This Paranormal Life - #262 Dr. Baker and the Evil Crescent Hotel

Episode Date: May 10, 2022

In this week's episode, we investigate The Crescent Hotel, an incredible resort built in 1886 for the rich and famous... but how did this beautiful building once called “America’s most luxurious hotel” turn into a hospital where many patients never left the building alive?Support us on Patreon.com/ThisParanormalLife to get access to weekly bonus episodes!Buy Official TPL Merch! -  thisparanormallife.com/storeFollow us on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTubeJoin our Secret Society Facebook CommunityAdvertise on This Paranormal Life via Gumball.fmResearch by Amy GrisdaleEdited by Rory Powers (and yeah, I CRUSHED it this week.) Intro music by www.purple-planet.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will ants ever realize that they outnumber us? What happens if you only drink Sprite? Answer to these questions and more on this episode of This Paranormal Life! Hello everyone and welcome to This Paranormal Life, the comedy paranormal podcast where every week, myself and Kit Greer Malvena investigate a brand new paranormal tale and come to a conclusion at the end as to whether or not that tale is truly paranormal. Hell yeah, brother. We are still

basking in the afterglow of This Paranormal Life 2.0, the golden new age of the show. That's right. If you're unaware, we have rebranded our podcast artwork and our Patreon and rebranded ourselves, frankly. That's right. I was kind of beforehand, before the rebrand, I was kind of like a take no prisoners, buff, f***ing big balls. Wow, is that how you saw yourself? Manly, chiseled jaw, strong man. I think we get the picture. chiseled jaw uh strong man i think we get the picture and now after the the brand i am a bolder with eyes i'm even harder and more uncomfortable why i'm borderline constipated

i'm i'm so freaking solid do you understand you know that's bad. Well, Rory, I'm going the other way. I wear, as you can see, Thai pants now. I say namaste a lot and bow to people just to let them know just how spiritually advanced I am. We've changed up our appearances and our personalities. Just, you know, see what people think, see if they like it. But I'll tell you what hasn't changed, Kit. The quality of This Paranormal Life, the podcast of this paranormal life, the podcast. That's never going to change. We're showing up right here today to investigate, as professionals, one of the most chilling paranormal tales that maybe I've ever come across.

Wow. That's saying a lot. We all like to have our little giggles and our little smiles and our ha-has. Sure, because it is a comedy show, so. Right. Granted. But Rory 2.0 is uncomfortably hard right now. Yeah, you said constipated, borderline. And this episode has no giggles.

It has no laughs. It's incredibly serious and dark. Yeah. So let's dive in. So let's dive in. Just a reminder on Patreon.com. Dot com, dot com. You can get access to wacky new shows. What is this? I thought you said it was an incredibly serious episode.

The episode is serious, but you have to also tell people about the additional stuff that you can get on Patreon, which is, call it Owl City, because it's a hoot. I just think it's maybe mixed messages. But it is true, you can get this episode ad-free over on Patreon. Don't. Honestly, don't. Don't make light of it because this is a really serious case. Don't even smirk at me.

All right. All right. This is serious shit. This episode also is a listener submission. So thank you to Tyler Inman for emailing in this suggestion. Thanks, Tyler. A case that I really couldn't believe I hadn't come across before in hindsight, because we've been doing the show for a long time. Had a few of those lately. Look, guys, let's just dive right into today's story. Let's go. It was February 1997. Marty and LZ Roenick were visiting the little town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas,

in the Ozark Mountain Range. They themselves were from Connecticut, but they'd flown out to Arkansas for a real estate opportunity. Nothing quite like a real estate opportunity. They weren't in the market for a house, though. They were looking to remodel a big old property, charge guests through the nose, and build themselves a big apartment on the top floor.

Very transparent, but I guess good business practice. Their realtor was excited to show them around some of the grand architecture downtown. Did you think this is one of those places? Is this like they're from Connecticut? And I don't know, but I do understand there is at least areas of connecticut which are extremely wealthy is this like they've traveled across the country to get stuff that's dirt cheap and i think you said quote charge people through the nose sounds like it i

mean if you're in the market for a hotel that you want to remodel and build yourself a penthouse at the top? Your son is Bruce Wayne. Yeah. You're a millionaire, a billionaire. I mean, this isn't a hobby that normal people have, shopping for hotels. They must be carrying bags with them. They've made a couple dollars in their career. The realtor said, Now this right here is the Basin Park Hotel.

It's the tallest building in the whole town and actually has the potential for the penthouse apartment that you mentioned you'd like to put in. The couple were blown away and made their decision on the spot. We'll take it. Great! I mean, I only had one other list and to show you around here anyway and it's a little further out of town up

the mountain actually it is a bit of a shame to skip it though it was once the finest hotel west of the mississippi ah but you said you were happy with this one still a shame though no place nicer in my eyes but you're content why even show you what you could have had and how much better it could have had been? Now, this is absolutely premium salesmanship. Yeah, you're getting Tom Sawyer'd here. It's like, I don't need to show you that pretty cool place. No, but you said you're happy with this one. You said you're happy with this one. You know, some people are okay with mediocrity, you know? This guy's a born salesman. You know, whenever he was 16 years old,

he was probably working in an ice cream shop. Someone walks in, can I just get a medium cone of mint? Mint? Interesting choice. Interesting. Yeah, sure. No, I'll get you a mint right this second. You know, a lot of people have been going for bubble gum lately,

but no, no, mint it is. Mint it is. He's like, oh, yeah, let me tell you, nothing better than ice cream on a nice hot day. I guess there is one thing better, though. People say sweeping the floors of an ice cream store is just as relaxing. Say you wouldn't be interested in sweeping the floors of an ice cream store. Do you want me to do your job? His boss hits him over the head with a newspaper. Give him the f***ing ice cream. Do you want me to do your job? His boss hits him over the head with a newspaper.

Give him the f***ing ice cream. Stop trying to Tom Sawyer people. As I said, Marty and Elsie looked at each other, exchanging intrigued looks, then said, All right, all right, take us there too. The very next day, the couple met the agent at their final property viewing. This one, the Crescent Hotel and Spa.

It was breathtaking. A gothic building nestled in a field of trees with a nice wide path coming up from the highway. The garden stretched out for acres and the view from the hilltop was stunning. Yeah, she's a beaut, ain't she? You think this is something. Wait until you see indoors. The group approached the giant front doors and pushed their way inside. So, the place was built in 1886. It did have three floors, but the top one suffered fire damage in the 60s. Look, it'll need a lot of work, to be honest. If it doesn't sell

soon they might just flatten the whole thing but it's been popular enough through the years though before the fire that is why did he bring them up here he promised them this was the most beautiful hotel he said this side of the Mississippi and then when he gets it gets up there he's like oh yeah now I remember it's actually a hunk of shit. It all burned down. It's a fire hazard. It would take millions, God, more than the cost of the building itself, to put it right.

It's a beautiful five-story hotel. Five-story pre-fire, of course. Now it is a cozy one-story hotel. It's under new management, run entirely by rats these days. Since the rats moved in, the place has gone downhill for sure. It was popular though, before the fire that is. It's been a hotel,

a school, and even at one point, a hospital. This little nugget caught Elsie's attention. What kind of hospital was it? The realtor's smile faded. Which is the worst response possible to that kind of question. I mean, bad that she had to ask.

I was hoping, I mean, bad enough it was a hospital at all. Yeah. But if it's anything other than a general hospital, he should have said. Right. What kind of hospital requires the response, we don't speak of the hospital? It was a hospital for war criminals. Yeah, it's like a beautiful place.

It's been a hotel, a school, but most people know it simply as home. Home to the criminally insane, that is, as a high security prison. People will come from all over to visit this place, but mostly the courthouse directly to here, and then they'd die. Did I show you the torture rack? We're going. I'll see you get your coat. Torture rack used to be a beautiful room, pre-

fire, of course. I really cannot overstate how much damage the fire has done. Keep your shoes on, folks. The floor is still hot on account of the fire is still burning in some rooms. He's like,

if I could just show you around the living room. Opens the door. Whoa! Fire's still going in there. Anyway, did I show you the... Shut your mouth!

Stop talking! Every word that comes out is a disappointment and a travesty. On the plus side, your heating bills will be very low. He replied to them. I'm not actually sure what kind of hospital. I'm going to have to ask the current owners.

Don't trust a man with that voice. Checkered history aside, the family were in love with the place. They made an offer and ended up paying 1.3 million for the grand old hotel. Okay. The property was in desperate need of repair, but the two were suckers for a good preservation job. The place also had such a rich history, it would be a terrible waste for a building this beautiful to be torn down. So in the end, they actually bought both the Crescent Hotel and the original hotel that they were looking at downtown.

Life's different when you got cash, isn't it? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. It's like, sweetie, what do you think? Hotel 1 or Hotel 2? Why not both? All right, Mr. Monopoly, asshole. If it's all of that little consequence to you, why'd you think? Hotel one or hotel two? Why not both? All right, Mr. Monopoly. Asshole. If it's all of that little consequence to you, why'd you even go see them? Just buy it off the internet.

On the spot. They decided the downtown skyscraper would be a nice little earner, but the jewel in the crown was the Crescent Hotel. However, the pair didn't realize that what they had just purchased was known by some as the most haunted hotel in America! Wow, interesting. And let me tell you, we've heard that claim thrown about probably a few times in the history of this podcast. Yeah, not long ago we did the Cecil Hotel. But let me tell you, this hotel has a crazy past.

When I was researching the story, I couldn't believe some of the shit I was reading online. It makes a lot of sense that the realtor just shook his head and looked down at the ground when someone so much as just mentioned the history of this building. I still don't get why he took them there.

Well, he sold it, so he did a pretty good job. Very sweet commission. As we mentioned earlier, when the hotel was purchased, it was a mess. I think it was missing a whole floor. There was a ton of work to do. And crucially, only a few months left until summer when business would be booming. Hmm.

A deadline. So they got to work. Construction sound effects. The couple revamped the entire hotel, restoring it to its dazzling former glory and creating an apartment for themselves right on the top floor. However, these repairs took a little longer than planned. Six years. Just missed that summer deadline. I love watching these. I know this is a little different, but I love watching these home renovation

shows. In the UK, here we have Grand Designs. A classic. It's still a great show to this day, but it's always f***ing hilarious. It takes a special kind of person, and no shame to them. I admire them on some level. It takes a special kind of person to undertake these to them i admire them on some level takes special kind of person to

undertake these projects uh you have to have you have to be a little bit crazy a little bit genius and have a lot of cash yeah but also just a little bit naive or something because for some reason everyone on these shows who undertakes making their dream home they all think it'll be done in two weeks for 50p and then the show inevitably catches up with them four years later and they've gone gray and lost an arm in a diy accident and they're like yeah it actually ended up costing me three million pounds um but the house is done and it looks beautiful it cost three pounds, six months of my time and my firstborn child. I sacrificed him to the construction gods.

And I've been living in a tent. My wife left me. The dog turned on me. It takes a lot to do a project like this. I mean, we joke a lot on this podcast about being city boys.

Sure. But I'm not even, this isn't even exaggeration. I struggled when I had to change the light bulb in my apartment so i can't imagine having to like do anything that requires putting a hammer through a wall right uh yeah putting in a new floor or a complete renovation is slightly more work yes yeah i just know that the first thing the first thing I would do is like, I guess I, I guess I start by like making some progress and I just put a hammer through the wall, hit the main sewage pipe for the entire apartment building and liquid shit fills my apartment in 30 seconds. I wouldn't be able to be

trusted with any kind of construction. So for these guys to renovate an entire hotel that's insane that's a huge undertaking i'm not surprised it took six years they must just love the journey and the progress right a hundred percent however it also takes a special kind of brave person to hear that a hotel is spectacularly haunted and then start digging up things no one said haunted no one said haunted yet. You did. Look, I said it had a mysterious past. I said it was once a hospital. You said it was the most haunted hotel in North America.

I said many people know it is the most haunted hotel in America. But I don't know if at this point. But not these two. Maybe they don't know. I don't know if that was disclosed during the purchase of this property. Do you legally have to do that? For 1.2 mil? It doesn't sound if that was disclosed during the purchase of this property. Do you legally have to do that? For 1.2 mil? Doesn't sound like it was. Finally, after all that work, the day came when the Crescent Hotel could open its doors once more to the public.

Welcome all to the grand reopening of the Crescent Hotel. Hello, good sir. Can I take your bags? Ah, yes. And might I say, what a beautiful job you've done with the renovations. Looks a lot nicer than when Dr. Baker ran the place. Yeah.

Dr. Baker. Just saying that name makes me feel f***ing sick. The bags, sir? May I take them? Dr. Baker. You're gripping them very tight. That's sick f***.

Okay. Left a scar on this city. What he did in this. What he did to those people. Have a reservation, sir. And I swear, for as long as I live. Oh, yeah, no. Yeah, it's under Matheson.

Okay, yeah, just looking it up here. Mr. Matheson. Great, Mr. Matheson. You're staying in the asylum tonight. The asylum has a mini bar? Of course. Come right this way, sir. Perfect. The guests filed into the hotel, eager to explore the new luxurious offerings of the Crescent Hotel. But it wasn't long before the front desk phone was ringing off the hook with complaints.

It started small, guests reporting strange noises, doors slamming randomly shut and refusing to open. But that was only the beginning. refusing to open. But that was only the beginning. Other stories involved visitors seeing a pair of weathered hands emerging from within the bathroom mirror, reaching for guests as they brushed their teeth. Okay, that's not small. It escalated pretty fast, didn't it? Holy shit. Late at night, the sound of a man screaming could be heard sinking through the floors. Whoa. Imagine lying in bed and you just hear, like he just flew right through you.

Visitors claimed they saw what looked like a nurse walking down the corridor, heading towards the old morgue, pushing a gurney. The rattling of the rusty old wheels was so loud it woke guests up from their slumber. Good lord man, this is extremely tangible stuff and it seems to be affecting a lot of people. I found one great review online that said, I stayed there. Be sure to get the Sunday brunch if it's available. It's not cheap but very worth it. But they went on to say that they couldn't sleep when they were staying there. So they went walking around the hotel at 3 a.m., where they saw two girls come running down the hotel stairs with all of their bags, screaming, we can't take it! We can't take it!

I mean, I feel like your review should just be based on your stay. If the brunch was great, and if your room was comfy, and you had a great night's sleep, give it five stars. I don't know, dude. I don't know. I think even if you have a nice time, if you hear other guests like screaming from the bottom of their souls that they can't take it anymore, I think that's worth bringing up. Okay, well then lead the review with that. Don't start with the brunch it's like we saw what looked like a medieval knight wake us up at 3 a.m and decapitate himself at the end of our bed can't stress it enough though the european

breakfast brunch really 10 out of 10 it truly was they have a make your own waffle station the buttery croissants to die for pretty good stuff and it sounds like the medieval knight did die there's something really funny about like going to a hotel experiencing the paranormal and rather than simply being blown away by this science and religion shattering experience that should have reframed your entire world view the existence of the ghosts and the paranormal you just go straight to trip advisor and give them a negative review being like the hotel management need to absolutely sort it out mate nurses ghost nurses pushing gurneys is not

acceptable at midnight in a hotel we're paying customers for god's sake right yeah you have issues with like all of the wrong things like talk to god because this is an act of god i don't know what's happening have you ever stayed in like a hotel that is said to be haunted i know we briefly talked about uh your wedding venue was actually a kind of a semi-haunted hotel i mean nailed it at one yeah uh the our wedding venue where all the guests stayed that night ballygally castle hotel in northern ireland if you were visiting northern ireland couldn't recommend it more the breakfast phenomenal the staff fantastic service phenomenal the location gorgeous as you know we're looking out to sea and a beautiful um like 17th century castle or something like that. Sure.

That being said, there is a ghost room. There is a castle turret that is haunted to this day. I don't know if we mentioned on the podcast before if I'm putting you on blast here, but on my wedding night, we were very tired. We retired early from the night's celebrations. This was just after your wife left the altar screaming, I can't take it, i can't take it i can't take it sure which ironically had nothing to do with um the actual haunting of the curse building that

was just some some problems that had arisen prior to the wedding i i insisted the dj had gangnam style on loop for our wedding night for your first, for the bride and groom's first dance. She claims there's only so many times you can do the famous dance popularized by Psy. I said, nonsense, and proceeded to scream Opa Gangnam Style while she screamed off into the distance. But you and a number of our friends did infiltrate the ghost room.

We got blasted. What do you want me to say? You smoked cigars and climbed into the atticrate the ghost room. We got blasted. What do you want me to say? You smoked cigars and climbed into the attic of the ghost room. Yeah, which was definitely not supposed to be available to the public. I have some great photos from that night. It's fantastic.

So that was the closest I have personally got, I believe, unless I didn't know about a different place, to a ghost hotel. That being said, I did not see any evidence during my time there, but I was very busy and stressed about the wedding. You had a lot on. You had a lot on. You know, planning the wedding, trying to get your bride back at the venue after.

You had to Gangnam style down to the nearest taxi station to try and get a cab to meet her at the airport. On the day of the wedding, a medieval transparent knight came up to me swinging a broadsword going, whoa, I said, great, a member of staff. Can you talk to the manager? We need to make sure the table placements are right

for the drinks reception. He's like, what? Aren't you scared? It's like, I've got too much on my plate brother we need all hands on deck have you seen the florist oh yes i did actually we'll tell her to get down to the venue a heart got to later last evening the guests are arriving and he's just at the door welcoming everyone welcome i hope you all have a lovely evening. Champagne is served in the dining room. Oh. Yeah, I've never stayed in.

I've never. Look, this is a wild story. Maybe we won't get into the podcast. Maybe we will. I once stayed at a haunted castle before for a work trip where apparently I got a ghost tour of the castle before I stayed the night. And they had like rooms where apparently chairs had been seen moving. I don't know if I've ever told you this story. They have it's a whole it's full of all these like legends of people getting beheaded and all these spooky things that happened.

And I actually while I was there, I vlogged a bunch of stuff and did like a little diary thing. And I think I told you that day, I was like, Hey, it'd be fun to cover this place on the podcast. And then I could play these clips in audio form and talk a little bit about having spent the night there doing my own kind of investigation would have been a really fun idea. Things got a little too real. Things got a little too real. I had to cancel that investigation. got a little too real things got a real little too real i had to cancel that investigation i woke up the next morning in my bed covered in blood have i told you this story i'm imagining a shining level elevator doors opening i i cannot even begin to describe how bad it was it looked like somebody exploded in my bed sheets.

A human body combusted. You're completely white. You're almost drained of your entire life force. Apparently, at some point in the night, I had gotten a nosebleed that just didn't stop. This has never happened in my life before. It looked like I'd murdered someone in my bedroom. This has never happened in my life before. It looked like I'd murdered someone in my bedroom.

And like it was, I think it was 7.30 when I woke up and you had to check out by nine. And I was like, okay, what's to do? I'm pretty sure blood is pretty infamously hard to get out of things. And is it more incriminating if it looks like I've tried to get rid of the evidence? Getting that quantity of blood on your bed feels like, that feels like the reason they take your credit card when you start your stay.

They're like, you're a, you f*** up, you get charged. The worst part was, is if there was like any actual damage where they had to like just bin the sheets and repair them, it was a work trip. It wasn't my card behind the desk so the pr whatever company i was with would have got an email where it's like one of your guests died last night and you have to pay to clean clean up the crime scene we think he's spontaneously combusted uh so yeah hard cut to me in the bathroom trying to wash the blood out of all of these sheets for an hour and a half right up until checkout.

It was the most chaotic thing I've ever done. I felt like I'd committed a murder. That was the closest I've ever got to, I think, feeling like I've had a genuine, spooky, haunted hotel experience in my life. I just realized I do have another one, but there is definitely not enough time to tell it. So that might have to go in the after party. Stick it for the after party. Yeah, that's where a lot of these good stories will live if they don't get to fit into the regular episode. Anyway, let's push on. Word was beginning to spread, and before long, the luxurious Crescent Hotel was becoming well

known for all the wrong reasons. One morning, a hotel housekeeper was cleaning out the rooms, getting ready for the next batch of guests. She headed into room 419, knowing it was unoccupied, and got ready to strip the bed, change the sheets, and empty the trash. But as she turned around to plug in the vacuum cleaner, she was surprised to see a woman standing outside the bathroom door. Oh, I'm so sorry. I thought this room was empty. Let me get out of your hair. The housekeeper began gathering her things.

But something about this guest was different. There was a strange feeling in the air. Before she could pack up all of her equipment, she heard the guest speak. It's okay. You can clean. I'm just waiting for Dr. Baker to come and give me my daily injection. At this point, I think we need to go back in time. Let's leave that poor cleaner where she is and go back in time for some context. It's a real freeze.

You're probably wondering how she got here. We're going to have to go back in time for some context. It's a real freeze. You're probably wondering how she got here. We're going to have to go back in time. I think we need to know who Dr. Baker is. And we're going to find out, folks. It's time to investigate the origin story. One of the parts of the origin story of this insane hotel. You remember earlier in this podcast when I said this place used to be a hospital? Yeah.

That's technically true. It was more of a clandestine hospital where the mob, if they ever got shot, would be patched up by chimps who'd been trained to use scalpels. Dr. Baker and Dr. Bobo. Dr. Bonobo. This wasn't quite like any hospital that you or I have ever visited. To explain the entire circumstances, we're going back to 1937. The Crescent Hotel had changed hands a number of times since its construction in 1886. It had been a resort for the rich and powerful, a school for young women, and then a summer hotel around 1934.

But the property was so large and unmanageable, it was hard to get an owner who could really utilize it for its full potential. That's when a mysterious man named Norman Baker entered the scene. He was an eccentric millionaire, inventor, who dressed in elaborate lavender suits. He also worked as a radio host and was known for his charm and charisma and hypnotizing eyes. Who the f*** is this 1930s hipster? I think, um, you know, when you read about this man and hear the way he's talked about by others, it's kind of like the way people describe the leaders of a cult. Like, creepily charismatic, very intense stare.

A kind of Tom Cruise character. Yeah, but with a little kind of malicious hint to them, you know? Like, you could be the devil in a way. You're quite dashingly handsome, but like a not not a safe way suspicious way okay most interestingly he was a self-proclaimed doctor despite no what does that mean okay so to be clear no training whatsoever there's a few things in this world that you can be a professional of whilst being self-proclaimed sure paranormal investigator for one absolutely doctor no no that's one that requires i think there's laws about that

a self-proc i'm a bit of a self-proclaimed doctor that doesn't that doesn't mean anything what kind a love doctor baby all right take a step back. Put your **** away, sir. That's like saying, I'm sort of a self-proclaimed astronaut. What does that mean? It's like, I think I could go to space. There's something about calling yourself self-proclaimed. It's like, so you know you're not then. You're not even in on the joke.

Look, he was a lot of things, but most commonly, he's known as a charlatan. Okay. You see, in 1937, Norman Baker bought the Crescent Hotel to turn it into a hospital and health resort because he claimed that he had discovered the cure to cancer. So his approach to distributing the cure to cancer was to make a kind of Disneyland resort. Dude, I have to show you a picture of this place. Look, I love this story because, well, look, it's super creepy. It's super interesting and bizarre. It sounds like the plot to a horror movie, like genuinely someone who creates this old Gothic hospital claiming that they have a miracle cure and there's like shady stuff going on behind the scenes i feel like that is the basis for like a few different horror movies

absolutely let me set the scene the the movie opens a reporter is checking into the hotel uh with the receptionist um yeah i've got my uh booking under this name. Tell me. Sorry, this is light thunder. Terrible weather we're having outside. Yes, yes, there is. It's under, the booking is under Simon's. I was wondering, do you have any patients undergoing

the therapy right now, the controversial therapy? And then lightning flash. What's the name of this guy again dr baker dr baker booms his voice from the top of the staircase i suppose you'd like to know about the therapy well i didn't see you there many come wanting to know about the therapy but you can only know in time please Please join me in the dining room. Yeah, yeah.

Please, Jenkins, take his bags. Frankenstein picks up his bags. Yeah, Jenkins turns. He's got like stitching on the back of his head. You know, Jenkins was one of my first patients. His eyes are completely black. You should have seen him before the operation. He was a beast. I don't know.

He was worse than that. Yeah, it tells itself, you know. And I think there's a movie called The Cure for Wellness, which is kind of similar where it's like someone who goes to check out a kind of

hospital like this but they keep like poisoning him as he's there and so he thinks he's going insane but they're like no take your medicine and he's like no it's this like cool kind of freaky uh world uh let me show you a picture of this freaking thing and i'm gonna say the tagline to the movie is uh like it's like hotel baker once you check in you'll never want to check out oh that's pretty good or like hotel baker no more no more loafing around or something like a like a baker pun you know it doesn't have to be that it could be your one. Your one was pretty good. Yeah, so like, right, the bread thing.

Yeah, like a baker, like bread. Yeah, yeah. So is that like a comedy movie or something? No, no, dead serious. Incredibly serious. Okay. Incredibly serious. Like, the Baker Hotel.

That's the tagline? No, that's the name. That's the name of it. And then the tagline is like, you're putting me under pressure here, man. It's okay. I mean, yeah, we can move on. Where the dead rise like yeast.

I don't know if like yeast would, I mean, I'm not like a movie executive. I don't know. But like, I would imagine they wouldn't want the tagline to end with yeast. Because yeast cooks and rises. So you could do like a fun thing there. But we don't have to go with that one either. It just feels like it's getting a little away from the whole premise.

You know, like taglines which like sum up the whole thing. So like, I don't know. It could be like, you know, it could be something like alluding to the charlatan himself. Could be like, Hotel hotel baker the doctor is in nice okay yeah yeah yeah because it's playing on like the doctor theme as well or something like hotel hotel baker your baguette or run huh huh you baguette or run you baguette or run you baguette or run like a like a french baguette-er run? You baguette-er run? You baguette-er run.

Like a French baguette. Right, because of the... You baguette-er run. Because of the bread. Or your toast. Okay. I think we need to move on. You baguette-er run.

You need to leave this meeting. I try and get in on your joke. It's like, Hotel Baker, don't croissant the doctor. That's my bit! You're like, what the f*** are you talking about? This is a picture of the hospital that can apparently cure cancer. Oh my god! This is the most haunted thing I've ever seen in my life it's borderline

a picture of trans Dracula's Transylvanian castle it's uh it's so scary i think i'm gonna go on a limb and say that the cure is death yeah this place isn't gonna cure you of anything except for the curse of being alive the The curse of the pain you endure. Look at this thing. This is why this story is insane. Like, how is this a real thing that happened? It's so weird and scary. Yeah, imagine you were to check one of your loved ones into that hospital.

You're not going to have a lot of confidence in their speedy healing process. No, no way. Baguette or Watch Out? That would have been a better one. Okay. Sorry, sorry. Just getting sidetracked here. I don't know if you heard that though. Baguette or Watch Out? That would have been a better tag for the movie.

We've sat in silence for 15 minutes. I've already thought of that. He refused to move on. These claims, these crazy claims of his cures combined with his creepy cult leaderish charm convinced patients from all over the country to come to the hotel and receive dr baker's experimental cures and treatments and let's just say the fact that the scientific community is still searching for a cure to cancer to this day. Yeah. Is a little insight to how legit this operation was.

Right. I think the word experimental will be doing a lot of heavy lifting in describing his methods. Yeah. Dr. Baker's, quote, cure was injected into thousands of patients, sometimes up to four times a day, six days a week. Do we want to know what's in the cure? Oh, they did find out in the end

because I think it had to be disclosed. So I think the location of this hotel is quite near like a natural spring of like freshwater springs. Okay. So that was part of the explanation behind it. You can drink from this magical spring and it'll help cure it. Sure, that's a pretty ancient idea, going to hot springs to recover. Also, I believe there was some corn silk, some watermelon seeds, some tar extract in there.

Well, don't put tar in people. A lot of stuff that I don't think there is any medical justification behind it having any properties that would heal you. I mean, putting in water in Melonstein sounds like he was just injecting whatever was lying around his kitchen. I mean, that's the awful thing. I'm pretty sure if you inject water into someone's body, you can kill them. I only found out recently if you inject air into someone, it kills them instantly. Yeah, right? It's like, it'd be one thing if you were drinking these vials of medicine, but this is not okay.

Of course, it wasn't long before the truth started to come to light. People who were checking out after being healed looked in much worse condition than they were when they arrived. Which should be the bare minimum, right? Rumors made it back to the hospital that people that were being sent home had died within days. That's pretty smart business practice on his part. He waits until the last possible second in order to send them home just so that they don't die on his property and he has to deal with it. It's like the illest they've ever been.

It's finally done. You're healed. Get out of here, you little whippersnapper. It's like, doctor, I feel incredibly sick. No, no, no. That's just the watermelon seeds kicking in. Even worse, there were some that never left the hospital at all. There was a wing that had been soundproofed

and was sealed by a door that locked only from the outside. The sign at the entrance said, Psychiatric Wing. But really, the ward was a secret dumping ground for patients who were clearly on the brink of death. He didn't want to risk letting them leave and be seen by other prospective customers. Let me tell you, I'm being very vague about what happened here on purpose. Because if I just went through all the details of the events that transpired inside of this building,

it wouldn't be that fun or lighthearted a podcast. But I will say, it is kind a like morbidly fascinating story and definitely worth checking out and reading up on if you have any interest in this kind of weird, bizarre, old school, dark medical history. Sure. Yeah. I mean, I could see that. It's like a pretty it's morbidly fascinating to think how dreadful the conditions were not that long ago. Oh my God, yeah. And such a like, such an awful situation where it's this, this crook taking advantage of like the most vulnerable people in society. It's, oh. You shouldn't be able to make cash from healing people. Oh my God.

You really shouldn't. Take notes, America. he really shouldn't take notes america the craziest part and the saddest part really in the end is that because baker wasn't a real doctor he couldn't even be charged with medical malpractice instead they had to arrest him on a technicality which was mail fraud oh my god in 1939 you know it's bad when the shit you're doing isn't even a crime yet they have to make a new law they don't even what do we what do we say here he's injecting watermelon seeds into people's bodies is that illegal and they're paying him for it yeah it's a consensual service i mean obviously it wasn't okay i think he was he was basically chased out of amer America and had to flee country and state multiple times.

He's a modern day snake oil salesman, basically. Now granted, we'll never really know everything that happened at Baker's Hospital. And it plays such a large part in the origin story of this haunted hotel that some people do think that the claims of what happened there were exaggerated for dramatic effect. the claims of what happened there were exaggerated for dramatic effect. I mean, a doctor slash con man doing wild experiments in an ancient castle does seem pretty far-fetched, to be fair. Hmm, that's interesting. But in 2019, just three years ago, there was a terrifying discovery made at the grounds of the Crescent Hotel. Buried behind the historical Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs

and encased below this plexiglass, artifacts uncovered during a February landscaping project. We don't see jars like that, that particular style, come out of the ground very often. Mike Evans says they are connected to Norman Baker, the 1930s entrepreneur and convicted swindler who claimed to have the cure for cancer. Baker used this room at what's now the Crescent Hotel as his morgue. This is like the holy grail of ghost hunting. Bill Ott immediately placed a call to University of Arkansas's chancellor's office, which found its way to the campus archaeological survey. We've tied it to Dr. Baker in many ways. the office. The department of public health and public health and public health and public health

counselor's office, which found its way to the campus archeological survey. We've tied it to Dr Baker in many ways. They tied it back with this jar that match those shown on Baker's posture and film. When we blew up on this

small section of film and just so happened that that little section. Uh. You have words that you could still read and it said before Baker treatment. This is like Norman Baker leaving his business card and with that that just was the icing on the cake. And bottles still containing the so-called cancer treatment. We found a little formula spoon, a glass spoon in perfect condition. We found a bone saw. Some of the jars uncovered here actually included human tissue. So Bill had the bottle. He was carrying a bottle of alcohol and a bottle of alcohol. He had a bone saw some of the jars uncovered here actually

included human tissue. So Bill had to make a call to the state police to ensure that they weren't digging into a crime scene. Because we knew all along that he had had these bottles with not only his formulas, but also medical

specimens, tumors in the such that he had taken out and put in the bottles and displayed to show people. And now those bottles are part of the Crescent Hotel ghost tour. More than 500 items were unearthed. Many are now waiting to be analyzed at the Arkansas Crime Lab. Many more still remain below the ground. Spooky stuff, right? And even if we never really know the full extent of what was going on inside of that place, I mean, finding jars buried from years and years ago, filled with tumors and human skin tissue, gives you a bit of an idea of some of just the horrible things that happened there. He wasn't using that bone saw on a fresh baguette, even if his name was Baker. No, absolutely not. Look, I think in terms of locations that we've investigated that people claim are haunted,

I don't know if I've ever come across a location that deserved to be haunted more. Yeah, the sheer scale of human suffering that's taken place inside these doors is phenomenal. And the interesting thing is about this hotel, the Crescent Hotel, I mean, I purposefully only focused today on this story of this creepy hospital and dr baker but if you read about this hotel online that is just one of the many many many ghost stories that they have apparently a construction worker was killed uh when the hotel was first being built when it it was a woman's college, somebody jumped off a balcony, I think. And you can see the ghost of this lady jumping off.

A lot of very like traditional ghost stories and hauntings that you see in a lot of different locations. Apparently there's a cat. There's a cat ghost that like snuggles your leg. And then when you look down, there ain't nothing there. Now that would be something. If I'm staying at a hotel, I can tolerate nurses pushing gurneys on a hallway, but a cat, I will not accept it. Kit, there is much

more that we could talk about involving this case. Maybe we'll have to cover some of it on the after party, but today we are just looking into the haunting of the hotel and its creepy origin story with Dr. Baker and his charlatan hospital. Where's your head at for today's case? Absolutely wild and disturbing stuff. Really fascinating in terms of trying to come at this as working on if it's paranormal or not. Clearly, there's been a lot of witnesses to it.

Do we have any physical evidence from these modern day guests? I think there is evidence that you can see online of paranormal activity in the hotel. Granted, that level of paranormal activity is very ambiguous. People have photographs of mist forming in weird places, of seeing the face of a baby in a mirror. Okay. Whereas the hauntings that we talked about that were specifically linked to the old hospital, like the patient waiting for an injection or the nurse pushing the trolley down towards the morgue,

there is clearly no photographic evidence of that. And I guess that's kind of the specific area of haunting that we're looking at today. It's really believable with this case that simply knowing the backstory of the hospital and the hotel could cause you to have a paranormal experience that may have not even been there. have not even been there let's face it in my case having my wedding sleeping in a hotel in which okay supposedly is haunted by an old-timey ghost hundreds of years ago not gonna lie didn't think about it once didn't blink didn't put me off hosting my wedding there didn't ask for a discount on account of the the the haunting i was like that doesn't disturb me on any level it's just kind of cool uh whereas this is one of those haunted locations where the story is enough.

The story is going to put you on edge all night. You're going to be looking out for it. Yeah, and it is important to say when we talk about the fact that there's so many paranormal sightings happening at this hotel. Obviously, with this kind of lore and history, the hotel had no choice but to lean into it fully.

It is still open to this day and is heavily advertised as a haunted hotel. Yeah. It does ghost tours. You can rent out specific rooms where different hauntings have taken place. Crazy. So if you're going there and you're like, I think I saw something, you also have to take into account the fact that you knew it was a haunted hotel, probably knew a little bit about the history there. So it's not like you might have an EMF reader stuffed in your backpack. Sure.

Just in case. It wasn't just a coincidence. And I think that's where we're kind of kind of butt heads today. Weirdly, the fact that there are so many other stories about ghosts in this hotel kind of, for me, like takes away the legitimacy of one story. If they're like, hey, there's a ghost cat. Do you think the ghost cat is crazy? Let me tell you about Michael, the ghostly construction worker. Okay.

Is it just that everyone who's ever been involved here is now a ghost because of some weird paranormal effect? That seems kind of bizarre, you know? Whereas if it was one origin story one specific reason it's a little more believable because there's a certain focus to it a hundred percent so if i always have to put my stamp on whether i think this is paranormal or not i i think we just don't have enough evidence yeah i think um it's a very interesting paranormal story. It's a very horrific, but as I said, kind of morbidly fascinating origin story. But really, no concrete evidence to prove that this really is paranormal

and any of these ghosts or hauntings are legitimate. But should we go stay there? Absolutely. A hundred percent. I swear Arkansas just keeps popping up as a pretty haunted location. I didn't realize that state was dripping in ghouls. Lately, absolutely. We need to check that out. I'm just glad you've been covering it on the show because I would have said Arkansas.

Yeah, I almost want to say that every time I read it. Thank you for listening to this week's episode of This Paranormal Life. Hopefully you enjoyed it. It took a little while to try and nail the tone of this episode because I appreciate that it is a little more gruesome than our usual beat. Totally. Kind of edging into more true

crime than the paranormal. And, you know, we're very sensitive with that and hopefully we treated the content respectfully. And hopefully you enjoyed it. I know I did. Thank you to Amy Grisdale for helping with the research on this episode. Once again, if you missed the announcement last week,

we have officially relaunched the This Paranormal Life Patreon! Holy shit, Rory! It's exciting, guys. For as little as five bucks a month, you can get This Paranormal Life ad-free, plus a monthly bonus episode. We've also got a ton of new rewards. I'm talking borderline too many. Where do you even put them all? Imagine Santa coming down the chimney and his sack explodes. There are gifts flying in every direction. You're trying to open them up, the next one's smacking you in the side of the head. That's what it's like when you sign up

to the This Paranormal Life Patreon. We've got the brand new weekly show, the TPL After Party, like where we mentioned today. Maybe there's some parts of the episode that don't make it in the final cut or some stories that we have that we want to talk about, maybe behind a paywall or two.

That's where the after party comes in, my friends. This is the bit I get most excited about. We've always had bonus episodes. We've always had our Tuesday episodes. Well, now there's Friday episodes too. And if you can't get enough of This Paranormal Life and you're listening to the free ones here on the main channel,

let it be known. There is now another five episodes a month over on Patreon. That's crazy. We don't just talk about the paranormal. talk about the production of the show the behind the scenes the studio shenanigans everything in the tpl universe we've also got a monthly raffle where you can win actual props used in episodes of this paranormal life like the ouija board the cursed doll the uh aura glasses from another episode. And finally, maybe our most impressive piece of merchandise we've ever released.

The This Paranormal Life limited edition Knight of the Commune collector's coin! And it's so much more, Rory. God knows what secret societies, ancient witches' covens, billionaires, members clubs that this coin will get you access to. If you put that coin inside of a Coke machine, it would dispense a Coke that gives you eternal life. We don't know what it does. It hasn't been tested in all these capacities.

That is for you to do. But it is undoubtedly beautiful and a lovely piece of this paranormal life history. You can be part of an exclusive club that owns this very item. It's really cool. We put a lot of work into the design. It's riddled with Easter eggs. And it does, of course, grant you access to the paranormal commune

once it's completed. Completion date, TBC? Probably not this century. Yeah, it's going to be a little far away, but we really want to nail it in the first run after some of the issues that have plagued the previous commune. We're not trying to be the Dr. Bakers of the commune.

That's what we're trying to avoid. No. So if any of that sounds good to you, check it all out on patreon.com forward slash this paranormal life. The links to everything including patreon are of course in the description of this podcast just swipe up in your app of choice and one of the other things we've brought back to our patreon is shout outs which many of you will remember from

over the years of this paranormal life well we're glad to say they're back they're on patreon and we're going to shout out a few of our patrons right now. Thank you so much to John Ardelino. John Ardelino is Ardelenon. Ardelenon? He's Ardelenon. What do you mean? Like he's not a very supportive person? No upper body strength.

Oh, right. Okay. He just like, I don't know if you're tired, just put your arm on his shoulder and he just crumples like a f***ing slinky. You know, it's fine. It's just what it is. Just uh you know it's fine it's just what is what it is just you know not to lean on him yeah also emotionally he's not a good listener right he's not very supportive yeah emotionally physically or anything like that otherwise great guy that's what you get for opening up to a slinky thank you also to lauren serber kenley lauren serber Lauren Serber, the Cerberus Kenley. Whoa. She's a demon. Oh, wow.

And emotionally, an angel. Oh. But behaviorally, a demon. A Cerberus. Okay. I don't know whether I want you on my side or against me. I'm a little confused with this one. Oh, she's great if she's on your side.

Okay. Just watch out for that third head. Right. Thank you to Cameron Scales. Cameron Scales was the guy who when you died in ancient Egyptian times, they would use

Cameron Scales to see if you had a heavy heart. Right? Wasn't that the thing? They put your heart on a friggin' scale and they were like, hey, how heavy is it? And they were like, they're all heavy. Send them all to jail. I mean, not mean not jail hell and it turned out afterwards cameron actually hadn't calibrated the scales right so oh god like 60 dudes went to hell and they were actually pretty holy it turns out so they caught on when they were like is it likely that all the high priests were demons?

Thank you, lastly, but not leastly, to Robert Dominguez. Robert Dominguez. He's not anyone you want staying at your hotel. Oh, God. Trust me. As soon as he checks in, you could have fresh towels waiting for him. You could have the bed all looking.

But he's a mean guest. So he's going to find a problem with anything. Right. You're like, hey, Robert, so awesome to have you. Hey, do you mind? We're like a socks household. You can leave your shoes at the door. He would borderline go outside, find a dog shit, step in it,

and walk back inside and put it all over your carpet. You're like, all right, I know you're the mean guest, but this is unnecessary. This really is. Robert, thank you so much for being a patron. Thank you to everyone we've shouted out, and we'll pick up shout-outs in a future episode. Thank you for joining us for this week's episode.

We'll see you next Tuesday, folks. Thank you.