And That's Why We Drink - E136 A French Toast Ghost and the Pepper Spray Squad

Episode Date: September 8, 2019

We're back on tour this week! And guess what... we got haunted in New Orleans! Check out our intro to hear the full story of our new teen ghost friend, Michael, and his cartoon preferences. We're also so thrilled to be able to share our Pittsburgh live show with you where Em covers the extremely spooky Hillview Mannor in New Castle, Pennsylvania. Then Christine tells the completely wild tale of Kate Soffel and the Biddle Brothers, not to be confused with a certain "We Sing" song... and that's why we drink!Please consider supporting the companies that support us! Go to Rothys.com/drink to get your new favorite flats!For $80 off your first month of HelloFresh, go to HelloFresh.com/DRINK80 and enter DRINK80Get 10% off your first three months of Ritual at ritual.com/DRINKGet 500 high-quality, custom business cards starting at $9.99 when you use code Drink at Vistaprint.com

hello everyone hello we are uh filming live right now we're not filming live right filming our voices yes uh from atlanta yes we forgot where we were for one minute. Yes, so we are not in the studio like we usually are, which means that we are going to be relying on a live episode this week. That's right, so we're on tour, and we just went to New Orleans last night, which was a hoot and a half, and we had a lot of ghostly experiences that you'll be hearing about next week, probably. But, uh, yeah, so we weren't able to record a full episode but we have a super fun one for you it's the pittsburgh show from the spring from i think may yes it was one of our first shows we did i think it was no it was one of the last

because it was after ohio oh i'm wrong we did philly early oh that's the one i'm thinking yeah yeah uh but pittsburgh was super it was one of my favorites to the point where eva was like i don't think we got the audio recorded and i was like please just harass these people until we get the audio because i just had so much fun at that show like it was one of the shows where i i think laughed the hardest on stage ever so it's a really fun show you guys should listen to it um eva wanted us to let you know that the beginning did cut out, and that's unfortunate. It might be Eva doing it because of my stupid prank that I pulled where I wore a Steelers jersey, and then I threw it on the ground, and I had a Bengals jersey underneath.

Great. It's probably best for the world that that's deleted. I had nothing to do with it. I was also a spectator of the scenario. Em was like, you will be shanked, and I will not know what to do to stop it. So it was a super fun time. We had a blast, and we are going to play that for you. Yay! Enjoy our Pittsburgh show.

Okay, well, we're still in Christine's hotel room, and we decided we wanted to tell you about our ghostly experience now, after all. Because we can't stop talking about it. I mean, just because we're not going to be recording an actual episode for you, we thought we could at least tease you with one of the ghost experiences that's already happened in the last 24 hours. And we had a lot, and they were actually quite horrific. And as I was saying to Em and eva these things don't usually happen to me i usually am on the periphery or like hearing about them through m but i was right in the middle of it so that was super um new orleans is hella haunted and we were also in the bourbon

orleans hotel which apparently is the most haunted hotel in all of new orleans yeah yeah or was it was that your one that you covered in the no oh well it was pretty fucking haunted i tell you what uh we definitely experienced some stuff even the lobby has like giant plaques on like well there's nun ghosts and soldier ghosts and children ghosts from yellow fever on all the different floors em and i were on the most haunted floor, so that's always good. Super duper. And we got to experience some of the children ghosts. Yeah. So essentially what happened was we had, well, we had brought an EMF reader and a spirit box,

so maybe this is all our fault. We did ask for it a little bit. A little bit. A little tiny bit. But we were hanging out, and I was getting spooked because I kept hearing knocking on my door. And I kept like leaning over and it was definitely coming from my door.

But I would look out the peephole and no one was there. And at first I thought Em was just screwing with me. I do have a history of knocking on Christine's door and pretending a ghost knocked on the door. It's like, yeah, the Em who cried ghost. Yeah. And so I kept checking and then finally I I called Em, like, stop doing that. And Em was like, I'm on the toilet. Please leave me alone.

That's exactly what I said. Never mind, I guess. So Em, I triple locked my door. And then Em came over and was like, what's going on? Well, also you heard someone say hello. Oh, yeah. So as Em was coming over, I heard someone shouting like, hello from the hallway. And I was like, that does not sound like Em.

I should have yelled fresh as eva pointed out later maybe that would have calmed the spirits yeah they were just they just wanted our promo code maybe maybe um and so i kept hearing like hello and then i opened the door and i was like em what the hell are you doing and i was like what do you mean and i was like are you playing like a like an app on your phone to to mess with me to scare me like there are voices outside my door. No, also there was nobody there. So I don't know what was going on.

So we locked the door. Em came in. And then we were talking about how there were maybe ghosts. And then I had to pee. So then before I went into the bathroom, I was telling Christine that when I was a little kid, my mom used to make me sing when we were in public stalls once I was old enough to use my own stall, but she was afraid I might wander off without her if I finished before her. And so think of like Boo from Monsters, Inc.

singing in the bathroom is what my mom used to hear. It's so cute. And so Christine made a joke about like, oh, well, while you're in there, if I don't hear you singing, I'm going to call the police or something. I was like, if you stop singing, I'm call 9-1-1 you know as a joke and so I went into the bathroom and I was not singing and out of nowhere in the hotel room the your iPad just started blaring music this is like blast of music and I was like em like are you doing that and I was like no and at first I didn't know what it was so I checked my phone like if I had a bluetooth on I thought maybe it was the alarm clock it wasn't the alarm clock then I was stuck

on the toilet so no matter what's going on I'm scared and before I touched anything I was like I need to make sure Em is hearing this too and I'm not actually you know going totally nuts and have like carbon monoxide poisoning so I was like Em do you hear that and you were like yes what are you doing and so I grabbed my iPad, which I hadn't been using at all. And it wasn't even connected to like Bluetooth or Wi-Fi or anything. It's just blasting the song like at full volume. And I was like, I paused it. And of course, the band was called something creepy like Black Rider. What was the song? I know the album was called The Door Behind the Door.

I mean, come on. It was all creepy. It was very creepy. And the music sounded super creepy. And I was like, let's listen to the lyrics. And I was like, ah. So the first line is, all that we see is all that we know. And we were like, we don't like this.

It was the creepiest thing in the world. It was. And so then I opened my iPad to be like, did my Spotify open or something? And nope. It turns out it was playing on apple music which i have never opened in my life to the point where i opened the app and it said you can't use this without an account and i was like well then who the hell is using it someone found a way oh my god and so i was like and then m comes out and goes oh well you did tell me to keep singing and i wasn't so

maybe that's why the music maybe someone else. Oh my god, it scared me so bad. So then we used the EMF detector. And the night before, we had actually used the spirit box and already gotten the name of someone in one of our hotel rooms named Michael. Oh, right. And we didn't put the two together at the time. But then we were using the EMF detector and trying to ask yes or no questions. We found out that the spirit was a 12 year old boy who um the room we were in was the room of his one of his best friends died in oh yeah and then he had he had brothers and sisters uh he liked to go outside and play catch he liked oh yeah he liked to dance to music because we had some music playing and anytime yeah like are you dancing and the machines would go off and yeah and then we were like let's and em was like put on a kid's show and i was trying we couldn't find anything on tv so i was like oh i'll go on youtube or on netflix and i was like how

about like peppa pig or something and i was like that's too like new age you need to find like whatever in a like a classic cartoon is that made that everyone will definitely like and so we put on the flintstones and then all of a sudden the uh the meters started not working yeah they just weren't going off as if like he was like a typical 12 year old boy and just like zoned in on the show why isn't he answering any questions and we were like we just put on cartoons why would he want to answer questions and so then we not putting that together at first we then thought okay he left, so let's just turn off the Flintstones. And when we turned it off, all the machines started freaking out again because he was probably like, give me back my TV show.

Like, hey, you promised me that. Yeah. So we just played the Flintstones, and then we got super spooked and basically spent the whole evening in my room having a ghosty. I slept at Christine's because i was scared yeah we were both really freaked out and um i just played the tv on silent all night and was like please just stay away from our bed and then the next morning he was even more active than the first time yes that was really he would not stop talking to us and then even said that he slept in the room with us great slept in the room with christine the night before when i was not there well m made sure to find out whether or not i had a ghost sleeping

with me when i was alone so thank you for that information we found out a bunch of information and seemed seemed like a nice little spirit oh my gosh poor eva we were like eva come upstairs right now the second she woke up and she walks in and we were like hey sit down this is our ghost child and she was like dear god what have you been doing we did uh tell him we wanted to take a picture with him so we took a lot of selfies we took a lot of pictures of the room just to see if we could get anything and he did say that he was in the pictures with us but we've looked at the pictures and he's not visually and i can't him, but we were figuring maybe it's just too hard to. Yeah.

Too much energy to, you know. But he did say he posed with us in the pictures. Which is kind of adorable and also kind of terrifying. Yes. Anyway, so it was very spooky. And I don't usually have weird things like that. Oh, and then last night I was just laying in my bed. And I was like, oh, watching my iPad.

And I was just completely still laying there. And all of a sudden I went, oh, Junie and I was just completely still laying there and all of a sudden I went oh Junie's here because something landed on my legs and then I thought oh god Junie's not here oh no and I just kind of like slowly moved my computer obviously nothing was there but I was like something just landed on my like on my shins oh no I was like well good night everybody I'm putting on my cat mask and going to sleep and the music blared again for you too at one point right i don't remember i don't think so the ipad just went well the ipad went hey so okay listen m wants me to tell this i've been i appreciate you like i'm trying to

make it classy i appreciate so here's the thing everybody Everybody poops. I farted last night. And I forgot for a brief moment that I was in a room with, like, a 12-year-old boy. At least one 12-year-old boy. And so I'm like, I farted. Okay, guys. Okay. And all of a sudden, like, my iPad just started, like, lighting up and going that shit. It started, like, dinging.

Like, I wasn't getting texts, but all the ding, like like the text tone was going off and off and off and off and i'd been in the room for like 20 minutes so it wasn't like it had just connected to the wi-fi or anything it was very strange so it was like a 12 year old boy was like freaking out like ha ha ha yeah exactly it's my ipad it didn't play music again but it definitely was making all the text tones and like also flashing the whole time that we were using the meters we wanted to balance them um so we could see them from far away and we were balancing them on christine's bras which we didn't even realize at first like this 12 year old boy's having the dream life he's watching the flintstones hanging out by a bunch of bras like and then later on i was like guys what do i do i have to take a shower and then ev I was like, guys, what do I do? I have to take a shower. And then Eva was like, just put on the Flintstones.

Yeah. I was like, okay, good idea. One of them will distract you. Oh, you guys, it was a really fun weekend or fun week. And yeah, we're in Atlanta now. We're excited to do our show tonight. And then we'll be back in LA for a regular episode next week. And you'll hear more spooky stories about New Orleans then because we got a lot.

Because it just never stopped. And hopefully we won't have any about New Orleans then because we got a lot of them. Because it just never stopped. And hopefully we won't have any about Atlanta because I'm kind of... I'm over it. I'm over it too. We just left like voodoo capital. Exactly. So I'm ready to be gone. And my iPad has not ever done that before. Since we left has not made any sort of weird.

But all the time in the hotel it kept going on and off and trying to open itself and no. Forget about it. Anyway on and off and trying to open itself and no forget about it anyway thank you for listening to our ghosty story and now you can listen to our Pittsburgh story yay okay bye I don't like that my name is also in the middle of London

I do I didn't realize that until now and I'm so glad you told me it's like it was meant to be but also I didn't realize that until now. And I'm so glad you told me. It's like it was meant to be, but also in a frenemy way. Oh, God. That being said, let's crack into it? Yeah.

Okay, okay, okay. I like how loud you guys are. It's very affirming. I know. Oh. Oh, my. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, you're noisy, Pittsburgh. Okay.

I'm just going to put this here so I don't lose it. Damn. Okay. I'm going to store this somewhere safe. Okay. Good luck to you. Okay. So this story I found at three this morning.

Oh, my god. In true fashion, you are going to get me learning with you because I don't remember most of it. Okay, great. That's comforting for me. You'll definitely sound smarter. Well, that doesn't take much. Okay, there it is. I didn't come up here with a fucking Steelers jersey and then throw it on the ground. We'll talk about intelligence later. La la la. So. Are you guys nearby Newcastle?

Even if you're lying, I'm glad you cheered. Yes. So this is a haunted place in Newcastle. It's apparently like an hour away from here-ish. Okay. Is that like the beer? No. Maybe.

I don't drink. I don't get to have an opinion. I don't know. Okay, so this is in Newcastle. This is... Oh, if you know it, clap. If you don't, clap, because I have anxiety. By the way, they haven't told you the story yet. I haven't said anything,

but thanks. By the way, that rule applies all the way to the end through my story. We're two people with anxiety we're both very troubled so please help us thank you so this is the story of the hillview manor some of those sounded legitimate thank you wow okay well hang on okay okay so Okay, so. Did you like that? No. So, the fun part of this is that there is minimal history, mainly ghosts. So, you came on a good night, because sometimes I really do come up here and just give a history class, and I'm like, oh, and there were ghosts, bye. Yeah. So, good for you. Okay, so, we're going to travel back to 1867.

You remember it fondly. Yes. It was a good year. So in the city of Newcastle, a farm slash halfway house was proposed to open so that it could provide housing and jobs for the county's mentally ill, destitute, and elderly is what Wikipedia tells me. Okay. So, and elderly that didn't have family. So basically, anyone that needed a home could live there and also work there.

Like on the farm? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. So, it was proposed, and then it took a very long time to actually finally, uh, open, be built and open. But in October, October 19th, 1926, so she's a Libra. Oh my. Nice.

Uh, the Lawrence County Poor Farm was built. Poor Farm. I know. That's clever. I didn't name it. Um, it was 85,000 square feet and the very first residents were 13 men, three women, and one young boy. And maybe some of them were non-binary, but we didn't know that yet. Who's to say?

I don't know. Maybe the 13 men slash non-binary slash women. I don't know. Yeah? So the building had a kitchen, a hospital, a chapel, a laundry room, a cemetery, a bomb shelter. Oh dear. A bomb shelter. Okay.

An office space. Okay. And then living spaces for the men and then living spaces for the women and then for the non-binaries. All of the above. And then in the 1970s, human bones began regularly getting dug up

from the property what game changer wait in what year in the 70s so this is wait so we fast forward like 100 years 50 but yes oh i thought you said 1897 or something i did originally it was 1867 then it got built in 26 and now we're in the 70s. Okay. I got lost really early. I mean, clearly nothing happened in 50 years that was worth reporting, according to Google. According to Google. Okay. So in the 1970s, human bones regularly started getting dug up from the property.

And then in 1977, they were like, we should try to update this place because it sounds like things are starting to get a little dark around here. Also, there was overcrowding issues and there was reasons to start finding bones on the property because there started to be a lot of suicides on the property. And then they weren't giving them proper burials. There you have it. But it was still being run at this point. It was still being run, just poorly.

It is called the poor farm. There's that intelligence. Wow. So, I try. So in 1977, they started building additions. Mainly they built the North Wing, which was their big renovation. And then they ended up turning the place from

an almshouse, which is apparently the proper term. They renovated into a nursing home and retirement home. So they're really mixing things up. And it was to replace the older Newcastle City home that was just shutting down. And I guess this place needed to be renovated anyway. And they're like, oh, we'll just turn this into a retirement home and solve everyone's problems. All of them. Most of them. So in 2004, oh, we're time traveling again. Okay.

Now that year, I remember well. Right, right. Not fondly, though, but well. No. Being 12 was not fun. So the building closed after having several money problems, and a year later was sold during public auction, and that's all we care about for the history good that would be me as a history teacher it

would take five minutes and I'd be like now color until you have to leave so there were many suicides on the property mainly hangings and jumping off the roof Oh God many who jumped off the roof. Oh, God. Many who jumped off the roof ended up surviving critical injuries. Many of them were permanent critical injuries. Oh, no. Some of them jumped and then ended up surviving but died a couple days later in the facility.

Ugh. And most of those who died have no records, which explains a large number of unmarked graves in the cemetery. Okay. Two of the deaths died have no records, which explains a large number of unmarked graves in the cemetery. Okay. Two of the deaths that have been recorded that also correlate with hauntings. There is a woman named Amanda who is at the top of the stairs and fell down the stairs and died. And then the most famous death there was, which is not like a great superlative of like best death, but.

Depends on who you ask, I guess. Maybe this guy, maybe his ghost. At the very least, that's what he got. So his name was Eli, and he lived here when it was a halfway house. It's on record that he was an alcoholic. And since alcohol was forbidden on the site he was an alcoholic and since alcohol was forbidden on the site, he apparently left and went to the bar.

Can you do that? There wasn't a lot of security then, I guess. And so he ended up passing out when he was trying to walk back to the house. He passed out and it was snowing.

Oh, no. Hang on. He gets, like, five more minutes here. Hey, they did it, too. He passed out in the snow. I know. My finger's going this way, though. Yeah.

Hang on. So, he passed out in the snow. His buddies were, like, oh, shit, they can't know that he was drinking. Oh. And so, they tried to, like, cover for him him and they also didn't want him to like freeze to death. So they dragged him into the building and put him in the boiler room. Oh.

So he would warm up. That was like also some drunk thinking, but. So they were trying to warm him up and get him sober and they forgot him in there. And then he just died. I don't know what from. I just know he died. Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no.

So room 105 used to be the room of a resident named Mary, who apparently is also a common spirit. And room 110 used to be the embalming room when it was a poor farm. That's cool. I think so. Not many farms have that. I guess not. Not where I'm from.

Maybe in Pittsburgh. You do things different here. And then on the third floor, just so you guys have some, I don't know. Maybe this is useful in the future. We'll find out. I really don't remember my notes, so I wrote it, so it must be important. Oh, Lord. On the third floor

is where most of the surgeries were performed. Oh, what? Why were there that? I don't know. I was going to say, oh, because it was like a nursing facility, so maybe they did like minor procedures. No, no, don't know don't do

that i don't have an answer for you maybe they just did that for fun um so now here all of the ghosts oh great by the way this is considered one of uh the most haunted places in pennsylvania okay so congrats two people knew that and so this has been on Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures this has also been on Ghost Hunters which is on the Sci-Fi Network which my father lovingly calls the Siffy Channel

so there at least I don't know how this is the number Siffy channel. So there are at least, I don't know how this is the number. I tried very hard to find, to make sure this was accurate. But on three different articles, I found at least 10,000 deaths occurred on this property. Oh my god.

I don't know how, but Well, they're surgerying it up up there. Apparently. I don't know. I don't know how, but... Well, they're surgerying it up up there. Apparently. I don't know. I don't know what happened. Apparently, one of the current managers named Rochelle Razo, she has been quoted saying, we always try to be skeptical about things. We try to find logical explanations before jumping to conclusions,

but sometimes there are just some things you cannot account for logically, like watching doors open and close when there is no draft and no one in the whole building. Sorry, I almost did an anecdote that wouldn't have really made much sense. Sorry, in my head I like

just blacked out. That's my job. Oy, oy, yay. So, there is apparently the spirit of a little boy named Jeffrey. Oh, is that the one from the 13... I don't think so. And I thought that

too. But, so, I thought it was the little boy because it is allegedly the spirit of a nine-year-old boy. But then when psychics were able to speak to him, he said that he moved in with his 11-year-old brother. Oh, okay. So there would be two boys.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. That's it. No, I'm kidding. I just lost my spot. That's also my job. Oh, my goodness. That's also my job.

Oh, my goodness. So they have given him the name Jeffrey purely because during interview sessions with digital recorders, they've asked, what's your name? And they always get the name Jeffrey. Aw. So they're just guessing he's telling the right name. He's not a little liar, I guess? I mean, I don't know. If I had eternity to talk to people,

I would be making up names left and right. Oh, totally. There is no record of the room that Jeffrey lived in, so since they don't know exactly where he feels the most safe or where he likes to hang out the most, they leave toys in almost every room just so he can play with them. That's frightening. And I guess cute?

It's considerate. The toys that are laid out for him actually do cause an influx in spikes on the EMF detectors when they're doing interviews with him. So it seems to actually get more activity because he seems to trust people in the room with the toys. And he's a big fan of things that light up. And since EMF detectors light up,

one of his favorite games is, if you're here, can you come touch the machine, which makes it light up. That's so cute. Okay, I'm with you guys now. That's kind of cute. Okay. When I used to do a lot of EMF interview sessions,

that was one of our favorite, well, my favorite games to do with there was a little boy and a little girl who were brother and sister, and they also really liked that it lit up. And you could put ten of them in all different parts of the room, like against the perimeter, and you could say, can you run in a circle

and have all of them go off, and you'd see one by one each of them turn on. That was super fun. They were just surrounding you. That's great. Well, like, they were like... Yeah, no. Whatever. They were fine.

They were my homies. I worked with them for, like, three years, so... The best part was eventually I started giving tours, and then I would be explaining how the EMF detector worked. And at that point, I'd been working there for so long that they didn't even ever want to talk to me because they were just so used to me being in the room. And if you think about it, it's because every time I would do a tour, it would be, is somebody here? Are you a boy or a girl? Or a non-binary. How old are you? Like, it was just just the same questions over and over. I'm sure they were so fucking sick of me.

And so I would say during the tour, I'd be like, it's helpful if you guys ask questions because they're pretty bored of me. And only then would all the lights go on during my speech, and I was like, oh, they're probably bored of me. And all these lights would go on like, yep, fucking sick of you.

We're tired of running in circles for you. So anyway. There's the anecdote for you. So, anyway. There's the anecdote. Okay. You found one. I found one that made sense. So, unfortunately, little Jeffrey might be demonic. Oh, wait.

Which some of us saw coming. Well, I heard a lot of very strong, like, mm-hmm, yep. Everyone was like, that checks out. Like, we knew that. very strong like, mm-hmm, yep. Everyone was like, that checks out. We knew that. People that interact with him have been known to

soon after die. Wait, no. Sorry. It's not very cute anymore, I guess. So if you see a little boy that's not on the tour with you, if you ever go there, just look the other way. Oh, God. I do love, though, that the demon still likes all the light up toys like yeah he can't hide it's a child at heart

yeah um so speaking of uh emfs you guys know my favorite thing in the entire world is the spirit box right so for those of you who've gotten dragged here and they're like what the fuck is this so they've been saying that for a long time. They're already checking their watch. So a spirit box. So there's multiple types. My favorite is the Ovilus 3, by the way. Let's just say I bought M the wrong one on Amazon as a birthday gift.

Oh, it still works great, though. Okay. Oh, it still works great, though. Okay. So the one that Christine got me is the more OG version of it, where it runs through several radio frequencies. It's very scary. It sounds really jarring, because you're just hearing loud, loud static.

Yeah. But the theory is that if ghosts are trying to communicate with us, they're talking on a different frequency that we just can't hear. So if you're firing off different radio frequencies, they can almost talk through the waves to you. Spooky. So it's like live communication with them. So if I'm holding this loud static machine,

if I ask a question, you can hear voices come out and they're talking directly to you. But then the one that I like, the Ovilus, it has a silent sweeping setting. Oh, nice. So you don't have to hear that sound. And it'll show only the words that are being spoken on the screen. Like it has a dictionary in it, right?

Yeah. And it sounds like Microsoft Sam. That's still scary, I guess, yes. Yeah. It's even with demon. I guess. Yes. Yeah.

It's even with demon. But anyway, so now I just have a list of things that people have caught on the spirit box. Oh gosh. Okay. You have to say them in that voice. Nope. Cause there's only cause there's a lot and you guys will really be so over

it. Oh yeah. Nevermind. So this is a combination of things that people have heard in through the spirit box or just EVPs in general, which are electronic voice phenomena. So you can use it just with a digital recorder and then you play it back later and hear like a whisper or something. So those are the two different things that these sentences have come from. So EVPs alone, people have heard deep breathing, grunting, crashing,

doors slamming. They've also gotten two highs, two hellos. Sorry, I heard that banging and I was like, oh. And one large stomp down the stairs. And someone ordering a shot of tequila. How wild. Okay, I'm sorry. That's Christine's ghost. I cut you off at the end.

I got scared. I'm sorry. Can you imagine if Christine goes before me and I'm doing an interview session and I just hear, I want all the booze. Just all the booze. All the wine. Why do I sound like that? Oh, I do sound like that.

Okay. I heard it. At some point in the night, you do start to sound like that. Yeah, I heard it. I heard it that time. So, deep breathing, grunting, crashing, door slamming, two highs, two hellos, one hey. Oh, okay. And then the... Hey. One hey, girl. breathing grunting crashing door slamming two highs two hellos one hey oh okay and then they one hey girl um and they've also heard whistling and they've also heard uh the screeching of a gurney rolling up and down what a very specific sound that you would wheels maybe is just what

i should say i think they're assuming the gurney. Okay. So one of my favorite things that people who have done interview sessions here, they'll ask, just like how I was saying, they get bored if you ask the same questions over and over and over again. So you kind of start getting interesting and asking more fun questions. So I like that these people that I got from, I got it from an article where they were asking some pretty neat questions so one of the questions or

sentences that they were just screaming into this empty void of a building was I like french toast with bacon wait now the the ghost was saying this? no no they were saying this to like entice that's like even weirder though sometimes you get

some weird shit back though. Alright. So someone said, I like French toast with bacon. I think they were just trying to do like a whole like, oh, what do you like to eat? Just because it would finally be a new answer and they'd be like, I've been dead for a hundred years, no one's asked, thank you.

So I like French toast with bacon. And then the spirit box within seconds got the words Butter and jam It was like wrong Wrong answer See sometimes you gotta ask some weird stuff And they'll finally pop up Fun fact from me

That one actually That was actually pretty fun Thank you You're welcome There was one time Oh god this is just me fucking telling stories at this point. Never mind. What else is this goddamn podcast?

If not us telling stories... Hey, man, you're right. I was literally just talking about my dad talking about his golf game. This is fun. Right. Guys, you wanted an unscripted episode. This is what you fucking got. We don't know why you wanted it, but here it is. I don't know if I've told it before. I know I've told it to you, but I don't know if I've said it on the show.

So sorry if you have to hear it twice. But it was the little girl that's always so bored of me. I started telling people coming in when we started doing tours, hey, can you start asking some more questions? And she seemed to really gravitate towards grandfatherly figures. And so there was an older guy on our tour and i was like it would be you know we could probably get some good stuff if you had a conversation with this little girl and uh he started talking about like his favorite cookies

and his favorite brownies and the lights went fucking bananas in this place and she was like i and she also we found out she died back in like the 1700s. So whatever her version of cookies are, he was describing what they're like now and she went berserk.

Just chocolate and chocolate on chocolate. Yeah, he was like, you could put whatever you want there. You could put chocolate chips in there. You could put candy bars in there.

You could put, and like then the door, like there were two doors in the room and both the doors started rattling by themselves. He was like, you can put raisins and everything just went quiet and uh but so then he was trying to describe uh ice cream to her oh bravo by the way how do you describe ice cream if you can't show it to someone but however he did it blew her mind and the

building that we were in happened to have a kitchen downstairs. Stop it. It had turned into a restaurant since. And it used to be her childhood home. Obviously her childhood home. She died as a child. Her home. Okay.

And. No, I follow. I follow. I got you. I got you. And so he was describing all these like really good treats and stuff. And he was saying, you know, there's. I follow. I got you. I got you. And so he was describing all these, like, really good treats and stuff. And he was saying, you know, there's a kitchen downstairs. I bet you could just run on down there and make it yourself.

And then we heard in the corner away from the door, we heard a little girl giggling. And then we heard little footsteps run through the table we were sitting at. And then the door slammed as if someone walked through it. And then you could hear footsteps run down the stairs. And then you just heard screaming from the kitchen. No! But that was for,

like, I mean, respect to her. She was like, out of my way. I'm on... I hope she can eat it. That would be really sad. We have asked her before

that if she ever swipes her finger, like, downstairs since it's a kitchen when the chefs are cooking, if she ever steals food and she said yes. So, apparently she can eat. Don't eat there.

It sounds unsanitary. So, sometimes you might see something on your plate that's actually from a ghost. Gross. Like a finger swipe. I don't know. Like ectoplasm? I don't know. Isn't that a thing? I don't know. It is a thing. Oh, okay. Oh, yeah. French toast. That's where we were. Right. don't know isn't that a thing i don't know it is the thing oh okay uh oh yeah french toast that's

where we were right it's usually food related wherever we stop last right uh so then they've also the investigators said you know our time's getting short here we've got to head out soon do you have any messages for us and uh they said we know you're getting out of here as if i don't know what that means but they were i guess addressing like we're not stupid we know you're getting out of here. I don't know what that means, but they were, I guess, addressing like, we're not stupid. We know you're leaving soon. Okay. Ooh, okay. They've also gotten through the spirit box, I guess someone tripped.

And then the spirit box picked up, how did that go? Well, that is my kind of ghost. Which is amazing, um, paranormally, because usually the spirit box can only pick up one word at a time. So the fact that it picked up a whole sentence, that guy had a lot of energy. A lot of sass building up. Oh, yeah. Beautiful.

They've also gotten an EVP of someone saying, here I come. Okay. Well, I don't love that. He also said that when someone tripped, like, huh? He just likes to watch that. We've also gotten, we, me, now,

there's also been an EVP of someone saying, Merry Christmas on Christmas. That's kind of nice. They've also gotten a spirit saying, who's there? And they've gotten a spirit saying,'s there and they've gotten a spirit saying you but very for a very long time so I'm thinking like

soldier boy I've had millennials okay our rental car came with Sirius XM radio and I didn't know how to change the thing and so it was stuck on like two different channels and it was like two thousands hits it was great I wasn't know how to change the thing, and so it was stuck on two different channels, and it was like, 2000s hits.

It was great. I wasn't complaining. But I heard Soulja Boy maybe six times the last 48 hours. All I can think about is how I never really learned the dance, and I... You missed out. You looked like a whack loser on the dance floor. I do.

That's why I have to resort to strip teasing. On the third floor, there have also been EVPs of what the staff call a grumpy old man. Oh, all right. Because he doesn't like other people being in his space, and he tells them to leave him alone. Which would be me as a ghost. Yeah, I was like, nah, Scott. I think that's probably a lot of us. It should be me as a ghost.

Yeah, I was like, nah, Scott. I think that's probably a lot of us. There are also EVPs of a woman who says that she had been beaten when she was alive. Oh, dear. And she sounds very scared. Oh, no. There are EVPs that have been confirmed. They were confirmed that a resident who is on record for having jumped and died by suicide,

they ended up actually speaking with him, and he said that he didn't jump, but he was pushed. Oh, no. Drama. Scandal. Oh, my God. There's also an EVP of Eli, the one that died in the boiler room because he was partying too hard. Well, because his friends are idiots, truly.

Well, yes. Him and his friends were moving too fast. Yes. So apparently he is known to do a little grabbing of people. Oh, well, that's not great. And so they were asking, why do you do that to people? And then an EVP came through of him saying, I like to fuck with them.

Alright, I can respect that. They have asked, is there anyone here? And then the spirit box picked up, me. It's like, duh. Yoo-hoo, right here. Here I come.

They've asked, who's in room 140? And they got a response, Pete. And then they said, and then they asked, what's your name? And he said, Pete. Stop it. Stop it. Okay.

A man of few words. I love Pete. This one sounds like me too. Oh, God. They said, what was the name or what was the menu for today? Because they had a cafeteria. What were you going to be eating today? And it said tea.

And then they said, oh, I don't know why. I think I must have erased some of the middle part of the conversation let's hear it I don't agree with the investigator who said this but he said I like fruit for dessert which I don't like fucking chocolate

but then they were saying like oh do you like fruit do you like food and then they got an EVP of someone going, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like Pac-Man. That would be me. That would be you. Feel like I have not had food in too long. There was an investigator who had just got pushed and so he was telling another investigator, I got pushed right in that area and then an EVP said, yeah.

I saw or I did it. Something like that. That was me. They also got on the spirit box someone saying, please help. And then when the investigator said, what kind of help? The spirit box said, doctor. Oh, God. Oh, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no. People also hear footsteps. They hear voices. People get touched and grabbed, mainly by Eli in the boiler room. Wow. Animals don't like to go down certain hallways. Oh, well, that's not a good sign. When TAPS, the SIFI ghost hunters, when they went, they brought their paranormal investigative dog named Maddie. Wait, hold on.

They have a dog that is now on the show with them. They're stealing our idea if we get a TV show. All right. Eva, trademark that real quick. Trademark. Before it goes any further. We make Gio a certified investigator before they make Maddie one. Geo a certified investigator before they make Maddie one.

Apparently, Maddie was easily spooked when going down the hallway, which would be... I was like, Geo's spooked by everything. Geo would not... Yeah. Unless he threw like a snack down there. Geo's like, oh, I'm scared. There's a ghost. And we're like, I knew it. Thank you.

We'll send Junie on a leash. Right. Throw him down the hallway by the way the most embarrassing thing I think the most embarrassing quality of yours is that I've seen you walk your cat on a leash

outside I love sentences in front of hundreds of people that start with the most embarrassing quality about you is I've seen

Instagram videos like put your cat in the house no he likes to dig. Okay, well. He also likes to eat the rosebush. It's not a big deal.

Thank you for that one person who's like, yeah, cats. I'm a cat person too. Thank you. Eva and I. Anyway, so we haven't decided, but one of them will be our paranormal investigator that we put in somewhere where we don't want to go.

And we'll have them check it out for us. Great. People also see reflections in the front door. There's actually been security footage that's shown that reflections will show up as soon as people leave. Gross. Gross indeed. There are reports of clawing on the doors, and you can actually see the doors forcefully shake on their own. In rooms without drafts, by the way.

So there are shadow people that are seen pretty much everywhere, but they were saying that you could see them in mirrors, pretty much anything reflective. Mirrors and windows, when you're by yourself, they just show up out of nowhere. Well, I hate that. Something has intelligently turned on the lights. So if you say, like, hey, turn on the lights if you're here,

all of the lights went on by themselves at one time. That's convenient. There have been multiple response knocks during interview sessions. So if you agree in the beginning like one means yes, two means no. They're very good at having knocking communication with you. The spirits enjoy

taunting women especially, of course. What else is new? I know, like gosh. Women can't catch a break, can they? Apparently women like to get not women like this. I was like, So, apparently, women like to get... Not women like this.

No, women... Nope. I was like, oh, what do we like to get? I didn't mean that. Explain it to me. No, no, I want to know more. What was that?

What did you mean? I want to know. Let me just turn my recorder on real quick. Say it again. There are reports of women being touched, grabbed, stroked.

Oh. Vomitous. And having their arms and hands and butts pinched. Arms and hands and butts. Oh, my. Specifically. I don't know. Those were the ones I saw.

Okay. Many have come face to face with full-bodied apparitions right in front of them. Like I said, Eli haunts the, or he died in the boiler room. He haunts the boiler room now, and he's known for slamming doors and demanding people leave him. He's apparently different than the other grumpy old man who likes to also be left

alone. Okay. Objects move on their own. Shadow people run across rooms and hide in corners. Gross. Firm pass for me. Ditto. People smell cigars and hear walkers and gurneys rolling in the halls, which has

been confirmed by the EVPs. There are shadow people that are seen running in the cafeteria, which would be me. I'd be like, gotta get my fucking food. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yes, yes, yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

That is how I sounded in high school on the way to the cafeteria. Then sticking your fingers in all the food. Yeah, I know you. There are sounds of something dragging across the floor. Sounds of thuds like bowling balls being thrown. Super. And apparently there's a hallway called Knock Knock Hallway.

No. That is the name of our next horror movie. Because, you know, like shaving a haircut? Yeah. Okay. That's what it's actually called, in case you don't know. So, if you do... Fun fact.

Fun fact. So... I had to do it. It's rare that there really is one of those fun facts. Yeah. So if you do... In this particular hallway... Uh- those. I know. So if you do, in this particular hallway. Uh-oh, I spilled.

Shh, don't tell anyone who works here. I'm sorry. That's why it's a black tablecloth, I guess. Did you spill a lot? No. Okay, good. Where was I? Oh, shave and a haircut.

So if you go into this hallway and you knock a la shave and a haircut, you will always get a reply. Okay. You'll always get the like, bum bum at the end. Oh, ew, so you do the pause and then they do, nah. There are rooms on the second floor where you can hear rocking chairs. Wow. Ew, rocking chairs. That was a very strong reaction apparently in one of the rooms an

apparition has been seen in the rocking chair and for some reason lifting their arms over and over so just like okay now you can have that reaction because that is terrible Like slowly listening to good music. Soulja Boy, tell them. You! That was me in our rental car. How sad. Oh, my. Oh, my. Oh, my.

There's an apparition of a doctor dressed in all white, and he's seen lurking in the chapel. Oh, God. First of all, why is a doctor in the chapel? One. Two, why is he lurking? Three, why is there a doctor? We already established this was in the hospital. Why? Nobody knows.

There have... Oh, something gropes women that is not Eli. Something else gropes women. Super. Because there can't just be one. They really like it, you remember. Right.

And then also this thing tugs on men's pants. So everyone gets a chance, apparently. At least it's equal opportunity. Right. And the non-binaries are safe. Finally something good, right? Finally a pro.

And so an organ in the hallway makes sounds on its own as if the pedals are being used. I thought you meant like a lung or something. I was like, holy shit, it's just still there? The doctor is just looking for it. They just kick it around every now and then. Oh, I got really alarmed. Okay, this makes a little more sense now.

Sure, yeah, but I see where you saw that from. People experience cold gusts of wind brushing past them in closed rooms. People feel like they're being bumped into by people who aren't there. There are sounds of metal clanging and reports of feeling choked in a room where someone hanged themselves. Oh, oh, oh. In room 301, there's a photo of a spirit sitting in a chair and leaning forward at the photographer. Oh. People also hear singing in the basement. And I don't know what kind of music, but it would all be bad. You.

You. Oh, God, no. We've reached dad joke territory. This is bad. It's too early in the show for this. Okay. People feel hands around their neck when they are in a bathroom that someone died in. Super.

And in one of the boiler rooms, there is a spirit who loves the Steelers. Are you serious? Apparently, if you say go Steelers. Are you serious? Apparently if you say go Steelers he'll leave you alone. It's like a password. We'll see.

That's like okay if we put you in there you'd be screaming go Steelers I'm telling you. I'd be screwed. So you would hear whistling and humming

in that same room and apparently on the second floor there are lots of distant laughter that you can never find. Like you never trace where the voice is. That's probably a good thing. True. Yeah. Valid. In room 313

there's a shadow figure that peers out from the doorway and hides when you see him. In rooms 105 and 126 there have been reports of a floating shadow head that just peeks around the corner and then floats away. That's very unfortunate. Some rooms have a calming sense that make you feel better or at peace.

That's nice. That is. It's literally better than any other thing you've said. Right. I'll take it. I'm in there chanting ghost dealers if I'm ever in that place. There have been footsteps that have been so pronounced that you think someone is right behind you following you, and you turn around and nobody's there. Oh, no. In the basement hallway, there is a black mass that will appear and then spread entirely over the hallway so you can't see through it or walk past it.

Nah. Flashlights and equipment have gotten thrown around and will malfunction on their own, even with fresh batteries. And in the basement, there is a whole room dedicated to different trigger objects for the spirits. So if you were to go there and do an investigation, you can just pull a bunch of stuff from that room and then whoever's attached to it will probably come talk to you. What? So it helps the spirits be very interactive. Great. I know it sounds stupid, but at the same time, it really does work to have something of theirs because it makes them want to talk to you more. Don't they just want you to leave them alone? I don't understand. Probably,

but then no one ever listens. And here we are on a stage with a microphone telling you all about it. And also the people who love to not listen the most, I am here to tell you the episode of Ghost Adventures. I think that's sort of where I was subconsciously segwaying or seguing if we're

talking to you. Yep. Yep. I don't have nothing. You're right. I have nothing to say to that. So this, I was even telling Christine, I was like, this is a really good episode. Yeah, I had to sit there and hear like, sometimes there's a noise.

In the backseat, I was like, do you want headphones? And I was like, no, thanks. Which I'm sure you hated. Yes. So there is an employee that says that they've been in the boiler room, and she has felt a hand grab the back of her arm, and she's also felt her butt pinched. Oh.

To which our favorite, he who must not be named, said. Good old Zach. For the new people right bagel bites she said that she had had her butt pinched he said quote oh tell me

he said no women like that just like you did do you like that kind of thing no I knew it and then she seemed shocked. What's crazy? And then he said, I mean, I meet all kinds of people out on the road.

As in, like, maybe you're freaky. I don't know. I don't know what he meant. I don't know if he knows what he meant. But I know that even the soup covered that little piece of footage. Oh, yeah. So we're not alone here in finding uncomfiness on that.

So apparently there was a student filmmaker who brought her whole crew here to make a short documentary. And then they had someone, like a PA on set, on one side of a wall that was made of glass, and so she was by herself in that room. Everyone else was on the other side of the room, and she needed to be there

to operate a light or something, and so they were talking through the walkie-talkie, and just joking, she said through the walkie-talkie, if anyone's here, break the glass. And then there was a man's voice on the walkie-talkie, if anyone's here, break the glass. Oh. And then there was a man's voice on the walkie-talkie that said, break glass. And nobody else was on that line. Ew.

And they were all in the room. Like, everyone was in this room. So if someone said it, they would have all heard that person say it right there. It was just Zach Bagans downstairs, like. Right. person say it right there it was just zach baggins downstairs like right uh there is a spirit in one room that used to scream get out all of the time but since then he's mellowed out apparently speaking of me in 2004 right get out mom so uh there zach heard this this was in the middle of an interview and he was like oh well, well let me pull out the digital recorder

and see if we hear anything. And so when he asks, is anyone here, what's your name? Two different recorders caught someone saying, I'm Jim. Jim? Jim. Oh, Jim. Okay. I have selected hearing.

I'm sorry. There are reports of former employees saying that all the lights have gone out at once when they were by themselves on the shift.

And then the doors open and closed by themselves. Mid-interview, Zach realizes that the property is now next to a golf course.

He's like, be right back. You guys take over. No. So for the next 10 minutes of footage of a 40-minute show, I had to watch them golf. Oh, my God.

It's like I could just write this stuff myself. They were in full... You could tell they, like, left, went to, like, Walmart and bought golf shit and then came back and wasted a whole day of production to go golfing. You know the worst thing? They did a full 18 holes.

You know the worst thing? What? They for sure didn't go out. They made the PAs go out and buy golf equipment. Right, right, right. And they were like, I just want to go home. I don't get paid overtime. Yeah, and they were like, well, I want to go golfing.

Well, Zach needs to golf. In full golf attire and club sets, they called themselves the Ghost Adventures Crew Invitational. I don't like this. And while they were golfing on hole 14, which they deemed the haunted hole. You know that was his favorite joke, too. You know that was his favorite joke, too. He says, quote,

right now, and imagine in his really low, slow voice, right now I'm putting on top of the green that we just learned is on top of thousands of unmarked grapes. What an asshole. Hole in one for Zach, by the way. Only after editing. Right, right. Sorry, I'm being real mean. I'll be quiet.

So then let's, then they go back. They're like, oh yeah, we have a job to do. So then they go investigate. So pretty much right off the bat, stuff starts happening. Doors are slamming. Zach's shirt gets tugged on. There's an EVP of something saying, get out of this room. And then a shadow figure runs down the hall.

The same shadow figure, they think, is what next grabbed Zach's arm. And then an EVP is recorded after he just got his arm grabbed saying, get this guy. Uh-oh. Zach then thinks that this is Jim

from saying, it's Jim because it's in the same area. Right. Okay. And then he's trying to ask like random questions because that seems to be like the most successful interview questions that work here. So he goes, Jim, what color are your pants? And so an EVP picks up the word blue. So now we know that about Jim. And so an EVP picks up the word blue.

So now we know that about Jim. Then they decide to use shadow detectors, which is exactly what it sounds like. Oh, my. And they go off immediately once they've set them up and leave the room. Apparently there's just shadow activity all over. So then they send Aaron to the basement by himself to talk to Jim alone. Of course they do. Blue Pants Jim is what I call him. Affectionately.

The doors slam pretty much as soon as Aaron goes down there. The doors just start slamming all over around him. He's like, I want to get out. And then, so Zach is upstairs trying to do an EVP session and talk to these spirits. And he says, Oh, were you around here? There's an employee that says that she sees you all the time up here. And then he caught an EVP of something saying,

did she? Oh yeah. Yup. I guess when they were in an, or when Aaron was in an area for geriatrics, he started running when he heard something that scared him. And when he started running, he picked up an EVP probably from someone else who was a little older and the evp says don't hurt your back that's really nice

that's so nice yeah then aaron starts asking again random questions and it's like do you like the food here i heard the spaghetti and meatballs are pretty good and they got an evp yeah it is okay we're learning a lot yeah i am we're learning a lot. Yeah, I am. We're learning a lot today. Then the spirit box up where Zach is filming, a spirit box that has the actual Microsoft Sam voice, says, hi, Zach. Uh-oh.

Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Then Zach asks, do you like us being here? And the machine says, maybe. Then he says, what's your favorite here? And the machine says, maybe. Then he says, what's your favorite sport? And the machine says, hockey. And Zach says, what team? And the machine says, Pittsburgh.

And then Zach says, I like golf. Right. Then one of them starts asking, are you connecting with me because i asked those questions because he's starting to get like like chills and he's starting to feel really cold and he feels like he's being followed so he asks are you connecting with me because i asked all these questions and then a whisper on the on the digital recorder caught i can't as if like he was trying to oh god oh no extra creepy i don't like Then they ask, what state do you live in? And I guess he was not on record for living there or something because the machine then said, go check.

So I guess he didn't really know. Or he was, like, done with this conversation. Right, he was like, you figure it out. He was, actually, as I'm reading, he was over it because then Zach asks, how many of us are in the room right now? And the machine says, do the math. Oh. Well, there you go.

They go into another room and ask out loud, is anyone sick? Do you have any diseases? And the machine picked up, I plan on fixing them. Aw. That's sad. That is sad. Aaron sees multiple shadow figures,

and then an EVP comes out of someone saying split which is like definitely the oldest version of get out that i've ever heard um and then the evp or the spirit box itself says i got a question and then never actually asked a question but wow is that the the one i want to hear most. Yeah, me too. And then the spirit box said, let us hear. And then they got tired of waiting for them to finish that sentence, so they said, what's your name? And the machine picked up Alexa.

Oh, interesting. Which is ironic, isn't it? No comment. That a Microsoft SAM machine that is very intuitive said their name was Alexa. Promo code drink. No. So then they go into another room, and they go into the boiler room,

which I don't think that was, I don't think they were aware that's where they were. You end up finding out they're in the boiler room, and the spirit box picks up the words, suffered, jail run oh oh oh i don't like that and then zach said what will you do if we don't run and the machine said happier oh my god like i'd be happy okay okay you get it i get it i'm not i follow okay. Zach then starts feeling someone rub on his back and asks, who's touching me? And the machine goes, Nick. For those who don't watch the show,

Nick is also another ghost hunter that was in the room with him. And Nick is on the other side of the room and he's like, I didn't fucking do it. That's not me. He's like, bro, stop. Stop touching me. So then the machine says East Highway.

And just down, they had just learned that right down East Highway was a local jail. That many inmates that were released there ended up coming to Hillview Manor. And so I think they're kind of piecing together the story that he started there. And then he walked East Highway to get to this manor. Wow. And then something slams against a very heavy metal grate beneath them. And Zach, it sounds like someone's, like, throwing something at them. And Zach says, what are you trying to do?

And the machine picked up pain. Oh, God. Okay. And then there was scratching on the door next to them and tapping on the pipes. And then the last word that the machine picked up was, sorry, but S-A-A-R-R-I. And they were like, what does that mean? And they ended up looking it up,

and Eli, who died in the boiler room, his last name was Sari. Stop. And that's the story of the Hillview Manor. What the fuck? That was scary. So, there's one thing I gotta do. I've been sitting kind of weird because I noticed that I spilled salsa all over my arm.

Did you? Yeah, so hold on. Where? Oh, it doesn't matter. None of your business. Right, right, right. Nanya, got it. There you go. Your arms look so buff and nice. Wow. I was like sitting like this the whole time because I didn't want anyone to see my salsa. And then instead I just told you all about it. Okay. Hello, everybody. I have a murder story for you. Okay. Guys, this one is really weird.

So, it's kind of an old school one, but like really fucking weird. Oh, good. That's what we're here for. That's what we're here for. It's not like an old boring one. It's an old exciting one. Oh, neat. Well, that's good. That's what we're here for. It's not like an old, boring one. It's an old, exciting one. Oh, neat. Well, that's good. That's useful.

If it were boring, I probably wouldn't tell you. But anyway, that's besides the point. Okay, so Pittsburgh, I have a story for you. It is a story of Kate Soffel and the Biddle Brothers. And they're here tonight. Yeah. Come on down. I appreciate the cheers.

I also remember I told you a rule earlier. You have to help my anxiety also. Thank you. Oh, thanks. Oh, thanks. Okay, guys. This one. Oh, thanks.

Okay, guys. This one. Oh, thanks. Okay, cool. I'm going to tell you the sources I got first because I used a lot. So this is, okay, the first one just says WESA. Is that like a thing? It's like a news station or something? NPR. NPR. Oh, right.

Okay, yes. It was the local NPR. I don't know why. Oh, Pittsburgh's local NPR station. I wrote that. Good start. Yeah. I'm the smart one, remember.

Okay. The next source I used was the Senator John Hines History Center, which was very helpful, and then also the New York Daily News and a website that I discovered called Historical Crime Detective, which is the best. So go check it out. Okay.

So Jack and Ed Biddle, they were brothers born in 1872 and 1876 in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. Yay. They moved to Pittsburgh when they were still pretty young and almost immediately began a fun life of crime or I guess lives of crime

English isn't my first language so don't worry Don't worry about it Is that a rule? Well it is now I guess It was a very early rule so I guess it still works. We can add it back. Okay.

So, get this. They formed a gang with a couple friends in which they would knock out their victims with chloroform or ether. And they would soak rags in them and knock them out and then rob them. And the gang was called the Chloroform Gang.

All right. Ooh. I feel like I need to mention at this point in my life, I shouldn't mention it. I don't know why I did that. Now I have to say it. Okay. I feel like you.

Okay. Anecdotes, fun anecdotes. Well, okay. When I was in eighth grade, my friend Celine and I decided we were going to start our own cool gang. I went to Catholic private school, so that... Just picture it yourself.

And our gang, quote-unquote, was called Cruel Intentions. But the... You mean Cool Intentions. But the cruel started with a K. God. Was the intentions, did it end with a Z? Oh, yeah. And I forget my name.

It was something, oh, J Smooth? No, I don't remember. You know what would have been cool? Oh, oh, Smooth Killa. There it is. I don't know. I hope the S had a dollar sign in it for Smooth Killa. Oh, it did.

How did you know that? Listen, I also bet intentions had a 10 in the middle. A 1-0? Ah, shit, I gotta call Celine. That would have been very clever. I don't know what we, I mean, we didn't, we just sat. What did you do in this game? We sat at our computer, probably.

What was your initiation? I think we just, like, high-fived about it. Played Neopets, I don't know. We were very hardcore. You had gang territory on club penguin oh yeah we ran that shit okay oh my i don't know why i told you guys that don't tell anyone that okay please don't remind my mom either she hates that story okay now i am glad am glad Bernie didn't show up. Okay. Anyway. Back to the chloroform gang.

Arguably not that much cooler so whatever. What if it was a chloroform with a K? Listen, I thought your story was going to be that you chloroformed yourself or something.

I thought it was going to get really fucking wild. I have pepper sprayed myself. I know that. By accident. So did Linda. So you guys are... Yeah. I texted my mom to then be like I just pepper sprayed myself I know that by accident so did Linda so you guys are yeah I texted my mom

to then be like I just pepper sprayed myself totally by accident and she was like yeah I did that too and I was like there's literally a picture of M's face

after they like yeah it looked like the color of the cup it was horrifying it hurt so bad don't try it

because it was direct contact why would you do that it was one of the like the, like, it's hidden, so it doesn't look like it's pepper spray, and I fell for it, and I was like, what's this? And I thought it was not Allison, my previous girlfriend. It was in college.

I thought it was a perfume spray, and it was like we both had the same North Face. I borrowed her North Face thinking it was mine, and I found this thing in the pocket, and I was like, both had the same North Face. I borrowed her North Face thinking it was mine and I found this thing in the pocket and I was like, oh, what's this? And it was like perfume and I was like, she doesn't wear perfume. What does this smell like? And then I did it but then the wind hit. Yeah, you were like

I did it in front of a vent. I was like, great. Oh no, I did it in front of I did the wind hit me. What my mom did was she was like oh, this is real pepper spray. And of course, naturally, she was in a hotel where she ruins a lot of things. She has a bad history.

And she was like, oh, I just want to see how intensely it sprays, so I'm just going to spray it. And she sprayed it right into the fucking vent. And the entire floor got pepper sprayed. Chloroform gang. Anyway, yeah. And I'm the pepper spray squad. Yeah.

Ooh. I love that. Oh, my. Okay, guys. All right. Enough about us and our cool past. Okay.

Right, so the chloroform gang, even though they had a pretty lame name, they committed 27 burglaries in Pittsburgh by literally just chloroforming people and taking their shit before one of their burglaries went south. So they tried to burglarize a local grocery store in Mount Washington. Oh, yeah, that's the other thing. In my stories, I always say a lot of local names since my stories are always really fucked up and dark. I say a lot of local things so people cheer

to make it sound like things are more exciting and less sad. So there might be a lot of that, so sorry in advance. Okay, so they attempted to burglarize a local grocery store in Mount Washington, but it ended in a shootout and the grocery store owner was killed. So the police received a tip as to where the Chloroform gang burglars might be living. And they ended up at the Biddle brothers' house. And after entering, one of the officers was shot. So they were immediately arrested.

And pretty soon were convicted of all 27 crimes and sentenced to hang on December 12, 1901. Dun, dun, dun. The end. No, I'm just kidding. There's more. I promise. Okay, so they were sent to the Allegheny County Jail to...

I hear it's a super awesome jail. And haunted. Is it? Oh, cool. They were sent to the Allegheny County Jail to await their execution. And while held there,

the brothers were visited by a woman named Kate Soffel. And what? Kate? Oh, my God. And Kate was known for delivering Bibles and fruit to the prisoners. Aw. In an attempt to convert them

and set them on the right path. I don't know what the fruit was for, but... I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. For dessert was for, but... I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. For dessert. For dessert, right, exactly. Fuck that.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Okay, so she would bring Bibles and fruit in an attempt to convert prisoners and set them on the right path. Instead, she fell in love with Ed Biddle. Oops. I should also probably mention that she just so happened to be the wife of the prison warden,

so this was not good. Uh-oh. Oopsies. So she decided one day that she could not allow the two brothers to die. Well, especially Ed, her new crush, but both of them also. So she decided she would help them escape. So she decided she would help them escape. So she... That's not very religious or Jesus...

Christ-like? Christ-like, yes. Well, she wanted to save their souls in a way, I guess. Okay, wait, actually that's pretty genius. Yeah. Okay, sorry, move on, move on. I don't know, I'm not here to argue Christianity. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Also, I figured out a pun. Oh, great. You were like, what's the fruit for? Because Jesus is the apple of her eye. That's the best I got. What? I thought we were going to go some Garden of Eden shit, but...

Oh, no. Sorry. This is terrible. Why are we doing this? Okay. Now, my dad would probably love this content. Okay. You have to laugh in the microphone so people know you're laughing and how funny I am. Okay.

So, right. She's the wife of the prison warden. She decides Ed and, what's his name, Jack, need to be saved. So what she does, she smuggles in two revolvers as well as saw blades hidden in the pages of the Bibles. So maybe we've moved away

from the Christ-like part, I guess. So she smuggled in these guns and she smuggled in saw blades. I don't know how many Bibles she was giving them, like filled with guns and saw blades, but they must have had a lot. So she brought them all in, gave them to the brothers, and what they did,

Shawshank Redemption style, they would just saw away every night, and then during the day, they would cover up their saw marks by sticking chewing gum into the cracks of the bars. It worked, so

who am I to judge, I guess um at 4 a.m on the night of january 30th 1902 uh kate borrowed a method from the chloroform gang and chloroformed her husband the warden knocking him out double agent yeah right so she knocked out the warden and while she was busy you know incapacitating english you and while she was busy incapacitating her husband, Ed called out. So she's busy over here knocking out the warden, right? Ed is busy over here in the jail. He calls out from his cell to one of the guards, James McGeary,

and he announces that his brother Jack has suddenly fallen ill and needed assistance immediately. So the guard rushes over with medication to help, and he did not realize that the brothers had already sawed through the prison bars and were simply luring him over to attack. So as he approached, Jack lunged through the opening in the bar, seized the guard by the waist, and threw him over a railing to the stone floor 16 feet below.

Uh-oh um meanwhile uh jack pulled oh no sorry that was jack so ed pulled out the revolver that kate had smuggled in and shot the other guard that was there so there were two guards on duty so he shot the other one and amazingly both guards survived although they were like wow critically injured. So they were still alive. So Jack and Ed, basically, they took the prison keys from the guards, locked them in the prison dungeon, and then took their clothes and changed into the guard clothes, like out of a heist movie. I see, I see.

Literally just took their clothes and walked out of the jail, locking them in the dungeon. Kate had been waiting for them in the jail library this whole time with her fruit, I guess. I don't know. I guess reading a Bible makes more sense in the library. Right. So after they locked the guards away and changed, they came and got her

and the three of them fled through downtown Pittsburgh and took a trolley to, I hope I'm saying this right, Perrysville? Perrysville? Perrysville? They don't like it very much, I hope I'm saying this right, Perrysville? Perrysville? Perrysville? Perrysville. Oh, they don't like it very much, I don't think. Okay.

In Perrysville, Perrysville? Okay. In Perrysville, they bought some ham sandwiches. Do what you gotta do. This was apparently a very important piece of information for every, for the local NPR station to tell me. So why not?

So chipped ham, yes. Whatever that is. Yep, they did that. So they bought some chipped ham sandwiches. They also stole a sleigh. That makes sense. That one makes more sense to me. So I was thinking, you know, this whole time,

like, they stole, like, a toboggan. No, they stole, like, an old-timey sleigh with a horse attached to it. Like a fucking Santa sleigh. Like a Santa sleigh. Oh, my God. I know. So I was very confused for a minute,

thinking, like, they were just going to go sledding. But when you said sleigh, I felt like, oh, you mean like a sled. Yeah, right? You mean a sleigh. Okay. Not like a toboggan, but like, you know. Like a dashing through the snow sleigh.

Correct. Got it. Literally, yes. So, basically, they stole this one-horse sleigh. Oh, one horse. Oh! Oh! Wait a minute!

Eva, do something with that. I don't know what, but I've just stumbled upon something very important. Okay. So, it has been theorized that the group's goal was to escape up north back into Canada. Laughing all the way? You were holding that one.

Ha ha ha. Yes. With their ham sandwich. I don't know how to fit that part in. We'll work on it. Eva, do something. Okay.

So they're laughing all the way into Canada but because of your dumb little winter cold that we don't get anymore in Los Angeles. No. They, boo.

Boo sunshine. Boo. Oh, anymore in Los Angeles. No. They, boo. Boo, sunshine. Boo. Oh, you mean the snow. Yes. I thought you guys were making fun of us for not having snow. They're on our side. Sorry, I got defensive. I don't know why.

We like being warm. I was like, fuck you. I like my sunshine. We're just jealous we can't ride in your one horse open sleigh. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, so they were forced to stop in Butler, Pennsylvania. And everyone from there is here.

Yeah. The whole town has showed up tonight to support. I actually, I never can tell when people are going to get excited. And then I say something like, Perry's building. And everyone's like, mm, mm-hmm. And then I say like Butler

and everyone freaks the fuck out. So I'm learning. It's especially fun when you say a town and everyone freaks the fuck out. So I'm learning. It's especially fun when you say a town and everyone goes boo. That has happened. And then it feels like a fever dream because I'm on stage and everyone's booing me. Listen, I set that up for myself earlier

with that stupid jersey. Yeah, I mean, I'm pretty good now at pandering. I'll just go, yeah, that place fucking sucks if everyone boos. But I hear Butler's really nice. And beautiful and kind, yes. Oh, yes. They have great chipped ham, I think.

So, because you guys were so cold, they were forced to stop for four hours. I don't know if they were forced to stop, though, because apparently Ed and Kate, they took this time to consummate their new relationship. So I don't know how much they were forced to stop at this hotel. I think they heavily decided that. Yeah. So they had four hours of fun, I guess, for everyone but Jack, the brother, who's just like eating ham and reading the Bible and no longer laughing all the way.

It's just sad. He's like, I'll wait out here, guys. Okay. So poor Jack. So after four hours of what I'm sure was a raucous good time, the three of them decide it is time to hit the road again. But by this point, it had been four hours, so police had caught up to them at this point.

The officers demanded they stop and put their hands up, but not only did they not listen, Ed turned the gun on himself in an attempt to stop them from shooting, and so they shot him. It didn't work. Oh, okay. So, all in all, Ed Biddle was shot 17 times. So you guys have something here called the Heinz History Center. Is that true? It looks really, really cool.

I mean, I'm kind of a dork, but it looks really cool. Cool. Okay. So everyone's like, yes, you're right. Don't worry. You know. Well, according to the center's president and CEO, Andy Masich, quote, Ed Biddle was shot 17 times,

which coincidentally, for you crime and violence buffs, which I think, like us, maybe, is what he means. That would be me, yeah. I would say maybe not like a violence buff. That's not the part I love. Whatever. No. Well, according to the center's... I said that. Crime buff. That's not the part I love. Whatever. No. Well, according to the Center's...

I said that. Crime buff. Delete that. Just start at crime buff. That's where we are. Ed Biddle was shot 17 times, which coincidentally for you crime and violence buffs is exactly the number of times that Clyde Barrow of Bonnie and Clyde was shot when he was killed. Interesting. Interesting. Fun fact.

I got a couple jinxes in there with the audience. Fun fact. Oh. Cool. Cool. So Jack himself had also been shot several times, and Kate, thinking her lover Ed had died, begged her own husband, the prison warden,

who was there, to shoot her as well. Now, this guy's probably very confused because the last time he saw his wife, she had come up behind him like, hi, sweetie, and then chloroformed him. So he shows up and she's on a sleigh with two criminals. And she's like, I want to go!

And he's like, what the fuck is going on? So he does not shoot her, obviously. When he wouldn't kill her, she responded by shooting herself in the chest. I mean, that's really dark, but it also has to be such a confusing day for the warden. Oh, I know. He must be very upset at this point.

Amazingly, none of them died that day. What? I don't know how you... You Pittsburghans. Whatever this, whatever this town is, everyone should live there because apparently

you're bulletproof or you don't die or something. Everyone's shouting Pittsburghers at me, so I'm going to, Pittsburgh! Sure.

So I'm going to say something. Pennsylvanians. Hey. No, don't give them that. I'm going to say something very wrong and I'm going to say Pittsburghites.

Yeah, the more you tell me to do the right one, I'm not going to do it. It's like the time we posted about San Francisco and we were like, coming to San Fran and everyone lost their goddamn minds. So like the whole time on stage, I was like, I love San Fran. Apparently if you're from San Francisco,

you hate the phrase San Fran. So we found that out from San Francisco, you hate the phrase San Fran. We found that out live. Yeah. We found that out very aggressively on Instagram. Anyway, you Pittsburgh Ghanians. I don't know what they're... I don't. That's not

a word. Okay. All right. Class, settle down. So Kate, okay, so they all somehow survived. However, the Biddle brothers both died within the next 24 hours, so they died at the hospital. Kate miraculously survived. She ended up back in Pittsburgh and was put on trial for aiding in the Biddle brothers' escape. It didn't help that when she had fallen out of the sleigh, a letter from... You know how it is.

She fell out of her sleigh, and a letter to her from Ed had fallen to the ground. That was, like, in her... Petty coat. Petty coat. Thank you. I was like, jeans pocket? No, probably not.

It had fallen to the ground and when this poor warden, he read it, and it detailed his devotion to Kate and his love for her and her plans to break them out of jail. So she was kind of screwed. So she was put on trial.

She was accused of adultery also, which God forbid. However, she was definitely guilty at the time. So that was a pretty easy case for her husband to win, especially because the staff at the hotel in Butler confirmed that she and Ed had shared a room together without Jack and had had a nice four-hour time together.

So Kate was convicted of both aiding in the escape and adultery. She served a prison sentence of two years at the Western Penitentiary. Another great jail? Another okay jail? I don't know. Another jail. Another jail. Ed's and Jack's bodies were brought back to Pittsburgh,

where thousands of gawkers showed up to view the funeral. The criminal. Also that. Some of whom believed they were totally innocent of their crimes. Like the original crimes. Like the chloroform gang. I don't know. I lost

my spot. Hold on. Say something funny. Okay, good. That was hilarious. Okay. Sorry. That was flurries. Okay. Sorry. Oh, boy. So Ed and Jack were... So people were very divided in the city of Pittsburgh, whether they were guilty or not,

whether they had been part of the original gang. They were buried in Calvary Cemetery, originally with no headstone, because Ed had died by suicide, allegedly. He had also been shot 17 times, but he had also shot himself. So who's to say? Meanwhile, Kate's husband lost his job as prison warden. This poor guy.

God, he cannot catch a break. He's like, I love my wife. She just loves to come to the jail and get out fruit. And Bibles. Sad. So he got divorced from her, took their children with him, and moved with his second wife to Canton, Ohio.

Yeah. Why do we feel so strongly about that? Okay. Where they started a new life together. Kate briefly attempted to make it in showbiz, believe it or not. Why not? She worked for a while in a traveling vaudeville show called The Biddle Boys.

About, like, her story. Then she decided to branch off and create her own play and star as herself. So that always works really well, I think. And that play was called A Desperate Chance. Oh, my God. Was it a drama? It was actually on the Hallmark Channel, I think. It sounds very Lifetime-y.

Lifetime. For whatever reason, the play was shut down by the Fayette County, Pennsylvania court because they said it was... Fayette? It sounds like you're correcting me. Okay. They said it was illegal, her play. It sounds like Footloose, but like

not a fun version. Because it was too desperate. Yeah. It was too desperate. They were like, oh, that's just very sad, honestly. So her play was shut down and her acting career didn't really go anywhere, so instead she moved on to dressmaking. Why not? She opened up a successful seamstress shop in the North Shore neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

Okay. Look at me go. She also returned to her maiden name for obvious reasons, Catherine Dietrich. Sometimes she went by Catherine Miller, I guess just to spice things up. Sure. I don't know. Pick the most common name. Basic name, yeah.

That was an attempt, obviously, to distance herself from her notoriety, which I'm like, you're also starring in a play about yourself, so I don't know how you're distancing. I just hate being in the limelight as I'm on stage. So sad. So in 1984, fast forward, 1984, the story of Mrs. Saufel and the Biddle Brothers was made into a movie called, get this, Mrs. Saufel. And it starred Diane Keaton and Mel Gibson. Oh. Yeah. Check it out. And I saw there's like a sleigh in it for real. I was like, okay.

Get out. All right. That's probably in your prop house somewhere. Yeah, probably. There's a whole sleigh aisle, so probably. God damn it. So, this is kind of sweet. So, during the filming of the movie, a Greene County resident arranged for MGM to erect a headstone at the brother's gravesite where there hadn't been

one because they had ruled it a suicide. And the stone's inscription included a poem that had been found in Ed Biddle's pocket at his death. And the poem had been written by the daughter of a pastor who had visited him in jail, and he liked it so much that he had folded it up and kept it in his pocket. And so they erected a headstone for him

in the 80s, and it's still there today. So, as for the sleigh, the famous sleigh, it can be found at the Heinz History Center, which is just... I want to go there. Anyway. It's there, and it's still riddled with bullet holes, so that's frightening.

Nice. As for Kate, she, as you probably guessed, could never quite distance herself from her past, and she became somewhat of an outcast in her community, especially now that she's, like, unmarried. Right, right. I mean, God forbid. I know, a spinster. A divorcee, if you will. Right.

Most of her family and friends turned on her, and she was, quote, either reviled or pitied by most people in town. That's just sad. It's a desperate chance that she's searching for. She really hit the nail on the head with that title, though. On September 1, 1909, Kate died of typhoid fever alone in her room at West Pennsylvania Hospital. She was, don't cheer. I know, I know you're cheering for the hospital, but she died. Sorry.

She was only 42 years old. Very sad. Although no one bothered to be with her when she died, the following day, a crowd of hundreds gathered at the church to witness her funeral and look at her body in the open casket service. Of course, not shocked. It's all the, what are they called? Violence buffs? Right, right. She was buried in an unmarked

grave near her mother in Smithfield East End Cemetery. And on the day of her burial, a letter, okay, so there was a letter written by a woman identified only as NC from Allegheny, PA. And this was her, like, pen name, I guess. And she wrote a letter to the newspaper, and it was published

in the Pittsburgh Press. And the letter suggested that something other than disease ended Kate's life, explaining, quote, I think it is safe to say that hard work killed her. I was like, no, it was typhoid fever, I think, but I guess, if you want to be dramatic. She said, the last time I visited her dressmaking establishment about six weeks ago happened to be the morning after she had worked all night on a gown for a prominent Allegheny woman.

She never complained, never sought the sympathy of anyone. All she knew was work, work, work. never complained, never sought the sympathy of anyone. All she knew was work, work, work. And the headline of the article above the letter, published in the paper, was, Friends Declare Kate Miller Made Up for Her One Rash Act by Unceasing Toil. This is all very dramatic. So obviously, the media ate this up. And NC, you know her from Allegheny, PA. media ate this up. And NC, you know her from Allegheny, PA. She explained that she knew

the dressmaker's true identity as Kate Soffel, and she knew of her complicated past, but she had kept it to herself until Kate's death. Stitches get stitches. And then she's like, now I can put it in the paper. She explained,

quote, I too am a working woman, one who knows only too well the awful effect of a tired brain and a sore heart. Me too, by the way. To whatever that is. Quote, if there was anything to be regretted in Kate's life, she atoned for it, and she died

atoning. And that is the story of Kate Soffel and the Biddle Brothers. Thanks, guys. Thanks, guys. I know that one was kind of weird and old school, but I like the Biddle, the name Biddle Brothers. Yeah.

When I was younger, there was a video series I watched called We Sing when I was like three or four. Oh, with the two E's? Yeah. Yeah! Okay, no one else here? Cool. Sometimes we do this. Everyone hates it. But my favorite one, there were,

they did a whole bunch of videos, but there was one like We Sing, blah, blah, blah. My favorite was We Sing in Sillyville. I think I had like We Sing in Catholic Church. And We Sing in Sillyville, ville and we i had like we sing in catholic school well and we sing we sing in silly ville there was a whole family called the bitty booties oh my and they were supposed to teach you about love and sharing but the whole time you kept saying the biddle brothers i was like the bitty

booties okay this is like a dark version of the bitty boototies. You were like, the Bitty Booty. Oh no, they literally sing a song. Allison, when she maybe has too much wine, she really enjoys this song. Oh God. Because I made her watch it one time. I was like, this is the most ridiculous video of my childhood. I need to laugh at it with someone. And they sing this song. We're here because we're here

because we're here. And it makes no fucking sense. And it's on Spotify. What? So like everyone go look that up later. No, I have a better idea. What? You know how I make the playlist before the show?

Scrap all of it. We're here because we're here. We sing on repeat. We sing in Pittsburgh. We sing in Catholic Church, Sillyville. Lord, this was a weird way to end it. This is why we edit this show. Anyway.

Yes. Anyway, everyone have a fun time watching that or listening to that. Other than that, thank you guys so much for having us. Thank you, Pittsburgh. Thank you so much. Hooters! Bye!