In 1915, a ship everyone knew was dangerous capsized in the Chicago River — killing 844 people on their way to a company picnic. More deaths than the Titanic’s passenger list. 22 entire families, gone. 

No one was ever held accountable. 

And to this day, people standing on Chicago’s Clark Street Bridge report seeing faces in the water below. This is the SS Eastland disaster. And it’s been buried long enough.

References & Resources:
• Britannica: Eastland Disaster

• History.com: Hundreds Drown in Eastland Disaster

• National Archives Chicago: Steamship Eastland Disaster

• Chicagology.com: 1915 Eastland Disaster (primary newspaper accounts)

• Eastland Disaster Historical Society: eastlanddisaster.org

• US Ghost Adventures: Clark Street Bridge haunting

• CBS Chicago: Chicago Hauntings — Ghosts of the Eastland Disaster

• Czech Consulate Chicago: 100-year anniversary article

• Forest Park Historical Society: Eastland Ship Disaster

• Strange Ago: SS Eastland Disaster Survivor Accounts

She danced with a man in 1939. He kissed her. She was ice cold. The next morning, he went to her house, and her mother told him she had been dead for years!

This is Resurrection Mary. Chicago's most documented ghost. Shes been hitchhiking Archer Avenue for over 90 years. 

This Episode: The ancient Native American trail that became America's most haunted road, the real women that might be, 30+ witness accounts that all describe the same girl in the same white dress at the same cemetery gates and the night in 1976 when a police officer found handprints burned into iron bars from inside of a locked cemetery. 

True paranormal history. Zero filler. All creepy, its time to press play

Maine's most haunted lighthouse has one legend that will mess with you long after you stop listening. 

A keeper. His wife. A piano. One Song - played on repeat until something in him broke. What he did next is stuff of nightmares. And apprarently, she never stopped playing.

Sailors still hear it drifting across the water on foggy nights. Caretakers report furniture moving on its own, one caretaker got locked in the basment! And there are at least two other presences on that island. 

We're going to Sequin Island. Come find out whats still out there. 

You heard the history and the happenings, Now hear what happened to my husband and I while we were at Shaker's Cigar Bar.

In part 2 of our Shaker's Cigar Bar Bar, Podcast Birthday Celebration. Im taking you back inside, walking you through what I personally felt (& what my husband felt) from the moment I entered the building, what I captured on camera that I wasn't expecting and the moments that were hard to shake long after we left. 

Some of it is subtle, some of it is not.

This is where it gets personal. No history lesson, no interview, just me telling you exactly what it feels like to spend time inside a place that is genuinely, documentably haunted.

One year ago, Creepy Shit was just an idea. Today, we're on Location!

To mark one full year of this podcast. Im sitting inside one of America's Most Haunted bars - Shaker's Cigar Bar in Milwaukee, WI - with a man who has owned and breathed this building since the 1980's, Bob Weiss

And this place has layers, boo

We're talking a building built on top of a cemetery. A prohibition-era speakeasy and brothel run by the Capone brothers. A sixteen year old girl named Molly Brennan who never made it out of the third floor. Human Bones found inside the wallsduring a 2001 renovation. Documented paranormal residents and a barstool that Jefferey Dahmer used to call his. 

Bob has spent nearly 40 years inside this building. In this episode, he walks us through all of it - the documented history, the unexplainable reports, and the personal experiences he's had. 

This is the episode I've been working toward since day one. I hope it hits you the way it hit me. Time to press play

There is a 50-acre patch of woods in Mathews County, Virginia that has been terrifying people for over 300 years — and the paper trail to prove it goes all the way to a federally funded government archive at the University of Virginia. 

Old House Woods is one of those locations that makes you question everything, because the witnesses aren’t anonymous internet strangers. They’re named. They’re dated. They gave their accounts to newspapers. And the history underneath those accounts — pirates, Revolutionary War gold, a royal governor who went rogue, Blackbeard operating miles away, a plantation built on a burial ground that caught fire and put itself out — is all on the record. 

This week, I'm joined by Ale and Tom from Macabre Monday to dig into one of the most layered, most documented, and somehow most overlooked haunted locations in America. Phantom ships. Skeleton soldiers in armor. Treasure that was never recovered. And a storm ghost who rises above the trees to scream warnings at fishermen. Welcome to Old House Woods. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

PS. This is just the beginning - This is the official kickoff to our Summer Series of Woods, Roads, Lakes and Lighthouses & More. Are you ready? Press Play

Everyone thinks they know the story of H.H. Holmes — America’s first serial killer, the Murder Castle, two hundred victims, trap doors and gas chambers. But what if most of that was invented?

In this episode of Creepy Shit, we go full deep dive on H.H. Holmes - pulling from historical records, newspaper archives, and court documents to separate verified fact from the yellow journalism myths that have dominated this story for over a century. Because here’s the thing: the documented truth is scarier than the legend.

We cover it all! This is not your average H.H. Holmes episode. No exaggeration. No inflation. Just the records — and the haunting that followed.

Listen if you’re into: true crime, paranormal history, haunted locations, Chicago history, serial killer deep dives, ghost stories, historical true crime, dark history podcasts

New episodes of Creepy Shit drop every Monday. Follow us on Instagram @creepy_shit_podcast. Support the show on Patreon for exclusives, early release episodes & more (Patreon.com/creepyshitpodcast).

Research sources: 
Chicago Tribune historical archives, Wikipedia (H.H. Holmes), Britannica, Adam Selzer / Harold Schechter scholarship

We’re diving deep into America’s deadliest aviation disaster and the absolutely wild paranormal activity that started within HOURS of the crash. I’m talking about American Airlines Flight 191, the DC-10 that fell from the sky at Chicago O’Hare on May 25, 1979, killing 273 people in thirty-one seconds of pure hell.

But here’s where it gets really messed up: the passengers never left. We’ve got phantom knocking on doors, ghostly figures reeking of aviation fuel asking for help, mysterious radar blips of planes that don’t exist, and a warning voice that’s been helping air traffic controllers prevent disasters for decades. Airport employees are seeing passengers in outdated clothes trying to catch flights that will never take off, and residents near the crash site are dealing with security systems going haywire because spirits keep opening doors that aren’t there.

This isn’t your typical ghost story - this is 270+ souls who were interrupted mid-journey and are still trying to get home. From the maintenance fuck-up that caused the disaster to the ongoing hauntings that’ll make you think twice about flying through O’Hare, we’re covering it all.

Trust me, don't listen to this if you are about to step onto a plane. 

References & Resources
Primary Sources:
- National Transportation Safety Board Final Report: American Airlines Flight 191 (December 21, 1979)

- Chicago Tribune archives and victim profiles (1979-2024)

- American Hauntings Investigation records

- Aviation Safety Network crash database

Paranormal Documentation:
- Haunted Places directory: American Flight 191 Crash Site

- Aviation employee forum testimonials (anonymous sources)

- Mobile home park resident accounts (1979-2010s)

- Air traffic controller unofficial reports

Historical Context:
- McDonnell Douglas DC-10 maintenance records and procedures

- Federal Aviation Administration investigation files

- O’Hare International Airport expansion documentation

Additional Reading:
- “Ghosts of Flight 191” - American Hauntings archives

- Aviation maintenance safety protocols post-1979

- Electromagnetic field studies of crash sites

- Trauma psychology and collective memory research

*Note: Many paranormal accounts come from unofficial sources due to airline industry policies regarding supernatural reports. Employee testimonials are anonymized to protect careers.*

She's been inside the most haunted places on Earth alongside Sam & Colby - and she didn't just survive them. She READ them. 

Ashley Ryan is an officially ordained Hermetic Priestess, a practitioner of ancient esoteric tradition, and one of the most highly sought after, as well as fascinating figures in the paranormal world.

in this episode, she sits down with us to talk about what it actually means to hold that title, what Hermetic practice looks like in real life, and what she's witnessed on location that cameras cant always capture.

This isn'ta ghost story. It's the framework behind one. 

Okay, so imagine getting your wedding photos back and finding THREE GHOSTLY FIGURES standing behind a kid at your reception. Now imagine those figures are probably the gangsters who got murdered there in the 1930s. Welcome to the Wabasha Street Caves in St. Paul, Minnesota – where John Dillinger used to dance, Ma Barker planned heists, and apparently some mobsters never got the memo that the party’s over.

This week I’m diving into one of the most well-documented haunted locations in the Midwest. We’re talking bullet holes still visible in the walls, an actual unsolved gangland murder, newspaper archives, historical photos, and HUNDREDS of witnesses reporting the same phenomena for decades. Plus there’s this wedding photo that tour guides still show people that’ll make your skin crawl.

But here’s the twist – you can literally book your wedding there RIGHT NOW. It’s a functioning event venue with swing dancing on Thursday nights. How fucking cool is that?

I’m breaking down the full history: the French mushroom farmers, the Prohibition-era speakeasy, the “safe city” deal between gangsters and corrupt cops, the night someone asked the band to leave early (spoiler: not good), and why these particular ghosts seem obsessed with being nice to kids.

Whether you believe in the paranormal or not, this story is *wild*. And it’s all documented, all accessible, all verifiable. Come for the gangster history, stay for the phantom jazz music and the guy in the Panama hat who keeps disappearing through walls.

REFERENCES & RESOURCES

Primary Sources:
- Wabasha Street Caves official tours and historical archives (wabashastreetcaves.com)

- Minnesota Historical Society - Castle Royal photographs (1933)

- St. Paul newspapers - 1930s gangland murder reports

- Star Tribune - “Most Haunted Place in Minnesota” feature

Historical Context:
- “The O’Connor System” - St. Paul’s safe city arrangement for criminals (1920s-1930s)

- FBI records on John Dillinger, Ma Barker, and the Barker-Karpis Gang

Paranormal Documentation:
- Twin Cities Paranormal Society investigation reports

- Ghost Adventures & Mysteries at the Museum TV episodes

- Multiple tour guide firsthand accounts (Brett Williams, Donna Bremer)

- Wedding photo - shown during ghost tours (not publicly available online)

Visit:
- Wabasha Street Caves: 215 Wabasha St S, St. Paul, MN 55107

- Tours: Historic Cave Tour, Gangster Bus Tour, Lost Souls Ghost Tour

- Swing Dancing: Thursday nights with live big band music

- Phone: (651) 224-1191

Further Reading:
- “Minnesota Hauntings” by Ryan Jacobson

- Atlas Obscura - Wabasha Street Caves entry

- Explore Minnesota Tourism - Gangster history resources

*All research conducted Dec-Feb 2025-2026. Historical facts verified through multiple independent sources.*