Southern Gothic
Southern Gothic is a podcast that explores the dark history, infamous legends, and ghostly tales of the American South. Through captivating storytelling and in-depth historical research, it brings to life haunted places like the Bell Witch of Tennessee, Waverly Hills Sanatorium, and the Myrtles Plantation. The show immerses listeners in an audio soundscape that uncovers the truth behind classic paranormal stories.
Episodes
Tell Me Your Ghost Story
Tell Me Your Ghost Story is a podcast where real people share their real-life encounters with the paranormal. Host Kassie Askin invites guests to share their unexplainable encounters in their own words. Some stories are terrifying, some are heartwarming, and some just might change the way you see the world. Kassie isn’t looking for answers or theories, just stories that are sure to haunt you.
Lear
Mystery in the Skies Above Chimney Rock
Chimney Rock towers above Hickory Nut Gorge as one of the most distinctive landmarks in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. But in the summer of 1806, a family living in its shadow looked toward the mountain and witnessed something they could hardly explain—thousands of strange figures, dressed in brilliant white, seemingly moving through the air above them.
News of the strange sp
Annie Whipple and a Message from the Dead
In the heart of Old Louisville stands a grand Victorian mansion where guests have long reported seeing the apparition of a woman dressed in black descending its sweeping staircase. According to legend, her name was Annie Whipple, a widowed governess whose desperate attempt to save a dying child led her beyond the medicine of the nineteenth century—and into the growing world of Spiritualism.
When
Legend of the Richmond Vampire | Encore Episode
On the bluffs above the James River, Richmond’s historic Hollywood Cemetery is the final resting place of presidents, governors, generals, and thousands of Civil War soldiers. But tucked into a hillside on the eastern side of the cemetery is a far less imposing mausoleum that has become the center of one of the city’s strangest legends. For generations, locals have claimed that the tomb marked wit
Listener Tales, Volume Nine
Join us for another episode featuring listener-submitted stories! Send us your story now at SouthernGothicMedia.com/submissions
This episode is made possible through the support of our sponsors: Elevate your summer bedding with Quince. Go to quince.com/sogo for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too.
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Legacy of the Battletown Witch | Encore Episode
For nearly two centuries, folks in Battletown, Kentucky, have passed down the story of Leah Smock, a young woman who legend claims was accused of witchcraft and burned alive by her neighbors in 1840. Stories say Leah could predict the future, communicate with wild animals, and even place curses on those who crossed her. After her death, some claimed her spirit remained in the woods surrounding her
Mountain Jane Doe & the Lights of Red Dog Road | Minisode
In our recent episode on Bloody Harlan, we explored the legend of Headless Annie, but she isn’t the only ghost said to haunt the mountains of Harlan County. Just outside the town of Harlan, locals have long reported strange lights moving through the woods along Red Dog Road, a rugged mountain route where legend claims the spirit of a murdered coal miner still wanders after dark.
But there is anot
Bloody Harlan & the Tale of Headless Annie
Harlan County was once the center of a bitter and bloody struggle between coal miners and the powerful companies that controlled much of life in the mountains of southeastern Kentucky. But today, high above those old mining towns up on Black Mountain, locals claim something from that violent past may still be wandering the winding roads after dark.
They call her Headless Annie—a gruesome appariti
The Thing in the White House | Encore Episode
On July 26, 1911, Major Archibald Butt, the military aide to President William Howard Taft, wrote to his sister-in-law about something rather odd that had been happening inside the walls of the White House for months: “My dear Clara, It seems that the White House is haunted."
The Major then continues on to describe some of the interesting and eerie claims made members of the White House staff, fo
The Southern Gothic Festival with Amy Schofield
If you enjoyed our episode on Agnes of Glasgow, then you won't want to miss this interview with Amy Schofield, the creator of the Southern Gothic Festival in Camden, South Carolina. We talk about everything from the definition of southern gothic itself, to the many fascinating writers who will be diving into related topics at the festival, and even a little bit of conjecture about who Agnes really
The Many Lives of Agnes of Glasgow
For generations, visitors to Camden, South Carolina’s historic Quaker Cemetery have stopped at the unusual grave of a young woman known only as Agnes of Glasgow. According to local legend, the twenty-year-old crossed the Atlantic during the American Revolution in search of the British officer she loved, following him deep into the Carolina backcountry only to die before they could ever be reunited
Ghost Ship of the Outer Banks | Encore Episode
On the morning of January 31, 1921, Surfman C.P. Brady of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Cape Hatteras Station No. 183 stood watch over the treacherous waters of the "Graveyard of the Atlantic." His early morning shift, had been uneventful until the mist began to lift around 6:30. What appeared before him was chilling: a massive, five-masted schooner, sails still raised, had run aground on the Outer Diamo
The Haunting Melody of Pass Christian's Ghostly Harpist
Along the quiet shoreline of Pass Christian, Mississippi, an old legend claims that on certain nights the delicate music of a harp can be heard drifting in from somewhere over the Gulf. There is no musician on the beach, no vessel visible offshore, and seemingly nothing out on the dark water that could explain it. Yet the story behind that strange melody begins thousands of miles away, with a weal
Return of the Red Lady | Encore Episode
There's been some pretty big changes to a classic story! Join us as we explore a classic Alabama ghost story that claims an old dormitory on the campus of Huntingdon College is haunted by the spirit of a former student.
...but that ain't all! We also had a chance to chat with Dr. Anthony Leigh, the current president of Huntingdon College. Dr. Leigh discusses a little bit of the college's hist
Robert Johnson's Deal with the Devil | Encore Episode
In 1931, Robert Johnson walked into a juke joint in Banks, Mississippi with a guitar strapped to his back. Only a little less than a year before he mysteriously disappeared from the Delta after being teased for his lack of musicianship. But now Robert Johnson was back and he was ready to take the stage and show everyone in that juke what he could do, displaying a musical mastery that left everyone
Ghosts of the Myrtles Plantation | Encore Episode
This special encore episode originally aired on June 9, 2020.
The Myrtles Plantation has long been called the most haunted house in America. Tucked beneath towering live oaks in the heart of Louisiana's plantation country, the grand Creole estate has become famous for its ghostly legends—phantom children, mysterious mirrors, unexplained footsteps, and the apparition of a woman in a green turban s
The Ghosts of Fuquay-Varina | You Can See Me in the Dark
You Can See Me in the Dark is a podcast about true ghost stories, told by the people who survived them. Co-hosted by Melissa Sweazy and Nathan Reisman. On this episode, North Carolina based Storyteller Liz Pardue walks us through some of the most famous hauntings in a town overflowing with the spirits of the departed.
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Legend of Sadie Baker | Premium Episode Unlocked!
Hidden away in a quiet Middle Tennessee cemetery is a simple headstone bearing just two words: Sadie Baker. For generations, locals have whispered that the woman buried beneath it wasn't simply laid to rest—she was accused of witchcraft, buried alive by an angry mob, and with her dying breath unleashed a curse that would haunt the family responsible for her fate.
But how much of that story is act
The Mystery of Peter Stuart Ney
On December 7, 1815, Marshal Michel Ney—one of Napoleon Bonaparte's most celebrated military commanders—was reportedly executed before a French firing squad in Paris. Yet in the rolling countryside of North Carolina, generations have insisted that history got it wrong. Instead, they claim Ney escaped his execution, crossed the Atlantic, and spent the rest of his life living under the name Peter St
Listener Tales, Volume Eight
Join us for another episode featuring listener-submitted stories!
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Pensacola's Haunted Lighthouse | Encore Episode
For almost two centuries, the Pensacola lighthouse has stood overlooking the entrance to Pensacola Bay guiding generations of mariners safely through the treacherous waters of the Gulf of Mexico; but over the last few decades, this historic maritime landmark has become notorious for the purported spirits believed to call it home.
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Mystery of the Gurdon Light | Encore Episode
This encore episode originally aired on May 6, 2022!
Travel about 85 miles south of Little Rock, Arkansas along Interstate 30 and you come to the town of Gurdon. In a remote area, several miles outside Gurdon sit railroad tracks for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. It is along a four-mile stretch of track that sightings of a floating, glowing orb have been reported for the last ninety years, n
Trapped Underwater in the Nickajack Cave | Encore Episode
Just west of Chattanooga, Tennessee is the Nickajack Cave, a historic natural wonder flooded in 1967 due to the construction of the Nickajack Dam. Carved by the Tennessee River over millennia, the cave has a rich history filled with tales of the Chickamauga, Confederate soldiers, and even the notorious Man in Black, Johnny Cash. Today the cave is a wildlife refuge for a colony of endangered bats,
The Fiery Tomb of Josie Arlington | Encore Episode
Josie Arlington, one of the most infamous Madams in New Orleans’ red-light district, Storyville was born Mary Anna Deubler to impoverished German immigrants in 1864. Theories abound as to exactly why or when Josie entered the world of sex work, but by at least the age of seventeen she was working in the brothels of New Orleans.
Entrepreneurial in spirit, Josie worked to create a life greater
Showdown at the Sure Enuf Hotel | Minisode
In our last episode, we explored Gallatin Street—the notorious waterfront district where Bridget Fury and some of nineteenth-century New Orleans' most dangerous criminals made their names. But Gallatin wasn't the city's first den of vice. Decades before the steamboat transformed the riverfront, there was another place where gamblers, thieves, prostitutes, and rivermen gathered on the ragged edge o
Bridget Fury and the Vice of Gallatin Street
Gallatin Street was once the most dangerous two blocks in New Orleans. Just steps from the bustling French Market, the city's notorious waterfront vice district was a place where gamblers, sailors, thieves, and sex workers collided beneath the glow of dance halls and saloons—and where violence was simply the cost of doing business. Among the larger-than-life figures who carved out a reputation the
Carl Pruitt's Cursed Headstone
In the summer of 1938, a Kentucky man named Carl Pruitt purportedly murdered his wife in a jealous rage before taking his own life. According to legend, he was buried in a lonely cemetery far from the woman he killed, but not long after, visitors soon began noticing something deeply unsettling about his grave leading to whispers of a lethal curse.
Over the decades, the legend of Carl Pruitt's cu
Samuel Jocelyn's Restless Spirit | Encore Episode
It was a chilly evening in April of 1810 when Alexander Hostler sat alone in his room with a single candle flickering in the darkness. Only days before, Hostler’s lifelong friend Samuel Jocelyn, Jr. had been found dead, leaving the young man absolutely devastated. But on this particular night, his suffering was interrupted by the sound of a voice calling to him from the stillness– a voice all too
Orna Villa's Family Spirits
For generations, the stately white columns of Orna Villa have overlooked the quiet streets of Oxford, Georgia. But inside the historic mansion, residents have long described strange occurrences that defy explanation: doors that slam on their own, mysterious green lights drifting through empty rooms, pictures crashing from the walls, and the unmistakable sound of someone pacing the back porch late
Legend of the North Island Lighthouse | Encore Episode
For more than two hundred years, the old North Island Lighthouse has stood watch over the entrance to South Carolina's Winyah Bay, guiding sailors safely through one of the busiest harbors on the Atlantic coast. Yet among generations of fishermen and mariners, the lighthouse has long been known for something far stranger than its beacon. According to local legend, the apparition of a young girl na
Legend of Indian Tomb Hollow | Minisode
Deep within Alabama's Bankhead National Forest lies a secluded valley known as Indian Tomb Hollow, a place where towering sandstone bluffs, hidden waterfalls, ancient rock shelters, and dense hardwood forests conceal centuries of history. Long before the arrival of pioneer families, Native peoples traveled, hunted, and camped throughout these rugged mountains, leaving behind traces of their presen
Aunt Jenny & The Brooks Family Blood Oath
Deep within Alabama's Bankhead National Forest, hidden among the ridges and hollows of the old Black Warrior Mountains, sits the isolated Poplar Springs Cemetery. For generations, locals have claimed the little family graveyard is haunted by the spirit of one of Alabama's most legendary folk figures—a woman whose life became inseparable from stories of blood feuds, vengeance, ghostly hitchhikers,
The Lore of Louisville's Seelbach Hotel | Encore Episode
Since its grand opening on May 1, 1905, the Seelbach Hotel has stood as one of Louisville, Kentucky's most lavish and luxurious establishments. It has hosted an array of notable figures, from U.S. Presidents and legendary actors to notorious bootleggers and mobsters. As a result, the hotel is steeped in lore, with some claiming it was here that F. Scott Fitzgerald first encountered the inspiration
The Chapel Hill Ghost Light | Encore Episode
For almost a century, folks who dare head out to the old L&N train tracks at night, on the edge of the small town of Chapel Hill, Tennessee, have found themselves face-to-face with a strange ball of light that eerily bounces down the line. Some say the light is the spirit of a headless railroad worker, others a murdered woman, but no matter what has caused it, hundreds have purportedly witnessed t
Listener Tales, Volume Seven
Join us for another episode featuring listener-submitted stories!
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Introducing: Beyond the Ferns
Beyond the Ferns is a true crime, paranormal, and all things spooky podcast. Each episode is built upon meticulous research and immersive storytelling—bringing you in-depth details you didn’t even know you needed... until now. No episode is complete without some comedic relief, Y'ALL ...he did what?!?!?, and hot takes.
At the heart of it all is a commitment to preserving the humanity behind perso
The Curious Case of Knox Martin | Encore Episode
On March 28, 1869, Knox Martin was hanged for murdering John and Elizabeth Wittenmeier in their Nashville home. Curiously, only several days prior, Martin had made a deal with local physicians to sell his body to them for experimenting following the execution-- experimentation that looked an awful lot like something out Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
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Spirit of the Salem Tavern | Minisode
Built in 1784, the historic Old Salem Tavern is one of the oldest surviving public buildings in North Carolina. For generations, travelers passed through its doors seeking food, shelter, and a warm fire while making their way through the Moravian settlement of Salem. Statesmen, merchants, laborers, and strangers all spent the night beneath its roof, leaving behind stories that became woven into th
Old Salem's Little Red Man
Nestled among the brick streets and restored eighteenth-century buildings of Old Salem Museums & Gardens is one of North Carolina's strangest pieces of folklore. For generations, visitors and residents alike have told stories about a mysterious figure known only as the Little Red Man—a small apparition said to wander the halls of one of the settlement's oldest buildings. Some claimed to hear foots
Louisiana's Haunted Hanging Jail
The Old Beauregard Parish Jail doesn’t look like it belongs in the middle of a small Louisiana town. Rising beside the parish courthouse in downtown DeRidder, the towering structure—with its steep roofs, pointed arches, barred windows, and castle-like silhouette—has spent more than a century looming over the community. Folks eventually gave it the nickname “The Gothic Jail,” but over time another
Fire at the Cahill Mansion | Encore Episode
At 1:20 pm on Saturday, July 19, 1970, a fire broke out in an abandoned home in Hadsboro, Mississippi, that was well known throughout the community as haunted. But what made the incident so unbelievable wasn't necessarily the claim of spirits there, but rather the fact a psychic had foretold of the Cahill House's fiery demise less than a year prior.
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Kenworthy Hall's Heartbreaking Tale
Tucked back on old state highway outside or Marion, Alabama stands Kenworthy Hall, one of the most unusual antebellum mansions in the American South. Rising above the Alabama Black Belt with its looming four-story tower, red-brick walls, and almost castle-like silhouette, the old estate feels less like a plantation home and more like something pulled from a gothic novel... and maybe it would make
The Banner Mine Explosion of 1911 | Encore Episode
The Banner Mine explosion of April 8, 1911, in Alabama claimed the lives of 128 men, predominantly African American prisoners leased to the Pratt Consolidated Coal Company by the state. This devastating event underscored the dire conditions of convict-lease labor, a system exploiting carefully tailored laws to target black men for profit-driven incarceration. Despite the tragedy, reforms to addres
The Pipe Smoking Sea Captain | Campfire Tales
On an old stretch of Mobile, there once stood a house on State Street where locals claimed no one truly lived alone. Long after one former owner had died, neighbors said heavy footsteps still thundered down the staircase at night, pipe smoke drifted through empty rooms, and the figure of an older sailor in a captain’s cap could sometimes be seen pacing the yard before fading into thin air.
Want
The Spring That Runs Red | Campfire Tales
Deep in the hills of West Virginia, an old story tells of a lonely mountain spring that once ran clear and cold—until one summer it was said to turn the color of blood. Locals claimed the change came each year on the anniversary of a crime so brutal that the land itself refused to forget it. Passed down through generations and later preserved by folklorist Ruth Ann Musick, the tale remains one of
Captain Pitcher's Curse | Campfire Tales
Along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where the waters of the Mississippi Sound meet old beach towns and storm-worn shorelines, there’s a stretch of land between Pass Christian and Long Beach long known as Pitcher Point. Locals have claimed for generations that nothing built there seems to last. Fires, storms, failed developments, and sudden ruin have all added to the point’s strange reputation, leavi
The Mill Creek Bridge Haunting | Campfire Tales
Just outside Smithfield, where the backroads of Johnston County wind through pine woods and farmland, there’s an old crossing over Mill Creek that has carried a dark reputation for generations. By daylight, it’s easy enough to overlook—a quiet stretch of water beneath the trees—but locals long warned that once the sun goes down, the bridge becomes something else entirely. Travelers once claimed th
Daisy Bank's Glass Coffin | Campfire Tales
Along the rivers and marshlands surrounding Georgetown, where the remnants of once-thriving rice plantations have long since faded back into the landscape, there are stories that have managed to outlast the places they came from. One of those legends centers on a vanished estate known as Daisy Bank—a plantation that no longer exists, but is still remembered for a tale that’s as tragic as it is uns
Elk River's Lost Cave of Gold | Campfire Tales
Tucked deep within the rugged landscape of Grundy County, where the sandstone ridges and dense forests of the Cumberland Plateau give way to winding rivers and hidden hollows, there’s a stretch of water along the Elk River that has drawn curious explorers for well over a century. It’s not the fishing or the scenery that brings them out there though—it’s something far older. A story passed down thr
The Romantic Tale of Petit Jean | Campfire Tales
High above the Arkansas River Valley, atop Petit Jean Mountain, there’s a lonely gravesite perched along the edge of Stout’s Point—a simple plot surrounded by a small iron fence, overlooking miles of wilderness. According to legend, this is the final resting place of a young woman known as “Petit Jean,” whose story has echoed through the mountains for generations. Visitors to Petit Jean State Park
Kathryn Tucker Windham Museum | Interview | Encore Episode
Kathryn Tucker Windham was an American storyteller, author, photographer, folklorist, and journalist born and raised in Alabama. Of course if you've been listening to Southern Gothic you've probably heard us mention her before, after all, she's one of the most prolific Southern ghost story collectors we know of! Join us on this week's special episode as we talk to Kelly Gates Elmore, the curator o
The Boyington Oak Tree | Encore Episode
In Mobile, Alabama, just outside the historic Church Street Graveyard, a sprawling live oak known as the Boyington Oak has stood for nearly two centuries—its massive limbs stretching wide, its roots twisting deep beneath the soil. According to local legend, the tree marks the burial place of Charles Boyington, a young printer executed in 1835 for the murder of his friend Nathaniel Frost. On the da
Mystery of the Atlanta Blood House | Encore Episode
On Tuesday, September 8, 1987, 77-year-old Minnie Clyde Winston stepped out of her bathtub onto the tile floor and felt something sticky under her foot. Holding a towel, she looked down and discovered she was standing in a small puddle of red liquid—a substance that would later be identified as human blood. But if that wasn't alarming enough, Minnie and her husband Willie soon found instances of b
José Gaspar & Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla
For more than a century, the legend of José Gaspar—better known as Gasparilla—has loomed large over the waters of Tampa Bay and Florida’s Gulf Coast. Said to be a ruthless pirate and the so-called “Last Buccaneer,” Gasparilla’s name has become inseparable from tales of buried treasure, vanished ships, and violent encounters on the open Gulf. Today, that legend lives on in one of the largest annual
Haunted Love Motels with Supernatural Japan
In this episode of Supernatural Japan, we explore the eerie world of Japan’s haunted love motels. Learn the surprising history of Japanese love hotels, their rise during the economic Bubble era, and how some later became abandoned haikyo ruins. From the infamous Seline Love Motel in Nagano to the mysterious “haunted room” legend of the Akasaka Love Hotel, we uncover chilling urban legends, real cr
Listener Tales, Volume Six
Join us for another episode featuring listener-submitted stories!
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Into History: History Without Interruption
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The Ghost Aboard the James T. Staples
In January of 1913, the steamboat James T. Staples—one of the most elegant vessels to travel the Tombigbee River—was torn apart by a sudden boiler explosion near Powe’s Landing in Alabama, killing dozens and leaving the once-proud riverboat a smoldering wreck. Built by respected captain Norman Staples, the ship had only recently been taken from his control after a bitter financial collapse, markin
Mamie Thurman's Lingering Spirit | Encore Episode
Head southwest out of Logan, West Virginia and you’ll end up on an isolated strip of road up in the Appalachian Mountains where folks claim the spirit of a lady in white has been hitchhiking with coal drivers for almost a century. The tale isn’t that much different than others seen in ghost stories all over the world, but here on 22 Mine Road, folks know exactly who the specter is– a woman named M
The Infamous Pink Lady of Grove Park Inn
Perched high on Sunset Mountain above Asheville, North Carolina, the historic Grove Park Inn has welcomed presidents, celebrities, and travelers seeking the cool air of the Blue Ridge Mountains for more than a century. Built in 1913 by pharmaceutical magnate Edwin Wiley Grove, the massive stone resort quickly became one of the most famous luxury hotels in the American South. But alongside its repu
The Enduring Mystery of Theodosia Burr Alston | Encore Episode
Theodosia Burr Alston was a pioneer for early American women and was celebrated for her education and intellectual achievements, but to this day many remember her for her mysterious disappearance. On December 31, 1812, the daughter of notorious politician Aaron Burr, boarded a schooner headed for New York, but the ship never arrived.
Key Highlights
The political ambitions and rivalries that l
The Resurrection Man of Augusta
In downtown Augusta, Georgia, construction crews renovating the former Medical College of Georgia made a discovery that should’ve been impossible to miss for more than a century: dozens of boxes of human bones buried beneath a dirt basement floor—men, women, and children, dating back to the 1800s. The explanation was as old as American medical education itself: before cadavers could be obtained le
Unraveling the Mystery of Pink Lizzie | Encore Episode
In 1871, Clara Robertson’s life was forever altered by an encounter with a ghost. The blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl witnessed a haunting vision of a transparent, emaciated young girl in a tattered pink dress while practicing piano upstairs at the Brinkley Female College in Memphis, Tennessee. The sensational series of events that followed was widely covered in the media of the day, causing a frenz
The Many Mysteries of Rocky Hill Castle | Encore Episode
Rocky Hill Castle, once a majestic plantation house in Alabama, now stands only as a memory, shrouded in tragic history and chilling tales of the paranormal. Built between 1858 and 1861 by Colonel James Edmonds Saunders, the mansion was a marvel of its time, showcasing a unique blend of Greek Revival and Italianate architectural styles, but today its legacy lives on through the folklore surroundin
Margaret Garner and the Impossible Choice
In 1856, an enslaved woman named Margaret Garner fled Kentucky with her family, crossing a frozen Ohio River into Cincinnati in a desperate bid for freedom. But when slave catchers and federal deputies closed in under the Fugitive Slave Act, Margaret was forced into a moment of terror so absolute it still stops people cold: rather than watch her children be dragged back into bondage, she made a ch
The Horrors of Andersonville Prison | Encore Episode
Andersonville Prison, officially known as Camp Sumter, was a Confederate prisoner-of-war camp during the American Civil War, operating from February 1864 to April 1865 near Andersonville, Georgia. Notorious for its horrific conditions and high mortality rate, it was designed for 10,000 prisoners but held over 32,000 at its peak, leading to severe overcrowding. The prisoners endured appalling condi
Introducing: Haunted American History
Haunted American History is a daily campfire-style podcast blending American history, folklore, and original ghost stories.
What scares you? Let’s find out!
Listen now on your favorite podcasting app!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Mysterious Disappearance of David Lang
In the fall of 1880, a Tennessee farmer named David Lang was said to have vanished in broad daylight, in the middle of his own pasture, with his wife, children, and two visiting men watching from only yards away. No trees. No brush. No place to hide. One moment he was standing there, waving, and the next he was simply gone. The story has become one of the most infamous disappearances in American f
Shadows of the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum | Encore Episode
Rising above the hills of Weston, West Virginia, the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum stands as one of the most infamous psychiatric hospitals in American history. Originally opened in the mid-19th century as part of a nationwide mental health reform movement inspired by Dorothea Dix and the Kirkbride Plan, the asylum was meant to represent progress and compassion in the treatment of mental illness.
Gaines Tavern's History of Horror
Just north of downtown Walton, Kentucky, along an old turnpike that once carried stagecoaches between Lexington and Cincinnati, stands a two-hundred-year-old brick building with a reputation that has never quite faded. Known today as Gaines Tavern, the structure has been called many things over the years: a frontier inn, a family home, a community gathering place—and, for more than a century, the
The Longfellow House of Pascagoula
The Longfellow House in Pascagoula, Mississippi is an elegant antebellum mansion overlooking the Gulf of Mexico—symmetrical, refined, and seemingly untouched by time. But beneath its pristine façade lies a reputation shaped by violence, exploitation, and stories that refuse to fade. For generations, locals have whispered that the house was built on suffering tied to the domestic slave trade, and t
Introducing: Weird in the Wade
Do you like your spooky stories with some historical context? Do you like your history with a pinch of the paranormal? Then Weird in the Wade is the podcast for you. Weird in the Wade is about all that’s weird, wonderful and a little off kilter in a small English town called Biggleswade and its surrounding area. Each episode we explore a story that will make you pause and ponder, whether its a hau
Disaster at Camp Creek
On a storm-soaked night in June of 1900, just outside McDonough, Georgia, a Southern Railway passenger train plunged into the flooded waters of Camp Creek, triggering one of the deadliest train disasters in Georgia history. Weeks of relentless rain, a washed-out trestle, and a fateful decision made under impossible conditions combined to turn a routine run toward Atlanta into a mass casualty event
The Devil's Mansion | Encore Episode
For nearly three centuries, New Orleans has carried a reputation as a city where sin, superstition, and the supernatural collide. Long before ghost tours and vampire legends, early residents were already whispering that the Devil himself had claimed a foothold in the Crescent City. By the early 1800s, those whispers centered on a single mansion along St. Charles Avenue—a grand, unsettling house th
The Curse of Lorenzo Dow | Encore Episode
Along a quiet stretch of US 301 in coastal Georgia stands a lonely white farmhouse, the last surviving remnant of a place that once claimed to be a thriving frontier town. Locals say it is all that remains of Jacksonboro, Georgia, a community that rose with promise and then collapsed into nothing, leaving only the Seaborn Goodall House behind. For nearly two hundred years, the reason for Jacksonbo
Frankie Silver's Final Song
In the summer of 1833, the tiny mountain town of Morganton, North Carolina became the stage for one of the most shocking events in early Appalachian history: the execution of nineteen-year-old Frankie Stewart Silver, a young mother condemned for the brutal murder of her husband, Charlie Silver, in their remote cabin above the Toe River Valley. What happened inside that one-room home has fueled nea
Haunts of Arkansas's Old State House | Encore Episode
The Arkansas Old State House Museum is the oldest standing state capitol building west of the Mississippi River. Since 1833, the building has witnessed many of the most important events in Arkansas history, but according to some who visit the property, echoes from that past remain in forms that visitors don’t quite expect. In fact, some even claim that the apparition of a man still wanders the Old
Listener Tales, Volume Five
Join us for another episode featuring listener-submitted stories!
Want to Listen to Southern Gothic Ad-Free?
Patreon: Ad-Free Episodes, Premium Releases, Bonus Content & More
Southern Gothic Premium on Spotify
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Into History: History Without Interruption
Connect with Southern Gothic Media:
Website: Souther
The Tragic Fire at the Winecoff Hotel | Encore Episode
In December of 1946, Atlanta woke to a nightmare unfolding in the heart of downtown. The Winecoff Hotel—once celebrated as a modern marvel and boldly advertised as “absolutely fireproof”—was swallowed by flames before sunrise, trapping hundreds of guests inside a building that was never supposed to burn. By morning, it would become the deadliest hotel fire in American history.
For decades the Win
The Ballad of Casey Jones | Encore Episode
At the turn of the twentieth century, the American railroad was more than transportation — it was a symbol of speed, modernity, and danger, giving rise to some of the country’s most enduring folk legends. Among songs like “The Wreck of the Old 97” and “John Henry,” one ballad rose above the rest to become railroad folklore’s defining tale: “The Ballad of Casey Jones.”
In this episode of Southern
The Battle of Horseshoe Bend and the River of Blood
Along a sharp bend in the Tallapoosa River in eastern Alabama sits one of the most important — and most haunting — battlefields in American history. In 1814, this quiet stretch of water became the site of a brutal clash between Red Stick Muscogee warriors and the forces of Major General Andrew Jackson, a fight that would reshape the future of the Southeast and forever alter the Muscogee Nation.
B
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