Episode 304: Your Urban Legends LXVIII - Haunted Hotels
/There’s something that’s just spooky about a hotel, haunted or not. But these hotels? They’re definitely haunted. But don’t worry, y’all, we’re not entering our haunting phase just yet.
Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of illness, death, child death, colonialism, misogyny, violence against women, murder, fire, lewd jokes, and dead bodies.
Housekeeping
- Recommendation: This week, Julia recommends Malignant on HBO Max.
- Books: Check out our previous book recommendations, guests’ books, and more at spiritspodcast.com/books
- Call to Action: Games and Feelings is an advice podcast about games. Join Question Keeper Eric Silver and a revolving cast of guests as they answer your questions at the intersection of fun and humanity. Search for Games and Feelings in your podcast app today!
Sponsors
- Brooklinen delivers luxury bed sheets, pillows, comforters, & blankets straight to your door. Go to Brooklinen.com right now and use promo code “spirits” to get $20 off when you spend $100 or more, PLUS free shipping.
- BetterHelp is a secure online counseling service. Get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/spirits
- Calm is the #1 app to help you reduce your anxiety and stress and help you sleep better. Get 40% off a Calm Premium subscription at calm.com/spirits.
Find Us Online
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Transcript
[Theme Music]
AMANDA: Welcome to Spirits Podcast, a boozy dive into mythology, legends and folklore every week. Well, first of all, it's the spookiest month and I got really excited and I had to stop. Okay, every week you have a drink and learn about a new story from around the world. I'm Amanda.
JULIA: I'm Julia.
ERIC: And I'm Eric.
AMANDA: And this October is going to be a month of all urban legends, y'all. Gosh, we're excited.
JULIA: Wooo!
AMANDA: The spookiest month, and it's October Baby!
JULIA: Wooo!
ERIC: Popopopow! Ooh, spooky ghosts.
AMANDA: Best month of the year
JULIA: Truly is the best month of the year, in my opinion. And then particularly this month is an extremely good month because one I'm turning 30.
AMANDA: You turn 30 in three days' time?
AMANDA: I do. Amanda, you have an exciting thing happening this month, too. I'm getting married in 10 days' time. That's true.
JULIA: Eric, what's your exciting thing about October?
ERIC: Well, let me tell you, I booked a hotel for Amanda's wedding!
AMANDA AND JULIA: Wooo!
ERIC: Not the most thrilling event but I'm excited to be there. I think that actually, maybe you know what, we've heard a lot of stories about hotels over the years.
JULIA: We have.
ERIC: I feel like people remodeling them people staying in rooms, people who had hotels that became something else. What if we just talked about hotels today? I mean, obviously spooky hotels, but like what if we just did a themed episode?
JULIA: I love a theme. I love hotels. I am curious if any of you all have stayed in a haunted hotel.
AMANDA: Julia, you know, the closest to a haunted hotel I've ever stayed in, which is a Victorian home in Lakewood, Ohio that we booked when visiting Schneider a few years ago, and totally definitely had the vibes of a haunted location. So that's the closest I came.
JULIA: It really did.
ERIC: That was definitely pretty spooky.
JULIA: Every once in a while it pops up on my like iPhone memories.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: And I'm like ooh, man. Yeah, that was a scary house.
AMANDA: It was a scary house. No one slept.
JULIA: Yeah.
AMANDA: And then we left. So that was the closest I didn't anticipate anything but just the anxiety of wondering if this is going to be a haunted spot. You know, is what really did me in.
JULIA: Do we all famously stay at the Millennium Biltmore in LA?
AMANDA: Yes, we did
JULIA: Which was extremely haunted.
ERIC: I don't know if we famously stayed there. But we did stay there.
JULIA: We did.
AMANDA: For a conference.
JULIA: Very haunted, didn't experience any hauntings.
ERIC: It was the last hotel stay I think we all had before everything.
JULIA: True.
AMANDA: Yes, moments before COVID–
ERIC: Yeah.
AMANDA: –we all stayed in LA. I was there for like a week and a half because I had like family stuff afterward. And so I essentially lived in the Biltmore for like a week and a half. I got it only learned near the end of our stay how iconic and haunted the hotel really is. We did go down to the pool one morning, and I gotta tell you, if I was by myself, I would have turned right around and walk back up.
ERIC: Yeah.
JULIA: It did have bad old vibes.
ERIC: That pool definitely is haunted.
JULIA: It was a basement pool. Which one, is already terrible.
AMANDA: Yes.
ERIC: Basement pool, but like the coloring was exactly what you would expect an indoor haunted pool to look like what the tiling and all that I mean, just very–
AMANDA: Too yellow.
ERIC: I feel like there was definitely a column if you see a column near a pool, that's haunted.
AMANDA: No, no, get out of there.
ERIC: There's something about those two pieces of architecture, multiple columns, indoor pool, haunted. That's all like–
AMANDA: Yeah, there was like a lot of tiles that were sort of like engraved or like plaster work in unexpected places like the towel return bin did face on it. And it was like no, thank you.
JULIA: No, thanks.
AMANDA: So that's my experience. I hope nobody's hotel for my wedding is haunted.
JULIA: Fingers crossed.
AMANDA: But if there is, you know, you could probably write it off as a business trip, because we'll no doubt talk about it later this month.
ERIC: Well, first off, I'll already be writing it off as a business trip because I'm never gonna get audited. And if I keep thinking that way, I won't ever it won't happen to me. It'll be good. I'll be good. But second, those hotels look like new construction that you had on the invitation. So I think it's unlikely.
AMANDA: Unlikely to have a ghost and like the Holiday Inn, you know, or like a Hilton. Unlikely.
JULIA: I am now Googling your area where your wedding is going to be and haunted hotel so hold on one second.
ERIC: Oh, no.
AMANDA: Julia, if it's the one we're staying in. Don't tell me.
JULIA: So far. So good, everyone. Good news.
ERIC: Excellent.
JULIA: Alright, Amanda, good news on this list. There is no haunted hotel in the town where your wedding is.
AMANDA: Hurray.
ERIC: Very good.
JULIA: Good news.
ERIC: Very good.
AMANDA: Promising. But why don't we entertain ourselves and our listeners with some stories of very haunted hotels that are not in upstate New York?
JULIA: Absolutely. How about I tell you a story from Kitti, who titled her email, hotel kitchen ghost?
AMANDA: Yeah.
ERIC: Okay, yeah.
AMANDA: Two favorite tropes.
ERIC: Hotel kitchens are a weird, nebulous thing that you really only ever see in the occasional episode of Top Chef, but then action movies.
JULIA: Yes.
AMANDA: Yes.
ERIC: I feel like action movies are the main place you see.
JULIA: They're always cutting through those hotel kitchens. Yeah. Well, this is interesting because Kitti actually works at a haunted hotel. So here we go.
AMANDA AND ERIC: Ooh.
JULIA: “I discovered Spirits a few years ago and I have been wanting to write to you all about the haunted hotel I worked in. So I used to work for a Hotel in Albuquerque, NM. I worked every position, housekeeping, front desk, kitchen, overnight, etc. Our hotel does a happy hour at night with drinks and food, and as I had come from a kitchen background that was the first shift I learned. When I started I worked with a girl named Natasha who believed very strongly in the spiritual realm. I myself do believe in the paranormal, but lean more on the skeptical side. As much as I like to be logical and look for scientific answers, there are things that I cannot explain. Many of those things happened in the kitchen of this hotel. One of the first things Natasha told me was that there is definitely a ghost in the kitchen. She said it was a nice ghost, and she thought it liked her because whenever she was fighting with the girl I replaced, things would happen in the kitchen like pans flying off the shelves or things falling off the counters.” Question before I continue?
ERIC: Yeah.
JULIA: Do we think that means the ghosts liked her?
ERIC: It could be a needy ghost, it's asking in a very subtle way for attention.
AMANDA: It's true.
ERIC: Doesn't seem pretty. I mean, it's frightening, obviously. But it's not like, ah! real monsters-type stuff.
JULIA: So Kitti continues again, “Again, I didn't really believe her because the pans could've been unbalanced and just fell off due to a draft or something.” You know, those typical drafts that push things off counters
AMANDA: Also in the kitchen, like it's kind of not good when stuff hits the floor. Like that's pretty much a thing you try to avoid.
JULIA: Yeah.
AMANDA: So this ghost might be kind of related to like a city health inspector and trying to find them, get them a failing grade. That's my headcanon right now.
JULIA: “The first time I really started to believe her was when we were in the middle of our rush. We had a serve yourself set up, where we would put food in chafers on one side of a counter and the guests could fill their plates from the other side. At the end of this counter was a small bar, where we would serve drinks. On our side of the bar/counter there was a door to the kitchen that we would leave propped open with a doorstop outside of serving hours. The doorstop wasn't the best, and unless you kicked it underneath the door it would just slide close.”
AMANDA: Hey guys, have anybody had a doorstop that worked? Because if there is I haven't seen it.
ERIC: Well, I've got some doorstops right here.
AMANDA: And famously Eric, your doors do tend to close behind you while we're on camera leading us to believe that your house haunted.
JULIA: Yeah.
ERIC: No, no that isn't accurate. What has happened is the attic door has opened while recording
JULIA: Eric! No!
ERIC: Never once has a door that was open closed while we've been recording episode because of the good door jams that I have acquired from one Mr. Bezos. Now we will not be discussing the creepy door to the attic that is opened. Julia, continue.
JULIA: We– I mean we should.
ERIC: We should but we can't. We simply can't again.
JULIA: It's fine. Eric bought some ghost-proof door stoppers off of Amazon and now everything's fine. Don't worry about it.
AMANDA: Why are you asking? Don't ask?
JULIA: Why are you asking?
ERIC: I've taped the door right here. It doesn't open randomly anymore.
JULIA: Oh, my god, Eric. Okay.
ERIC: Look, if a single piece of gaff tape prevents the door from opening when the wood shifts because of heat and cool–
JULIA: Ghosts.
ERIC: –that means it is not, if it is a ghost, it is an extremely weak ghost.
JULIA: And therefore can't hurt me.
ERIC: One piece of gaff tape is not that powerful. So I'm saying.
AMANDA: Eric, we know that all a ghost has to do is blow on your face for you. You don't have to have any strength. Just the ability to interact with you sensorly.
ERIC: Yep, yep.
JULIA: Alright. So this doorstop not the best doorstop. “So, during our rush Natasha was serving the bar (she was very charming and no one could compete with the tips she made) and I was running food. The line was full so I went to stand with Natasha so I could talk to her and our guests, and get some bar training in. While she was serving a drink we heard a crash in the kitchen. She stopped for a second and said "Did you hear that? That was the ghost!"
AMANDA: What?
JULIA: “Skeptical, I figured I had left something propped unevenly on a counter and it fell off. Except when I went in to the kitchen to investigate there was a set of metal tongs lying on the middle of the floor. I very clearly remembered setting the tongs on the middle of the table after I had filled up a pan, because I didn't want them to fall off. No one else could've been in the kitchen, because the only people there were at the front desk or we could see them walking the floor talking to guests.”
AMANDA: Suspicious.
JULIA: Suspicious. Fast forward, “A few months later, we had hired another girl to work at the front desk and kitchen and I was with her in the kitchen training. When the night had finished, I was cleaning the bar and our front desk attendant and supervisor were helping clean the lobby, and by helping clean the lobby they were sweeping in front of the bar while we talked. (Don't get me wrong, they did clean the lobby and were incredibly helpful. While we were talking, the new girl, Elizabeth, was mopping the floors and had just started to mop in front of the kitchen door. Out of no where, the lights in the kitchen completely shut off, and we all just stood there for a moment in shock staring at Elizabeth. She turned around and told us to cut it out, and stop messing with her. She doesn't believe in ghosts, the lights must've just timed out. This could've happened, as we do have light sensors that shut lights off after a certain amount of time. Except, Elizabeth was mopping right in front of where one of the light sensors was. There was no way anyone else could've turned the lights off since the only people who had access to the kitchen were all standing within five feet of each other.” Could have been a bad sensor. We'll do benefit of the doubt here could have been a bad sensor.
ERIC: Could have been. You never know.
JULIA: “Since I was cross training with the front desk and kitchen, I would occasionally work mornings and decided to ask the breakfast attendant about it, since she had worked at the hotel since it opened. Without any hesitation, she confirmed she had seen ghosts and told me of a few stories similar to mine. The breakfast staff usually arrives at 4am to start cooking for breakfast, and usually at this time there is no one awake except for the night auditor (overnight desk) and the breakfast attendant.”
ERIC: I love these names of jobs.
AMANDA: I know I'm obsessed with these.
AMANDA: Breakfast attendant, night auditor excellent job titles all around at hotels.
JULIA: Yeah, hospitality is such an interesting field in that way where it's like alright, well you can't just be like, you know the breakfast person you have to be the breakfast attendant.
ERIC: The Night Auditor is a mystery novel Amanda will read at some point in the next 50 years.
JULIA: I was about to say it does sound like a mystery romance novel. So same brain, Eric, same brain.
AMANDA: That sounds great to me could also be like a character in John Wick 5. I think that's not off the table and I'd be really into it.
JULIA: Okay, well, someone please tell Keanu Reeves. Night Auditor, his next movie
ERIC: Keanu is the one actual celebrity I've ever seen in my life.
JULIA: Wow.
ERIC: We passed each other at LAX. We gave each other a head not, it was–
JULIA: Huge.
ERIC: –the coolest thing I've ever done, though no one saw it.
JULIA: Huge for you. Breakfast staff gets there at 4 AM. While this girl who was the breakfast attendant was cooking food in the kitchen. She heard someone shaking the chaffers, the pans that keep the food hot, you know?
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: “Sometimes, guests will come to the food line expecting food to be ready and start opening the chaffers, so she thought this was what was happening. She went out to tell whoever was opening our chaffers that the food won't be ready for another hour, but there wasn't anyone there. The lobby is set up in a way that you could tell if there was anyone near by, and she even called out but there wasn't anyone. She also told me that, since she used to work in housekeeping and gets along with everyone in housekeeping, that there is a room where the housekeepers have seen a little girl.”
AMANDA: Nope.
JULIA: “Our suites are set up where you walk into the room and there is a living room, and you can see straight into the bedroom area. The housekeeper had gone into the room after she watched the guests leave with all their stuff. When she went into the room she saw a little girl standing in the bedroom, then walk out of sight. The housekeeper wasn't sure if the room was checked out so she went to see if there was anyone in the room, since they had reportedly checked out. When the housekeeper got to the bedroom, there wasn't anyone in the room. It was empty. I worked in housekeeping for a while, and there were quite a few times where I would be cleaning a room and see a shadow move past the door, but when I stuck my head out the hallway was empty and I didn't hear any doors close. (Which you most definitely would've heard because those doors closed loudly.” All hotel doors are just extremely loud, right?
AMANDA: Yeah.
ERIC: Yeah.
JULIA: It's something that makes them even creepier. “There are plenty of haunted room stories or haunted stairway stories I could tell you, but the hot spot for the ghost activity is absolutely the kitchen. Another kitchen ghost story comes from another housekeeper who used to work in the kitchen. She told me she refuses to work in the kitchen alone because of how creeped out she gets. Our kitchen was very large was sectioned off with very large doorways. The door behind the bar that led into the kitchen I mentioned earlier led into the section that had all the hot things, the ovens, the warmer and the pans for cooking food. A large doorway led into the dishwashing/prep stations. The dishwashing sink was on one side, and the prep counter and cabinets was on the other, and there was this weird random wall that made a doorway to where the walk-in freezers were, and made another doorway that led into the same area, but that had tall storage racks blocking view of the freezers.” Basically, there's just a weird wall all here that makes it all conjoined, right? “So while this kitchen attendant–” the one who refuses to work in the kitchens alone anymore, “–was working, she was at the prep table on the opposite side of the weird wall. She saw a shadow cross from the small hallway to where the walk in freezer was. She didn't think much of it. Her son also worked at the hotel and when they were both working at the same time he would go help her with whatever she was doing. She yelled a hello to him, but he didn't reply. She got confused, as he would of course come say hi to her so she stopped what she was doing and went to find him. He wasn't there, the kitchen was completely empty.”
AMANDA: Oh, no…
JULIA: So it's a lot of like shadows, a lot of like voices and stuff like that a lot of movement when there's nothing there. Interesting. “I had just gotten a promotion, and was in charge of housekeeping for the day which required me to stay late. It was a Sunday, and my best friend (Elizabeth) was on shift, so I usually got out very late about 8pm. I was finishing up paperwork when Elizabeth flies into the office. She's freaking out, which isn't that normal because she gets very hype about many things. As I mentioned before, she doesn't believe in ghosts so when she tells me that she heard the ghost in the kitchen I was surprised. She tells me that she was standing at the dishwashing area helping another coworker of ours clean dishes. She's standing in the doorway near the walk in freezer and they heard the door open and close very fast three times.”
AMANDA: Hmm. Not just one random occurrence of a thing falling off but a real pattern.
ERIC: Yeah.
JULIA: Yes, “Sometimes our walking door will close on itself” Eric. “They're very old. But she swears up and down that it opened and closed very rapidly. I go to investigate, but everything seems normal. When I went into work the next day, I had pretty much forgotten what had happened and went about my job as usual. I had gone to my desk to enter some clean rooms into the system when one of the managers says, “Kitti, look at this.” I turned around and she has the cameras pulled up on her monitor and is flipping through footage from the kitchen earlier in the morning. I'm not sure why there might have been like a car that was broken into and she was watching the cameras to see if she could see whoever stole the car when she got distracted by the kitchen camera. Now there are two cameras in the kitchen, one that can see the liquor room, and one that can see the walk-in” which makes sense. That's where like if you were to steal something from the kitchen being those two things. “As I mentioned before, our lights are timed and would shut off if they didn't sense motion and would turn on if they do sense motion. The camera is dark, which is expected at 3 am in the morning when no one is in the kitchen. But then all of a sudden, the lights turn on. Now, this could have been someone walking into the room off camera until the screen glows brighter and brighter as if someone was shining a light into the camera. And then the screen goes red and shuts off.”
AMANDA: What?
ERIC: Oh no.
AMANDA: That's not a normal kind of system failure of a camera.
JULIA: No, that's, that's spooky. Oh, so Kitti finishes with all of the other stories. “I only half believed trying to explain everyone's stories, including my own was some kind of logic. But that proved to me that this hotel was haunted. And there was absolutely a ghost in the kitchen.” I have plenty more spooky encounters at the hotel paranormal or otherwise, if you're interested, I'd be happy to share them. Thank you for everything you do Spirits means so much to me. I don't know very many people who geek out at mythology and folklore like I do so say. So stay safe and take care, Kitti”
AMANDA: Well, now you do kitty, all of us.
ERIC: Thank you so much.
AMANDA: Oof, creepy, creepy, creepy, creepy, especially in a hotel where it's like, you know, or an airport or something where it's like, it's never really closed. You know, there's always people around. By the nature of it. There's new people coming in and out all the time. It's hard to tell kind of who it belongs. I imagine that like, your brain is constantly getting new input of like new smells, and sounds and footfalls and it must just be really disconcerting and have a lot of possibility for something sort of creepy to make its way in.
JULIA: Or that's really interesting, Amanda because maybe the opposite is also true where you become very desensitized to like new people new things, because you're like, everything's constantly changing around me. So for something to stand out that strongly in a hotel, which is very much a liminal space. That has to mean that it's very spooky or something's really wrong. You know what I mean? Like the animal hindbrain wakes up and it's like danger. There's danger here.
AMANDA: The bar for something being unusual at a hotel is so high. And so when it is it's like it's good fodder for–
JULIA: Yeah.
AMANDA: –Urban Legends episode.
JULIA: Absolutely.
ERIC: Well, it's a little late in the day. But let's see if that continental breakfast is still going? Maybe, maybe they have like three leftover bagels?
JULIA: Listen, if we're lucky, they have the buffet going for happy hour. So let's do that.
ERIC: Yeah.
AMANDA: Alright, let's go.
[theme]
JULIA: Hey, it's Julia and it is officially the spookiest of months and a few days before my birthday and I am just so so, so excited. And I'm also so excited to welcome our newest patrons, Fuzzgoddess, Alesha, Tinkerbeast, and Kacey. Thank you so much for joining us here on Patreon. You join the ranks of our supporting producer-level patrons like, Uhleeseeuh, Anne, Brittany, Daisy, Froody Chick, Hannah, Iron Havoc, Jack Marie, Jane, Jessica Stewart, Kneazlekins, Lily, Megan Moon, Nathan, Phil Fresh, Rikoelike, Captain Jonathan MAL-uh-kye Cosmos, Sarah, Scott, and Zazi and of course, our legend level patrons who are celebrating the spookiest month every month because they are legends here on our Patreon, Arianna, Audra, Bex, Chibi Yokai, Cicuta Maculata, Clara, Ginger Spurs Boi, Morgan, Sarah, Schmitty, & Bea Me Up Scotty and you can join our Patreon and get things such as ad free episodes, Patreon only exclusive urban legends episodes, recipe cards and so much more by going to patreon.com/spiritspodcast, join us today we are so so excited every time we see an email telling us we have a new patron. I am also so excited because it is October and that means I can watch scary movies without any judgement. So what I'm going to recommend for you today is one, try to watch a scary movie like every day this month that's what me and my husband tried to do and I'm gonna recommend one to get you started which is Malignant you can watch it on HBO max it is both one of the most wild things I've ever seen plus just fascinating in the way that it almost feels like parody but also takes itself very seriously and I love that about it and I wish it the best I don't know it's a movie but it's fun as hell and we had a great great time watching it. I also always have a great time when I am listening to shows here on the Multitude network. Not only do I enjoy making shows for Multitude but I also really enjoy listening to the other Multitude shows and sometimes guesting on those other Multitude shows and one that I am personally loving is Games and Feelings. It is an advice show about games. You can join question keeper Eric Silver and a revolving cast of guests, Amanda and myself included as they answer your questions about the intersection of fun and humanity since you know you got to play games with other people. They talk about every single type of game video games, tabletop games, party games, laser tag, escape rooms, game streams, D&D podcast the companies than the workers that make these games anything you can think of like, how do you convince people who have only played Monopoly to try the new board game that you grabbed from the game store? Is an escape room a good third date? I don't think so. What makes a video game cozy? And do they have any recommendations? They answer any and all questions as long as they are games related. And if you like what you hear and want to level up your emotional intelligence stat subscribe. Now, wherever you get your podcasts, new episodes every other Friday, check it out, Games and Feelings.
JULIA: And now let's hear from our sponsors was meditating more regularly like one of your intentions for this year? I know it was for me but I'm wondering how's it going for you? Whether you are crushing your goals or you need a little help Calm is there to help you with Calm you can jump-start or continue your meditation practice and find a little bit more peace of mind today. Calm is the number one mental wellness app and they can give you the tools you need to improve the way that you feel. They can help you reduce stress and anxiety through their guided meditations, you can improve your focus with their curated music tracks, or you can rest and recharge with their imaginative sleep stories for children and adults. And trust me, I know we've talked about how much we love those sleep stories. They're so calm. That's probably why they named the app that. And if you go to calm.com/spirits you can get a special offer of 40% off a calm premium subscription and new content is added every week. I love Calm. I told you about their daily movement sessions, before we've talked about how great their sleep stories are. But actually, I have been really loving their curated music tracks I listen to them when I'm trying to like do notes or outlines for the show and it's just really, really helpful in making myself a little bit more focused. And Calm is ready to help you stress less sleep more and live a happier healthier life for listeners in the show calm is offering an exclusive offer of 40% off a calm premium subscription at calm.com/spirits go to C A L M.com/spirits for 40% off unlimited access to coms entire library that is calm.com/spirits. And now that Fall has officially arrived. I know I have been a little chilly just under my regular summertime quilt. And luckily Brooklinen knows that colder temperatures mean more time spent cuddling under the covers with a good book and your favorite cuffing season snack not an issue for me. cuffing season long since passed that. But luckily for you, Brooklinen’s soft, cozy Home Essentials offer everything you need to feel warm and fuzzy all winter long. Because quality in the bedroom is the most important thing in the world, at least for me. Brooklinen delivers high-quality beautiful Home Essentials by partnering with top caliber manufacturing partners and using only the highest grade materials and the result is durable, better with every use products that last and get softer over time. So if you're looking to snuggle up or you simply appreciate the finer things in life, Brooklinen heathered cashmere sheets will have you covered with the lightweight luxury of soft cotton and cozy Himalayan cashmere. Their Limited Edition seasonal colors in ink blue and rust transform any bedroom into a luxe Swiss Alps resort. Oh my god, I'm just imagining cozying up underneath those. That sounds so so nice. And I got to tell you guys, I love my Brooklinen sheets they breathe when I need them to breathe. They're comfy and cozy when I need to be warm and comfy and cozy. And there's nothing like them like I don't sleep well when I'm not in my own bed with my Brooklinen and sheets. It's wild. For everything you do in bed, check out brooklinen.com today for their luxurious home and bedding essentials, and use promo code SPIRITS for $20 off plus free shipping on your purchase of $100 or more. That's B R O O K L I N E N.com, promo code SPIRITS for $20 off plus free shipping.
JULIA: And now a word from our sponsor BetterHelp. Do you ever start your day off with your to-do list and you just look at that to-do list and you know, Oh God, this idea of having to go through every individual item on this list just means I'm not going to get it done today. That is how I feel a lot of the time, And rather than going into problem-solving mode, my brain will just not let me figure out how to solve the problem only fixate on the problem. And that is something that I've been working with my therapist on a lot. And if you're thinking about giving therapy a try BetterHelp is a great option for you as well. It is convenient, it is accessible, it is affordable, and it is entirely online which I don't think I ever want to go back to most doctor's office but certainly not a therapist's office ever again, when I can just do it from my house. It's so much more comfortable. It's so much more relaxing, it is so much less stressful. And through BetterHelp, you can get matched with a therapist after filling out a brief survey and you can switch therapists at any time which again, not how it works when you have to go and sit in a therapist's office and see if you vibe with them at all and then decide nope, nope, I had to go through the whole process of finding someone again BetterHelp makes it super easy and when you want to be a better problem solver therapy can help you get there visit betterhelp.com/spirits today to get 10% off your first month that is better H E L P.com/spirits, and now let's get back to the show.
[midroll]
JULIA: Now y'all, what is the best drink you've ever had like at a hotel bar?
ERIC: The best drink I've ever had in a hotel? Is the beer a bed gives me after she uses the end of the TV stand to crack the bottle cap right off.
JULIA: Yeah.
ERIC: I mean, I've seen her do it by the time it works every time. Doesn't matter what's in the bottle, still a quality beer.
AMANDA: Aw, thanks, bud.
ERIC: It's the showmanship the handoff. That's what that's what matters.
Thank you, bud.
JULIA: You know what, Amanda? Everyone needs a party trick. And the fact that that's your party trick is very cool.
AMANDA: Thank you. My party trick is also saying let's fill the bathtub with ice and use that as our cooler because the mini-fridge is only so big and it's filled with Cheesecake Factory leftovers.
JULIA: Of course, always.
ERIC: Of course, it is.
AMANDA: That's my favorite move.
JULIA: Amanda, how about you? What's the best cocktail or drink that you've ever had at a hotel?
AMANDA: You know, I'm a big fan of get a to go crowler so a 32-ounce can crowler from a brewery stick it in the mini-fridge and have it you know the next night after you come home from your tour, your dinner or whatever you're doing, and just drink it while watching the Food Network. That's what I love.
JULIA: Wow. I like that.
ERIC: It's really a shame that they put all those other channels on the hotel TVs when all you're gonna watch is HGTV or the Food Network.
JULIA: Yeah.
AMANDA: I know.
ERIC: I don't know why all the other channels are there.
AMANDA: Occasionally animal or travel if they have a zoo-related TV show?
JULIA: Yeah, of course. Naturally.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: I feel like when it comes to hotel bars, nothing makes me feel classier than ordering a dirty martini at a hotel bar.
AMANDA: Oh, totally.
ERIC: You've been trained by James Bond.
JULIA: Yes.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: Of course, yeah.
It's in there. It's just a cool thing to do.
JULIA: Excuse me, Eric, James Bond drinks the Vesper Martini, which has like, [29:39]
ERIC: I’m so sorry, you are 100% correct. I know so much about those martinis of the James Bond. I don't like an olive though. So I never really order a martini.
JULIA: I love a dirty martini. Even if you don't like olives, Eric, just order with a twist next time.
ERIC: Is worth trying?
JULIA: Yeah.
ERIC: I'll try it.
AMANDA: Yeah, I had my first Martini earlier this year and got it with a twist and the citrus notes are really hit in a way that the brininess doesn't for me.
JULIA: Yeah. Me. I like a salty beverage, so a dirty martini. It’s good.
ERIC: Although maybe they're just like the infusion of the olive. I just don't want to eat the olive.
JULIA: Yeah.
ERIC: Maybe like the saltiness will do enough for me.
JULIA: Yeah, that's true. That's true. That's fair. You should try it.
ERIC: I will try it.
JULIA: Next time you're in New York. I will make you both a dirty martini and a Vesper Martini. How about that?
ERIC: Perfect.
JULIA: Love it.
AMANDA: Love it.Well, guys, I have a email here from Shaye, also all about a haunted hotel. Would you like to hear it?
JULIA: Ooh, yes.
ERIC: Yeah.
AMANDA: Alright. So she writes to us with two stories, one about a haunted hotel and one about her job that is also very good. So hang on for that. So, “About 40 minutes from where I grew up is a hotel called Bakers Hotel in Mineral Wells, Texas.”
JULIA: Wow, that's a name.
AMANDA: Right?
ERIC: That is such a Texas name.
AMANDA: Yep. You know it. “Originally, it was a hotel and spa, where you could go to stay and soak in the local…” wait for it, “...mineral water to try and heal whatever ailments you might have. Which meant there was a higher chance of guests dying there because many people who were sick came to the hotel.”
JULIA: Yeah.
ERIC: Okay. Okay, that makes sense. I was trying to figure out why that would cause death but it's, it's just a causation does not equal correlation?
JULIA: Yeah, I don't know what year this hotel was constructed in and opened in. But I know that like, especially in like, the Wild West, you know? Like, if you had consumption or tuberculosis, they would be like, well, you gotta go to the spa–
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: –and breathe those good airs.
AMANDA: Exactly. Julia, you had the timeframe right, because the hotel was eventually closed up and abandoned in 1972. after its, you know, its glory decades after the owner Baker died inside, after which this huge hotel fell into shambles, sealing its stories into local lore.
JULIA: Yes!
AMANDA: Some of the highlights from this hotel stories are allegedly Baker's mistress died inside the hotel, as well as the bellhop who was sliced into two in an elevator accident.
JULIA: Wooooo!
ERIC: Oh, no.
AMANDA: That's really turned to the century. I feel like oh, these newfangled buildings Gilded Age, blah, blah, blah. “There have been numerous sightings over the years of Baker, his mistress, the bellhop a boy who died of leukemia as well as other ghosts. For a while, they had ghost tours, actually, but it got into such bad shape structurally that they stopped giving the tour.”
JULIA: Okay, if you have permission to give ghost tours, the least you could do is keep it in the shape where it's not going to fall down on someone, right?
AMANDA: I'll say.
ERIC: You don't need it like that believable.
AMANDA: No.
JULIA: I don't know. Put some support beams up or something.
AMANDA: Give it some sister joists. Come on.
JULIA: That’s all I'm asking.
AMANDA: So Shaye continues that, “...by the time I grew up, the only people who would ever seen the inside of the hotel where those who had been brave enough to sneak in at night, because it was closed and the tours were no more. I personally never went due to fears of running into ghosts.” And then in parentheses, “(they had a history of talking to me and I don't need that responsibility.)”
JULIA: [33:14]
ERIC: Alright. All right.
AMANDA: “But my brother went a couple of times and came back with stories of a strong frigid breeze during the Texas summer that he felt in the basement where the bellhop allegedly died, as well as the sounds of heels on the seventh floor where the mistress was said to have lived. The main point of the story, however, is at the hotel was bought by some new investors to rebuild a couple of months ago, and will hopefully be available to stay in sometime in 2022.”
JULIA: Uh-oh, hold on.
ERIC: Let's go. I want to go to a spooky haunted town what was the town called? Mill–
JULIA: Mineral Wells.
AMANDA: Mineral Wells, Texas.
ERIC: Mineral Wells. I love it. Very good
AMANDA: Shaye adds, “They are reducing it from more than 500 rooms to about 150 in order to make event space in the hotel, which should make for some great Halloween party space.” She suggests
ERIC: That's a very reasonable reduction. I feel like you don't need a lot of 500 hotel rooms for most places.
JULIA: They have a website.
AMANDA: Halloween Live Show 2023 when?
ERIC: 2023
JULIA: I'm just reading the future of it coming soon. As the Baker Hotel and Spas restoration and renovation progresses the Baker Hotel development partners are delighted to share with you their vision of the grand old lady of Mineral Wells. The proposed site map, floor plans and schematic elevation revealed the team's plans for the hotel celebrated features resort amenities and thoughtful new details.
AMANDA: You know, they have a photo of the interior and it looks freakin’ haunted.
ERIC: It– Yeah, I wasn gonna say like, if here's the thing, here's the thing. Here's the thing. What happens if we go here, what happens is we all die and then the next person who comes in the next winter to wash the house looks at a picture for a party from 1930 and we’re in the picture.
JULIA: Yes!
ERIC: That's what happens if we go to this hotel. 100%
AMANDA: Holding a Zoom recorder and a martini glass.
ERIC: We're gonna get shined.
AMANDA: We are gonna get shined.
JULIA: That's fine.
AMANDA: That's right.
JULIA: I'm fine with that.
AMANDA: Alright, well, check our Instagram for the graphic of the interior of this hotel because it is something else.
ERIC: I just want to point out one thing that I've noticed about this picture on the front page when you go to this website.
AMANDA: Yeah.
ERIC: Me and Kelsey recently went to Maine, and we stayed in Utica, New York. Wow, that's a town that has nothing going on in it.
AMANDA: Except the drag queen Utica.
ERIC: Oh, there you go.
JULIA: There you go.
ERIC: There's one thing going on there.
AMANDA: Yes.
ERIC: But anyways, what was fascinating about it is the hotel that we stayed in it was seemingly like the tallest or second tallest building in the town. And this also it looks like the Baker might be one of the tallest buildings in this town based on this picture. So I'm kind of thinking about like the fact that like hotels back in the day were people like we're often gathering especially as we manifest destiny our way west.
AMANDA: Yeah.
ERIC: Like the hotels became like a symbol of the tall place where people are at. So I don't really have a point there just something I've noticed that it's kind of cool that like these are like these big institutions that kind of loom over us even though they aren't being used as much as they used to be in the same capacity.
JULIA: True Facts.
AMANDA: Oh, yeah. Well, guys, I've signed up the Spirits. Gmail for updates on the hotel.
ERIC: Yes.
AMANDA: So we will all–
JULIA: Contact their PR team.
AMANDA: We will keep posted, yeah. Get in touch Shaye, if we end up doing a live show this hotel, you can get in for free, hit us up spiritspodcast@gmail.
ERIC: Their YouTube channel link does go to a channel that does not exist.
JULIA: Yeah.
ERIC: So that's a haunted in a cyberspace kind of way.
AMANDA: Yeah, that's very true. We will see this for the very end because Shaye has a workplace haunting that I think is particularly good and creepy but Schneider. Do you want to give us our third and final hotel story first?
ERIC: Yeah, I've got a story from Taylor. And she writes, “I grew up moving around a lot. But one of the first places my family settled down was Chattanooga. I'm very interested in the supernatural myself and some of my favorite ghost stories/legends originate from The Read House in Chattanooga. There is a couple of ghost stories that start with The Read House Hotel, but none of them really interest me as much as the story of Annalisa Netherly.”
JULIA: Oooh, that's a cool name.
ERIC: Yeah, it's a very that's what drew me to this story. “So during the 1920s Annalisa Netherly was brought to The Read House Hotel by her lover.”
JULIA: Never a good sign when it's a lover in a story like this.
ERIC: Spoiler alert: Content warning. This is not going to end well for Annalisa.
JULIA: It never does.
AMANDA: I’ll say.
ERIC: “The couple stayed in Room 311”
JULIA: Okay.
ERIC: Amber was the color of her and I'm joking.
JULIA: As we always say, it's always creepier when we know the like specific rooms like specificity makes things creepier.
ERIC: Yeah.
JULIA: I stand by that.
ERIC: Definitely.
AMANDA: Yep, high school teachers feel free to put this in your lesson plan so if ever you can whether it's you know, math students showing their work or essay writing specificity is the creepiest thing of all.
AMANDA: Yeah.
ERIC: “The couple had been staying there for a few days, and during that time, she had been noticed flirting with a younger man.”
JULIA: [gasps] No.
ERIC: “Her lover caught her a few times flirting with the young man.”
JULIA: Uh-oh.
ERIC: “And overcome by jealousy he murdered her. The staff member came to clean Eoom 311 and found Annalisa Netherly’s lifeless body in the bathtub. Shortly after her lover turned to another woman.”
JULIA: Of course.
AMANDA: Yeah, naturally.
JULIA: Terrible. Did a murder immediately turned to another woman just a bad man.
ERIC: Yeah, no good. No good.
AMANDA: It's like you don't believe in ghosts at all my man.
JULIA: It's like you're asking to be haunted.
AMANDA: Come on.
ERIC: And you know, he's going back to the hotel.
JULIA: Oh, yeah. 100%
ERIC: He's gotta get haunted.
JULIA: There's only one hotel in Chattanooga, and this extremely haunted one because if you now my guy.
AMANDA: Yeah.
ERIC: “Yes, there is some spooky stuff still going on in the hotel in that room”
JULIA: Naturally.
ERIC: “The hotel allows tours and guests to stay in Room 311.”
JULIA: Okay, this is another question. I'm sorry to bring another aside into this.
ERIC: Yeah, no, no.
JULIA: How do we feel about hotels that just kind of embrace the fact that they are definitely haunted and terrible things happened in them?
ERIC: I'm fine with it. I think also like nowadays, hotels really gotta, you got to do anything to bring people in when people are traveling. So I mean, I'm more forward now than ever, but I mean, I feel like so much, especially ghost story ghost tour stuff. Obviously, lots of people believe in it. I think that a lot of people also are just intrigued by the idea, even if they don't fully believe in it. And they like the kind of fun aspect of it, whether or not they believe in it. So I think there's kind of, I think there's a way to enjoy it.
JULIA: Yeah.
AMANDA: Yeah, my thoughts are fairly mixed. But Julia, your excellent question did bring to mind you know, we talk all the time about how there aren't that many fresh ghosts, right? We have Civil War ghosts up the wazoo in Victorian ghosts up the wazoo. We have lots of just like creepy long skirted ghosts from the turn of the century etc. I think that sort of Gen X, Gen Z, and Millennial ghosts as we pass on into our haunting phase.
JULIA: That’s what I want to call Death from now on. My haunting phase.
ERIC: Okay, real real quick, though. So what's our current phase? Living phase?
AMANDA: The living phase? Yeah, the living one below.
ERIC: Okay, I just wanted to get the we got the living phase.
JULIA: Yeah.
ERIC: Then the haunting phase.
JULIA: We're in our busy and blessed phase, which is a phrase that I heard recently and I'm just like, Oh, I like that.
AMANDA: Yeah, we're in the existing hopefully living phase, and then later is the haunting phase, you know?
ERIC: Okay, yeah, I’m just checking the phases.
AMANDA: I think that when we do enter our haunting phase that we are going to be pretty anticapitalist ghosts. And I can really see that if I died spectacularly in a hotel, and the hotel months later is like, hey, stay in the room where that podcaster died. I would choose to haunt every room but that one I would move next door to the other hotel and haunt there instead.
JULIA: Yeah.
AMANDA: I so chafe against the like commerciality of making money off of my death that I think there is going to be a whole new wave of our peer ghosts in their haunting phase really railing against the profiting of the living.
JULIA: Amanda, can I float an idea by you?
AMANDA: 100%
JULIA: You know how sometimes in hauntings there's like creepy messages that are written in blood on the walls?
AMANDA: Oh, yes.
JULIA: You just start writing all of their one-star Yelp reviews on the walls.
AMANDA: Julia, perfect idea. Perfect idea. I love it.
JULIA: Thank you. Thank you.
AMANDA: Don't cry for me, Argentina. I've suddenly entered my haunting face.
ERIC: Noted. Okay, it was I forgot that I was reading the story to figure out where I was. So back to Room 311 we go. “On many occasions, guests come to the front desk in the dead of night and complain about stranger noises the feeling that they are being watched, whispers being poked.”
JULIA: Oh, no, not being poked.
ERIC: “And some claim that they even see Annalisa. Recently, The Read House Hotel, had some renovations done in Room 311. The crew was working in that room complained of random pipes bursting, whispers, being touched and having a feeling that they were simply being watched.”
JULIA: One of those things is not like the others.
AMANDA: Yeah, I I do have to say though, that in my headcanon I think millennial and Gen Z ghosts would be all about kind of worker solidarity and like we'd never fuck with someone's job except if your job is being a landowner.
ERIC: I mean, I think it's too early to really give a hard definition on Gen Z. But they could definitely just be clout chasing ghosts. They could go full ghosts, they could want to be the most they want to be the ghost that the most people are coming to see.
AMANDA: You're right. It could– time will tell you though, this is why I gotta stick around post deaths. See how these other you know whippersnappers treated.
ERIC: That is extremely interested in learning how ghosts behave throughout the generations.
AMANDA: Yeah.
ERIC: Why aren't the Revolutionary War ghosts as active as the Civil War ghosts? Amanda McLoughlin finds out–
AMANDA: Yeah.
ERIC: –in 70 years.
AMANDA: It's a long play. Just give me some grant funding. I'll set it all up.
JULIA: I love that for you.
ERIC: “I have also had my own encounters at the hotel. I cannot be certain that it was Annalisa Netherly to blame. But it was definitely something strange. Since I do not have that much of an interest in the supernatural. I definitely didn't want to go to Room 311. However, my girlfriend and I were sleeping in our room when I heard constant clicking like the sound of a person snapping their fingers. I turn on the lamp and the noise suddenly stops.”
JULIA: Okay.
ERIC: “I got up to inspect but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I turned off the lamp and 30 seconds later the strange noise started again.”
JULIA: That sounds like cockroaches or crickets or something like that.
ERIC: Also could be extremely faulty wiring.
JULIA: Could be really bad wiring. Yes.
ERIC: “I went to go see if anything was outside the room. Nothing was there. The noise wasn't coming from a room next to us. It was like the clicking noise came from the edge of the bed.” Now that probably not probably not faulty wiring at the edge of the bed.
JULIA: Hell no dog, that's bad.
ERIC: “Once I turned on the lamp, the noise was gone again. Note that my girlfriend was asleep during this entire time of me checking the room.
JULIA: Okay, I would have woken up my partner at that point.
ERIC: Yeah.
JULIA: If there's a creepy noise happening. I would be like, Jake, what is that? Jake, Jake, what is that help? Am I alone in that? Would you guys wake up your partners?
ERIC: No, no, very similarly what I was saying at the hotel for your wedding, Julia–
JULIA: Okay.
ERIC: I developed some kind of through either flight or sickness or something. I'll small inner ear infection possibly. I could– what I would like lay on my side. I could always hear like my heartbeat. And so like after that happened, like the second or third time I just like yelled and Kelsey was like what do you do hang over there?
AMANDA: Oh, no.
ERIC: So I immediately alerted her to but I thought it was some sound happening and it turns out was just by body making sound inside of me. And then eventually like three months later the pressure relieved that that wasn't happening anymore. Delightful. What did experience. But yeah, so to answer your question, yes, I would definitely wake up my partner after a certain number of checks if the thing was still happening.
AMANDA: Yeah, not least of all, because I think seeing me like walking around the room dealing with something would be a scarier thing to wake up to then me like shaking Eric awake and be like, hey, this is what's happening.
JULIA: 100%
ERIC: Yeah, because if you wake up in a hotel, you always have to like, if especially if it's your first night there, you have to like, remember that the geometry of where you're sleeping is different.
AMANDA: Yes.
ERIC: And if you see a moving shape during that it's–
JULIA: Not good.
AMANDA: Bury me now.
ERIC: A whole lot worse. All the worst experience.
AMANDA: My haunting phase will start early.
ERIC: “Once I turned the lamp off 30 seconds later, the clicking started again. I convinced myself that it was all in my head and I tried to go to sleep.” Team ignorant, kinda. “But every time I tried to close my eyes to fall asleep, the clicking got louder until my girlfriend said the scariest words.”
AMANDA: Do you hear that?
ERIC: “Do you hear that?”
JULIA: See? See? This is why I would have woken her up earlier and confirmed.
AMANDA: Gotta be a team. Gotta be a team.
JULIA: Gotta be a team.
ERIC: “I sat up and turn the lamp on. But the clicking didn't stop at this time. It kept going on. Although it stopped getting louder. I want to check outside the door again, but nothing. I even knocked on the couple next to our door, which I should have realized they were asleep until I knocked on the door. But I was very freaked out. They weren't too happy with me waking them, but they said they didn't hear anything.” So I mean, that's that's an unfortunate experience. But you know what, sometimes sometimes bad things happen. One time on Y2K, the fire alarm went off at like 2 AM. And we had to evacuate the whole hotel. And everyone was like, oh, no, it actually happened. But it didn't.
JULIA: Oh, my god.
ERIC: But yeah, I mean, definitely some strange like, things could happen at hotels in the middle of the night that just are unfortunate.
JULIA: Yeah.
ERIC: One of the dryers caught on fire. So, that all worked out.
AMANDA: Always clean those lint traps.
JULIA: I was at a friend's wedding and the fire alarm in our room, the low battery beep started happening at like 3 in the morning. And I went downstairs because I was like I don't I'm worried if I take this out of the ceiling that it's gonna set off all of the alarms–
ERIC: Oh, yeah.
JULIA: And we have to evacuate. And I'm like, I just went downstairs. I'm like, the alarms going off, it’s 3 in the morning.
AMANDA: Help me.
JULIA: Help me. And she's like, you can just take it off the wall. I'm like, Okay, I went back upstairs just like got out a chair, pulled it off. And Jake's like, what are you doing? I'm like it was going off. Why were you not awake?
ERIC: Beeping fire alarm because of low battery is the most haunted sound 24/7. 100%
JULIA: Oh, yeah.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: 100%
ERIC: “I didn't mean to be too disruptive towards the other people staying in the room next to us, so I didn't bother them as well. The sound was coming from the edge of the bed still. I checked it but there was nothing there. I eventually turned all the lights on in our room. And the clicking finally stopped. I talked to the front desk next morning and they said no other room around us claimed to have heard any clicking noises. Thank you for reading this far. And I'm excited for more Hometown Urban Legends.”
AMANDA: But what was it? I gotta know!
JULIA: No, no.
ERIC: We don’t know
AMANDA: No!
ERIC: It was just Annalisa was just out there a haunting a different room for the night. She was doing what do you want her to do, Amanda? She was making sure everybody gets a haunting.
AMANDA: That's true.
JULIA: Maybe she was like clicking her nails together or something or like–
ERIC: Oh, yeah, that's the worst that you could have said there. So that's probably it.
JULIA: You know, like when someone is like waiting for something and they do the thing with their nails where it's like, click, click.
ERIC: Yep.
JULIA: Yeah.
ERIC: No, you don't even describe it. You don't need to keep going. You're good.
JULIA: That on the edge of the bed.
ERIC: You've already established a very creepy thing we don't need–
JULIA: Okay, you’re welcome.
AMANDA: Guys, let me let me end us on a on on a creepy, wholesome note. This is the end of Shaye’s email from earlier about her job. So she finishes the email by saying, “Alright, my final story is what actually made me want to write into you all. I work in a forensic genetics laboratory in the Missing Persons Unit.”
JULIA: Ooh.
AMANDA: Huge deal, right?
JULIA: Yeah.
AMANDA: That means that when human remains, skull, bone, a whole body, etc, are found in the US and the local police can't identify the remains in any other way, they will send the remains to us we extract DNA and try to identify them that way. This means we have a multitude of human remains that we're dealing with on a regular basis, some of which have obviously died violent deaths. This is important because a couple of weeks ago after processing some new bones, my office became haunted.”
JULIA: That's what I call having sex is processing new bones.
AMANDA: Oh, boy.
ERIC: Dear God. Oh, no. I hate it. That was worse than the very scary thing, Julia.
JULIA: I'm on a roll today, baby.
AMANDA: Oh, I just love the idea. Oh, I got some new bones. Excuse me. Gotta gotta go cut off my coffee break a little short, okay. “The thermostat no longer controls the actual temperature in the office, you can set it to 80 degrees and it's still freezing in there. We also have an old lab sink in our office, with the handles still being shut off, water will still start running out of the faucet.”
ERIC: That's a problem.
AMANDA: “In addition, both my office mates me swear that we see someone moving in the corner of the room. But when we look straight at that corner, nothing is there.”
JULIA: That's bad. That's bad. Everything else I can be like, oh, that's bad plumbing. That's like someone in your office is controlling the temperature. And it's like, you no longer have control. No, that's–
ERIC: Yeah.
[dissent from Julia]
AMANDA: “Well, we're not quite sure what the ghosts wants other than to keep it freezing in our office and get the occasional drink of water. But at least it hasn't caused us any harm, though I'm hoping that it'll go back with its bones once we're done with them. That's all I got time for. But it may be some point I'll write to you about some of my other stories. Shaye.
JULIA: You would hope that that goes through. Why stay once the bones are removed?
AMANDA: You know, I just I liked the idea of this like transient identification zone for bones. And once the bones have been sent to wherever they gotta go, the ghost can go back with them.
JULIA: Yeah, that’s what I hope
ERIC: And also like, these are people trying to solve the case.
JULIA: Yeah.
ERIC: So I feel like it's probably just someone kind of like waiting like maybe it's like it's it goes like making sure you do a good job of catch my killer
AMANDA: Got a little thirsty got a little chilly, right? Like come on, guys. Like when you're cold. You're more attentive–
JULIA: Yeah.
AMANDA: –more alert, like, let's let's go. Let's go.
JULIA: Yeah.
ERIC: And I mean, cold is just a classic. Also, I mean, if you if you got a bunch of bones and bodies, I mean, obviously the office doesn't need to be cold. But I bet it's one of those things where like, we already got the air conditioners blowing because of the morgue.
AMANDA: Yes.
ERIC: It's easier to just keep the rest of the building colder rather than hotter.
JULIA: Sure, sure.
AMANDA: Agreed. We'll Shaye, that is an awesome job. I hope that that ghost gets along with its bones whenever you send it away. Thank you for the great stories.
JULIA: Yeah. And listeners, if you have a cool haunted hotel story, please let us know. I really love haunted hotel stories. I think they're great. I think they're really fun. I personally would not choose to go to a hotel simply because it was haunted but you know, haunted hotels are cool.
ERIC: Yeah, for sure.
AMANDA: Well read your experiences later safely from our own homes, you know.
JULIA: Exactly.
ERIC: Exactly.
JULIA: And remember listeners when you're booking the most haunted hotel room, Stay creepy
AMANDA: Stay cool.
[theme]
AMANDA: Spirits was created by Amanda McLoughlin, Julia Schifini, and Eric Schneider with music by Kevin MacLeod and visual design by Alison Wakeman.
JULIA: Keep up with all things creepy and cool by following us @SpiritsPodcast on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Tumblr. We also have all of our episode transcripts, guest appearances, and merch on our website. As well as a form to send us in your urban legends and your advice from folklore questions at spiritspodcast.com.
AMANDA: Join our member community on Patreon, patreon.com/spiritspodcast, for all kinds of behind-the-scenes goodies. Just $1 gets you access to audio extras with so much more. Like recipe cards with alcoholic and nonalcoholic for every single episode, directors' commentaries, real physical gifts, and more.
JULIA: We are a founding member of Multitude, an independent podcast collective, and production studio. If you like Spirits you will love the other shows that live on our website at multitude.productions.
AMANDA: Above all else, if you liked what you heard today, please text one friend about us. That's the very best way to help keep us growing.
JULIA: Thanks for listening to Spirits. We'll see you next week.
AMANDA: Bye!
Transcriptionist: KM