Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas! Here's a ghost who has a dog without a head.

This is the story of Geoffrey de Mandeville, the Christmas Eve Ghost. Come for the ghost, stay for: Ice for taste; are those both legs?; 0 for 1; Herschel Walker, prison guard; gotta take that head; I will tear thee down to the grapes; a distemper of men; I am a bleeder; and this poor tree.

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Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_de_Mandeville,_Earl_of_Essex
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_de_Mandeville
• https://usghostadventures.com/haunted-stories/25-days-of-christmas/sir-geoffrey-and-the-headless-hound/

Some would say that if you're living in Florida, you've already been dragged down to hell. But you be the judge.

This is the story of the Devil's Chair. Come for the ghosts, stay for: Muppet sex; Looney Tunes style; the Steve Gutenberg Project; liberal horses; it's the Tifa, not the mana; Jacksonville is still the end of the line; It’s an Infinite World; and a bounty crop of wackadoo.

Sources:

• https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/colby-george-p-1848-1933
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassadaga,_Florida
• https://hotelcassadaga.com/
• https://usghostadventures.com/haunted-stories/31-days-of-halloween/the-devils-chair-of-cassadaga-florida/
• https://www.volusiacountyhistory.com/post/the-true-spirit-of-cassadaga

Additional audio:

• "Hall of the Mountain King" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• "vaudeville fanfare" via https://www.myinstants.com/en/instant/vaudeville-fanfare-84711/ by roy82

Dead children? Yick! Who runs this show? (It's Ryan Smith, please send him all complaints.)

THis is the story of the Dead Children's Playground. Come for the wee ghosts, stay for: setting the curve; we are working right now; it is cold down here; the woke mind virus; make my tongue warm; feet are black, send them back; I will uncork grandma; ghost economy; and real sexy freaks.

Sources:

• https://www.paho.org/en/who-we-are/history-paho/purple-death-great-flu-1918
• https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/influenza-epidemic/
• https://www.al.com/life/2020/10/the-legend-of-alabamas-dead-childrens-playground.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maple_Hill_Cemetery_(Huntsville,_Alabama)
• https://factschology.com/mmm-podcast-articles/dead-childrens-playground

Welcome to the Kill Bill of the Reconstruction era. Or, as Patrick likes to call it, "Get your Pocohontas out of my Mulan." Good luck to us all. Oh, and we're a Belatro fancast now.

This is the story of Vivia Thomas. Come for the ghosts, stay for: Balatro Boys; pig spout; rubber stamp David; the Trail of Tears game; let’s not make a t-shirt of that; sweaty from all that arbitration; dozens of Daryls; and that’s what taxidermy is.

Sources:

• https://fairweatherlewis.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/the-saga-of-vivia-thomas/
• https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Vivia_Thomas
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Gibson
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Purchase

America wasn't always the haunted nation we know and fear today. No, there was a time when this land's soul was pure as driven snow, Then the Europeans people came, and now we have ghosts. Thanks a lot, Europe.

This is the story of Nelly Butler, the first ghost ever seen in America. Come for the ghost, stay for: 101 best cow jokes; the Stineverse; who remembers how to subtract?; probably conjunctivitis; January field stuff; Bell witch vibes; and some incredible metamorphosis that I should know about.

Sources:

• https://newengland.com/yankee/history/americas-first-ghost/
• https://www.americanghostwalks.com/articles/nelly-butler-maine-ghost-story
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York,_Maine
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_York_(1692)

You know Bobby Mackey, right? Country billboard chart-topper Bobby Mackey? No? Well, you like Pepsi, right? So maybe you know his whole deal. Anyway, he's not the ghost, so why are we even talking about this?

This is the story of Bobby Mackey's Music World. Come for the ghosts, stay for: I just want a Cobb salad; ghost boosters; I don’t think this is legally binding; ambitious dental students; if we keep going we’re gonna hit teeth; I’m so thirsty after all of this slaughtering; viscera wells; and Elmer Fudpucker’s river mud records.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Mackey%27s_Music_World
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Mackey
• https://www.travelchannel.com/shows/ghost-adventures/articles/bobby-mackeys-haunted-history
• https://bittersoutherner.com/honky-tonk-haints
• https://www.latimes.com/travel/story/2019-08-02/newport-kentucky-las-vegas-gambling-big-name-stars-mob

It's Germany. Early 1800s. Blink. Now it's New York. Later 1800s. No overlap. Go to sleep. Wake up. The worlds have collided. There are bricks. There are ghosts. What is happening? No one knows. Was that a hitman? Spooky.

This is the story of the Kreischer Mansion. Come for the ghosts, stay for: cat spikes; a big ol' glass of Four Roses; anything is possible at patrick-dot-com; the snow witch; what if the Beatles were just a different shade of blue?; a Wile E. Coyote trap in every room; feed the poor bricks; love a good pig man; and the McKelvey supercut.

Sources:

• https://www.realestatesiny.com/balthasar-kreischer.php
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_New_York
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8183096/balthasar-kreischer
• https://medium.com/@dannymule/the-murder-of-the-kreischer-mansion-staten-islands-darkest-tale-e87791d8935e
• https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-tribune-edward-kreischer-death/8446113/?locale=en-US
• https://theghostinmymachine.com/2022/12/12/haunted-road-trip-kreischer-mansion-cursed-halls-staten-island-new-york/
• https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/kreischer-mansion
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kreischer_House

Clayton got distracted this week, so it's Audio Editor Jeremy to the rescue! He brought us a story that's going to just absolutely thrill the engineer in your family. Also, there are ghosts.

This is the story of the haunted Hoosac Tunnel. Come for the ghosts, stay for: bacon defense contracting; Timothee unlookalike; does Jeremy have the Internet?; big ol’ peeper; an afront to God; that’s West Virginia’s problem now; and call Jerry Bruckheimer.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoosac_Tunnel
• https://www.mininghistoryassociation.org/Journal/MHJ-v1-1994-Chaky.pdf
• https://storyland.coplacdigital.org/mcla/death/deaths-in-the-hoosac-tunnel/
• https://www.berkshireeagle.com/history/days-gone-by-images-of-the-hoosac-tunnel-from-the-eagle-archives/collection_a18ccc28-397a-11eb-9ff2-83b8883596d3.html#anchor_item_39
• https://obscurevermont.com/the-bloody-pit/
• https://museumhack.com/haunted-hoosac-tunnel/
• https://theberkshireedge.com/connections-the-hoosac-tunnel/
• https://www.american-rails.com/hoosac.html
• http://photos.modelrails.net/s/?p=197219
• https://www.constructionequipment.com/topical/historical-equipment/article/10755034/the-first-percussion-drill

It's that special time of year when Patrick digs out his Clayton Smith costume and takes over host duties for a very special episode of Is This a Ghost! This year, he's back with two haunts and a flaunt--or, in other words, two truths and a lie. Is this the year Clayton correctly guesses which story is made up? The suspense is killing us!

This is the 2024 Halloween Spooktacular. Come for the ghosts, stay for: The devil’s second base; the Yellow Pages are long dead; very spitty; I don’t need a drop of context; this is invoices; the sweet honeymoon of Reconstruction; famously disagreeable sisters; thank you, fire; I think it’s just chlamydia; toast Jesus; and maybe this is the door from Lost.

This is a ghost story of heartbreak, kinda, but not the kind of heartbreak you feel sad about. More like the kind of heartbreak that the guy deserved 'cause he was a real ninnymuggins about stuff.

This is the story of Louis de Buade de Frontenac. Come for the ghost, stay for: skeleton jammies; Sephiroth, what a scamp; constant laundry; the world's richest baby; jeans with hammer loops; the My Girl generation; and the gamey box.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_de_Buade_de_Frontenac
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Louis-de-Buade-comte-de-Frontenac-et-de-Palluau
• https://npicommercial.com/blog/posts/haunted-places-series-fairmont-le-chteau-frontenac
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_Frontenac