My Victorian Nightmare – Ep. 57: Dark Séances & The Greenbrier Ghost

Host: Genevieve Manion
Date: August 25, 2025
Theme: Exploration of the eerie phenomena of dark Victorian séances and the true, astonishing tale of The Greenbrier Ghost — the only ghost ever believed to have helped solve her own murder.

Episode Overview

Genevieve walks listeners through two chilling topics rooted in Victorian history and lore:

• First, the mechanics and atmosphere of "dark séances" in the 1800s.
• Second, the legendary case of the Greenbrier Ghost, which uniquely blends ghostly visitation and true crime, set in West Virginia.

Throughout, the tone is cozy-yet-macabre, tinged with Genevieve's humor, historical curiosity, and affection for oddities of the era.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Haunting Victorian Correspondence: "With Their Eyes" Segment

[10:10–20:25]

- 19th-Century Chinese Ghost Folklore

• Genevieve reads from a May 28, 1876 article in the St. Louis Globe Democrat titled "Mongolian Ghosts," featuring a chilling, cross-cultural ghost story from Nanchang, Jiangxi (then "Kyang Si"), China.
• Story features two scholar friends, one of whom dies and returns as a ghost. A visit that begins almost touching sharply turns terrifying:
  • The ghost requests the living friend handle unfinished affairs.
  • The ghost overstays, his appearance becomes horrifying; he chases the living friend until he's separated by a wall, where the corpse is later discovered.

Notable Quote:

"The dead thing stood still and did not depart. The young man shivered and burst into a cold sweat. Still the ghostly guest went not, but stood glaring by the bed."
— [12:45]

- Cultural Analysis & ‘Jiangshi’ Folklore

• Analysis of the "jiangshi" or Chinese hopping vampire, connecting scholarly notes and Western misconceptions about spirits vs. monsters.
  • Causes of reanimation in Qing Dynasty lore: improper burial, supernatural tampering, a portion of the soul lingering (the "Po").
  • The motif of gradual transformation into the living dead draws parallels with Western vampire mythos.

Notable Insight:

"Even in the small details, like these vampiric ghosts not turning instantly...It takes a bit for them to succumb, just like our vampire folklore."
— [16:08]

• Random Historical Notes on Mongolia and Language:
  • Mongolia's political relationship to China in the 19th c.
  • Quirky aside on Westerners’ mispronunciation of "Genghis Khan" (should be "Genghis Han").

2. The Victorian Dark Séance

[21:35–28:30]

• Genevieve introduces the concept of the "dark séance," drawing from an 1869 Spiritualist newspaper article.
  • Practitioners would gather in total darkness, with strict exclusion of all light to facilitate physical manifestations (e.g., audible ghostly voices).
  • Paper tubes, crafted from rolled music sheets tied with cotton, were used as communication conduits for spirits.

Notable Quote:

"There are in England several very interesting circles...where the spirits speak with audible voices, but unfortunately, total darkness is a necessary condition."
— [22:07], from 1869 article

• Discussion of how darkness encourages both paranormal delight and skepticism (fraud likely), but the atmosphere was undeniably compelling.

Genevieve’s Commentary:

"Imagine sitting there, it's pitch black, and you first hear the sound of tubes being picked up and dropped by spectral hands..."
— [25:00]

• Musings about early analogues to EVP (electronic voice phenomena), and the improvisational creativity of spiritualists.

3. The Greenbrier Ghost: America’s Only Ghost Detective

[29:00–1:08:45]

- Story Introduction & Sources

• The Greenbrier Ghost is the only U.S. case where a ghost was said to have helped convict her killer.
• References: American HauntingsInc.com, Gothic Stories.com, and GreenbrierHistorical.org.

- The Murder of Elva Zona Hester (Zona)

• Background:
  • Zona Hester, born c.1873, Greenbrier, WV.
  • Married Erasmus "Trout" Shue—a blacksmith with a suspiciously dark personal history.

Notable Quote:

"Zona was pickled with this gentleman. He had come to the county to work as a blacksmith, a well needed and lucrative trade. Horse thievery aside..."
— [31:10]

• Mother’s Intuition:

  • Zona's mother, Mary Jane Hester, deeply suspicious of Shue from the start.

• Mysterious Death:

  • Three months after wedding, Zona found dead by neighbor Andy Jones.
  • Shue moved and dressed the body (an unusual breach of community custom), obsessively covering Zona's head and neck with pillows, veils, and scarves.
  • Dr. Knapp, summoned to examine, noted bruising but was intimidated by Shue into an incomplete exam.
  • Cause of death listed as "everlasting faint," later "childbirth," though evidence for the latter was questionable.

• Suspicious Behavior Around the Body:

  • Shue's continuous, theatrical grief and manipulation of Zona's neck caught attention.
  • Even at the funeral, he guarded her head, and manipulated the shrouding.

Notable Quote:

"All it did was make people openly question what is up with all the neck stuff, Erasmus? It's almost as if you're trying to hide something, my dude."
— [39:53]

- Mary Jane’s Omen and Prayers

• Upon washing a sheet from the coffin, Mary Jane observed that:

  "When she placed the white sheet in the washing basin, the water turned blood red, then faded back to clear, revealing a large blood stain..."
  — [41:40]

  • Interpreted as an omen; led Mary Jane to urgently pray for her daughter’s spirit to visit.

- Zona’s Ghostly Visit

• Setting: February 1897, snow on the ground; Genevieve narrates with a moody, scene-setting flair.
• Mary Jane receives four dreamlike nighttime visits from Zona's ghost, who chillingly turns her head fully around to reveal a broken neck.
• Spirit alleges the murder:
  • Shue killed her in a rage over an unsatisfactory dinner (lack of meat).
  • He broke her neck at the foot of the stairs.
• Mary Jane is galvanized to seek justice.

Notable Quote:

"According to her mother, Zona told her that her husband did kill her...She said he broke her neck with his bare hands at the foot of the stairs."
— [46:27]

- Legal Aftermath and the Second Autopsy

• Mary Jane convinces prosecutor John Alfred Preston to call for exhumation, openly relaying her ghostly visitation as the motive.
• Dr. Knapp admits his original exam was thwarted by Shue’s aggression.
• Second autopsy (in a peculiar location: the local schoolhouse) finds:
  • Broken neck, crushed windpipe, finger bruises—clear evidence of strangulation and homicide.

Notable Quote:

"It appears your wife's neck had been broken." To which he replied, "they cannot prove that I did it." Not the brightest bulb in the box, this guy."
— [56:48]

- Trial & The Role of the Supernatural Testimony

• Shue’s chilling confidence: “They will not be able to prove I did it.”
• Town dredges up his alarming past (abuse, probable involvement in two previous wives’ deaths).
• Defense foolishly exposes Mary Jane's ghost testimony in court, thinking it’ll undermine her credibility. Instead, the jury is captivated and accepts her with empathy.

Notable Quote:

"The jury was keyed in, eyes peeled, riveted by Mary Jane's story. And they did not doubt her for a moment."
— [1:05:22]

• Result: Jury convicts Shue of murder; death penalty unachievable due to required unanimity, so sentenced to life in prison.
  • Attempted lynching by a mob is narrowly averted by sheriff’s clever hiding of Shue in local woods.
  • Shue dies in prison (1900), unmarked grave.
  • Mary Jane Hester remains steadfast in her story until her death in 1916.

- Reflections & Historical Context

• Genevieve reflects on:
  • Coroner’s juries: laymen assisting with autopsies to validate findings and diffuse responsibility.
  • The intersection of folklore and justice.
  • The haunting duality of hope and fear in believing ghosts can right wrongs after death.

Memorable Closing:

"I want to believe that Mary Jane's story is true, that some spirits have the power to sway the living to find the justice they deserve in death. Imagine that homecoming when her mother crossed over and met her on the other side. How grateful Zona must have been."
— [1:07:10]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Dark Séance Creep Factor:

  "Imagine sitting there, it's pitch black, and you first hear the sound of the tubes being picked up and dropped by spectral hands until you hear the voices floating above you."
  — [25:00]

• Genevieve’s Tone & Humor:

  "Why are they having autopsies in elementary schools? Why is he being smuggled into the woods? These explanations are sadly lost to time."
  — [1:02:15]

• Genevieve on Belief:

  "I talk about ghosts because I find them interesting. But deep down...I’m afraid of becoming one, a spirit without the ability to know how to move on, stuck here alone, clinging to an injustice that no one can fix."
  — [1:07:24]

Timestamps for Significant Segments

• Victorian Chinese ghost story: [10:10–20:25]
• Dark séance mechanics and analysis: [21:35–28:30]
• Start of Greenbrier Ghost story: [29:00]
• Initial suspicion, discovery of body: [31:00–39:30]
• Funeral oddities and Mary Jane’s omens: [39:30–42:30]
• Zona’s ghost visits Mary Jane: [44:15–47:50]
• Exhumation and second autopsy: [52:00–58:00]
• Court proceedings and final reflections: [1:02:30–1:08:45]

Closing Reflections

Genevieve leaves listeners with questions about belief, justice, and the thin line between supernatural folklore and real-life consequences, all wrapped in her trademark mix of empathy, historical rigor, and gothic storytelling. The episode stands as both a well-researched case study and a meditation on the Victorian urge to find meaning—even redress—through the uncanny.

If you’re enthralled by eerie history, Victorian gothic tales, or justice from beyond the grave, this episode distills the essence of the era’s darkest fascinations.