Morbid - Albert Johnson: The Mad Trapper of Rat River

Episode Date: December 9, 2024

In late 1931, several Native trappers in Aklavik, Northwest Territories, reported to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) that a newly arrived white man, Albert Johnson, had been tampering with their traps. The RCMP dispatched two officers to Johnson’s remote cabin, but he refused to speak with them, so they left to get a warrant to search his home. When the officers returned and tried to gain entry, Johnson fired a shotgun blast through the cabin door, wounding one of the RCMP officers.The incident quickly escalated when a posse of RCMP officers returned and tossed dynamite into the cabin, initiating a firefight in which one officer was killed, and a manhunt that would last more than month and unfold across more than 150 miles of some of the roughest terrain in the world.In the end, Albert Johnson would not be taken alive. And while his death may have ended the wild pursuit across the Yukon territory, it was just the beginning of another mystery that would endure into the twenty-first century.Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!ReferencesCanadian Press. 1932. "Long chase of slayer." New York Times, February 18: 3.Edmonton Journal. 1932. "Cornered by pursuers, wounded and fighting to last, Johnson slain." Edmonton Journal, February 18: 1.—. 1932. "Think Mad Trapper hiding in Arctic wilderness cabin." Edmonton Journal, January 27: 1.Journal, Edmonton. 1932. "Eyewittness tells story last desperate stand trapper Albert Johnson." Edmonston Journal, February 19: 1.New York Times. 1932. "Mad, hunted trapper kills constable." New York Times, February 1: 38.North, Dick. 2005. Mad Trapper of Rat River: A True Story Of Canada's Biggest Manhunt. New York, NY: Lyons Press.Roden, Barbara. 2022. "The Mad Trapper part 3: Shootout on the Eagle River." North Thompson Times, December 8.—. 2022. "The Mad Trapper part 5: The mystery of Albert Johnson endures to this day." North Thompson Times, December 22.—. 2022. "The Mad Trapper part II: A tragic manhunt plays out." North Thompson Times, December 1.—. 2022. "The Mad Trapper, Part I: a man of mystery arrives in the Arctic." North Thompson Times, November 24.Thompson Reuters. 2021. "Scientists narrow search for mysterious Mad Trapper to Sweden." Comtex News Network, July 30. Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash KelleyListener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra LallyListener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, weirdos, I'm Ash. And I'm Elena. And this is Morbid. This is a new series that we're going to do. Have we not done one of these before? No, I don't think we've done a spooky castle. Okay. I mean, I'm sure we've covered a spooky castle, but we didn't like officially make it a series.

Yeah, yeah. So, welcome to spooky castles, kind of like spooky lighthouses and spooky roads. It's all kind of spooky shit around. Oh, and we have another spooky coming. Like another new. series. Because you know what? There's a whole fucking world out there.

Of castles. Of roads. Of lighthouses. And they're all fucking spooky. Hell yeah. So with this one, because I think with the lighthouses, we stayed mostly in the United States, but we're definitely going to venture out that way, too. Oh, yeah.

But with this one, we like really took it international. We went wild with it. Because let me tell you, Europe, you know how to have a spooky castle moment. Yeah, I really do. This is literally only in Europe. Yeah. Right. Are your two?

Yeah. Because you guys, I mean, mine's only in Scotland because I really like focused it. Listen to you. On my homeland. I'm in Italy and I'm also in the Czech Republic. Oh, look at you. See, we're all over the place. Girl.

Holy shit. But yeah, this is really exciting. The cool thing with these spooky places is, you know, it's kind of a nice mixture of some like old true crime with some paranormal fun. Because, you know, there's always some. really gnarly shit that's happening. I will say for this one, I was going to cover Chillingham Castle. But I've decided that deserves its own episode completely.

There's just too much with that. So be on the lookout for that one because that one's coming up. I got to cover that. I'm excited. There's so much shit in that. But I'm really excited about this today. And we are on like an adrenaline rush right now. Yeah.

Literally just sitting in the kitchen, talking to John, talking to Elena, baby was there, little youngest baby. Yep. And all of a sudden, she started gasping for air because she was eating little like chips and hummus. Like little pita chips. And she very much like, like, not like, oh, I just choked like, oh my goodness. Like, no, she full on turned another shade of red and was choking. And John was like, hon, she's choking. And then Elena literally scooped that baby up. Like, I'm like, just like so, the two of them. I was like, you're so calm right now. Like, and I'm just standing there helplessly in the corner like, wow, there's nothing in this situation that I can do to provide help because I don't

know the he'm like, which I should know, I'm going to learn that later as I'm watching Elena like do, do, do the back of my little two-year-old Bebenice. And then she vombed everywhere. She did. She got it out. But the one thing I could do was clean that because as we all know, I'm a vom employer. I was just going to say, don't you dare say you didn't, you didn't give anything to this because Ash was there. This was like a really scary one. I think everybody who has kids, like, they choke sometimes like quote unquote choke yeah where like you know you can get it up it's a scary second or two took a few but this was like a real an actual choke and that has not happened to us before so that was like really scary it was like two minutes but it was really scary felt like 90 minutes and so i got

she got some of it out and it was like puke yeah with some chip and ash was just there like scooped it right up wiped it right up as it came out and i was like thank you because the last thing you want to do after all that is clean up vomit. Yeah. But we got it out the second time. I was in that like first you want to do like the between the shoulders with the heel of your, of your, you know, hand kind of thing, like a few good slaps.

And if that doesn't work, that's when you have to like turn them over at this age and like do the like actual like you got to like pump. And I didn't, I really didn't want to have to do that. Like that's, I would obviously do that. But like, that's really scary and like really real to me. like that's like, because you could break a rib. Well, and it's just like, that's when shit's like going awry. So I was like, I really got to get it out here in these like five good slaps that I can do. But holy shit guys. I think John, John's like in another planet right now. Like he did that just,

that sent him into a tizzy. But which you would never know because he was so calm through that whole thing. And then she literally, she's like, I want to go to the doctor. And puts another, and puts another. And puts another. other chip in her mouth and I literally took it out of her mouth and then I grabbed the bag. We had like two bags of chips from this really delicious Greek restaurant. Like I felt I feel really sad about this, but I threw them right in the trash. I was like, no. I don't need to see those chips for a little bit. No more pizza chips for you. No. Yeah. She's she's like one of those kids who just like, you really got to watch her and give her tiny little pieces and it only takes one second. She just will like hoover it. I know it's not funny. It's ironic, I guess. I was giving, I was eating the

chips so I was giving them to her like before this happened like 25 minutes before and I kept giving her like the tiniest piece because in my head I was like these are big chips and I want her to choke. Yeah. And I literally thought that in my head and then yeah. And it was funny because right afterwards she was like, I want to go to the doctor. And I was like you don't need to like luckily but that's okay. Oh, it was that was that'll that'll take you take you down a few notches real quick. That was like a real scary experience. I texted Drew at work and I was like, She's fine, but. And he was like, oh, my God.

Oh, it's just like, who, that's like really, really scary. And then two minutes later, I got her like this like rocket ship thing. And she was like, she was like, I want to go do that. She was like, let's zoom. I was like, oh, okay. So now she's zooming around in a rocket ship completely fine, breathing like a champion. And we're the ones not breathing like champions. I was just going to say, meanwhile, we've all aged 16 or so years in that moment.

But I've already like thought to myself like, okay, get home. Google Heimlich classes. Start learning all that shit. Figure out how to save a life when one is joking. Ooh, so yeah, that was fun. So we're feeling like ready to go, ready to talk about the spooky castle. Yeah, I'm glad we're talking about spooky castles after that because this is what I needed right after that.

For real. Do you want... I think... I think the A's going to go first. That's what I feel. Okay. Yeah, let's have Ash go first. Yeah, I mean, you just went through a lot, so sit back and relax.

I would take a minute. All right. So my first little haunted place, I decided to dive into it. It's called Via de Vecchi. Oh, hell yeah. And it's in Italy. So it's located in the mountains of a place I haven't looked up yet. So we're already going to have to pause. All right. Let's pause for pronunciation. Yay. What's fun is, I actually didn't need that pronunciation key because it just auto-corrected to a word that didn't exist. There you go. And you had it right. When you were saying it before. Yeah. It's the mountains of Cortanova. And it's right near Lake Coltonoval. And it's right near Lake Coltion. Homo, which hopefully I said that right. I like it.

So throughout history, it's also known by like a few other names other than Bia Devecchi, including The Red House, the Ghost Mansion. Ooh. And you thought you liked those two, but the last one it's known by is the House of Witches. Oh, shut the fuck up. Right? Get me there immediately. I know.

That's all my favorite things. Red love the color. Ghosts love the band. The spooky little asshole. Oh. And the boo. And the boo. And the boo.

And the boo. I love the boo of it all. I love the boo of it all. I love the band. I love the spooky. They're spooky too. So there you go. Whoa. And I love witches.

Yeah. It's made for me. It is. Honestly, if you look at a picture of this place, it really is. It's the boo of it all. It's the boo for me, dog. It was believed to have been built somewhere between 1854 and 1857 by a man named Count Count Felix Devecch.

Yeah. Now, at that time, he was actually the head of the Italian National Guard. Okay. Okay, Felix. And like, for good reason, he served in the liberation of Milan from Austria back in 1848. Damn. And that's how he became the head of the Italian National Guard. Look at that. So to plan this mansion, which he really only planned on using in the summertime as like a little, well, large retreat for his family. Just a little retreat. Yeah, just a little tiny retreat out in the mountains. No, it was huge. But he enlisted the help of Alessandro Sidoli.

Yeah, him. Like, why wouldn't you call Alessandro? And Alessandro was an architect who shared the same love that the count had for intricate design. So together they settled on a Baroque style. Ooh. I love Baroque. I know you do. And they had some classic Eastern trends mixed in.

Okay. Meaning there would be an element of drama within the house. between like the way that it was all lit and the dome ceilings and the intricate murals. I'm into it. Now the ceilings and walls were all painted with watercolors and there were like sculptings on the walls, like gingerbread-esque kind of stuff, you know? Baroquee baroqueness. I'm saying.

Now in the main parlor there was a giant fireplace and in the same room there was a grand piano. This whole episode is just going to be me like talking in a weird accent. But unfortunately, and you know like maybe this was some kind of warning sign. Alessandro died only one year into building the mansion. Oh, no. He didn't even get to enjoy it. No, he didn't.

Well, luckily, like, it's the Counts Mansion. So, like, you don't get to, like, come visit. I know. You know? I know, and he totally would have, I feel. Yeah. I would love to do that. Alessandro will always come visit.

Maybe he's still there. I don't know. He's still visiting. I actually, there's no, like, ghost named Alessandro in this story, but he's there. Maybe he's nameless, like, in the afterlife. There you go. So the year that he worked on the. property, though. He did, like, some amazing things, considering the time period, especially.

There were indoor heating pipes. Damn. Yeah. And we're talking to 1800s. Look at you. There were dumb waiters, you know, those like little elevator things. I want a dumb waiter in my house. Like, ideal for laundry. Oh, yeah. Right? Absolutely. Yeah. You know, and it also had a pressurized water fountain that used air pressure from the mountains nearby. Damn. Look at Alessandro. mind-blowing stuff for the time. Now the mansion had been built on 32 acres of land and there were all these gorgeous, gorgeous gardens. Gorgeous, gorgeous gardens. It's like gorgeous, gorgeous girls, but a little bit different. They were all around in the family. A botanical. They were a little bit botanical. Gorgeous, gorgeous botanicals. That would be a really good name for like a plant store. It would. T.M. So the family would they would take walks outside in these gorgeous, gorgeous garden with the botanicals and they'd play outside.

together. It sounds lovely. It sounds gorgeous, but unfortunately, Alessandro's death would not be the only one that the family would experience while living in said mansion. Uh-oh. So there's no historic record of anything that I'm going to tell you. Okay. Right now. But we love to see it. But what I am going to tell you is the main like legend that's always told whenever anybody brings up via Devecchi. Okay. So I'm going to tell you this wild-ass story and then I'm going to tell you what historians actually believe happened. Cool. So take this with a large grain of sodium. The biggest sodium grain you could possibly find. Okay. So one day in 1862, the count came home to find his wife, Carolina Franchetti, Deponte, murdered. Murdered. Her face had been mangled and she was left displayed in one of the

rooms of the mansion. My God. I know. Now, as soon as he found his wife in that state, obviously, he started panicking because that's his wife. Obviously. But also because they think, thought whoever had done this to her most likely also found his daughter and did the same thing to her. Oh, no. So he's worried that he's going to find her in a similar state. So he tries desperately to find his daughter within the mansion walls. He looks from top to bottom all over the mansion, can't find her anywhere. It was like she literally just vanished into thin air. He spent the next year of his life looking like in the woods in the area and the mountains and just never found his daughter, never found out who had done this to his wife.

That's almost unbelievable. It is almost unbelievable. So wild. It's the craziest thing. Jeez. Now eventually, he just kind of hit rock bottom and he couldn't take the heartbreak anymore. And unfortunately, he decided to take his own life, the legend says. Now, when it was discovered that the count was no more, his brother Biago took over the estate.

And he moved him with his whole family. And he changed a lot of stuff about the mansion, which is kind of. kind of shitty. Seems legit. You know, it might be true, actually, that like he did this. His brother really did take it over. But a lot of people think actually, like, actual historians think that Count actually just died of liver failure. It's a little different. A little bit. Yeah, that's a little different. But, like, still, it's weird that his brother just, like, moved his whole family into this place. I believe the Count left it to his brother. And again, if, here I am thinking that, like, this brutal massacre happened in this house. And it didn't. You know what, it didn't. So that's not weird.

Or maybe it did about it. Or maybe the historians are like, how can we say that this brutal murder happened and we never found out who did it? No, liver failure. How? Liver. Like, it's the historians that are upset that they didn't crack the case. I mean, you know, they're like, how many not?

No, the historians know what's up. They do. But Biago took over. He changes everything. Kind of rude, you know, like took out all the classical Eastern touches. Yeah, that's a bummer. It's ridiculous. And he and his family actually ended up living in the mansion until World War II.

came around. But one day after the war broke out, excuse me, they just up and left and they never returned. Oh, that's some weird amityville shit. And it left via Devecchi completely abandoned. Oh. Entirely abandoned. Why'd they do that? Haunted. Can you ask him? Why'd they do that? Biago. Biago. Not answering. He didn't say, okay. He's not home. Sorry. That was a funny bit. That was. That was a really funny bit. It was hilarious. I laughed really hard. Oh, my gosh. How would I ever be so funny again? So the next report of anyone visiting at the property was when Alistair Crowley decided to go on over to Italy and pay the place a visit. A little guy named Alistair Crowley. Yeah, I'm not sure if you've heard of him or not. No, I've not. So he was said to bring a whole crew of people with him to perform some kind of like sacrificial ritual in which they wanted to invoke Satan himself.

obviously. According to Italics magazine, the ritual worked and a whole slew of the crew Alistair brought along with him were slaughtered, quote unquote, painting the house with foul blood. Oh, yeah. And the blood was foul. Fowel blood. Okay. Now once word spread that Alistair and company had been to Via De Becchi, it became a primo tourist spot, obviously. And there's all kinds of rumors that people will now use the via as a place to like carry out murder, satanic rituals, all kinds of other dark-ass shit. They say that like witches like will bring their coven there and do crazy shit. Yeah, like the, what is it, the shameful kiss? The shameful kiss.

It's carried out there, I'm sure. Oh my God. Oskillum. Obsidim. Obsidum. Is that? Ask ghost. I was going to say.

I was like you're not making any. Just ask Tobias. You're not saying anything about that. Next time I see Tobias, I'll ask him. Cool. So yeah, so people like, everybody says like murders happen there. Witches go and visit. Satan rac...

Satan happens there. Satan rat. He just took over my body. Satanic rituals is what I meant to say. And all kinds of crazy stuff happens. These people just walk past the no trespassing signs and they go into the historic mansion themselves and they fuck shit up. Yeah, they just go full dark side.

And they actually do because I don't know like who did this, but a bunch of assholes just destroyed the property. destroyed it. Yeah, like not like Satanists or anything like that. No. Just bandles. No, just probably like shitty people. Teenaged assholes. Yeah. So there's graffiti all over the walls. That sucks. Things have been smashed at pieces. Oh, come on, kids. Just completely ruined it. Respect history, man. I know. Well, just like, why would you want to destroy such a beautiful place? And it's, it's not yours. Yeah, get out of here. Don't destroy things that aren't yours. Don't destroy anything, but especially if it's not yours.

So luckily the Italian Environmental Fund actually has set up campaigns for the VIA, and they're hoping to spread public awareness that, like, this is going on. So sadly, at some point, the Grand Piano was smashed to literal pieces. A grand piano? Who the fuck? What kind of fucking demon did that? That's, thank you. That should be a crime.

Like, that's like high felony, in my opinion. You don't fucking smash an ancient grand piano. Like, what's wrong with you? on. Holy shit. And also, Biago, you don't just leave a grand piano. Yeah, what the fuck. Throw that on the minivan and get it. Toss it in the trunk, whatever. Yeah. It's fine. And then all the murals are completely defaced. They've been covered in spray paint. It's so sad. One woman who visited the property actually fell through the ceiling while she was on the second floor because it's in that much disrepair from all the years that it's been left uncared for.

Sorry, I almost laughed because I know exactly what you were picturing. Yeah, and what at our first apartment, John fell through the ceiling. That we shared with like a bunch of friends. John fell through the ceiling. Did you go downstairs and just like see his legs? We did with his legs. And we just had to tell our landlord who lived below us because it was like a double-decker house. And we just went down there and we were like, uh, John's in the ceiling.

So John fell through the ceiling. And he came up, looked at the hole and was like, all right, I'll fix that tomorrow. And we're like, thank you. But he actually fixed it. He did. He fixed it. He was great. And he didn't just like put one pain on it. Our landlord was a, was a gem. A gem.

I love that. But my God, it was funny to want, like, he was okay and everybody was okay. Yeah. Like, somebody was sitting in the living room and dust just went everywhere. You just hear like, dong. It was really funny. That's hilarious. I know.

Like, I hope this woman was okay. But picturing somebody coming through a scene is hilarious. I hope this woman had like a John scenario where it was just funny for everyone. I'm also the worst person on the planet. Like, I become the worst person on the planet. Oh, 100%. It sends me into, like, America's the funniest home videos when, like, kids could fall over it. Yeah.

I'm cackling. Oh, and, like, things, one of the things that I laugh at every time is in stepbrothers, when they make the bed into bug beds. And he's in the bed and he's going, and then it just falls on him. I laugh so hard every time. It is the funniest thing. that kind of thing, people falling through things. I love it.

Or things fall. It's, I don't know what it is. It's the funniest shit I've ever seen. So that's all I picture is just like something falling through. So I hope this person was okay. Because otherwise, that's not funny. She was fine. She was okay.

And listen, she walked past a no trespassing sign. There you go. You got to be careful, man. That's what the no trespassing is for. That's exactly what it's for. Now, so people, they ruined this place. They've fallen through the ceilings and all that stuff. but people do have some interesting stories from visiting.

Medium writer Emily Lindstrom wrote of her visit that, quote, Upon entering one immediately senses eyes following them, neither welcoming nor malevolent. It's as if the house is holding its breath, waiting to see where you step and what you'll do next. And it's hard to shake the feeling that as soon as you depart, it will stir to life again. It gives me beauty and the beast.

It does. It is serving beauty and the beast realness. Yes, it really is. And what a beautiful way to say that. Yeah, great writer. Emily Lindstrom. Emily, that was like really beautiful. Check out her articles on media.

Yeah, like good for her. Now, other visitors have heard female voices calling out to them as they walk through the hallways. And some people say that if you're there at night, you'll still hear the sounds of music like someone is at the grand piano playing you music. I love that. Isn't that like so haunting and beautiful? It is. Now, let me just, we're going to end this here, but I do have to leave you with. some wild information. In 2002, there was an avalanche in the area, like a full-blown fucking avalanche,

and every single place around Via de Vecchi was destroyed, completely and utterly destroyed. That's horrible. Yeah, horrific. The VIA was basically untouched, like nothing ever happened to it. Gigantic boulders are cascading down the mountaintops. But for some reason, they all just completely missed to this place. What? Isn't that insane? Like, that's some kind of phenomenon. That's wild.

It's insane. Holy shit. It's the haunting of it all. It is the haunting of it all. And we'll obviously post a picture of this place. It is so eerily beautiful. I want to live there. Oh, I want to see it.

I want to, like, go buy it somehow and restore it and just fill it with love. Just live part time in Italy. No, full time. Full time. Yeah. Bye. Moving. We're out.

See you never. Wow. Catch me at the villa. Catch me at the villa. So crazy. That's a creepy one. It is creepy. And it's beautiful. It's even creepier when you're looking at pictures of it as you're researching it too. It's just like, spooky. There's not like a ton, but like there's a ton. Yeah, just like the vibe of it is really scary. Yeah. It caught a vibe. It caught, it did catch a vibe. And that is for sure. It was not ready for the ride. And you know what? We got like some like devil stuff going on in there. I mean, Alistair Crowley was there. We got some witches doing some crazy shit in there.

Yeah. You know, I'm into it. It's considered like Italy, one of most, one of Italy's most haunted places. And I was like, but there's not, it's not even not haunted. It's not even not. It's just beautiful. Just playing, just playing a piano. That's all.

Well, damn. What's next? Well, now we're going to take a trip over to Edinburgh. Okay. Over in Scotland. Over, do we have to go over the pond? Over the pond from us for sure. All right, cool. Couple ponds.

We're going to go to Edinburgh Castle. Embra. Edinburgh. Edinburgh. We googled how to pronounce it again. Because I've covered things in Edinburgh before. Like I've done like a bunch of things about it. And I say it right every time because no one yells at me.

And I know and I've looked it up like I've made sure that because I feel like these are my people. I feel like I should say it right. Yeah. So but for some reason I second guess myself every time. And especially with Scottish things because I'm like I don't want to disappoint you, Scotland. mean so much to you. Like I get very nervous. I'm like, I don't want to disappoint you. Yeah. But when we were looking at the video and they said that people who live there, just shorten it to Embra. I was like, I want to do that. I was like, I love that, but I don't feel like I'm worthy of that yet.

Like, I'll get there. Of course you are. You're worthy of everything. I feel like a Scottish person has to bestow that upon me. You are Scottish. I'm Scottish. So here you go. Somebody who's like living in Scotland right. Yeah. First generation right now. That's true. Like, if you bestow that upon me, then I'll call it Embra. But right now I'll call it Edinburgh. You have land in Scotland. I do. I bought it for you. I'm a lady.

Like it was like a dollar. It was like one of those like square plot things. I didn't just buy her via. It was one of those things I have like a thing that says I have it. And you're a lady. I am a lady. I'm a lady of Scotland. Lady Elena.

Lady Elena. All right. Anyways, we're wild. We're in Edinburgh Castle. It's known as the most haunted place in Scotland. It is literally ancient. Literally. This thing is so old.

A lot of shit has happened at Edinburgh. It's been attacked a lot. Oh, it has been the site of ghastly deaths, tortures, imprisonments. At first I thought you said it's been the site of gas leaks. It's been the site of gas, maybe. I don't know. I didn't read anything about a gas leak, but ghastly murders. Yep.

But it's one of the oldest fortified places in Europe, which means it was built with like strong walls and shit to kind of like stop attacks. Very cool. It's the oldest one. It once was a royal treasury where wrecked. and jewels and like very important shit was kept. Jules. Apparently even magical amulets were housed there at one time. Magical amulets?

Like Sophia's? Hell yeah. Are you kidding me? Hell yeah. That I love it. I was like magical amulets you say? Sign me up. Now if you've seen it, which we'll post a photo of it obviously, but if you've seen it,

it's like really high above the city on this huge craggy rock formation. It just like overlooks everything. If you live in Edinburgh and you can just like look up at that, it must be so fucking cool. And obviously this was on purpose because that's a great way to fortify something you want to keep safe. Yeah. You know, the Iron Age people saw this and boom, it was built as a fort. That's awesome. Because they were like, this is a great way to keep people away from this.

Oh, hell. Yeah. This place is cool. It's gorgeous. Now in 1093. I'm sorry, Walt. 1093, Queen Margaret, who is literally a saint now. was born there.

Oh, shit. Yeah. The 10th century? Yes. That's so crazy to think that it has 1093. Seen so much life. It has seen so much. And it's been like transformed into what it is today, obviously.

Yeah. It started as like a fort and all that. But the castle has been seized a lot and it's changed control a lot. Like in 1314, the Scots took it back from the English. And actually, according to the Edinburgh Castle website, it is the most besieceding. siege place in Britain. Oh, wow. It has been attacked a lot. I mean, I get why, like, people want it. Like, they attack it so they can have it. I mean, I want it. Also, the year 13, 14 is hilarious. No big deal. The honors of Scotland, which are the oldest crown jewels in Britain, are on display in the

crown room here. There's also a stone of destiny on display that was used to inaugurate kings and queens for literal centuries. Wow. I need to see this. I know. I want to see all of this. Imagine seeing that in person and just being like the people this has inaugurated. Right? Like that's wild. Oh, I would want to like touch it. I know. I'm sure you can. I'm sure you could not. But I want to look at it. In the 1650s, it became a military base mostly. Of course. Between 1757 onward, it was a place to house prisoners in the vaults. Like, it was a really secure place. Is that where all the hauntings come from? Yeah, that's a lot of where the hauntings come from. It was very secure. It had like a reputation for being like inescapable for a while. because again, it had those craggy rocks all around it.

It's very high up. It's hard to get out of there. Even if you get out of the castle, where the fuck are you going down into the rocks? Yeah. But in 1811, the great escape happened. Gwen? And it kind of shot that whole reputation into, I don't know, I thought of that too. Gwen?

Gwen. Gwen is part of the history? No, Ms. Stefani. Gwen Stefani is not part of this history. but it was in 1811, 49 French prisoners who were being housed here. They systematically chopped out a hole that is still there in the castle wall. You can still see the original hole they chopped out. It's in a place referred to as the devil's elbow rampart.

And they escaped by going into this hole, 49 of them, and they lowered down onto the rocks. They had tied their washing lines together to make a long rope. It's pretty ingenious. Okay. One of them actually died to them. during this by falling onto the sharp rocks. The rest of them, they got away, but they were all recaptured later.

No, they went through all that for nothing. I know. And apparently you can still see that escapehole in the rock, like they have kept it where it is, which I think would be so cool to see in person. There's also a pet cemetery there in the castle walls, and it's like a dog cemetery essentially. It's precious. Usually pet dogs are buried there that were from like soldiers of

high regard and regimental mascots. And in fact, one ghosts that is often seen at the castle is that of a black dog. And it's thought to be some soldiers companion. That's like stayed around. I know. Now, some other ghosts that are seen at this castle. One of them is the gray lady. Always. There's always a gray lady or a white lady. Exactly. You have to have a gray lady. You have to. This, they believe it looks like a 16th century. woman who appears to be of a noble background. That's what everybody says. She walks around the castle. She's either just wandering around sadly, it looks like, or she's crying, like weeping. Who could she be? I don't know. So I went to this website called Mercat Tours. I'll link it in the show notes because it was

very interesting. They were the only ones that I, or at least the first ones I saw to give this idea of who this person could be. A lot of people think it's the second one that I'm going to talk about. And I kind of believe that a little bit too, but this one's a really good theory. Like, theory for who it could be. And it was just very interesting. So they think it could be Marie de Guise or like Marie de Guise. I can't say it. I'm not French. Maida Guise. Marie de Guise of France. She had quite the life. She was the mother of Mary Queen of Scots. Oh. Yeah. All right. Yeah, that one. So she wouldn't. I feel like I've never even heard her name before. Well, and she was regent for a long time because Mary became queen,

became Queen of Scots when she was an infant. So she ruled for her daughter until she became of age. She had been married two times before she married James V. She was married once when she was 19 to Louis of Orleans, Duke of Longville. But he died shortly after and then like political moves had to be made as soon as that happened. So James V's wife had just died and immediately was on the, he was on the lookout for a new lady because he needed a partner to, rule Scotland. Yeah. So he asked Marie's father, Francis I first, for her hand in marriage. This would be good because it would further tie up that alliance between Scotland and France for a little bit.

I'm sure Marie was like, cool. Glad I can be of help everybody. Well, I couldn't, you know, it's confusing is like, why wasn't she queen? Like, why did her baby become queen before her? Well, that's because technically she came over from France and she, like, I think because James the fifth ends up dying. so instead of her becoming queen it would be his like air air you know what it like in a way i'm sure i'm saying that wrong and i'm sorry but like she had the rightful claim to it okay um so meanwhile as this is going on so he asked for her hand but meanwhile henry the eighth oh that that fucker that was like he was like oh shit that alliance would not be a great thing for england so i

better throw my nasty ass hat in this ring. And he asked for her hand as well. Oh, shit. But Francis I'm going to go with James's offer for marriage and get that France Scotland thing rolling. Like, let's sew that up. He also probably liked his daughter's skull attached to her body. I like her head there.

So he accepted that one on Marie's behalf, which I'm also like, this is great guys. So gross. So fun. I saw on a website called Undiscovered Scotland that they were speculating. what would have changed historically if Marie had instead married Henry the 8th? And I thought it was interesting. A lot because Mary Queen of Scots went wild. Well, that's the thing.

There would be no Mary Queen of Scots. Right. And maybe she would have even, like they were saying, maybe what if she had a son with Henry the 8th? Right. Like an heir. Like what, it's just strange to think about, like something that's, that one moment of him making that decision over that,

a man making that decision for a woman. Like what history. would have been like. It's just very strange to think about. It is fascinating too. And it was in a website called Undiscovered Scotland. It was like very interesting to go through. So either way, James and Marie got married. They had a baby, Mary. And James ended up dying in 1542, which left Mary as the queen. But Marie to be regent while Queen Mary was, you know, growing up. Learning not to shit her pants kind of thing. Yeah. Because she was a literal infant. She was apparently a good ruler for the most part during her time as regent, but she was Catholic, and during the Reformation going on,

she was not in a great position there. A lot of people were pissed, especially in Scotland. So she fought back against Protestant rule. This made her very unpopular with the Protestant population around her, obviously. She died in 1560 while in the process of fortifying Edinburgh Castle against English forces. She died of Dropsy, which now we would call edema. Oh. Her limbs and stomachs. would swell up and she began having like neurological issues because of it. She wouldn't be able to speak or really do much at times. Like it really like ravaged her. What causes that? I don't know exactly, to be honest. It's like an inflammation of like it's like a like a collection of fluid that happens.

Yeah. Should have given her some foxglove. I know. I'm saying there you go. We always bring it back. But yeah, she was only 44 years old when she died of it. But that was like elderly. I know at that point. It's like, wow, she what a life. The gross part is, though, that she was kept in the castle for literally nine months after she died. Nine months. They put her body in a lead casket wrapped and wrapped her to try to keep the smell out. But like, you know that shit's not. Dude, no wonder Mary had issues.

And this was because she was going to be buried in France, which was her original home. But the Reformation and fighting was not allowing her Catholic body to safely be transported out of the fortified. Edinburgh Castle and off to be buried. What a wild fucking time. Yeah. So she might be haunting the place as the great lady. Like I'm like, that's a very good theory. Yeah. Well, and if she's like wandering the halls crying, she's probably crying about the fact that her body wasn't buried for many months and everything that happened with her daughter. Well, yeah. And at this time, like her daughter was already shipped off to be married. I mean, like she was shipped off pretty early on to be married off somewhere. So like, she wasn't around for that. But I'm saying like maybe she knows, like a mother knows. Of course.

of course. But people also think this gray lady is Janet Douglas, who she, which sounds like someone, weirdly like Janet Douglas to me sounds like somebody who like, like writes like bad yelp reviews online, doesn't it? 100%. Like I feel like I have heard a Janet Douglas tell me I swear too much. Yeah, Janet Douglas sounds like she's your bitchy neighbor who like comes over to talk to you, but you hate her. But this Janet Douglas was not. nothing like that. Oh, she was Lady Glombs. And she was, she got a raw deal. Oh, no. Yeah, she got a real raw deal. She was done very dirty. So a year before James V married Marie in 1538, so this was in 1537, he was busy burning Janet Douglas, Lady Glombs, who was a mother of four at the stake for, at the stake for

witchcraft. Oh, shit. Yep. Between 1479 and 1722, over 2,000 supposed witches were burned at the stake over there. Janet Douglas had been accused of witchcraft by a man named William Lyon, who was a jealous fuck. He was just someone who really liked Janet Douglas, but she rejected him. It's like when Daphne rejects that ugly-ass guy in Bridgerton who's like disgusting. There you he gets all jealous and gets a marriage license. Fuck back that. There you go. So he literally accused her of witchcraft knowing she would burn alive for it because he was jealous.

Wow. What an asshole. Talk about like tiny man syndrome. For real. She was high, like in the, at the time she was highly regarded as one of the great beauties of her time. She was like beyond. And the charge that she was given was that she was planning to poison King James

the fifth. And he was a paranoid fuck at the same. the time and everyone knew it. So this was totally intentional. Like they knew that by claiming and accusing that she was going to poison King James, that he was going to go nuts. Of course. Like, holy shit, like, we have to burn them all. Right. And they were saying, like, she was going to do it with, like, some witchcraft potion thing. So stupid. So William Lyons was related to her first husband, John Lyons. And he was bros with the king. Like, so he was really close with the king. And knew how paranoid he was. He could get in his ear, too. So it also didn't help that King,

James had beef with the Douglas clan as a whole. Oh, man. He always hated them, and this was just something else to add to it. So William even confessed on his own deathbed that it all become was because of jealousy. He confessed the whole, like I only did it out of spite. Dude, somebody got burned at the stake because you were jealous. And even worse, when the accusations rolled in about her, her family, friends, and staff were all tortured for confessions. and like information and evidence about her. So after some intense prodding, a lot of them made shit up and threw her under the bus just to stop whatever pain was being inflicted on them. Yeah, to save their own lives.

So she was tortured as well, and it was written about her that, quote, in the prime of her years of a singular beauty and suffering through all, though a woman with a manlike courage. Hell yeah. So apparently she, which I'm like a man like courage. Yeah, that's annoying. But also I'm like, I got where you were trying to say back then. That was apparently a compliment back then. She was burned at the stake outside of Edinburgh Castle on July 17, 1537 in front of her 16-year-old son, who was literally forced by King James, the fifth, to watch the entire thing. He had to watch his mother be burned at the stake.

Things were beyond back then, like beyond. Yeah. And after this, her husband, who was like, I think is it like Archibald, I think his name was. Archie. He tried to escape from Edinburgh Castle because he was a prisoner there by using bed sheets to climb from the window, but he fell to his death onto the rocks below. Her daughters were sent to a nunnery and her son was sentenced to be quartered and beheaded. Why?

Because they were like, we don't want the Douglas clan to continue. They just didn't want them to like seek vengeance on their mother's death. They didn't want any of that like revenge shit happening. They didn't want any of it to continue. They were like, let's get rid of them all. Let's just wipe out an entire family. So maybe the gray lady could be her as well. I think both are sound like great candidates to me.

They really do because people also, there's like legend that says like that Janet Douglas rose from the gray ashes around her to become what she is now. Oh, I love it. And that's why she's the gray lady. Well, she was one of the great beauties of her time. Yeah. And was it Martha? Margaret? I was like, who you talking about?

The Mary's mom? Marie. Marie. Okay. Cool. M names. But she must have been recognizable because she was regent for a little while. Yeah.

And then Janet was a great beauty. So I'm like, okay, like, let's somebody do a sketch of this woman, of this ghost. Yeah, let's see who this lady is. Let's see. Well, and people also said that the day she was burned at the stake, Scotland had a very heavy gray mist that fell over it. Oh, it's Janet. So I feel like it's Janet. Put your pencil down.

It's Janet. No, the gray lady can be seen sitting, like walking around, like I said, very sad, very, like solemn. She also can be seen sitting in the castle chapel and praying, and people believe that she's praying for those who have wronged her. Oh, what a big person to do so. People also hear hammering when she is around randomly, and it's thought that this was the, like, just like some kind of like, I don't know what the word is, like something that is just like still there, some like, what is the fucking word? Oh, residual. Thank you. That was going to bother me. I don't know what it is today.

This has happened to me a couple times today where I can't think of a word. But the letter will just repeat in my head and I was going R. Me too. I was like it begins with R. What am I thinking of? Some residual like sounds and haunting of workmen putting together this like the scaffolding where she was burned alive. Oh. Or you said that Marie was overseeing like the fortifying of the castle.

So that could also be that. Exactly. It works for both. Now some other ghosts that are part of Edinburgh. castle. There's a ghost of a man who tries to push visitors off the tops of the castle. That's rude. Where the battlements are. So apparently one of the prisoners tried, like, because again, there were so many prisoners of war in here, they were tortured horrifically. Like, you know, shit goes down. One of these prisoners, he tried to escape from torture. And he was like, I'm not going to

try to jump out the window because I feel like I'm just going to land on the rocks and die. Yeah, you will. So he was like, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to hide in a dung-filled wheelbarrow. Oh, poor guy. Now, this was dung from everything. Including humans, human dung. All the things. All the dung. But he wanted to get out.

And he was like, no one's going to look for me in there. And he was thinking, so he was in the prisoner latrines. That's where he was able to climb into the dung part. He was thinking, cool, they will bring me somewhere. They'll tip me out. Wherever they tip out the dung barrels, they'll tip me out. I'll fall onto more poop and I'll be on my way. Oh, no.

Sounds like a legit, you know. What he didn't know was that the wiserable. was that the wheelbarrow was not going to be go, like, they're not just going to, like, dump you into the woods or in a garden or something like that. Instead, they just tipped it over the parapets that are on the top of the castle. He went falling into the rocks, dying a pretty gruesome death. So, like, that's horrible. But it was probably, like, a quick end to a ton of other horrible things that he had already gone through.

Probably. You would hope so. Now, apparently, visitors will smell dung when he's, around and will feel like they're being pushed. Oh, man. Yeah. Which I'm like, dude, like, don't push people. Maybe that's residual. It might be.

It's not him. Over and over. So Edinburgh Castle is very big. Yeah, as you can see when you look at it. Now, there's like tons of tunnels underneath it. And apparently there were times when like new people would come in in different centuries. And this was a long time ago. And they would take it over and they wouldn't even know the various like passages around it.

At one time, these people, like a whole group that was in there, found a hidden passageway beneath the dungeons, and they wanted to map it out. So they got a young boy to go down there alone and play his bagpipes as he walked so that they could walk above him on the streets and map it out from the sounds. Okay. Was there no adult that could have done so? Well, that's the thing. He was small and the tunnel was pretty small. Oh, okay. So he was chosen that way. And he was like, yeah, I'll go down there and play the bagpillar. pipes, why not? So they told them play as loud as possible so we can hear you, we'll follow you, and then, you know, we'll lead you back out. Well, apparently halfway down the Royal Mile, which is what leads up to Edinburgh Castle. I love it. In front of the Tron Kirk,

which is a beautiful historical building with a gorgeous spire on top. The sound stopped out of nowhere. So they went down there and they're like, what the fuck happened? They went down there. They couldn't find him anywhere. What? Couldn't find him. He didn't find him. He just disappeared. No, he didn't. Apparently a massive search was launched. They found nothing. No bagpipes, no kid. They freaked the fuck out. So the city council ordered that they seal the tunnel off with bricks. They were like, because they were like, we don't know what the fuck is in there. So let's forget about it. I also love that they were like, here's the solution. Lock him in there forever. Yeah. We don't know where he is, but like, can't find the whole place off. And they did. They sealed it off.

that should have sealed off. And people now say that even now, they will hear, like, faint bagpipes beneath them while walking on that road on a mile road. How spooky is that? Oh, that would make me so sad. I know. Knowing that was a little baby. Well, and there's also a headless drummer boy that people have seen.

Why is he headless? Well, don't worry, because he has, the last time he was, like, officially seen was in 1650 by servants at the castle. they saw him drumming without a noggin in the courtyard of the castle. And then soon after the castle, after they saw this, the castle was under attack by Oliver Cromwell right after this. So no one knows who he is or where exactly he came from. But obviously he was like a military drummer boy. And he was beheaded as it appears.

So now it's seen as a bad omen. And they say if he shows up again, some shit is about to go down at the castle. Oh, that's scary. He hasn't been seen again that we know of, but like basically anybody that would have seen him the last time the castle was besieged, which was in like the 1700s, I believe. Everyone's dead now from that. So even if people saw him before that, we don't know. Right. So nobody's seen him since then because it hasn't been besieged since then, but hopefully it will not again.

I know. But still, that's really scary. And people still hear drumming sounds at night sometimes. Oh, that creeps to be. coming from the courtyard, almost like military drumming. But you don't want to see this headless kid drumming for, I feel like a myriad of reasons. I don't want to see it at all. That was really weird because I just took a breath to say for a myriad of reasons.

There's so many reasons not to see this kid. One, you don't want to see a headless kid drumming. And Ash is blowing up right now. Sorry. But one, you don't want to see a headless kid drumming. And two, it's a bad fucking omen. Yeah, of course it is. We don't want it.

Scary. So that's just like the tip of the iceberg of Edburgh Castle, I feel like. Wow. I feel like I could probably go back into it. Maybe I will at some point. Do it. Because Edinburgh's like full of shit. Gave me like Mary King's close vibes.

That was one of my favorite things to research. That was one of my favorite things to listen to after you researched it. That one blew my brain apart. I loved that one. That place is wild. Wild. actually somebody sent us something from there recently oh yes oh my god the way that it was literally in front of me it was right in front of us we had like a stack of mail from the PO box and this came with

it it's this really cool like wood I know like postcard and it has a plague doctor on the front it says Mary King's close and it's like a little postcard that got sent to us from Lindsay and Michaela after a week in Edinburgh Scotland oh so jealous oh my gosh oh my gosh oh they have pictures. I'm going to go look at them after. That's awesome. But thank you for sending that because we fucking love it. I know. We're going to hang this up on our wall. We are. We just got to get a thing to do it. We really are. So thank you guys. That was really fascinating. Thank you. All right. So my next one is, was it Huska? No, it was Hoska. It was Hoska. I'm not going to tell you how I remembered that. Yeah. But it was Hoska. And it is in the Czech Republic. Hell yeah. So we're going over there.

We are. We're going over. I'm asking you to please bring your sage. I've got it. We've got a candle, Sacred Sage candle right there. You? You, right? Like Elena. Me. Like I'm pointing at her. Hi. You are going to be obsessed. You're going to want to go here. Let's go. Okay. So Huska Castle. No, damn it.

So the thing is, and I'm going to just be upfront and honest with everybody, I'm a big fan of the teen mom franchise on television, and I love Chelsea Huska. Maybe that's not even how you say her last name. Maybe. I thought it was. But anyways, this is Hoska. So that's why I was. saying Huska, but Hoska Castle was constructed sometime in the 13th century, around 1253, 1278. Nobody's really sure. Okay. It's about an hour north of Prague, and it was built on the edge of a limestone cliff. Oh, hell yeah. So the area itself, even today, it's a very remote area. There's like swamps and

mountains and tons of woods surrounding this place. And back in the 13th century, there really would have been no reason to build a castle in the first place here because it was really so far out of the way of like anything. Yeah. There was not even like a water source nearby so that it could have running water. But the king at the time, I believe it's Oetakar, the second of Bohemia. Oh. Yeah. He said that he was using the building for administrative work. I feel like that's not true. Yeah, I don't think so either. A lot of people have questioned the certitude of that. Instead, did they think it has something to do with a giant, potentially bottomless hole that was found in this area, and they think that that hole maybe is a portal to hell. Fuck yeah.

Yeah. And I'm also pretty sure that it is indeed. You got to have a portal to hell in these places. Yeah. I was waiting for a portal to hell. Oh, get ready. Hellmouth. So, yes.

Fuck yes. Where are my Buffy heads at? Right here. Right here. I'm a new Buffyhead. Hell yeah, you are. So, I don't know, I've only watched like the first episode. Yeah. So there's a few oddities when it comes to the castle itself. For one thing, the way that it was built, it makes it seem like the intent was to keep something inside. Ooh. Versus being built as like, like, usually castles are built for protection. Yeah. This one seemed like the protection aspects were inside. Ooh, okay. It was like, what? I love that. When it was first built, there were no stairs going from the courtyard to any higher level floor.

And looking from the outside, it turns out that some of the windows are fake. Like, you'll see window panes, but then you look closer and you realize that there's just a wall behind there. Whoa. Yeah. There's also, like I said, no running water, no water source at all, and there was no kitchen. So if the king claimed that he was using this place for administrative purposes, that was pretty weird because nobody ever saw him there. Huh. Now, when he decided...

I'm looking at pictures of it now. It's like a really creepy place. It is. Like it looks creepy. So when he decided to construct a chapel right over that giant hole in the floor after completely sealing up said hole, that only raised eyebrows more. And then the chapel was dedicated to the Archangel Michael, and that only added fuel to the fire because Archangel Michael is known as the angel who led God's armies against Satan and the fallen angels. Obviously. So people were like, you're covering up this hole that we all think is a port out of hell.

You're putting a chapel over it. and then you're dedicating it to the guy who like won the battle against Satan. Seems to all add up. I feel like you're telling us everything we need to know. Yeah, I feel like you're not burying the lead at all. No. Now, even dating back to the 6th century, people have been talking about this place, this bottomless hole, and what possibly lurks beneath it.

Now, back then, obviously, before the castle was built, there was just this small structure built over the hole. And the people who knew of it that lived in that town, they would literally take like different longer roots to wherever they were going so that they didn't have to be anywhere near this area. Whoa. They were especially cautious, obviously, about being in the area at night because they thought that whatever was lurking in that hole would come out at night and cause mischief or, like, death, you know.

Yeah. I like mischief or death, you know, like nothing in between. Just it's going to just toilet paper some trees or slit your stuff. throat. I was just going to say that. It's going to like, it's going to paper towel your fucking trees or it's going to absolutely shred you to pieces. Correct. Nothing in between. No. What is in between those two things? I don't know. Ding don't know. I said paper towel too. Did you like that? You did. I was, I let it go. Yeah, I appreciate that. You let it go. You know, my brain's a little foggy right now because you saved a trial. Yeah. Now, there were all kinds of

thoughts about what lived inside. Some people thought that there were like flying demons. with these huge black wings, like Elena's friends. Yeah. Yeah. And others thought that there were creatures down there that were half human and half animal. Ooh. Yes. Now, either way.

One thing was for sure. These creatures were associated with the devil and were 100% some kind of demon that nobody wanted to run into in the daylight. Never mind in the pitch black night. And they just played metal music. Yeah, they were like, I was like, I don't really have a reference. I think it's like Henry on last podcast on the left that like any time they talk about an axe, he always just like that d-n-n-n-n-h-h-h-h-h-h-h.

It's hilarious. It's amazing. So everybody also was very worried that if they did meet one of these crazy creatures, somehow they would end up inside this mysterious dark hole. Yeah, I understand that. Now, before the king had the hole sealed up, he really wanted to know what was inside. And he decided that the best way of doing so would be using the prisoners. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, what else is the whole? What else are they doing, you know? Being tortured. Yeah. So let's just torture them in a different way. Throw them down a bottomless pit to hell. Yeah.

He said, if they were willing to be lowered into this hole, take a look around and maybe report back about their findings. Well, like, definitely report back. Then they would be given a full pardon no matter what crime they committed. Okay. Murder someone? It's fine. You just got to go in this hole and tell me what you see. Just go in the hell hole.

I'm also like, it's like a pitch black hole. Like, how'd they see anything? They bring a candle down there? Maybe. wouldn't it go on a lantern of some sort? Oh, a lantern. Yeah. All right.

You know. It could have been really dangerous. It's extraordinarily dangerous. And nothing about this is safe at all. Because also how are they lowering them down? I don't think they had like sophisticated mountain climbing like equipment here. They didn't. It was just like a rope.

It was. That's exactly what it was. Just like a gnarly shredded old rope. Yeah. Yep. And like some hopefully strong dudes. And some hope. And some hope.

Yeah. Some hope. And a prayer. Yeah, maybe. Yeah, definitely a prayer. I'm sure. Of course. So legend has it that the only man who was brave enough to be lowered down into this

fucking devil's demon den. I love an alliteration. Yeah, that's a great band name. Devil's demon den. Great band name, I call it. I don't know why I knocked on wood. You know what? It felt right.

So they're lowering him down and he starts screaming bloody murder as soon as he gets like even a little bit inside. It's dirty. And as he got lower and lower, the screams muffled, but they were still there. And the other thing that seemed to be there was no end. Like they just kept lowering him and lowering him and lowering him and lowering him. And eventually the rope that he was being lowered with just ran out of any more line. And he had to be brought back up.

Don't worry, he got brought back up. Oh, he did. All right. Now, he screamed the, like, as it's like less muffly as he's starting to come back up. It's like, I'm just picturing them. What? It's like that. But like the entire way.

The whole entire way. Sorry if I hurt your ears. Now, he didn't even stop screaming when he came out of it. He just kept on screaming. And then the looks on other people's faces around him, maybe they started screaming too. They must have been horrified. Everyone just started screaming. Not only because this guy's screaming bloody murder, but because he seems to have aged about 30 years.

Oh. They pulled him up. When he was back up, they were like, what the fuck? He was a young guy going down. But when he reemerged, all of his hair was white and all of his skin was like entirely wrinkled. Like he looked like an old man. What? Yes.

He Benjamin buttoned in reverse? The way that I was just going to say that. So when asked what he saw down there, he paused his screams for a moment. And he said that he saw half men and half human beasts. I mean, that'd be kind of cool. Of course it would. Okay, thank you. Because I was like, I'd be like, whoa.

Like, I don't know if I would scream, I'd just be like, whoa. Whoa. That's so dark. Well, he screamed a lot. He actually could not stop screaming. He paused for a second to say half man, half human beast started screaming again. Kept screaming. And was quickly admitted into an asylum.

And he died two days later of completely unknown causes, probably because no modern medicine, but, you know, maybe because demons. probably because the ancient of it all. But like, yeah. Man, so he got lowered down there. I mean, you get lower down there. You see some like gnarly half man, half animal demons. And then you come up and it's like gone.

You don't even get to tell that tale later. Then first you have to go to an asylum and die two days later. I know. Because that's like your two truths and a lie forever if you live. Yeah. Why are we referencing two truths and lie so much lately? But that really is. But that's like, yes.

You can be like, one time I got lowered down to a bottomless pit to hell and I saw half man, half animal demons. I'm going to use that for my next two truths as the lie. But I'm also going to have to come up with like some wild truth. Yeah. Which I definitely have because I'm a wild bitch. Yeah. But you're a wild bitch too. You're a wild bitch.

We're a wild couple of batches. That's like, wow. I know, right? Wow. I want to play two truths and a lie with somebody that doesn't really know me. I know. Just so I can say it. I also wish that guy had like an iPhone that he could have snapped a little,

little picky picky pick down there. What a wish for the, for the 13th century. What a wish. Because they say cheese. Because the new iPhone takes sick pictures in the dark. And that's about it. That would have been great.

The new iPhone sucks other than that. Yeah. But like when in the dark, we would have gotten, we would have gotten pictures that would have been on those billboards in Boston. and taken with an iPhone. And it would have just been like half man, half animal demons, like, throwing up a piece sign. Yeah, just like raging down there. Throwing up rock on signs.

Like, yeah. I love it. I love it. I go rock on signs. The rock on signs. Like I'm not doing love. I'm doing like rock on signs. Those are devil horns.

Yeah, the devil horns. That's like really what they are. Never again. Never again. I wish that was on video. Elena just put them behind her head. and like stuck her tongue out, and it was like really wild. Horrifying.

Yeah. So for most of the time that Hoska Castle has been around, nobody's really lived inside for too long because, you know, devil demon den. Yeah, like bottomless pit to hell. Yeah. But back in the 17th century, around 1639, a man named Oronto moved in. I just want to let you know that historians have also disproved this, but I'm still going to tell it to you.

You got a lot of those. I know. They're coming for me. They are. So he was apparently from Sweden, but maybe not. Maybe not. Maybe not. And he was very into potions and elixirs and just all kinds of stuff that would have been considered incredibly dark magic back then.

Same, dude. Now, when he moved into Hoska Castle, it said that he would spend all night inside experimenting and trying to create some kind of potion to give people eternal life, i.e. Tuck everlasting. Yes. Now, the villagers in the nearby areas were losing their shit about this guy because they were so struck with fear that all this witchcraft was going down anyways. But the fact that it was going down in Hoska Castle only terrified them more. Of course. Because they were like, what if something goes wrong and it involves demons and then they're going to infiltrate our villages and then the world as we know it is going to be over.

Yeah. I mean, like when people are fucking around with dark magic around a bottomless hell pit, like, I can understand why people are like, that feels like the wrong environment to do it in. Yeah. So like things could come out of there, I feel. Yeah, like calm down, Oronto. Find a new place. Instead of just like chatting with her. and, you know, working through that, like, you wouldn't talk therapy. Telling him about local office spaces for rent that he could do his dark work. Yeah. Signing him up for Indeed.

Yeah. I think that's where you find a babysitter. I think Indeed is where you find a job, actually. Okay. So instead of going on there, there you go. And chatting with him and maybe asking him to cease that potion mixing. Yeah. No.

They sent two hunters out to the castle and had him assassinated, like, boom. Wow. Like, what, that feels like a very intense. reaction. They were not fucking around. Yeah. But disproportionate response, I feel. And they really weren't fucking around because historians have said that they weren't fucking around, but... So like that didn't happen.

Fun tale. It is a fun tale. Yeah. There you go. Now, the rest of the shit really did happen. So from then on, it seems as if the castle was pretty much abandoned. Nobody wanted anything to do with it until about 1923 when it was restored by a man named I think it's Yosef Simoneck. I like it. Yeah. His family

are actually still the owners as of today. But it's unclear if he ever lived there or if he simply owned the property. Now, weird that World War II was a part of both of my stories. But World War II broke out and the castle was not inhabited by Joseph, or excuse me, Yosef, but instead a much darker force. The, I think it's called Vermacht, which is the German military. Oh. Which was riddled with Nazis during this time.

Riddled. So it said that the Nazis would, so they like siege this castle. and it said that they would do all kinds of experiments on people. Oh. Specifically women while they were inside the walls of the castle. And rumors have circulated over the years that women who the Nazis considered part of the master race, so like, you know. Yeah.

They were brought to the castle. Yeah, absolutely fucking disgusting. They were brought to the castle so that they could aid in the continuation of the master race. Oh. So like the Nazi soldiers were impregnating them to have children. Oh, my God. And like this, like it was happening all the time. That is so dark.

And this is something that definitely took place at other different SS locations. So it's not unlikely that Huska Castle could have been one of these. And they're referred to as breeding farms. Oh, my God. So horrific. Oh. But obviously, like, it makes sense. None of it makes sense.

But it makes sense that they would want to use a place like that because it's so secluded. Yeah. Nobody wants to go there. Right. So nobody's going to be just like knocking on the door randomly. Exactly. So the Nazis use of Hoska Castle was actually said to be Heinrich Himmler's idea. Himmler, for those who are not familiar and like bless you that you're not familiar with this man,

he was Adolf Hitler's right-hand man and also the leader of the SS. Now, he's been described as an quote-unquote architect of terror by the National World War II Museum, which by the way is in New Orleans. Oh, I actually did not know that. Neither did I. Which is like really sad. But I know. We should know that.

Absolutely. But that's very good to know. I would love to go there. Yeah. Now Himmler, he was very into the occult. So, of course, he would know about Hoska Castle. And he believed that the castle would make the Nazis stronger because it would allow them to, quote, unquote, harness the power of hell. Like, what the fuck?

Yeah, I can't even. Which they did. They did. I was just going to say that's exactly what they did. So. And he also thought that it would be a good hiding place for his 13,000. manuscript library. Jesus.

So people who lived nearby when the Nazis had taken over the castle, they reported hearing strange lights and horrifying sounds coming from the area constantly. Now, obviously, with its entire dark history, this place is haunted as fuck and haunted more than just the beasts that occupied that hole. Yeah. It's haunted by actual beasts that walked the earth, unfortunately. And like the darkest of all dark energy and vibes. Yes.

Yeah. Precisely. So since the castle was first open to the public at 1999, people have had tons of paranormal sightings. They felt incredibly uneasy during their visit. Or they've had experiences after visiting that led them to believe that they were either cursed or that the building gave them some kind of bad luck. Oh, shit. Those are the things that always scare the shit out of me. When things can like attach themselves. It attaches. Yeah. So for one thing, to this day, people will still report hearing screaming noises coming from. the hole even though it's been sealed. They will even hear scratching sounds like on the where it's been sealed off like the demons are just trying to escape with their acrylics. Stop! With their acrylics! With their acrylics! With their acrylics because always, of course, demons have acrylics. Of course they do. And the screams are said to echo out into all areas around the castle too. So like anybody who's nearby, they report hearing, it's always written down. It's always written down as an orchestra of screams.

I need to hear the orchestra of demon screams. I knew that you were going to want to go here. Oh, my God. Now, the artwork inside the castle only freaks people out even more. And most of the paintings are really macabre. But there's one that stands out the most to the visitors and the theme of the day, historians, who have studied the castle. There we go.

Now, the main focus of this particular painting is a woman whose upper half is human, but her lower half is horse, like a centaur. Oh, okay. Centaur? Yeah, right? Centaur, yeah. Now, we know centaur's from Greek mythology, but at this time, the painting, at the time that the painting was created,

it wasn't typical for artists to use mythology as inspiration, like it would have been taboo back then. Oh, okay. Now, another detail that leaves people, like, really confused and uneasy about the painting, is that the centaur is shooting an arrow, but using its left hand to do so. And back then, as I'm sure a lot of you know, being left-handed was the mark of the beast, like one of the marks, and probably meant that you were working with the dude. Still means that.

Of course it does. If you're left-handed, you're working with the devil. Sorry to tell you. Sorry. Do you know any left-handed people? I do. I know left-handed people. Cool.

I don't think I know. Of course, I can't name one right now, but I definitely know some. Watch, I probably have a left-handed friend and they're going to text me like, cool, asshole. Real nice. I'm sorry that the world isn't made for you, left-handers. Like, that must suck. I know you're, oh, yeah.

You're always like smearing your paper and like all that stuff. And like desks aren't. Like I feel like it's just must be annoying. Yeah, it is. Oh, scissors too. Sorry. Like, I didn't do it, but like I feel bad. Sorry that Satan fucked you over.

Yeah, it's really bullshit. But historians believe that the painting is almost like a warning or a not so subtle hint about what lurks beneath the castle. Makes sense. There you go. You know, they're like, ooh, look at this painting. Look at this painting. Figure it out.

I feel it. People have also seen a headless ghost who is said to really. enjoy promenading around the courtyard. Oh, love that. Which would be like alarming, but also cute. Yeah. If it weren't for the blood that constantly gushes out of his neck wound. Oh, I have a bloody ghosted my next one too. Oh, you do? I love it. So also kind of weird that he enjoys a courtyard stroll, because the courtyard is said to be constantly full of dead birds to this day. Okay. To this day. Okay. And then I also read about a woman and her partner who own a ghost touring business called McGee's ghost tours. Hell yeah. It's in Prague, if we have any Prague listeners that want to go.

I want to go to Prague. Now, they decided to go out and take a peek about the castle to see what all these rumblings were about. Hell yeah. And I feel like they probably regretted that decision afterwards and during. So the two owners, Hannah and Tyler, they brought their dogs along for their tour. And immediately when they got to the courtyard, like a lot of hauntings are associated with the courtyard, their dogs started losing their shit. Oh no. They were barking, they were whining, but to the human eye, there was really nothing that should have provoked such a big reaction. Yeah. And as soon as Hannah got to the courtyard, even before the dogs started barking, she said she felt a feeling of unease.

Now, for Tyler, it wasn't just the courtyard that made him uncomfortable. He said that he felt like they had been being watched throughout the entire tour. He described it as being watched by a predatory being. Isn't that so fucking creepy? Ooh, I don't like that at all. I don't either. And unfortunately, the shitty feelings did not end when the tour did. So later that night, Hannah and Tyler had a ghost tour that they were doing back in Prague. And they parked their car that night and then, you know, made their way to the ghost tour location. But when they came back, their car was gone. And the police were luckily able to track it down a few hours later. But when they did, everything of value in their car had been stolen. And whoever had stolen everything left it like trashed. Oh. Which could be. a weird coincidence, but... But like, bad vibes all around.

Bad vibes. Just bad vibes. And other people who have gone to visit the castle have car troubles when they're trying to leave. Their car simply will not start in the general vicinity of this building. And some people claim to have seen some kind of animal lurking in the woods nearby. And I'm going to leave you on this. It's a frog, human, and a dog.

Frog, human dog. It's a cross between a frog, human dog. It's a cross between a frog, human, and a dog, and I need somebody to also draw that. And they don't tell you, like, what pieces of which? No. No? Nobody knows what it looks like. I got to know which pieces of which, because I'm picturing like a frog head.

No. People are saying just a cross between a human, a giant frog, and a dog. And I think specifically a bulldog. Oh. Okay. So maybe a dog face. Yeah, because that's how you would. And a human torso with frog legs.

but it says giant frog. So I would think like giant frog legs. Oh. Yeah, right? That's like fucked. That's nasty. Or maybe even just like a frog body with like human arms or something. Frog body, human legs, dog head.

Oh. Just somebody draw a few variations. I got to. I need an artist rendering. That is horrifying. Yeah. I want to go to Huska Castle. I really want to go to Hoska Castle.

It's not Chelsea Huska's castle. No, it is not. I want to go there. The vibes seem very scary, but I need to see that. up pit to hell. The vibe seem both scary and immaculate. Yeah, for people, in different ways. People like you. Yeah. Like, it's the Nazi stuff that really like, that's, that's the stuff that, like, throws those vibes away into, like, the real bullshit realm. Very much so. The real bullshit realm. Very much so. But, like, I just want to see that pit to hell. Yeah. Yeah. Like, I just want to see that.

That's why I would go there. Exactly. It's the Nazi stuff that I'm like, I don't, honestly, I don't know if I would be able to go there. That's the thing. I feel like it would be so fucking heavy just be just because of that Nazi shit. Like I like that would I feel like that kind of energy is like in like high rate not like just like Nazis because that's disgusting and horrifying in its own but like the leader of the Nazis right hand man. That's real rough. So if you've ever been there let us know. Seriously. I would love to know. Give us some listener tales and then the next time we do one of these we can start off with some listener tales about the last one. Exactly, because that's been kind of fun to do with the lighthouses. So, wow, thank you for Hoska Castle. Absolutely. Well, my final one, and what we'll end this on,

is going to be glomis castle. Oh, or glombs. I was going to say the glombs. It's spelled gloms. Now, you might remember this like, wait a second, you said gloms in the last one. I remember. Well, we were talking about Janet Douglas, Lady Glombs. This is actually her castle. She, moonlights in both of these castles as a gray lady. What? Yeah. You know, like, she's, she's like, she's a hustler. Like, she doesn't just do one job.

She does two. She's a hustler baby. And, uh, that's, yep, that's me. Uh, so. You're a hustler baby? No, like, that's me how I say, like, I can't say it in a cool way is what I meant. Okay. I thought you said it.

Like, you say it in a cool way. I cannot. Oh, I feel like we're saying it the same. I love that. You're so cool. I think you're so cool. Rock on. So this is, we're going to move to, this is another Scottish castle, Lady Glombs, it's her castle. I can't believe she had a whole ass castle and that's what they did to her.

I'm saying. Now, Glombs is located in Angus, Scotland, from what I could see, and it was home to the Lions family since the 14th century. It's seen some shit. I bet. In fact, the 13th Earl of Strathmore died in 1904. and he is said to have told a friend that the true secret of Glam's Castle was so horrifying that if he shared it with anyone, if he shared it with him, it would take him down to his knees thanking everything that it wasn't his secret.

What? But he never said what the secret was. Imagine if it was that Janet was a witch. It's just a Janet is a fucking witch. No, I don't think that would take you to your knees. No way. It's something like way more horrifying. I need to know.

Now, like I said, this was Janet Douglas' home when she was burned at the stake in front of Edinburgh Castle. Right. This castle was also the childhood home to Queen Elizabeth, and it always had an Earl of Strathmore all up in it. All up in there. A bunch of Earls of Strathmore. Earl. Earl is such a funny name, but it makes me think of the chicks. I know, right? Apparently, the castle was supposed to be built originally on some hill nearby, where it actually stands, and when the people constructing it arrived to build, their supply. every morning would be broken and scattered everywhere.

And legend says one of them heard a booming voice that said, build not on this enchanted spot where man hath neither part nor lot, but build down in yonder bog, where it will neither shake nor shog. I love that he said, let me just do some spoken word poetry today to get you the fuck off this hill. I'm so upset with you because you had a beautiful, beautiful opportunity. right now to say to get the hell away. Oh, yeah, that would have been better.

Yeah, I was not, yeah, I wasn't thinking. You weren't in a place of spoken word poetry. I wasn't in a place of rhyme, but, you know, they moved it. They moved down to yonder bog. Moral of the story is they moved it. They down, they moved to yonder bog where they, where it stands today. So people think that like that initial like, ooh, some shit was going down here even before it was built.

Yeah. So Janet Douglas is obviously said to haunt here. Like I said, she moonlights. Like if she is the gray lady at Edinburgh Castle, which I could definitely see. Yeah. At least she's one of the gray ladies. Maybe they're both there. Maybe she's all of the gray ladies.

She might be all of them. There's a lot of them. There is. Maybe she's every single one. But she also uses the chapel in this castle to pray for those fucks who wronged her as well. Good. She also just walks around weeping. It's now customary to knock three times before entering to let the gray lady know that you have arrived or that you want some pie.

there you go now Alexander Lindsay which is the fourth Earl of Crawford aka Earl Beardy oh don't know where that came from okay and maybe he had a nice beard maybe he said to haunt this place and he's a real cad this one uh he was apparently like kind of a dick and he was also like a nasty gambler in his day and one night it said he refused to stop playing cards even though it was the gosh darn Sabbath the next morning oh that's like blasphemy yeah and they were like you got to stop playing cards. The sun is coming up. It's going to be the Sabbath. And he said he was going to keep partying. He was going to keep playing these cards, even, quote, if it was with the devil himself. I mean, that is pretty badass. Very metal. Ask me. Well, apparently, someone showed up to play,

and people believe this was the devil himself in disguise that he played cards with. The devil said, you should have just called me. Yeah, he was like, I was ready to play a card game. Beardy. Well, he lost his damn soul that night in the shitty card game, so there's that. He probably gambled it off. He probably did. People hear him still playing cards. They'll hear the shuffling and dice and hear him causing a ruckus, like swearing and shit in another room. He's just like a wreck. He's like a wreck. All I can think of right now is the song about selling your soul to the devil. Yes. Like, yeah. Yep. I know exactly what you're talking about. But people also will see him at night, which is not cool. And like, especially children will wake up. If they're staying there and they'll see

his dumb face and he's wearing like a full suit of armor and he just leans over them and stares at them. while they're in bed. Do you think he's like checking on them or do you think he's a cat? He's a cat. Like he was not a cool guy. That's gross. Now this next one is terrifying. Visitors have seen a woman wandering frantically around. Like she looks like she's in like holy shit like what is going on. She's looking for something. Like you remember in the America's next stop model episode, I knew you were thinking this. I was thinking this last runway where they get to be ghost brides and they're supposed to look like. And Melrose. Yeah, that's what this woman is.

Like, she is frantically going around. And Miss J. Alexander. Exactly. Now, she is always pointing to her face when she comes to you. And when you look at her, there is blood just pouring out of her mouth. And she is crying and screaming. Oh, my God.

Now, this woman is said to be a maid or some kind of staff of the castle who heard something she should not have heard. And the Earl had the guards cut her tongue out. that he would keep his secrets. And so now she's running around. Is that tongueless? Is that the secret? Maybe that's the secret. She heard the secret and got her tongue cut out.

This is a, and are there any thoughts about what the secret? There is one thought, and I'll talk about it. So actually famous Scottish novelist, Walter Scott, actually spent a night in the room, in a room in the castle in 1790. He wrote about it and he said, quote, I must own, as I heard door after door shut, after my conductor had retired, I began to consider myself as too far from the living and somewhat too near to the dead. He actually wrote that there was a secret and completely sealed off room in the castle that no one

knew about. He said, quote, the castle has a secret chamber, the entrance to which, by law or custom of the family, must be known only to three persons. The Earl of Strathmore, his heir apparent, and any third person they were. may take into their confidence. What? Now, this is what they think might be the secret. Tell me.

And it involves that sealed, that room that nobody knows about. Tell me everything. This is the monster of gloms. Now, October 21st, 1821, the 11th Earl of Strathmore had a son named Thomas Bowes Lion. He was born very deformed, apparently. And although they claimed he died that same night he was born, people believe he did not die. And they just, he lived and was hidden away from the public because of his deformities. That's so sad.

Legend says he was only allowed to come out outside the castle walls at night. And because of this, he would just wander around the castle in the dark. And this place where he does his nightly walk even today, now like they see like this monstrous thing walking in the dark. They say that it's called the Mad Earl's Walk. Oh. And he likely died in the 1920s, they think. which is like really wild because it would make him like very old but whatever and when he did all of these rooms that he existed in and was like left to like he'd be hidden away in they were all

sealed off forever and apparently this can be backed up because if you count the windows from the outside you will always count two more than when you could access on the inside like rooms that you can access but no one can find them find where the windows belong like where those windows are because something's sealed off somewhere. Okay. And you can't see them. So people think that might be the horrible secret is that they hit away this child. Who would, who would have been the air? That's horrible. But do you think it would bring you to your knees? I don't know. I mean, it's pretty horrible. Yeah, it's definitely horrible. I don't know. They let them go out at night, though. But then I wonder if there's like more to that. I think there's a lot more to that. Like if they like did something terrible,

you know, even more terrible. Now speaking of windows, people will see. horrifying faces just staring back at them from outside the windows. Spooky. People also hear screaming and wailing sometimes at night from empty rooms. Apparently, you will also likely hear hammering noises from the rooms at night. You love a good hammer. I know. And if you mention it to anyone who works there now, they'll ask you to stop talking about it.

Like, they don't want to talk about it. Do you think they were just like hired to say that? Like they're like, anybody asks, just tell them, don't talk about it. Well, and then I was like, are they just embarrassed that they're maybe like doing work to the castle at night and like waking people up and they're like I don't want to talk about it. Yeah, maybe. Don't bring it up on Yelp. Yeah, we don't talk about.

We don't want to talk about that. But who knows? Now, a woman ghost can also be seen doing chores and carrying things around the courtyard, but she always makes it to the middle of the courtyard and then just vanishes. I hate that she still has to do chores in the afterlife. That sucks. Now, there's also another crazy thing that happened here that definitely brought some ghosts. And this is the last thing about this.

in 1486, the Olgavee clan came running to the castle Glombs. They were running from the Lindsay clan with which they had a blood feud with. I love that it's the Lindsay clan. The Lindsay clan. They wanted to like take some shelter at Glombs and hide out for a bit. So the Earl was like, absolutely, you can stay here, my friends. Oh, no, no. Like I will take care of you.

Come on in. So he brings them into one of the secret hidden rooms in the castle and he's like, stay here, be safe. So they all go in. he locks the door and just leaves them sealed in there. What a jackass for like what purpose. He already knew of the blood feud. And in true Ramsey-Bulton fashion, has made this deal with the Lindsay's to just let their rival clan rot in his castle.

So he made a deal before this and was like, yeah, come on in. I'll take you. I'll make sure you're safe. And then he was like, whoop. That's super fucked up. So it was weeks after this that someone went down to check and make sure that they had all kicked it at this point. and one member was alive but barely and couldn't even really be called alive and he had been forced to eat his dead family members just to stay at this barely registering level of alive. That's horrific.

So they definitely hear screaming and wailing from down there and they will see somebody like emaciated like a ghost that looks like very emaciated walking around. Oh, that must be absolutely horrifically gross and scary to see. And those are the ghosts of Castle Glambs. They are. And it's pretty gnarly. It was. So, yeah. Scotland.

You know what I'm saying? I mean, the Czech Republic and Italy. You know what I'm saying? There you go. Europe. You know, castles. Ghosts. Ghosts.

History. Bad shit. Scary. Spooky. Sealed off rooms. Lots of sealed off shit. I know. Everywhere.

Like tunnels sealed off, sealed off. sealed off, pits to hell sealed off. Yeah. Yeah. Weird. Yeah. Historians. Yeah. Sealed off. Sealed off. Sealed off historians. No, no. Never. So, yeah, that was our first entry into haunted castles officially. Yeah, and like we said, if you have any listener tales about any of these places, do send them to our girl.

What? Oh, no. Keep going. Sorry. No. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Send them to our girl, Deb-deb at morbid podcast at gmail.com. And if you could just put spooky castles in the headline. Yeah, and if you guys have any, I was going to say, if you have any suggestions for castles you would like to hear about, by all means, do the same thing. Send it to our girl, Deb, Deb, at morbidpodcast.com, spooky castles in the title. And we'll do them. And write her like a nice little note. Yeah, like, hey, Deb, just say, hey, Deb, Deb, what's up? Okay. All right, well, that was like so much fun in a really weird, horrific way. Horrifying and fun. And we hope that you keep

listening. And we hope you keep it. Weird. But not the way that you do any of the the things that the people did in these castles because everything that they did in these castles seems to be absolutely horrific and I don't think you should be carrying out any of the activities that they did there by yeah