Is This a Ghost?

Surprise! We're here with a special lil treat for your sweet lil ears. Today we're giving you a sneak peek at The Smithshow, a monthly podcast from Clayton Smith and Producer Ryan Smith. It's like ITAG, but not haunted, and sometimes way grosser! This clip is from our episode on whale hotels, and if you like what you hear, we hope you'll consider joining Ghost+! You'll hear a new episode of the Smithshow each month, plus ITAG ghosties and some surprise bonus content, and you'll also get merch discounts, access to live recordings, and more! All for just $5.99/month.

Click here to join Ghost+!

We're not doctors, but we think you should take care when getting your wizard clipped. It's a delicate sort of thing, and--what? That's not what the wizard clip is? Oh. Okay, well, what are we even doing here.

This is the story of Priest Field and the Wizard Clip. Come for the ghost, stay for get me my CHUD shirt, is the ear the head?, hope you’re ready to get Popeye arms, crack open another barrel, Mother, poorly-constructed geese, f*** it, call a priest, and it’s Blake Shelton.

Sources:

• https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/wizard-clip-west-virginia-priest-field
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard_Clip

You know what they say, if you want something done right, call a Puritan. Real populist do-gooders, those Puritans! Great ideas about prison reform. For sure, for sure, for sure.

This is the story of Eastern State Penitentiary. Come for the ghosts, stay for so many ways to style a sleeveless shirt, he’s my French girl, PSAMPP, the Boaty McBoatface thing, dads who just need one f***ing minute, he’s no Nicolas Cage, I would love to see this dog’s mugshot, Pennsylvania, you know? and these walls are so soft.

Sources:

• https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/eastern-state-penitentiary-a-prison-with-a-past-14274660/
• https://www.npr.org/2013/10/24/232234570/is-eastern-state-penitentiary-really-haunted
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_State_Penitentiary
• https://paranormalmilwaukee.com/locations/eastern-state-penitentiary/

Do you like swans? You'll love this episode. But it has less to do with swans than you think. Wow, what a ride.

This is the story of Swannanoa Palace. Come for the ghosts, stay for you don’t sound very jammin’, wine thievery, exorcist rules, the job market in 1860, Dolphin Dean, Irish valor, C or B and O, I think it’s called extortion, and you can buy a lot of orphans with that.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_H._Dooley
• https://colonialghosts.com/swannanoa-palace/
• https://www.newsleader.com/story/life/2014/09/27/swannanoa-mysterious-mountaintop-marble-mansion/16242299/
• https://angelaandrieux.com/swannanoa-palace-decaying-haunted-awesome/

The Coal Miner's Daughter had a few skeletons in her closet. Literally. But unlike most sane people, Loretta Lynn decided living with ghosts was actually kind of fine? Weird life.

This is the story of Loretta Lynn's Haunted House. Come for the ghosts, stay for Coal Miner's Minor, burly men named Norm, take that, Bible!, city of lights and chicken, Latin for bones is grist, how smushy is that smush room, and the plumbing is very restrictive.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loretta_Lynn
• https://nashvilleghosts.com/loretta-lynn-ranch/
• https://www.wideopencountry.com/story-behind-loretta-lynns-haunted-hurricane-mills-plantation/

In the first of what is probably destined to be some sort of suite of dam episodes, we're tackling the Hales Bar Dam. Which is a surprisingly unknown name for what is apparently the most haunted dam in the U.S.! Also, it's actually very bad at damming.

This is the story of the Hales Bar Dam. Come for the ghosts, stay for M-16 pocket protectors, MCU Donny, the meany lessons of Poltergeist, land investor Dracula, you can eat a horse, mom got the big suck, Schrödinger’s town, and normal naked dude.

Sources:

• https://samterryskentucky.com/kentucky-history/f/the-treaty-of-sycamore-shoals
• https://www.tennessean.com/story/opinion/contributors/2016/03/13/dragging-canoe-true-american-indian-hero/81501938/
• https://www.visitchattanooga.com/blog/post/whats-hiding-in-the-tennessee-river/
• https://www.nativehistoryassociation.org/dragging_canoe.php
• https://www.britannica.com/topic/Treaty-of-Sycamore-Shoals
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transylvania_Colony
• https://www.ncpedia.org/anchor/primary-source-transylvania
• https://ghostresearch.org/Investigations/hales.html
• https://hauntedus.com/tennessee/hales-bar-dam-and-marina/
• https://tataandhoward.com/tag/hales-bar-dam/
• https://ghostresearch.org/Investigations/hales.html
• https://youtu.be/IMyiL2yi-ZY

Ah, the gulf coast of Florida, where the fish are boiling and the reefs are painted red, white, and blue. Good luck, Floridians.

This is the story of Fort De Soto Park and the Sunshine Sky Bridge. Come for the ghosts, stay for I'm very swampy, canoe warfare, battle stingrays, beach wool, The Price is Right gun pit, unkillable buses, and the first Florida Man.

Sources:

• https://thehauntedlibrarian.com/2020/12/24/floridas-fort-de-soto-parks-haunted-history/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_De_Soto_Park
• https://paraholics.com/2019/04/04/the-hauntings-of-fort-de-soto-park/
• https://spiritsofstpete.com/2021-investigations/fort-de-soto/#page-content
• https://pinellas.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Fort_DeSoto_historic_guide.pdf
• https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/florida/fl-most-haunted-campground/

Move over, Stephen King, it's OUR turn to tell the story of the most haunted hotel in Estes Park! We think you'll really take a shine to this episode.

Also, this was a live show! ITAG fans got to chat together in real-time while they listened to Clayton and Patrick recording the episode. We do this sometimes! Follow us on social @isthisaghost to get access to the next live show!

This is the story of the Stanley Hotel. Come for the ghosts, stay for up-blood, your name is Locomotive, a couch to 5k but for tuberculosis, the fourth B, fire-proof bones, and a Jim Carrey funny run.

Sources:

• https://www.uncovercolorado.com/stanley-hotel-haunted-history/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freelan_Oscar_Stanley
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stanley_Hotel
• https://nightlyspirits.com/stanley-hotel-ghost-stories/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Nugent_(Estes_Park)

Additional audio for this episode:

• Rim shot by jmayoff -- https://freesound.org/s/256959/ -- License: Creative Commons 0

Don't get too excited. This Edinburgh is in Iowa, so there's zero chance of broadswords in this episode. Lame. (Heck of a lot of ghosts, though.)

This is the story of the ghosts of Edinburgh Manor. Come for the ghosts, stay for first you beef, then you feast, George Miller presents Iowa: Animosa, water park is the obvious choice, be real nice to your kids, how do curses depreciate over time?, getting choked in Room 240, and I detect notes of rope hemp.

Sources:

• https://hauntedus.com/iowa/edinburgh-manor-haunted-asylum/
• https://edinburghmanor.wixsite.com/edinburgh/evidence
• https://thelittlehouseofhorrors.com/edinburgh-manor/
• https://www.thegazette.com/curious-iowa/curious-iowa-how-did-edinburgh-manor-become-a-haunted-attraction/

Oh nar! It's another Australian ghost!

This is the story of Fisher's Ghost. Come for the ghost, stay for masters + 30 + tattoo, lost a lot of good horses that day, the Australian way to end an argument, a good deal on a horse, how much does it cost in spiders?, ghost butt energy, and the Spider King's curfew.

Sources:

• https://visitcampbelltown.com.au/legend-of-fishers-ghost/
• https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/convict-transportation-peaks
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher%27s_ghost
• https://www.campbelltown.nsw.gov.au/About-Campbelltown/History/Prominent-People-From-Our-Past/Have-You-Seen-Fishers-Ghost