It was a hot summer night in 1868 when Laura Schafer lit a kerosene lamp and stepped into the darkened hall of her family’s Alexandria home. The flame cracked. Her dress caught. And by the time her screams reached the street below, it was already too late. What should have been Laura’s wedding day became the date carved into her gravestone. And hours later, the man she was meant to marry—Charles Tennesson—met his own tragic fate. Today, the building at 107 North Fairfax Street is an ice cream pa...
Jul 03, 2025•25 min
In 1977, Reverend Willie Maxwell was shot dead in front of six hundred mourners at a funeral in Alexander City, Alabama. The man who pulled the trigger—Robert Burns—did it in plain sight. He didn’t run. He didn’t deny it. And when asked why, he simply said, “I had to do it.” But that moment was only the end of a far more disturbing story. For years, Reverend Maxwell had been surrounded by tragedy. His wife. His brother. His nephew. Even a teenage girl under his care. One by one, they died under ...
Jun 30, 2025•39 min•Ep. 180
Reserve your spot on the Knight House overnight ghost hunt today! Built in 1815, the Knight House is the oldest standing structure in Christian County, Kentucky—and after more than two centuries of history, it has more than a few stories to tell. From its ties to early Kentucky power brokers and whispers of the Underground Railroad to tales of shadow figures, piano keys echoing in empty rooms, and the squawk of a phantom parrot, this grand old home in Hopkinsville has seen it all. In this specia...
Jun 26, 2025•49 min
Tucked deep in Mississippi’s Tunica Hills, where ancient bluffs rise from the loess soil and moss hangs heavy from the trees, stands one of the oldest plantation homes in the state—Cold Spring. Built around 1810 by a Scottish-born army surgeon named Dr. John Flavel Carmichael, this historic home near Pinckneyville has witnessed generations of Southern history—and, according to local lore, has never quite been emptied of its spirits. In this episode, we trace the story of Cold Spring from its ear...
Jun 23, 2025•36 min
Nestled in the rolling hills of north Georgia, the ruins of a once-grand estate lie hidden among towering boxwoods and overgrown brick paths—what remains of Barnsley Gardens. But this crumbling mansion isn't just a relic of the antebellum South… it’s the site of a legend. A place some say was cursed from the moment the first tree was felled. In this episode, we uncover the tragic story of Godfrey Barnsley, a wealthy cotton merchant who sought to build a dream home for his beloved wife Julia. But...
Jun 19, 2025•27 min
In the shadows of the French Quarter, where history and legend often blur, one of New Orleans' most enduring mysteries still lingers behind bright red doors on Royal Street. It begins in 1728, with the arrival of pale, fragile young women sent by the French crown to populate the colony—women who came with heavy wooden trunks and left behind whispers of vampirism. Known in local lore as the Casket Girls, their legacy set the stage for the city’s enduring obsession with the undead. But nearly two ...
Jun 16, 2025•31 min
On April 27, 1865, just weeks after the Civil War ended and the country reeled from the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, a deadly explosion on the Mississippi River became the worst maritime disaster in U.S. history—and most Americans have never heard of it. The Sultana, a Civil War-era steamboat built to carry a few hundred passengers, was pushed far beyond its limits with more than 2,100 souls crammed aboard—mostly Union soldiers who had survived Confederate prison camps like Andersonville an...
Jun 12, 2025•34 min
Moored in the quiet waters of Mobile Bay, the USS Alabama stands as a monument to American strength, sacrifice, and—some say—something far more ghostly. Known as "The Lucky A," this legendary battleship earned nine battle stars and never lost a single crewman to enemy fire. But not all wounds come from the enemy. In this episode, we trace the history of the Alabama, from Arctic convoy duty in the deadly North Atlantic to brutal island campaigns in the Pacific theater, including the devastating f...
Jun 09, 2025•45 min•Ep. 178
In honor of our upcoming Friday the 13th Ghost Tour next week, we bring you a special episode of Southern Gothic, featuring a live recording from our October 2024 event at InDo Nashville. Accompanied by the haunting guitar melodies of Alexandra Mann from The Mann Sisters, Brandon delves into four chilling tales from the American South: Samuel Jocelyn Jr. – A Wilmington man buried alive in 1810, whose restless spirit is said to haunt St. James Episcopal Parish Cemetery. Julia Brown of Manchac Swa...
Jun 05, 2025•52 min
In the early morning hours of December 31, 1862, Union Colonel Julius Peter Garesché was decapitated by a Confederate cannonball during the Battle of Stones River. His violent death—foretold in ominous warnings and eerie family prophecies—would soon echo in more ways than one. For in the decades since, visitors to the battlefield in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, have claimed to see a headless figure in blue silently riding the mist-covered glades near the site of his fall. But who was Colonel Garesch...
Jun 02, 2025•52 min
The village of Middleway, West Virginia, is a community with a population of less than 500 people. Though the area was first settled back in the early 18th century, it has its place in history because as the home of legend that dates back to the late 1700s when a local farmer and his family became the victim of poltergeist-like activity. Want to Listen to Southern Gothic Ad-Free? Patreon: Ad-Free Episodes, Premium Releases, Bonus Content & More Southern Gothic Premium on Spotify...
May 29, 2025•33 min
For more than a century, the Brown Mountain Lights have baffled scientists, inspired ghost stories, and drawn curious travelers to the rugged wilderness of western North Carolina. Nestled within the Linville Gorge Wilderness Area of Pisgah National Forest, Brown Mountain has become ground zero for one of America’s most enduring paranormal mysteries. Eyewitnesses describe glowing orbs—white, red, even blue—rising from the mountain, flickering like lanterns, and vanishing into the night sky. Some ...
May 26, 2025•34 min
Y'all join us as we explore Macabrium, a podcast that explores the secrets of the past-- true crime, dark history, lore, and legends. Join Megan on Tuesdays for true crime & dark history, and Derek on Sundays for lore & legends. This Lore & Legends episode is titled "“The Murder Hole Room: Hauntings at Leap Castle, Part 1” Listen to Macabrium today on your favorite podcasting apps! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 23, 2025•57 min
Y'all join us as we explore Macabrium, a podcast that explores the secrets of the past-- true crime, dark history, lore, and legends. Join Megan on Tuesdays for true crime & dark history, and Derek on Sundays for lore & legends. This True Crime & Dark History episode is titled "Villain By Nature: The Cannibal Boone Helm." Listen to Macabrium today on your favorite podcasting apps! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 21, 2025•1 hr 19 min
On May 15th, 2025, flames tore through the largest surviving antebellum mansion in the South—Nottoway Plantation in White Castle, Louisiana. Within hours, the storied structure was reduced to a charred skeleton. But as officials made statements mourning the loss and news channels skirted larger issues, much of the public saw something different: the fire was a symbol of racial reckoning. In this special episode of Southern Gothic, we examine how Southern plantations like Nottoway went from sites...
May 19, 2025•29 min
This week we are going back to you & telling your listener-submitted stories! Tales include a haunted college, an apparition on an old battlefield and a lonely spirit on vacation in Gatlinburg... Want to Listen to Southern Gothic Ad-Free? Patreon: Ad-Free Episodes, Premium Releases, Bonus Content & More Southern Gothic Premium on Spotify Southern Gothic Premium on Apple Podcasts Into History: History Without Interruption Connect with Southern Gothic Media: Website: SouthernGothi...
May 15, 2025•38 min
In the shadow of Key West’s sun-drenched charm lies one of the island’s most disturbing true stories. In 1930, a reclusive hospital technician named Carl Tanzler became convinced that a young Cuban-American woman was his fated bride—sent to him by visions from beyond the grave. But after her untimely death, his obsession took a grotesque turn. From stolen corpses to waxen recreations, what followed is a tale so surreal, so haunting, it defies belief. In this episode, we unravel the true story of...
May 12, 2025•56 min
Long before the Hatfields and McCoys became a symbol of Southern feuding, two Louisiana families waged a decades-long battle of their own. The Black River War between the Liddells and the Joneses tore through Catahoula Parish with ambushes, political rivalries, and cold-blooded murder-- culminating in a deadly shootout aboard a Mississippi steamer and vigilante justice carried out by torchlight. What sparked this violent feud? And why has history largely forgotten it? Want to Listen to Southern ...
May 05, 2025•32 min
The Fitzpatrick Hotel has been standing on the courthouse square of Washington, Georgia for more than a century now, its red-brick walls and Queen Anne trim casting long shadows over the town’s oldest streets. But around here, folks say it wasn’t just the fire that cleared the way for the hotel to be built—there are darker stories too. Stories about graves left behind. About spirits that never moved on. And one name you’ll hear more than any other is Polly Barclay. Back in 1806, Polly found hers...
Apr 28, 2025•39 min•Ep. 175
This week, we’re taking a brief detour from our usual haunted history to explore the deeper symbolism behind the stories we so often tell. Brandon sits down with artist and folklorist Stacey Williams-Ng, creator of The Southern Gothic Oracle, a richly illustrated divination deck that draws upon the archetypes, landscapes, and traditions of the American South. In this conversation, Stacey shares the inspiration behind her work, from the hurricane lamp to the sassafras root, and discusses how thes...
Apr 24, 2025•55 min
Hidden among the pines of Hilton Head Island, the skeletal remains of the Leamington Lighthouse stand as a relic of the past—and a vessel for something far more haunting. Local legend tells of Caroline Fripp, a dutiful daughter who braved a deadly storm to save her father, the lighthouse keeper, only to lose her life in the process. But did she ever exist? And why do locals still see a woman in blue when storms roll in off the Atlantic? This is the tale of Hilton Head’s haunted lighthouse and th...
Apr 21, 2025•27 min
In the quiet town of Franklin, Tennessee, one woman’s loyalty to the Confederacy earned her a place in history—and perhaps something more permanent. Sally Carter was just a young woman when the Civil War arrived at her doorstep. Defiant and devoted, she made her allegiance known by raising the first Confederate flag over Franklin’s square, a bold act that would define her wartime role as a spy. But unlike many women who took on covert duties during the conflict, Sally was celebrated by her commu...
Apr 17, 2025•35 min
Perched high on Church Hill above the James River once stood one of Richmond’s grandest homes—a mansion of wealth, refinement, and Southern prestige. But behind its stately white columns and sweeping staircases, something far more dangerous was unfolding. For it was here, in the heart of the Confederate capital, that Elizabeth Van Lew—an elite Southern woman raised among Virginia’s most powerful families—launched a covert campaign to undermine the rebellion from within. Though she moved through ...
Apr 14, 2025•51 min•Ep. 174
Along the western shore of Matanzas Bay stands the Castillo de San Marcos. Constructed from rough, seashell-laced coquina stone, this star-shaped fortress has loomed over St. Augustine for more than three centuries—an enduring symbol of Spanish colonial ambition in what would become the oldest city in the continental United States. Built in the wake of a violent pirate raid, the Castillo was designed to be impenetrable—and history has proven it to be just that. It has never fallen to an enemy fo...
Apr 07, 2025•57 min•Ep. 173
Along the northwestern edge of Tennessee sits Reelfoot Lake. The only natural lake in the state, it's a flooded cypress forest that has more in common with the bayous of the deep south than other more open and expansive lakes of the surrounding area. Yet this lake dates back only two centuries and owes its creation to the massive New Madrid earthquakes that rocked the area in 1811-1812 and caused the Mississippi River to temporarily flow backward. Yet according to local legend the cause of those...
Mar 31, 2025•34 min
This episode of Southern Gothic originally aired in April 2023. According to Gullah folklore, the swamps of the Lowcountry are home to a mythical creature who is said to sneak into the homes of its victims while they sleep and then suck the life force from their breath. The creature, known as the Boo Hag, is described as a large, hideous creature with no skin and glowing red eyes. It is said to be able to change its shape, making it difficult to track or identify. The Boo Hag is also said to be ...
Mar 24, 2025•30 min
On the night of September 8, 1935, Senator Huey P. Long was gunned down inside the Louisiana State Capitol. Officially, the shooter was Dr. Carl Weiss, the son-in-law of a judge Long had politically targeted. But from the moment the Kingfish fell, questions have lingered about what really happened in that marble corridor. In Part Two, we examine the chaotic shooting, the immediate aftermath, and the decades of speculation that followed. Was Weiss truly an assassin, or an innocent man caught in t...
Mar 17, 2025•43 min
Hometown Ghost Stories dives into the history of haunted locations and investigates why and how these places earned their terrifying reputation. Rob, Dave and Jesse go live every Tuesday night, after a 15-20 minute uninterrupted, documentary-style breakdown on the case. You can even join the show - as many do, during the live broadcasts on YouTube, Tuesday nights at 9pm EST, as we talk ghosts, demons, poltergeists, and the horrifying true tales that led to these hauntings. Learn more about your ...
Mar 13, 2025•1 hr 10 min
Huey P. Long was one of the most powerful and polarizing figures in Louisiana’s history—a fiery populist whose ambition and influence reshaped the state. In this first installment of our very first two-parter here on Southern Gothic, we trace Long’s meteoric rise from a small-town lawyer to Louisiana’s governor and U.S. senator, exploring how his bold policies and ruthless political tactics earned him both devoted followers and dangerous enemies. As he consolidated power, whispers of conspiracy ...
Mar 10, 2025•46 min•Ep. 171
On September 30, 1915, a vicious hurricane made its way through Southeastern Louisiana leaving almost 375 people dead and entire communities destroyed. One such town was the small farming community of Frenier, where a legend has since entered local lore with the claim that this particularly gruesome storm was brought on by the curse of a local Voodoo priestess named Julia Brown. This episode of Southern Gothic revisits a topic previously released on the podcast. To hear the original episode "The...
Mar 03, 2025•37 min
