Morbid - Randy Kraft: The Scorecard Killer (Part 1)

Episode Date: August 14, 2025

Throughout the 1970s, Southern California residents were held in the grip of terror as multiple serial killers stalked the streets, preying on victims from every walk of life, including the area’s gay community. From 1971 to 1983, Randy Kraft kidnapped, tortured, and murdered at least sixteen men and boys, but the real number of victims is believed to be considerably higher. When he was arrested in 1983, investigators searched Kraft’s home and found a list with cryptic references to what they believed were sixty-one victims in total. The discovery of that list led the press to dub Kraft “The Scorecard Killer.”Following his arrest in 1983, Randy Kraft was tried and convicted of sixteen counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. Although the arrest and trial put an end to Kraft’s murder spree, several critical questions remain unanswered, including the most important aspect of the case detectives were never able to solve: who was Randy Kraft’s accomplice?Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!ReferencesArnold, Roxane, and Jerry Hicks. 1983. "Kraft suspected in deaths of 14 men in 3 states, Gates says." Los Angeles Times, May 20: 73.Associated Press. 1983. "Five murders charged to computer analyst." Sacramento Bee, May 25: 2.—. 1978. "Police seek link in deaths of 18." San Bernardino County Sun, November 24: 3.—. 1983. "Freeway killing pattern repeats." The Tribune (San Luis Obispo, CA), February 19: 2.Bajko, Matthew. 2016. Gay serial killer breaks silence. November 2. Accessed May 15, 2025. https://www.ebar.com/story/246748.Grant, Gordon. 1983. "How a routine stop led to a big arrest." Los Angeles Times, May 20: 73.Hicks, Jerry. 1988. "Alleged 'death list' made public as Kraft trial opens." Los Angeles Times, September 27: 69.—. 1989. "Kraft condemned to death by jury for serial killings." Los Angeles Times, August 12: 1.—. 1988. "Kraft defense says marine found in car was not dead." Los Angeles Times, September 28: 76.—. 1989. "Kraft guilty of 16 sex slayings, jury decides." Los Angeles Times, May 13: 1.—. 1989. "Orange County jury gets Kraft serial murder case." Los Angeles Times, April 28: 76.—. 1988. "Two other states were closing in on Kraft." Los Angeles Times, January 4: 3.—. 1989. "Witness says Kraft drugged and sexually assaulted him in 1970." Los Angeles Times, June 6: 3.Hughes, Beth. 1982. "L.A. area's missing youths-a trail of mystery and murder." San Francisco Examiner, August 23: B5.Jarlson, Gary. 1983. "Suspect in 4 slayings also investigated in 6 Oregon murders." Los Angeles Times, May 19: 80.Kennedy, J. Michael. 1978. "Four deaths turn into four mysteries." Los Angeles Times, September 2: 17.Los Angeles Times. 1973. "Head of a man found in a bag at paper plant." Los Angeles Times, April 27: 23.—. 1988. "Randy Kraft's scorecard?" Los Angeles Times, October 2: 117.McDougal, Dennis. 1991. Angel of Darkness: The True Story of Randy Kraft and the Most Heinous Murder Spree. New York, NY: Warner Books. 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 Elena. I'm Ash. And I'm Holly. And I'm Bridget. And this is a very special morbid. We have Holly and Bridget from Girls Next Level podcast on the show today. Woo! Thanks for having us.

We're huge fans of the show, so we're so excited to be here. That's how we feel. And it's so wild because we are huge fans of you guys. So that's kind of blowing our minds a little bit. But we're so excited to have you guys here. If you haven't listened to Girls Next Level, you got to get on it. Yeah, I don't know what's wrong with you if you haven't listened to that yet. It's the best Monday morning.

Truly, it's my new show that I, like, am eager weekly to hear the next episode. Oh, we love that. Thank you. Yeah, keeping y'all in suspense. You are. It's so fun rewatching, too. Because I watched where I was so much younger that I'm, like, watching it through a different lens now. I'm like, oh, wow, this is different.

I still love it. Yeah. It's layered for sure. Yes. Definitely. Because this was, it was funny because girls next door was a show that me and my husband used to watch, like, all the time together. We were dating. We just loved it and we loved you guys specifically.

So he's like losing his mind. He was like, you get to talk to Holly and Bridget. What? Aw. Yeah. My husband. Yeah, tell him hi. I will.

He'll love it. But now it's, I've been rewatching it as I listen to the podcast. And it's the same thing. It is such a different watch when you are listening to the podcast. And after reading your book and it's like a whole different experience. Well, and there was so much packed into each episode too. Yeah. It's a lot.

It's a lot to break down. There really is. And just hearing you guys talk about like the different things like when they would film something but that didn't really happen. Now when you watch it, you're like, oh shit. And I'm getting mad for you. Like the closing of the door. I'm like, how dare you?

puts that there. I was pissed. Yeah, it's so gross. Yeah, it's so weird of them to do that. Yeah, it's like the implications. Come on. And if you want to know what that's about, go listen to girls next level. We're not going to tell you.

But today we're going to do something a little different. We are going to do one of our fun little campfire tales where we're each going to hit a different spooky amusement park because who doesn't love a spooky amusement park? For real. Nobody. So I'm going to start off. We're going to have Holly and Bridget sandwiched in the middle there, and then Ash will end us and send us off into the night. So I will start off with Sylvan Beach Amusement Park, and this is in Sylvan Beach, New York.

I've never been here, but now I really want to be here because it's one of those creepy vintage amusement parks, and it's still running. Like you can go to it. It's a running amusement park. Can we do a field trip? Yes. That's what I was just going to say. We have to. That would be so cool.

Can we please? Because one of the things I really want to do here is it has a laughland dark ride. Like one of those original, it's like this haunted ride. And it is horrifying just because of the simplicity and the vintage. It's literally like you're in the pitch black sitting in this tiny little mind cart going around. And these random little things will just kind of like pop up out of something. But it's like they're creepy vintage looking like just like janky toys. that just like pop up and go down.

It's horrifying. Ew. Yeah. It's from 1954 and it hasn't been touched. Oh, wow. The original, they have not updated it. They've kept it in like working order, but they have not updated it. And apparently it's a pretzel amusement ride company ride, this Laughland one.

And the carts have like pretzels on the sides of them. What? Cute. Yeah. And the reason it was called pretzel. When I first saw that, I was like, am I missing like a significance here that I'm supposed to know? That's how I feel right now. Yeah, apparently these little laughland rides, these dark rides, the little track is like a pretzel.

Like it twists like a pretzel. So that's what they named it after. That's cute. There's only apparently two of these in existence anymore. Oh, wow. And this is one of them. And Sylvan and Beach Amusement Park is actually one of the 10 most haunted or 10 most haunted 10 oldest amusement parks in the country. So, it's real old. The land was actually purchased way back in 1902. And before that, in like the 1800s, that land was used for like traveling shows and salesmen. So there would be like trapeze artists and, you know, a side show over here and somebody is selling you snake oil over here and like just all that vintage carny stuff that's so spooky and amazing. So the land. I love that. Yeah. And the land. Yeah. And the.

Like the land just like feels that. You know what I mean? Like it just has that creepy carney feel to it from like the 1800s. And it's still rolling. So creepy but so fun. Yeah. So it's owned now by Doug Waterbury. And he actually had ghost hunters come in a few years ago.

I love ghost hunters. Same. That show is the shit. I just want to watch it all day. It's one of those perfect like rainy day shows that you just want to watch like 55 episodes. So true. But they did go here. And they talked to the employees of the park. Apparently the employees are terrified. I don't know why they're all working there, but they're all terrified all the time. I kind of love that. Yeah. Oh my God. And they were actually worried that when ghost hunters came in,

that they were going to stir up like more activity. Like they didn't want them coming in at first. They were like, no, we wouldn't want to deal with this. Yeah. And apparently they didn't, I don't think they did stir up more. But while they were there, there was a lot. So, What the owner said was he said back in the day, this was one of those, again, classic amusement parks. And it had like restaurants and hotels on the property. And it was the spot to go for like decades and decades and decades. And a lot of people who used to work there actually lived on the grounds of the park as well.

They would live in the hotel or they'd live in like a shack over by the side of it and then get up and just work the tilt-to-whirl kind of thing. So they were there 24-7, like true carnival workers. That's crazy. Oh, my God. Yeah. And some of them even died on the property. So haunted. Yeah.

Lived, worked, died all on this property. Oh, my God. Yeah. And so this park obviously meant a ton to these people. Right. That's why they would come back and hang out here. It makes sense. So they actually do ghost tours at night, but I'll tell you that at the end, too.

So you can actually go on a ghost tour. But what they have is they have this bar like slash hotel that is not the original one that was built. It was redone in like the early 1900s, I'd say, because the first one burned to the ground, which might have produced a few ghosts, to be quite honest. There are three main ghosts in the hotel restaurant and in the amusement park itself. One of them is named Jack, which I always feel like Jack is like a ghost's name. Like you should have a jack around at all, like a haunted jack. I feel like it just makes sense. You know a place is hella haunted if they're referring to some of the ghosts as like the main ghosts?

Yes. Yeah, exactly. Like you have like three main ghosts and then there's like the GA section, general admission. We have the outskirts ghosts. We have the mesamine ghosts over here. Yeah. These are, that's the thing. It's like the supporting players we just don't even mention.

They're like, oh, yeah, they'll just like, oh, yeah, they'll just like, throw a frying pan across the kitchen, it's fine. But Jack was one of the employees who actually lived on the property. He was one of those like lifers. He was really into this whole life. And he assisted in all the arcade games and the other games on the park. He was living in the yesterday's Royal Hotel. And the second floor of the Royal Hotel dining area, it's like this little platformed area. And there's a door that's actually leading to the room he used to stay in. And the door is still there. still the original door that he was staying in. And sometimes it will just open. Like, while you're dining, you'll just look up. You can see a creek open. Because Jack's going to work. And that's what they say.

They say whenever the staff knows when that door opens or when you come in and it's open, that means that Jack is roaming around and you're probably going to run into him. Like, he's probably going to be around. People see him in like mirrors leaning against things. He likes to hang out at the hostess area in the bar because I think he's very cheeky. I'm pretty sure. So he hangs around that area a lot. So he's like flirting with the hostesses like in the afterlife? Yeah. It feels like Jack was one of those. He was like a slinky fella. Yeah. He would just, you open his door, walk down to the dining bar area and just hit on the hostesses. Just have at it, Jack. And he's still doing that. He's doing what he loved in life. So we got Jack. Jack will also roam outside of the bar hotel area sometimes.

And you'll hear him whistling or he knocks on things a lot if you ask him to. I don't like whistling. I have this like weird thing. You do have a whistling. And especially like when it comes to paranormal stuff, I do. No whistling. Yeah. I don't like it.

It's extra eerie. It is. Yeah, right? It is. And there's something very 19th century about whistling. Am I wrong? Yeah. It's just creepy.

Mm-hmm. That's what it is. Like you picture like a carny walking around whistling. Yeah. Well, he's about to do something nefarious. Yeah. just don't like it. I think, well, I also used to have a boss that would, like, had this specific whistle, and I would have to, like, go get him whatever he needed when he whistled for me.

So I think that's another reason why he really beat whistling. That's what I said when she told me. But it's also creepy. Yeah. It's many layers to why whistling is just not all right. Just not for me. But you know what? Jack's walking around. He's whistling. He's probably going to hit on you if you're there. Just be aware. And then we also have Abby. Abby is one of those that, like, We don't know how old she is. She's like a young girl, not necessarily a child. But like maybe teens, somewhere around there. Okay.

She's also called the Lady in White, which is another ghost. I feel like you need to have. Like you need to have a lady in white, a lady in gray. Yep. The brown light. Like you need to have all these different ladies just wandering around it all times. Yeah. And she's seen mostly in the Royal Hotel as well.

But sometimes she also goes out in. to the actual park. Now the hotel, again, like I said earlier, it's not the original one, but she was around when the original one was standing, and she was involved in that fire. So they think she is a product of that. Oh, that's sad. I know, it is sad. But she's spotted in the dining room or she'll be above the dining room, which makes me question, but then I realized that the timing doesn't work out because I was like, oh, were she in Jack? Like, oh, because she was up above that dining room. That's where you see her now. But, but, but. I don't think the timing works out because Jack was after fire, I believe.

Well, maybe like in the afterlife, they linked up. Maybe they met up, you know? On like ghost hinge. There you go. Ghost hinge. No. Staffs reports that they see her like a full body apparition. They see.

Wow. Yeah, and she's always wearing a white dress. They say she's very peaceful when she comes. She doesn't have like a malicious feeling about her. And they say sometimes they'll either see her, like run across the dining room. And they're always like, did I see that or did I not see that? And then also they'll feel her. If they don't see her, they'll just feel this ice cold body next to them. Like they'll be at a bar or something, just doing work. And suddenly something will just, ice cold will come right next to them. Oh, that like makes me get goosebumps just thinking about that. Yeah. And they always know it's Abby for some reason. She just saddles up to you. I wonder if it's comforting, though. Like you know when you know the ghosts or you're just like, oh, hey Abby. Hey, Abbs. It's going on. I. I personally think. I'm sorry. I personally think. I think I would like that. I'd be like, oh, yes, I'm having an experience. Right. And I'd be like, hey, girl. Like, what's up? Let's hang out.

So she also ventures out into the park, like I said before. And she loves a specific ride, which is the tip top. It looks horrible. I hate rides. So this is just looking at it. I know I'm the worst. But whenever I say it, I always get the same reaction. People are like, what? I know. I love rides. I love roller coasters. I love all of it. Me too. I want you so bad. Maybe I can make you when we go to Disney. We are going to Disney with the kids, so maybe I'll be forced into one.

Oh, I'll force you into one for sure. Because I got forced into one of those teacup rides at Storyland when we went. And those are the worst ones. I hated it. Yeah. I was like, oh, don't start there. Yeah. Don't start with the teacups.

That'll ruin everything. But Elena's first ride was what was? It was dueling dragons. Oh, my God. Right? It was dueling dragons at Universal Studios. That was my first... I remember that one, yeah.

Ever wrote, the one that looks like it's going to hit the other one. Like, so fun, but terrifying. You literally go through, like, fire. Yeah. It was, yeah, it was an ex-boyfriend. I was, like, right out of high school. And he was like, I'll take you... Let's start you off on an easy one.

And he threw me on that one. Oh, my God. I'm never going on another record. So it's his fault. Rood. I wish I wasn't like... Yeah, I wish I wasn't like seven when that happened, because I would have told you. I know.

But I will say, the tip top looks horrible. It's just a giant top and it just spins you around. No, I don't like that. Yeah. It's not my thing. Yeah. But Abby likes it.

Abby loves it. She likes a thrill. She's a thrill girl. She is a thrill girl. So there's that. The third one that we have is Scotty. Scotty is interesting. Just because of the way he's described physically, I'm like, that makes a lot of sense.

I don't know why. So he's a maintenance worker. He used to work at the park. early days. He died on the property. I couldn't find out exactly how, but people think it might have been like cardiac arrest or something natural that happened, but it was in the Treasure Land building that they found his body. So he is often walking around that building. He's a whistler too. No. He's a big whistler. People see Scotty just roaming around the park and staff reports seeing his full body apparition. And they describe him as like a big, heavy set.

man very like a big guy like tall and he's wearing a dirty white t-shirt and a dark baseball hat. Huh. Sounds like Joe from you. I feel like you never, right? But just like a bigger Joe. Bigger Joe. Bigger dirtier Joe. Yeah.

And I feel and I think he has suspenders. Like it's a whole look. Oh, okay. Yeah. They can hear him walking around a lot because they'll hear his maintenance keys jingling. And it's usually like after the park is closed when no one else is supposed to be there. and the maintenance guy now is the one walking around with the keys, and it's like, who is that?

That's doing that. He's so freaky. Yeah. And again, he's a whistler. He did that when he was alive. He used to whistle to get everybody's attention. So whenever they hear the like, that's, they know it's him. He's just trying to get your attention.

Hate it, you know? There's also, so those are the three main ones, but there's also ghost children. Hmm. There's no reports of children, like, actively dying at the park. But maybe they just want to come back there because. it was one of their favorite places. Who knows? But apparently a lot of ride operators will strap a young girl into a ride. And it's always a young girl. They never find this with little boys. They'll strap her in. They'll turn around and then they turn back around and she's not there.

But the ride is still strapped. Like someone, like they definitely strap someone in. Wow. But they're gone. And they used to think that it was Abby who was pulling this shit actually because usually they would see a girl in a white dress. And one employee says, said that they strapped three girls into the tip-top ride, just three girls. And when the ride came to a stop, there was only two. And he was like, uh, like what happened here? And he was freaking out being like, where did your friend go? And they were like, what friend? Like, what do you it's just the two of us? And he was like, no, you had, there was a third one. And they're like, no. They were probably like, why did you fasten that seatbelt, you weirdo? Yeah, they were like,

okay, when they just watched him do it. And apparently he quit that night. He was like, I'm not doing this. I've seen enough. Yeah, I've seen it. I'm out of here. Well, I was going to say, can you imagine being that ride operator and you think you lost a fucking kid on the ride that you just put? That's all I could think of was like, not even the paranormal of it all. I was like, I would be like, oh my God, did this kid just slip out? Yes, it's terrifying.

I have a heart attack. What's going to happen here? Where did that kid go? And I'd be like, this is not a funny joke, guys. Like, where is your kid? Where's your friend? Yeah, I'd be real start. Apparently other ghosts, they have a lot of poltergeist style activity too where coins fly at people in the arcade.

That's hilarious. Yeah, it happens all the time. And pieces of wood. Oh. Which I think is just rude. I was going to say, at least coins are useful. Like here to play another round, but wood is rude. Yeah.

There was like a guy apparently who used to come there as a kid. His name was Bill or Billy. And he actually inherited the park from his father when he got older. so he would work there. And he was super particular about who could handle the money, especially the coins in the arcade. So they think he's the one throwing the coins. And also, like, coin bags will fall, like, randomly when no one's near them.

So they think that's him, like, handling the money. But there's also a beach hut, it's called, and it's, like, a place you can go to eat. In the kitchens, the staff has said they will feel people brush by them while they're cooking. And they'll, like, freak out being like, who the hell is back here? and no one's back there. But they said it happens all the time that they feel like a person brush by them. They also saw Scotty there one day,

like a full body Scotty. Full body, Scotty. Just sitting there. And they were like, it was after hours. So they were like, sir, like you can't be in here. The park is closed. And one of them was like, I'm going to go get the manager because he wouldn't move and he wouldn't even look at them.

So he comes back out five seconds later. And he was like, the man was nowhere to be found. He was on none of the security can. cameras. Like, that was not a human. But ghost hunters thought it was pretty haunted. They got tons of knocks and whistles and all that fun stuff. And you can do the ghost tour. It's called Park After Dark. It's like 30 bucks. Let's do it, guys. I would spend a billion dollars to save this place overnight. Right. I'm dying to do it. Apparently last summer, because they update on their website, like, what the last summer was like for Park After Dark. Oh, that's cute. Apparently last summer, people saw tons of

flying coins and wood. It was like super active. We're goggles. Yes. So let's go get coins thrown at us. Yes. I'm down. If we can stay overnight or even not, I would even just go randomly. Like we should go. We have to go. Like whatever the best time a year is. I would totally go. Let's figure out of them. Or just in the summer. I think it might be all year round. They're doing, they do like hallow weekends too where they do like extra stuff. And yeah, that'd be fun. We got to do it. That'd be so fun. I'm down for sure. I am down too. It's happening. We're going to plan it.

Let's do it. Where did you say it was? It's in New York. Oh, perfect. I love it. So that's the Sylvan Beach amusement park. I'm in. I'm so intrigued.

Yeah, I know. My story has a lot of similarities to yours. Oh, I love that. Another place for us to go. Yeah. Where's yours at, Bridget? Mine's in in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Ooh.

So we have to take a little plane ride. All right. That's fine. We can do it. We got it. Should I, do want me to go? Yeah, go right ahead. Okay. So mine is called Eden Springs Amusement Park or the House of David or the Israelite House of David. And it's not Jewish. Some people think it might have Jewish affiliations. It does not. The House of David, it was a communal religious society co-founded by Benjamin and Mary Pernow in Benton, Harbor, Michigan in March of 1903.

And they were natives of Kentucky. He published a book on the Church of Ages in which he claimed to be the seventh and final messenger of the Church of Ages as foretold in the book of Revelations. The House of David Colony soon had several hundred members and who were awaiting, awaiting the time when their commune would be the site of a restoration of the Garden of Eden, the so-called in-gathering. And they prophesies that this would take place around the dawn of the new millennium, but it didn't.

Spoiler alert. Spoiler alert. Upon, let's see, when you, okay, when you're, when they, when they entered this community, they all pledged in writing to give up everything that they possess. So no sex and not even for procreation. They didn't believe in sex at all. No tobacco, no alcohol, no money. They could never cut their hair.

And they had to give up their surnames. What the hell do you do? Holy shit. Well, I'm going to get to it. The men wore their hair and beards long and the women wore their hair loosely and uncut. They didn't believe in killing at all. So they were all like strict vegetarians. They were conscientious, I can't even say it, objectors to the war.

And so, you know, like, and that's when I was going to say strict vegetarians. But in 1907, the house owned a thousand acres and the colony harvested fruit. And they had orchards and cultivated grain. The commune had its own cannery, carpenter shop, coach factory, tailor shop, steamwine. They also own and operate their own electricity plant, providing light to the community. It had three brass bands and two orchestras. They owned a gas station and a motor lodge, a cold storage facility for produce. They were one of the first to market veggie burgers.

Oh, what? And a bottle mineral water, which they got from the springs that still bubble on the property today. And they supposedly revolutionized automated pin setting for bowling alleys. Wow. And portable lighting systems for their minor league baseball team because they had this minor league baseball team that was like a sensation. Like they would travel around the world and people were like so I guess they were really, really good. But people were also come to see them because they had these full beards and the long hair.

They were like a sight to see. That is crazy. Okay. So you're probably like what does this have to do with an amusement park? I don't know. I'm just thinking I want to go there minus all the restrictions. Yeah. No, but you still can.

You still can. So in 1908, the House of David opened Eden Springs, an amusement park that over the years would be home to a world famous zoo. Amphitheater, beer garden. Even though they didn't drink, they still like sold it to make profit off of it. Oh, we love that. Oh, you can. Yeah. Right?

They had a hotel there, a restaurant, bowling alley. And one of the main attractions at the park was this coal-powered miniature locomotives. and they had like a mile long track that like went through the whole property and oh and also brought people in from the main entrance and went through like all these trees and it sounds really cute and the the train at least part of it is still there today so you can still go there they're trying to restore the whole thing but you can go there and take the train ride or part of it I want to see this right I know they had miniature car racing and like I said the rest of PINny Arcade, pony rides and dances and shows in the amphitheater, and it became like this popular Michigan vacation spot.

Okay, then here's where it turns. Yes. In the late 20s, the House of David was rocked by a scandal that haunts it to this day. Benjamin Pernal was accused of being a charlatan, a rapist, and a child molester. Oh, man. But the charges that the Israelites faithful, and there's still people in the commune today, Um, they still maintain that these were fabricated by commune members who were not wanting to do the way of life anymore that were like strained from the religion. Um, but Pernal allegedly operated a fraudulent enterprise in the guise of religion while engaging in coerced sexual intercourse with the women and young girls of the colony. Pranel was accused of inducing girls to have sex with him. And upon the representation that sexual intercourse with him is a

religious right. I kind of feel like it makes sense that they're like, no, no, they just didn't like the way of life. Yeah. I don't know. Thirteen young women testified under oath in court that they had sexual relationships with the Patriarch while still minors. And as soon as it became public knowledge, like the Detroit, free press and other newspapers ran like super critical articles about him. And the news brought national attention to the group. And from this court case sprang the countless rumors about the conduct of him and other things.

Like they own this island and that they used to take the girls out to the island and abuse them out there. And he had this thing called the Shiloh House, which was like the main house. It's like this Victorian mansion that allegedly contained secret tunnels where he would conduct these little trists. And the trial was like lengthy. Over 300 witness testimonies, 15,000 pages of documents. And on November 10th, 1927, Pernalus found guilty of fraud. And the assets of the colony were put into a receivership while the members had to choose a new leader. And the validity of the sexual misconduct charges were never officially proven because at 65 years old and in poor health and during the trial, he died of tuberculosis. And so that was kind of the end of it. But they had this weird thing. They believed that the living should not be. be associated with death. And the faithful, if you were truly faithful, you could not die. So if someone died, they wouldn't call an undertaker and they made no like announcement or anything. They just

kind of let it be. They're just like, wow, how lame of you to die. Yes, that's exactly. Like you weren't allowed to die or you weren't faithful enough. And it's rumored. This is just a rumor. I don't know if it's true, but allegedly out there. You can. He, Pernell is encased in a glass casket on the property so they can still visit him daily. Ew. Stop. They're like, it's fine that he died. Yeah.

No one else. Stop dying. He's not. He's maybe not really dead or something. Yeah. He's sleeping. And then in her husband's absence, Mary, the wife, split off from the house of David and started her own colony, the city of David, directly across the street.

The park closed in 1970. and it was abandoned for like 50 years. Now it's run by a group of volunteers. It's like a 501C3. They're working to restore the park. And they have the train partially running, like I said. They do ask that you not trespass, but if you ask nicely,

they're more than happy to give you a tour. And then these are the hauntings that I heard of from there. And I actually first heard about this park on my Ghost Magnet podcast because of the hauntings. So it's said to have paranormal. activity throughout the years. Volunteers restoring the park have had several strange occurrences like hearing voices give input where any renovation plans are discussed, ghostly girls in white dresses. Yes. We have ladies in white. Yes, hats flying off the racks, loud banging

noises on doors in locked hallways, and the drifty music of House of David Blues from the stage. How creepy. Several paranormal investigators have come to investigate, find new happenings each time. One Lansing group even left behind a small kit so that the nonprofit volunteers could investigate on their own. Oh, I love that. That's cool. Yeah.

That was nice of them. So, yeah, a lot of, I feel like it just has a lot of similarities to yours. Yeah. It definitely does. Oh, and what a history with that one. That's so creepy. And the fact that it's still there.

Yes. I want to see it. I want to see if he's in glass. I do too. Yeah. We need to go investigate. Well, see, suppose. he's in the Shiloh house like in and you can't get in there I don't think or if you can do a tour

you can't get into the room where he's supposedly at but people are people say it's not true but I feel like that's a crazy rumor that is yeah like where did that come from if it's not true where there's smoke there's fire yeah there's got to be something I think so too I was just going to say it's like a ghost leg in there something something's in that room guys Oh, that's creepy. I feel like he was guilty. Like, I don't know. Just going back to the trial, I'm just like, I think you might have did that.

Well, I mean, none of them were allowed to have sex, not even for procreation at all. Like, I feel like you just can't ask human beings to do that. Yeah, it always leads to bad stuff. And it's usually the one guy that's like you're not allowed to have sex that is having sex with like all of the everybody there. Right. Like usually he's the one that's like, well, I can't. Because I am the God.

I'm the messenger here. Yeah, so I can do it. God said I can, but he said, fuck all y'all. None you can die. None you can have sex. Just me. Pergatory forever.

Wow. That was so creepy. That was a good one. So creepy. So my story's probably the shortest and least haunted out of all of these, but I'm really excited about it anyway. I love it.

I am too. I have to ask you guys, since you're from the East Coast, Did you ever get to go to River Country at Disney World, like when you were kids, when it was still open? No. Neither of us have ever been to Disney World or Disneyland. We're actually going in January with the kids for the first time. Yeah.

Which one? World. Yeah. World, right? Yeah. Oh, my God. That's so exciting. Yeah, we're excited.

So excited for you. We're going to be like little kids there. Uh-huh. So I'm obsessed with Disney Parks. I grew up going to Disneyland regularly, and I never got to go to Disney World as a kid and always really wanted to. And I didn't get to go until I was an adult in 2005, Bridget and I went together on the same trip. And I don't know if you remember this, Bridget, but one of the things I was most excited to do is I was dying to go to their original water park river country. Yes. Because I had seen footage of

this park on some travel show. I forget what, but it just looked heavenly to me. It was this water park. So the water park looked very kind of frontier land vibes and even like their inner tubes would be just like a basic black inner tube. And there was like footage of some kid hosting the show who was like floating down the lazy river within like an inner tube. And I'm just like, oh my God, that just looks like heaven. I want to go. And we went to Disney World in February. So I was clearly on crack wanting to go to the water park. But then I found out that it had been closed. It had just closed a few years earlier. I was so bummed. And I heard it was because of a brain eating amoeba. Oh, just that. We. Yeah.

I heard that. When I was looking for a park, I think I stumbled upon this. A brain-eating amoeba. You're like, I want to go there, but not anymore. They were just like, whoops. Sounds like a horror story. So River Country was Disney World, or just Disney in general,'s first ever water park. I think it was the first themed water park in all of Florida. And they opened it in 1976. Disney World was only a few years old at that time. And they only had like the Magic Kingdom Park and two hotels or three hotels. at that time. They had the contemporary, the Polynesian, and the Fort Wilderness Resort. It's crazy to think that that ever was the way it was. That it was just like Magic Kingdom and three hotels. And so much land. Yeah. It's crazy. So Fort Wilderness, as the name suggests, was just like a traditional wilderness lodge. And they wanted to build a water park right next to that. So they wanted to stick with the theme and make it kind of like old school,

outdoorsy. And the reason they decided to go with a water park in 1976 is because there was a oil crisis in the 70s. So gas prices skyrocketed and tourism was kind of in a slump then. So they're like, okay, what can we do to bring more customers here, but not spend a ton of money? Like, let's not rush into like a whole second gate park right away. Let's do something a little bit smaller but can still attract more people. So they decide to go with the water park. And the water park, I've seen conflicting reports. Some places describe it as it was five acres. Some say 6.5, but it was in between five or seven acres.

So it wasn't huge. And it had a few attractions like some rapid rides and some fun things like that. And a lot of like traditional things you see at water parks, like the zip line that go over the lake and things like that. And one of the things that was interesting or unique about this water park is the water. I don't know why this was attractive to me. the water looked kind of dirty because it was like adjacent to like a natural lake. They have this big Bay Lake on Disney World property. And they had a filtration system.

Like they had this whole like manmade rock mountain and the filtration system was inside. So it would like suck water from the lake in there and filter it. But it still had this very like natural look when it came out. And there was like a pool area that kind of looked like it flowed into the lake but didn't really like there was really a retaining wall. so like the water could go back out into the lake, but like lake water that hadn't been filtered, couldn't go in. So that was kind of the look of the whole thing. The whole theme that was inspired by the Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn story. So it was very like old school 19th century, like you're just going down to the swimming hole, very, very quaint.

And I think that's what appealed to me. It just looked so damn cute. It's cute and creepy all at the same time. Yes, exactly. Definitely a creepy vibe. So the first tragedy happened in 1980. An 11-year-old boy died because he contracted this brain-eating amoeba. And the reason the park wasn't closed down immediately,

it wasn't something that was thought to be the fault of the park because this kind of amoeba can occur. It's pretty rare, but it can occur in freshwater lakes in warm weather. So it was just something that didn't get through the filtration system. And sadly, he passed away. And that's where the rumor started that this park. closed because of the brain eating amoeba, which sounds super creepy and scary. But the park stayed open for a couple decades after that. So that wasn't the reason it closed.

Also, there were other local children in the area that summer that died of the same thing. I think there were two others. So it wasn't something that was deemed park specific. So it wouldn't be a reason like the park would close. It was just kind of something that happened in that area. Oh, that's so scary. I know. Yeah.

It's like terrible. Like I just can't imagine being on. a vacation with your kids and something like that happens. It's so scary. Because you can't, how do you stop that from happening? Right. Like you never would know. Exactly.

Exactly. It's so scary. You don't go underwater. Yeah. Yeah. Go get your face in the water. Yeah. Just swim above it. And there were two more deaths in the park in the 80s.

A 14 year old and a 13 year old died of drowning. Because the park was small, it could only hold about 5,000 guests. And over the decades, of course, Disney World just exploded. it was huge. They needed something bigger. There would be such a demand for this water park. So many people would want to buy tickets and it would often have to like close admission early in the day because it would fill up so quickly. So in the Michael Eisner era, they opened these bigger, better water parks, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. So river country kind of like fell out of favor. And after 9-11, tourism declined again. So the park closed not necessarily permanently. I think it was like undecided,

like an indefinite closing. And by 2005, that was finally when it was announced. It was closed for good. And we came just like a month too late. And I was so bummed. I didn't get my lazy river float down river country dirty looking water. That's so sad. So bum.

Not cool. Another creepy part of this story is the park wasn't demolished. It was just kind of left there. They built like a whole wall around it, like just a chain link fence. I love when they do this. Tarp kind of thing. And it was just left there. And I'm so mad at myself because I can't remember this word, but I saw TikTok recently

about how there's a word for how when they leave something to just rot instead of tearing it down. There's a specific word for that. And I'm so mad. I didn't retain that. I think I know what you're talking about. Yeah. I follow this like architectural account on TikTok and they did a whole TikTok on this word. And I'm like, ooh, that's useful.

But didn't remember it. So there we go. I know. We need to know. I need to know that way. I'm going to try to find it. So it sat there. When we were there, Holly, didn't we drive by though and just kind of see it?

I remember kind of driving by that area. I don't remember getting a good view of it until I went back later. But you could drive by nearby because it was by the Fort Wilderness and the Fort Wilderness campground so you could kind of cruise by there. I just remember being super bummed. That's all I remember from that trip. But years later, this was probably like in like 2015 or something. thing. I was talking to my tour guide about river country and how bummed I was. I never got to see it.

So he drove us out there and he drove us around in this big white sprinter van. And I like climbed on top of the van and like peaked over the gate. So he could still see like the rock structure and the slides and everything. And it was just kind of decaying. But I kind of love that stuff. Like I think there's a beauty and like decayed thing. I love that stuff. Like I was just saying I live in this house that looks like a witch's house. And I noticed like up on the top like the paint kind of chipping a little bit. And I'm like, oh, I should get that fixed. I'm like, but maybe I won't.

I kind of love that. Like, if it goes with the aesthetic, I kind of like that thing. So I did get to have a little peek at it. And you can go on YouTube. I didn't, I should have taken down the name of the account, but you can go on YouTube and search. There was somebody who broke in there and like recorded his foray into abandoned river country.

And the creepiest thing is lights will flicker on and off. And they left that. ambient music playing. Oh, I hate it. And you know how Disney music is all kind of like old fashioned and romantic and la-di-da. So there's something about hearing that echoing music still playing. That's so creepy. It's like the shining. Yes, it is like the shining. But I have to warn people out there. I'm somebody who's like kind of like into trespassing like I'll do it, but not on Disney property. Don't do it on Disney property because you will get banned for life. People have got banned for

life for trespassing, so don't do it. I would die if I got banned. Oh my God. That'd be terrible. That would be the saddest thing. I know. Don't do it. It's not worth it. So, you know, you could go in. You couldn't go in there, but people had and there's video of it on YouTube and there were still creepy music playing. Oh, I love that. And over the past few years, like I believe in 2017, Disney announced a Disney Vacation Club resort. They were going to build in that area. It was called Reflections, but then that got canceled. And they have since. sadly torn down all the river country remains so it's not there anymore yeah so thank goodness that person filmed it I know so now we have a record took one for the team yeah so that's the end of river

country but I don't know it'll still always like hold this mystique for me yeah it's like that whole forgotten like that like frozen in time kind of thing that I just love yes oh and thinking about that like ambient music playing like I can't that's I know that's so per like they need to have a horror movie that's in that that kind of theme park too like river country it just something about it I'm like that's a horror movie it's right fucking mean creepy yes Disney should open a haunted water park they should river country and it's like scary and you can nobody's done that a haunted water park and you can go through the rides and like things jump out at you yeah oh that could be so cool And you can make it like really like backwoods river country-esque.

Yes. You can make it like super like dark that way. Oh my God. You could do like a water slide where like you can't see anything and then like all the sudden like scary things happen. Oh my gosh. That would be so good. That'd be really fun.

All right. TM. We're doing it. Guys are we being a water park? I think we'd be amazing. Next project happening. That was such a good one. That was a good one.

I didn't even know that existed. I know. Well, I knew about it when I started reading like for this. but I didn't hear about it before that. It's crazy. The breeding and amoeba is always terrifying. Terrifying. Terrifying.

RIP river country. Yeah, seriously. I'm sad that you didn't get to go. I know. So close. All right. Well, I have like a little bit of a two for one for you guys because I'm going to be talking about not only Coney Island West, which is in Cincinnati, Ohio, but also Kings

Island and Mason, Ohio, because they kind of correlate. They like share things. Oh, that's nice of them. Yeah, it's cute. They're like best friend haunted amusement parks. Yeah, that's cute. So when Coney Island West shut down in 1972 because of the constant flooding from the Ohio River, the thought was that Kings Island would be its replacement. But before we get to Kings Island and the nitty gritty of everything in between, we have to start with the beginning of the story, which starts with the Hopewell Native Americans. They settled the land that would one day become Coney Island West. And obviously they were the first to have the story. the land and then eventually it was stolen because America. But eventually in 1867, a farmer named James Parker, he bought 20 acres in the area and he started his own apple orchard. That's adorable. It's really cute. So more and more people started traveling out west and they kind of start stumbling upon this orchard. And they'll ask him like, hey, can we have a picnic here? Like we've

been traveling a little bit. We just want to hang out for a second. And he would always let people. So then eventually he realized that this was kind of a good business opportunity. So he added things to the orchard to kind of make it a better tourist experience. So first it was just picnic tables and like benches and just like overhangs if it was raining. But then he added a dance hall, a bowling alley, a cafeteria. He like really went crazy with it. Yeah. Now he's rumored by many sources to have constructed the first merry go round there on his land.

And like maybe that's true. but when I fact-checked it, the first patent was in 1850, so like before that. But nonetheless, he did an OG merry-go-rout. I was going to say an old one, so we'll give it to him there. And, you know, maybe he did the first one and he just, like, didn't get the patent. He just didn't think of it, you know? He did it with, like, unofficially. Yeah.

So we'll give him the credit. Yeah. But anyway, he sold the farm in 1886 for a pretty penny, $17,500. I forgot to do the conversion. What a bummer. It's a lot now. Yeah, met much money. Yeah.

But the new owners decided to open up like an actual amusement park on the land, kind of like taking a page out of James's original book. Now, in the time that he was still running the show, actually a lot of the apple trees had died sadly. But luckily, they weren't bulldozed over for the purpose of the park. And when they did die, James planted a ton of maple trees instead. And a lot of them are still on the property to this day. Oh, wow. So if you go to Coney Island West, you could see one of the maple trees. But back to the creepy stuff. So, Or not creepy yet. But it was opened the same year that the land was purchased later in the year toward the end of June. And it apparently rained torrentially the day of the grand opening, like crazy, crazy rain that day, which is important for later. So remember that. Now, the park was dubbed Ohio Grove, the Coney Island of the West. But about a year into that mouthful of a name, people just shortened it to Coney Island. And over the next few decades, tons of improvements would be made to the park and it would see several different owners. But in 1924, it was purchased by one of the people who is still said to haunt it to this day, George shot and his brother Edward shop. So the two of them put a ton of money into the park, and they kept building until it had grown more than 120 acres. And they added attractions that still exist to this day, like the sunlight pool, which is famous for being the world's largest flat surfaced recirculating pool. It is bigger than a football field, and it holds over. 3 million gallons of water.

Damn. Wow. Shit's wild. It's wild. Indeed. It is. Now, the park is also home to the Moonlight Gardens, which are really, really pretty. And they're a popular wedding venue still to this day.

Oh. Yeah. Yes. Look into it, Bridget. Oh, there you go. Come on. And it's haunted, Bridget. Got everything in need.

Checking boxes. Because, unfortunately, in 1935, after 11 years of co-operating the park with his brother, George passed away in the moonlight gardens, which was one of his favorite places within the park. So it's like kind of beautiful that he died there. He was at a business event within those gardens and he had a heart attack. Oh, geez. Now, that is actually where the hauntings begin because after George passed away, obviously they still continued to have events within the gardens because they were so beloved to him and just like they couldn't get rid of them. They were so beautiful.

They're moonlight gardens. Hello. You can't get rid of them. But shortly after he passed and while they were having these events, people would report seeing a man that looked like George looking down from the balcony above, like at the people dancing below. I know, kind of creepy. But it's George, so we love him. Now, still to this day, people will comment about seeing this man and they think he's like an actor because he's wearing period clothing. So they're like, oh, that actor you hired was so great. And the people that work at the park are like, no, we don't hire actors. So they'll see, they'll show a picture of George. And they're like, is this the guy you saw? And people say, yes, that that's definitely him. I feel like any time you feel yourself about to say, like, wow, that actor you hired was so good. One hundred percent of the time they did not hire an actor. Like, anytime you say that, you saw a ghost. Yeah, that's a ghost for sure. That's the thing. They never hired an actor.

No, it's never an actor. They never did. And sometimes he has a lady with him, which is interesting. Oh, good for George. Yeah. A nice little chill haunting to start us off. You would say, think. But it is worth mentioning that people who work at the park still, because it actually ended up reopening, and people who run events at the Moonlight Gardens now, say they refuse to go there alone at night because if they do, they feel like they're being watched and they say they feel like they're not welcome there if they're alone, which is interesting. He's like, this is just a party place. Why are you here? You cannot be here alone. It's definitely George watching them. I think so. Yeah. But things get even darker and scarier than that.

So adding to the many attractions of the park, the shooting star roller coaster was opened in 1947. And the same year that it opened, a woman would be killed during the ride. Her name was Lucille Clemens. And she, her husband, Arthur, and four other people went on to the ride as kind of a group. And as the coaster took off, a gust of wind knocked her hat from her head. So she jumped up to grab it, kind of just like, need your reaction. And when she did, she was knocked from the ride and fell about 20.

feet to the ground where she remained unconscious until an ambulance arrived. So she was rushed to the general hospital nearby and eventually pronounced a dead. She had a ton of broken bones and what actually killed her was a skull fracture. Oh. Yeah. Now earlier that year, another woman had died at the park when she became dizzy on the merry go round. She was 68 year old Josephine Rosenfield. I'm just like picturing her on the merry go round, just living her best life. But she got dizzy and she felt from the horse that she was on and also suffered a skull fracture and passed away from her injuries. Now, the next death would come in 1966 when 18-year-old William Baumcamp fell off of the same ride that Lucille had, the shooting star. It was the last ride of the night, and once the ride was

over, it became clear that he was missing because the train rolled up and it was missing a person. Now, the seat where he had been, obviously, was empty, but somehow the lap bar was still locked in the closed position. So they were like, what is going on? So they start searching. This is like the tip-top ride with Abby. Yes. Except it's better with Abby.

Yeah, it's a lot nicer with Abby. Because this time it's closed, but they're like, there was a, there was a person there before, not in apparition. So he was later found at the base of one of the coaster dips, just a couple feet from where the ride was operated. So it's like he must have been thrown from it too. Now, just like they did when Lucille died, the Coney Island officials investigated to see if there was anything wrong with the ride, but they said that it was in perfect working order both

times. But like two people fell out of it. I feel like that's... I know. That's the thing. Something's wrong. Well, the first one I understand because they ended up fixing like the locking bar probably after she stood up and grabbed her hat. But it's weird that he was thrown. Like what happened there? You have to fix something. Shooting star is not working right. Well, and what's creepy is, so now the area where the shooting star coaster used to be has become this music center. And called the River Bend Music Center. And people watching concerts there will say that they feel a swooping motion in their stomach sometimes.

You know, like when you go over like a bump in your car and you kind of feel that, they'll just be sitting and they'll have that there with no explanation. But it's where the ride used to be, so it makes sense. Oh, that would freak me out. Yeah, creepy. Because it must feel like you're moving, like that feeling of moving without moving. Yeah, exactly. So two years later, in 1968, Fest Parker, who played debut.

Crockett and Daniel Boone announced that he actually had plans to open up his own amusement park that was going to be so much better and it was going to be in Kentucky. Now, he said he was going to name it Frontier World. He said it was going to be all the rage. Now, once he announced this, Frontier World is going to be all the rage. Yeah, spread it like wildfire. It's going to be Rufus. So the Goni Island executives were like, yeah, we don't have any more room to expand like what we have is what we have. So this is probably not going to be good for business. Plus, this place floods all the time. So they teamed up with the Taft Broadcasting, Inc, and started working on plans to make a new amusement park that could outdo Frontier World. They were going to

directly compete with Davy Crockett. Oh, man. A battle for the ages. But spoiler alert, it never came to fruition. Frontier World never came to fruition. So he was a liar. His fake amusement park never even happened. He lied right out of his face. He did. But in 1969, it was announced that Coney Island was going to be closed come at 1971. And by 1972, the substitute, Kings Island would open. So King's Island did end up opening. But Coney Island only stayed shut down for a year. I think they were just like, people miss this. So let's bring a pack. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. They'll come back. And I think maybe they opened it again once they realized that frontier world wasn't going to be happening.

Who knows? But in the time that it was closed, people started reporting some freaky stuff. So while it was closed, obviously people would still break in, you know, teenagers with nothing better to do and people like us that probably want to experience. But people started reporting hearing screams coming from the area of the sunlight pool. And they would go over there because it sounded like somebody was calling out for help and there would be nobody there. Now, I couldn't find a name associated with this, but it is rumored that a young man actually drowned in the pool after he agreed to do a race with his friends. He jumped in at the start of the race, but he underestimated where he was diving, and it was too shallow, so he hit his head and drowned. There's a lot of head injuries. There is a lot of head injuries. What's going on there? I think it's just like rides. You have a head. It's just one of those things. Just coincidence. Now, perhaps it was a lingering haunt from his friends calling out for help. But the creepiest part of this whole haunt to me, is that people will hear screams and splashes from the pool even after the park is closed for the day and no one's in it.

But even creepier, even when the pool is emptied for the season. Oh. They'll hear splashing and screams. Ooh. Like people are just still there. Still splash. They also claim to hear chanting from the mounds that are still left from the Hopewell Native Americans. And also they say that sometimes the area of the park fills up with this super dense fog,

but it's only contained to the park area. Ooh. Weird. Right. And also the merry go-round music still plays even when it's not supposed to. We love creepy music. And like I said, the day that it opened it was torrentially downpouring and the day they closed it, it was torrentially downpouring.

So just like a weird little. Just weather, you know. Snafu. Who knows if it's a coincidence or like a warning. Still strange. Yeah, weird. But now we're going to shift our focus to. Kings Island, which actually seems to be a little bit more haunted, though some of the hauntings

are kind of like I said in the beginning, co-hauntings. So Kings Island officially opened on April 29th, 1972, and within four years, there was already a tragedy. Because in 1976, one of the employees working in the Lion County Safari as a ranger was killed by a lion. He was 20 years old, and he had Actually, he was just like a had worked like on the other rides just as like a ticket ripper, like helping people on the rides. But he really, really wanted to be on the safari. Like it was his dream. So they let him.

And one day he got out of his Jeep to use the bathroom. But he didn't take his tranquilizer gun with him, which could have protected him if he had come into contact with a lion. So sadly he was mauled to death. Oof. Oh my God. I know. Wait, you couldn't go to the bathroom without taking a tranquilizer gun with you?

I was also going to ask that question. I was like, wow, they were like, just put your life in your hands. Well, he was going to the bathroom break. Going to the bathroom like in the lion place. Oh, he was going to pee off to the side? Yeah, yeah. Like, he wasn't going to a bathroom. I literally thought the same.

Okay, got it. I was like, they better. Put the restrooms like in the actual. No, no, no. I was like, damn. You know, guys can pee anywhere. Yeah, that's true. That's true.

Right. Got about that. Yeah. So he was just going in the lion's den, which. You know, not great. Yeah. So the next tragedy at Kings Island would come to be known as Black Sunday. It was June 9th, 1991, and it involves many deaths.

So the first starts with a few guys. They were hanging out at an October Fest event near the Viking attraction. And it was really, really hot that day. So one of them reached into this water fountain to kind of like cool down and splash at his friends. His name was Tim Running. And when he did so, he was electrocuted. Oh. because nobody at the park realized there was some kind of glitch when the lightning,

excuse me, the lighting of the fountain had been set up, but they were going to realize how bad this glitch was soon. Because after he got shocked, Tim fell into the water and his friend William, better known as Eddie Hathcote, went in to try to help Tim because I think he didn't realize what had happened. He's like, oh, did you just fall in? But when he went to help his friend, he was also electrocuted. So then a security guard came and tried to assist both of them. he too was electrocuted.

Oh my God. Oh, my God. So ultimately two of the men died, the security guard in Eddie. Tim survived, but he ended up having long-term nerve damage. Damn. But as this was happening, a woman named Candy Taylor was riding on the flight commander nearby, and she saw that there was like this big commotion going down near the fountain, and then soon she saw all the helicopters arriving at the scene.

So she started waving to her friends from the ride, like pointing everything out all the craziness. Now, she was said to have been intoxicated, and they actually tried to deny her access to the ride, but she pushed her way past them. So as she looked down at the commotion, she actually wiggled herself out of her harness and tumbled 50 feet to the ground. Oh, my God. She too died of a skull fracture. Jeez. Yeah. Wow.

So all of these tragedies, I'm sure, contribute to the hauntings, but there are other paranormal beings that actually predate the park itself. Now, one such haunt is a little girl who's come to be known as tram girl. So she appears to park employees and visitors as this little blonde girl wearing a 19th century blue dress. Stop. Yeah. Now, she was originally spotted mostly by tram workers, which is how she got her name. But she's also seen a lot in the water park, which is strange because a lot of people think that she's the ghost of a little girl who drowned in a nearby lake. Oh.

Now, the little girl is known to paranormal investigators. as Missouri Jane. Oh. Because apparently during an investigation of the nearby dog street cemetery, which is super haunted, investigators found the grave of a five-year-old named Missouri Jane Gallinor, and they think that she could be the little girl in the blue dress. Oh, five years old. Yeah, they said that she was sad about, like, all the other little kids that got to go to the park.

Oh, my God, break my heart. She's mostly seen by the water park and, like, going around the parking lot. Let her play. Yeah. People say she's like pretty friendly. I hope so. Either way, even if she's mean, let her play. Yeah, don't even fair.

Just let her do whatever she wants. Yeah, give her everything. Now, another ghost of the park is a young boy known as racer boy. And people say that he was killed on the shooting star ride, much like William and Lucille. Yeah, shut that down. Because they ended up taking two of the cars from the shooting star ride and bringing them to a different ride here at King's Island. So they claim that his body was found on the tracks.

And apparently he's dressed in all white And people will spot him as this new ride goes through a tunnel They'll see him standing on the edge of the ride All dressed in white Oh, I just got like chills from that one I don't know why Yeah, I don't like that one Now I guess the first time he was reported

Was in the early 90s But the sightings from him have never stopped Now one of the most spotted paranormal pals We have here is Tower Johnny He's the ghost of a teenager who fell off the Eiffel Tower exhibit that they have. I guess he was trying to show off for his friends in the summer of 1983, but unfortunately fell to his death.

Now, people say him the most, and they say that they will see him peering down from the tower or hanging out by the water fountain. And the employees actually at the park see him all the time, and they blame him for a lot of the strange occurrences, including electrical surges and weird snafus that happen. So anytime there's a tripped sensor at the park, they refer to it as a Johnny. I love that.

And this is just like the last little thing that I could find. I could find no further explanation on this. So I just wrote, Honorable mention goes to the red glowing eyes that people will see on one of the roller coasters going through the woods. Whoa. Oh, my. Wow. And that's the end.

But I want to go here too to both of these. Now that Coney Island West is opened again, I'm like, we can go there and then we'll go to Kings. Yes. There you go. So creepy. That would be so fun. Damn. Yeah.

That shooting star ride needed to be locked down. Yeah, for real. Don't take any cars from it. Something's happening there. It's got bad vibes. Yeah. And I feel like just like the energy that's left over from that ride tells you everything you need to know.

Eek. Haunted AF. So creepy. Yeah. Damn. Where did you say that was? That's in Chicago? No.

So the Coney Island West is in Cincinnati, Ohio. And then Kings Island is in Mason, Ohio. They're not too far from each other. Okay. I think they're like four hours or so. Great. So we have it mapped out here. Yeah.

And we're on like a, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We're in a good little area too. Yeah. We could do this. We got it. We're going to hit them all.

I'm down 100%. It would be so much fun. Yeah. Right. And there's probably others along the way that we could add to this list. Yes. Definitely. Where's Lake Shawnee?

I was just going to say I want to hit the Lake Shawnee really bad. Is that in Ohio? Me too. Is that New York? That's not far. Go get really fast. Hold, please. We'll edit this part out.

Is Lake Shawnee the one with the really like rusty like leftover rides? Yeah. Oh, it's in West Virginia. I knew it was close to us. I was like, we can get there. We can make that happen too. Yeah, that one is wildly haunted. Like wildly.

Yeah. Oh. Yeah. We'll hit that one on the way. I know. I feel like we could do a part two of these someday. We'll have you guys back on the show. Yeah. Yes. We'll report on our actual experiences. Yes. Exactly. Guys, this was so much fun. And thank you so much for coming on. Thank you for having us. This is so fun. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, you're welcome back anytime. Is there anything you guys want to plug at all? Just our podcast, Girls Next Level. You can find it on Apple, Spotify, anywhere you find podcasts. And congrats on five million downloads already. That's insane. Thank you. Thank you. You guys are killing it.

Thank you. You earned it. All right, weirdos. We hope you keep listening and we hope you keep it weird. Bye.