Spooked – “Dead Battery: The Crossroads”
Host: Glynn Washington
Date: October 3, 2025
Theme: Firsthand supernatural stories; the haunted price of crossing paths at the mysterious crossroads; the ways in which intentions can conjure the extraordinary or the terrifying.

Episode Overview

This episode of Spooked dives deep into the mythos of the “crossroads,” where desperate people seek deals with shadowy forces, blending family legends with firsthand experiences. Glynn Washington narrates a haunting Southern tale of bargains and spectral cost, while apprentice violin maker Ramin recounts his skeptical journey from ghost tour guide to a chilling ghost hunt in historic Gettysburg, culminating in an unsettling encounter with a Civil War spirit.

[00:00] Prologue: The Shadow Man and the Crossroads

• Glynn Washington opens with a poetic reflection on the “Shadow Man,” a supernatural entity feared in generations of African American folklore.
  • Quote (00:07):

    "Who can steal the sunrise and wipe away your grin... the Shadow Man can. 'Cause he cheats out everyone and makes the world not good. You’ve almost arrived at the crossroads. Stay tuned."

• Sets up the crossroads as not just a location, but a space of risk, promise, and peril where intentions become contracts.

[01:59] Story 1: Little Bobby and the Price of a Wish

Setting: Clarksdale, Mississippi, 1921

• Narrated by Glynn Washington – A story of young Bobby, whose mother warns about making deals at the crossroads with the “Shadow Man.”

  • The scene draws listeners into the African American oral tradition, through overheard adult warnings:

    “Don’t touch nothing he gives you. Let him be exactly what you want—only thing he want is whatever you can’t give. Gon’ be your ticket, Bobby. I know it.” (04:19)

• Bobby’s Desperation:
  With his mother dying and no money for medicine, Bobby sneaks out at night, carrying his battered guitar—a symbol of his hopes, his mother’s dreams, and his only possession of value.

• The Crossroads Encounter:
  Bobby arrives at the crossroads, encountering the Shadow Man, and tries to trade his guitar for medicine.

  • Quote (08:44):

    “Only thing kept him from screaming was his mission. ‘Yes, sir. My mama’s sick. Doctor might have some medicine…’”

  • The Shadow Man “tunes” the guitar with eerie, unearthly sounds, then returns it to Bobby with six red, glowing strings.

    “Bobby saw… six gleaming red strings shone fire from the guitar… he held it close” (10:29)

• The Devastating Bargain:
  Bobby realizes too late that he’s broken his mother’s cardinal rule—don’t accept the Shadow Man’s gifts. But “medicine” comes at a price—the guitar now saps Bobby’s life, giving vitality to his mother.

  • Quote (11:29):

    "He don’t give nothing, baby. He takes. Smash it, baby. It’s gonna kill you."

    • Bobby can’t destroy it—choosing his mother’s life over his own, bound now to the instrument’s dark magic.
  • Memorable closing:

    “Don’t worry, Mama… Worry ’cause I ain’t dead yet.” (12:44)

Thematic Insight:
The story embodies the central tension of the crossroads: what do we risk, what are we willing to give for love, and what follows when we tamper with shadows?

[14:01] Story 2: Ramin, the Skeptical Ghost Tour Guide

Ramin’s Story:
A violin-making apprentice in Pennsylvania, Ramin signs up to guide Gettysburg ghost tours—despite being a skeptic drawn more by necessity than belief.

[16:41] Becoming “Charles”: Performance and Paranormal

• Adopting an Alias:
  Humiliated by a child’s comment about his “non-Civil War” name, Ramin begins tours as “Charles” in costume, wielding a (badly played) violin to set a spooky mood.
  • Quote (16:46):

    “Some snarky little 8-year-old boy looked at me and said, ‘Ramin, that’s not a Civil War name.’”

• Blending History and Hauntings:
  Though skeptical, Ramin learns to blend fact and folklore for his audiences, at his boss’s suggestion:
  • Quote:

    “I need you to spook things up a little bit here—dumb down the history and amp up the paranormal.” (19:01)

• Tour Highlights:
  • Harrowing tales at the abandoned Gettysburg orphanage and Weinbrenner’s Run’s post-battle horrors (piled bodies, stymied floodwaters).
  • Amused tolerance for guests’ “paranormal evidence”—like the woman’s riding boot mistaken for a cavalryman’s ghost.

[23:50] The Gettysburg Ghost Hunt

• Drawn into a lucrative “ghost hunt” at a haunted mansion (a Civil War hospital and site of a tragic hanging).
• Cynicism about Equipment:
  • Spirit boxes (“utter garbage”), EMF meters built from paintball guns—tools he introduces out of obligation, not belief:

    “I feel guilty. I feel like I’m participating in a scam.” (25:42)

• Guides set the mood, but privately, Ramin and coworkers are skeptical, biding time until the hunt is over.

[33:00] The Haunted Spirit Box Incident

Pivotal Event:
A guest’s spirit box repeatedly says “battery dead”—despite fresh, full batteries. Ramin investigates:

• Direct Communication:
  Ramin asks, “Is there someone there?”
  • Spirit box: “Yes.” (34:25)
  • “Are you a soldier?”
  • Spirit box: “Yes.”
  • “Are you Union or Confederate?”
  • Spirit box: “Blue.”
  • “Are you artillery?”
  • Spirit box: “Yes. Battery dead. Battery E dead.”
• Chill and Doubt:
  Ramin is rattled; the distinct, urgent male voice is not the random noise he expected:
  • Quote (34:28):

    “I am feeling like my entire insides are made of ice… I am so shaken, I cannot stay inside the house.”

  • Confides in coworkers—who aren’t surprised.

[38:24] Unsettling Confirmation on the Battlefield

• Days later, Ramin stumbles on a monument: Rhode Island Light Artillery, Battery E.
  • Quote:

    “3 killed, 12 wounded. Battery E. …Is it possible I actually encountered one of the men who fought in this unit?”

• The ghost hunt takes on new, disturbing meaning; Ramin’s approach to guiding is forever changed.
  • “I think my storytelling became a lot more somber. When I told people to pay attention to their surroundings, I really meant it.” (40:11)

Thematic Insight:
What begins as performance and play becomes a haunting echo of war—the line between skepticism and experience blurs at the crossroads of history and the supernatural.

[42:52] Reflection: The Power of Intention and Sacred Gifts

Glynn Washington closes with poetic musings on the crossroads:

“What you put into something or someone is reflected in what comes out… We are holders of the sacred gift, the power of intention. …There is no horror we cannot manifest, and no joy we cannot sing to life.”

• The “strange fruit” of history and pain haunts the land, surfacing as monsters and “energies”—the crossroads as a metaphor for consequence and creation.
• Final warning:

  “Always remember to never ever, never, never ever, never, never ever, never turn out your light.” (47:00)

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

| Time | Speaker | Quote | |------|---------|-------| | 00:07 | Glynn Washington | “Who can steal the sunrise and wipe away your grin... The Shadow Man can.” | | 04:19 | Glynn Washington (narrating mother) | “Don’t touch nothing he give you. Let him be exactly what you want—only thing he want is whatever you can’t give.” | | 11:29 | Glynn Washington (narrating mother) | “He don’t give nothing, baby. He takes. Smash it, baby. It’s gonna kill you.” | | 16:46 | Ramin | “Some snarky little 8-year-old boy looked at me and said, ‘Ramin, that’s not a Civil War name.’” | | 25:42 | Ramin | “I feel guilty. I feel like I’m participating in a scam.” | | 34:25 | Ramin | “Is there someone there?” Spirit Box: “Yes.” | | 34:28 | Ramin | “I am feeling like my entire insides are made of ice… I am so shaken, I cannot stay inside the house.” | | 40:11 | Ramin | “I think my storytelling became a lot more somber. When I told people to pay attention to their surroundings, I really meant it.” | | 47:00 | Glynn Washington | “Always remember to never ever, never, never ever, never, never ever, never turn out your light.” |

Important Segments (Timestamps)

• 00:00 – 01:59: Prologue & introduction of crossroads theme
• 01:59 – 13:32: Story 1 – Bobby’s crossroads bargain (Mississippi legend)
• 16:41 – 41:21: Story 2 – Ramin’s transformation from skeptic to shaken guide (Gettysburg ghost hunt)
  • 33:00 – 38:24: Spirit box incident and “Battery E” revelation
• 42:52 – 47:00: Glynn Washington’s poetic closing reflections

Tone and Takeaway

Spooked’s “Dead Battery: The Crossroads” mixes Southern gothic storytelling and real-life ghost hunting, balancing empathy, skepticism, and awe for the mysteries that haunt both history and the personal. Through regret, duty, and curiosity, the episode explores the price of what we wish for, and the lingering ghosts we all encounter—at the crossroads, and in ourselves.