Into the Crypt with Soleil [Patreon Preview]

Summary

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Episode Overview

Title: Into the Crypt with Soleil [Patreon Preview]
Host: Jack Wagner
Guest: Soleil
Date: February 13, 2026

This special Patreon preview episode of Otherworld brings back Soleil, whose astonishing two-part Folly Beach series has already captivated listeners. Host Jack Wagner sits down with Soleil to share an additional, previously untold ghost story from her youth, also set on Folly Beach. What begins as a bonus tale about a mysterious Civil War relic rapidly unfolds into a chilling three-year saga of escalating paranormal events experienced by Soleil’s family—a real-life haunting triggered by a piece of history brought home from the shifting sands of South Carolina.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Discovering the Civil War Fort and the “54” Relic (01:44 – 05:16)

• Soleil describes exploring Folly Beach with her family in the early 2000s, drawn by news of rapidly eroding and unexcavated Civil War forts.
  • “There are two forts out on Folly beach that were never properly excavated... so much of the fort that was just sticking up out of the sand. And there were things that you could just... you could just lean down and pick stuff up. It was a pretty wild experience.” (01:51)
• Relics—fossilized bones, old buttons, coins—were scattered and accessible, mixing archaeology with local lore.
• The significant find: Soleil’s mother unearths a small metal “54,” which an onsite archaeologist identifies as a helmet badge from the famed 54th Regiment, South Carolina’s first all-Black Civil War regiment.
  • “[The archaeologist said] These were on the helmets of all the soldiers... She had found one of the little metal 54s that would have been on a soldier's cap.” (04:25)
• The family understands the rarity of casually collecting such artifacts, but South Carolina’s lax approach to preservation made their find possible.
  • “South Carolina is an unusual place.” (05:18, Soleil)

2. The First Paranormal Incident: A Chilling Omen (05:30 – 06:41)

• After washing and admiring their finds around a beloved mosaic table, the family is struck by a sudden, unshakeable sense of unease.
  • “…it was like this scene from The Mummy where everyone's sitting there and, like, the wind goes, like – and then everyone gets a chill up their spine. That happened to my family.” (05:32)
• Unanimously, they feel compelled to return the items—except the 54 badge, which Soleil’s mother cannot part with.
• Implication: The act of keeping the 54 triggers an unrelenting series of hauntings.

3. Three Years of Hauntings (06:41 – 13:20)

• The paranormal activity begins immediately and persists until the 54 badge mysteriously disappears from the house.
  • “The paranormal activity did not stop until the 54 disappeared. We have no idea where it went.” (06:49)
• First escalation: Soleil, home alone, hears her dogs’ names called from the woods. The dogs react fearfully, and then the voice calls her name, terrifying her. The family dismisses it as a neighbor playing a prank—until others experience the same.
  • “I hear somebody from the woods... and my dogs hear it too. They stop and they look at it.” (08:21)
• Corroboration: The next incident occurs while the family is traveling and a friend is watching the house. The friend and her husband both hear their own names and the dogs’ names called from the woods and refuse to return.
  • “[Becca says] ‘Somebody in the woods started calling your dogs’ names, and then they started calling my name and my husband’s name...’ My parents just like look at me. And I’m like, I told you. I told you I didn’t make that up.” (09:30)
• Recurring activity: This disembodied voice—sometimes mimicking family members—targets multiple people, including Soleil’s brother and friends. No one ever finds a source.
  • “Sometimes it sounded like our mom, and sometimes it sounded like just a guy.” (10:43, Soleil)
• Poltergeist-like phenomena: Lights in the hallway flicker off inexplicably, leading to confusion and mutual accusations among siblings, until they realize neither is responsible.
  • “I'd be walking down the hallway to go to my room and I'd hear the light switch click and the lights would go out... and my brother's like, you need to stop doing that... He like realizes I'm in my bed, like I couldn't have done it.” (11:22)
• Chilling family encounter: During a night of TV, a cold, invisible “person” seemingly embraces each family member in turn—a disturbing, physical manifestation.
  • “This cold person... it felt like a whole body embraced each of us in a line.” (12:47, Soleil)
  • Notable quote: “It was like... something was, like, embracing you.” (13:06, Soleil)
  • Afterwards, Soleil’s mother remarks on the palpable change in the room: “Well, it. It's definitely gone. Like, whatever it was is definitely. It's not in the room anymore.” (13:20)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the family’s fateful haul: “We just, like, walked away with, like, a real piece of, like, South Carolina history. And, like, it's okay for us to have it, because normally it's not okay for you to go to a historical site and just kind of pick through artifacts and take some out.”
  —Soleil (04:02)

• On the moment everything changed: “It was like the air shifted, and we all had the same feeling. We all looked at each other, and in unison, we said, ‘We have to take the stuff back.’”
  —Soleil (05:36)

• On the three-year haunting: “The paranormal activity did not stop until the 54 disappeared. We have no idea where it went.”
  —Soleil (06:49)

• On chilling family experiences: “This cold person, like, because it felt like a whole body embraced each of us in a line.”
  —Soleil (12:47)

• Host’s authentic reaction: “By the way, this is, like, my reactions right now are why I edit myself out of the podcast normally. That's terrifying, though. That's crazy.”
  —Jack Wagner (13:10)

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Timeline & Key Segments

• 01:44 – 05:16: Discovery of the Civil War fort and the “54” badge
• 05:30 – 06:41: Family’s eerie collective premonition; decision to keep the artifact
• 06:41 – 10:04: Onset of supernatural events; voices from the woods
• 10:04 – 11:22: The haunting spreads and intensifies—others experience the voices
• 11:22 – 12:47: Unexplainable hallway light incidents; poltergeist activity
• 12:47 – 13:20: The whole family experiences a palpable, physical haunting

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Summary & Takeaway

This gripping preview episode offers a deeply personal look into the unexplainable—how a family’s seemingly innocent connection to the past brings the inexplicable into their home. Soleil’s narrative, rich with detail and emotional honesty, stands out both as a cautionary tale about disturbing history and a testament to the reality of modern hauntings. It invites listeners to reflect: What happens when history refuses to stay buried?

For the full saga and more chilling encounters, subscribe to Otherworld’s Patreon.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome to a preview of this Week's Patreon Episode 1. That was slightly delayed, but I think it's well worth the wait. This week I am joined by Soleil from our recent two part series entitled Folly Beach. If you haven't heard that both of the episodes are already out on Patreon, you can listen to them right now. That series already has so much going on in it. It's a completely crazy story. And during my multiple interviews with Soleil, she told me that she had another story, a ghost story that she experienced when she was growing up. And it takes place at the same beach, Folly Beach. At the time, I told her we should just save this one because your story already has so much going on. But she joined me for this episode to talk about that additional story. And I have to say I thought it would be a little bonus story. It ended up being a lot crazier than I ever imagined. It's actually a series of events that takes place over three years and starts when her mom decides to take a Civil War relic that she found at a beach near an old fort. Aside from that, we also talk about her reaction to the episodes Reiki Cats and Hanging out with High School Goths in Graveyards. This is a short preview if you want to hear the full thing along with Folly Beach Park Parts 1 and 2. They are all out now at patreon.com Otherworld.

[B]

This was way back in, like the early 2000s. This would have been sometime between 2004 and 2006 that this occurred. There are two forts out on Folly beach that were never properly excavated. One of them was on the beach and the other is in the woods. It is still in the woods intact and has still not been properly excavated. The one that was on the beach was washing away. And it was huge news and every huge local news and everybody was talking about it who was, you know, interested in like, you know, preserving local history, that kind of thing. So my mom was like, hey guys, we're gonna go out to Folly beach and we're gonna go like, check out, like, what's out there. So we all got our little shovels and we went out there. And the thing that was really interesting was that because Folly beach is a barrier island, the sand is constantly shifting and the ocean is constantly, like picking things up and bringing them back out. So as soon as something gets buried, it eventually gets uncovered. And so when we got there, there was so much of the fort that was just sticking up out of the sand. And there were things that you could Just. I mean, you could just lean down and pick stuff up. It was. It was a pretty wild experience.

[A]

And this was a. This was a fort before.

[B]

Yeah, you can actually still see it. It's in the ocean now, and you can still see the concrete pillars sticking out of the water, but it's fully underwater now.

[A]

Civil War fort.

[B]

Yep, a Civil War fort. This was the fort of the 54th Regiment, which was, you know, the first all black regiment in South Carolina. So we go out there, there's just stuff laying around. There's also a ton of archaeologists out there because they are there to collect and preserve what they can of South Carolina history. And so it was. It was pretty cool. And it was also very lucky. I found a bunch of fossilized cowbones. My brother found a button, My stepdad found a coin, and my mom found this thing. It was a little metal 54.

[A]

And we were like, that's crazy, actually.

[B]

Yeah, it's pretty. It's pretty crazy. So this guy walks over and he's like, hey, you know, I'm a local archaeologist. What have you got? I can tell you about it. And so we show him everything. And I show him my cow bones, and he's like, oh, yeah. So these are here because they would roast entire cows on the beach, and that's how they would feed the army. So there's a ton of fossilized cowbones that were, like, coming up out of the sand. And then he explained, you know, like, the button was like a Civil War period button, but, like, he couldn't tell us, like, exactly what it was from. And he looked at the coin and he gave my brother, like. Or my dad an approximation of, like, when the coin was from. And then when my mom showed him the 54, he was like, wow, this is a really special find. These were on the helmets of all the soldiers because we do have one of the old uniforms still intact, so we know exactly what their uniforms look like. And she had found one of the little metal 54s that would have been on a soldier's cap. So we're stoked. We're all, like. We're all big into history. So we. We go home, we're so excited. We're like, oh, wow. Like, we just, like, walked away with, like, a real piece of, like, South Carolina history. And, like, it's okay for us to have it, because normally it's not okay for you to go to a historical site and just kind of pick through artifacts and take some.

[A]

I was going to say, this seems very unusual.

[B]

Well, South Carolina is an unusual place.

[A]

This is a very southern experience you're having, where there's an open archeological site that's just washing into the ocean, and people can come and pick through it.

[B]

Yep. So we're super excited. We wash everything together. And then my mom has this mosaic table that I. She still has it. I love that table. And we all, like, wash our stuff, and we lay it on the table to dry, and we all sit around the table, and we're just like, Everyone is so happy. And then it was like this scene from the Mummy where everyone's sitting there and, like, the wind goes, like. And then everyone gets a chill up their spine. That happened to my family. We were all sitting around the table, and it was like the air shifted, and we all had the same feeling. We all looked at each other, and in unison, we said, we have to take the stuff back. So we go literally, right then, right there. We get in the car, and we go take the stuff back. But my mom can't let go of the 54. So we agree it's really cool. And, like, we don't. We also, like, want to keep it. So we take. We take the 54 back home. And what followed was about three years of non stop paranormal activity in our house. It was experienced.

[A]

Three years.

[B]

Yep, three years. It did not stop.

[A]

Yeah, I want to hear about this.

[B]

Oh, yeah. I'm going to. I'm going to hit some highlights for you, please. So they did. The paranormal activity did not stop until the 54 disappeared. We have no idea where it went. My mom has this huge curio cabinet that she has, like, all of her little, like, clothes collections and treasures. Yeah. And she had it on display on the first, like, the very first shelf. And it was, like, right in, like, the back. And we have no, like, who would have opened it and specifically taken that. Like, you know, there's like, little, like, crystal figurines and stuff. Like, if somebody was gonna rob us, like, who would come in and take just, like, this still tiny iron metal 54? We're just saying we have no explanation for where it went Anyway. So one of the things that I frequently experienced, the first time I experienced it, it was really scary. I was home alone. My parents were out of town. I was babysitting my little brother. I'm like, 17 at the time, and he's like, 10. And I'm also responsible for caring for our dogs. So it's nighttime, about to go to bed. I let the dogs out because we had. We had a golden retriever. And a chihuahua. And they were really good, really good, well behaved dogs. And so I, you know, it was easy to just let them in the backyard, like without the leash. So they go to go to the bathroom and I hear somebody from the woods. And so our house was backed up to the woods, and that used to be all wetlands. Now it's a golf course. And I hear somebody calling my dog's names from the woods. And my dogs hear it too. They stop and they look at it. And Lola, our golden retriever, who never growled at anybody, growls, and she runs back to the house. And then as the dogs are running back to the house, I hear somebody yelling my name. And so I freak out. I call my parents. I'm like, there's somebody in the woods calling my name. And my parents are like, you're making it up or it's John messing with you. John's our neighbor who, like, I went to high school with his son. And he, he's. Him and his wife have always just been so nice to me. Like, they used to like, give me rides to school and stuff. And like, John would just never do something like that. Like, he was, he would like, tell you stupid dad jokes. But John's not the kind of guy who would like, go stand in the woods and like, try to creep you out. So I was like, I really don't think that that's true, but whatever. No, you know, my parents don't believe me. Fast forward three months later, I'm out of town with my parents. We're on a family trip. My mom's friend Becca, good family friend, is watching the dogs and she calls my mom and she's like, hey, I can't go over to your house anymore. I took your dogs to my house. And my mom's like, what happened? And she's like, oh, I was letting your dogs out, and somebody in the woods started calling your dog's names. And then they started calling my name and my husband's name and. And her husband was there and he was like, he also heard it and he was like yelling through the phone. And my parents just like, look at me. And I'm like, I told you. I told you I didn't make that up. So that was, that was like the beginning.

[A]

And like, I assume nobody would. Absolutely nobody would know those people's names.

[B]

No, nobody would have known. Becca and Brian did not come over to my parents house very often. And like, they hadn't been introduced to anybody in our neighborhood. And then of course, like, this kept happening. This happened to my brother. This happened to my brother with his friends. This happened to some of my friends. This happened to me again several times after this. Sometimes you would even hear somebody walking around in the woods. Like, you could hear, like, crunching and footsteps, but there was never.

[A]

Oh, that's so weird.

[B]

There was never anybody there.

[A]

What did the voice sound like?

[B]

It would change. Sometimes it sounded like our mom, and sometimes it sounded like just a guy. Yeah. Hunter would run back to the house and he'd be like, is mom here? I heard her calling me and I'm like, no, mom's not home yet. Like, that used to happen all the time. Another frequent, another thing that was going on was. And it took us. This is all the stuff that was happening in the beginning. And we didn't connect it to the 54 until later. Like, we didn't connect it to the Folly beach stuff until, like, probably a year into the activity. So we have this L shaped hallway, and there's light switch at each end of the hallway. And at the beginning of the hallway is my bedroom. And at the end of the hallway is my brother's bedroom. So, like, they're side by side, but, like, you know, like, I. It. It's kind of hard to explain, but I'd be walking down the hallway to go to my room and I'd hear the light switch click and the lights would go out. And for a while I just thought it was my brother messing with me. Like, it didn't scare me at all. And then one day I was laying in my room and my brother busted in my room. And like, I have a loft bed, so I'm like, up off the floor and my brother's like, you need to stop doing that. And I was like, what are you talking about? And he's like, turning off the light. And then he, like, looks at me and he's like. He like realizes, you know, like, I'm in my bed, like I couldn't have done it. And he's like, is it you? Are you turning off the light? And I was just like, no, I thought you were doing that. And so after that, after that realization, we just started telling each other when it would happen. And it. And it kept happening. And sometimes it would happen when nobody else was home. There was also this one time my whole family experienced this. We were all sitting in the living room watching a TV show. And this cold person, like, because it felt like a whole body embraced each of us in a line.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

It just like passed from person to person. It was a really, really creepy experience. There was a.

[A]

So, like, a hug.

[B]

Yeah, it was like. It felt like something was, like, embracing you.

[A]

By the way, this is, like, my reactions right now are why. Why I edit myself out of the podcast normally. That's terrifying, though. That's crazy.

[B]

It was pretty scary. I remember we all just kind of looked at each other, and we were like. We just sat there and what did we say? I remember my mom saying something to the effect of like, well, it. It's definitely gone. Like, whatever it was is definitely. It's not in the room anymore. And then we just tried to continue on as normal.