 hours or let Zak Bagans narrate your life for a few months?” (71:19)
- “Would you rather summon a Victorian child ghost who calls you Daddy Colby and Papa Sam, or… have a Ouija board spell out your most embarrassing memories?”
- Colby: “Probably the child ghost… I think it’d be just funny, honestly.”
- Samples:
Paranormal Truths & Tall Tales: Two Truths and a Lie
- [112:01–118:40] Sam and Colby each present two truths and a lie from their ghost-hunting careers. The hosts try (with mixed results) to spot which chilling tale isn’t as it seems.
Upcoming Projects & Exclusive Reveal
- [118:44–119:44] Sam & Colby plug their annual “Hell Week” series (October 5th launch). They tease a Halloween finale at one of the most famous horror movie locations of the past month—a Morbid exclusive hint!
- Sam: "It has recently become the number one horror movie to hit any box office." (119:36)
Segment Timestamps
- 01:53 – Show opens, guest introductions
- 04:43 – Halloween obsession, costume talk
- 07:46 – Sam & Colby origin, YouTube journey
- 09:19 – Escape room & Ferrar School discussion
- 12:46 – Living in the haunted school, ongoing investigations
- 17:57 – Haunted home stories, psychic encounters, ghostly attachments
- 22:34 – "Skeleton" and other family hauntings
- 27:08 – Kids and openness to spirits
- 44:16 – Most haunted locations: Paris Catacombs, Villisca Axe Murder House
- 51:30 – Victorian séance shenanigans: ectoplasm and beyond
- 62:41 – Mediums: real vs. scam
- 71:14 – Would You Rather? (paranormal edition)
- 112:01 – Two Truths and a Lie (ghost hunting edition)
- 118:44 – Upcoming projects and Hell Week tease
Final Thoughts
This Morbid episode is a rollercoaster of ghoulish humor, genuine scare stories, and a deep dive into the haunted history both in the U.S. and abroad. It’s loaded with heart, wild games, sharp skepticism, and a respect for all things that go bump in the night. Whether you’re a Morbid regular or a Sam & Colby fan checking this out, you’ll walk away with a new appreciation for haunted history, the dangers (and business?) of ghost hunting, a whole new list of places to visit (or avoid), and, above all, lots of laughs.
"I'm doing the mirror dimension. I feel like you could learn a lot in that instance, and then I could continue just having tacos when I want to." – Ash, [109:41]
"For us, October is like our Super Bowl." – Sam, [05:38]
"Energy doesn't die... It's a fact." – Colby, [34:07]
"We made it extremely hard for a reason... success rate is 30%." – Colby, [11:45]
"Owning a haunted building, you see some wacky stuff." – Sam, [15:50]
"Would you rather summon a Victorian child ghost who calls you Daddy Colby and Papa Sam?" – Ash, [90:37]