Listener Stories: Vol. 85
Stories:
1: Being scolded from beyond the grave - Alicia (she/her)
2: Help me I drank an entire bottle of wine before typing this! - Cyndy
3: I tried the Estes Method while sitting in a haunted chair in New Orleans! - Jennifer (She/Her/They)
4: A Ghost Slapped My Booty - Maddie (she/her)
5: A Tale of Dowsing Rods, Top Hats and Flashing Balls - Tracy (she/her)
6: Dowsing Rods and A Lot of Crying - Alex (She/Her)
7. Public Library Ghost Hunting Kit - Cate
Hello, November - tell us we're pretty and feed us some cheese! We've got some fun and creepy stories from all you lovely listeners just in time for Scorpio season... we mean tryptophan season. We're tryptophan fans over here. So stay tuned for some sweet and creepy Dia de los Muertos stories in addition to a few dowsing rod/ghost hunting stories specifically for Christine. Don't forget to check your local library for ghost hunting equipment... and that's why we drink!
Transcript
[intro music]
Em Schulz: Hello, November.
Christine Schiefer: Happy Scorpio season.
Em Schulz: Uhh, I don't know about that, Christine, but happy umm Thanksgiving month where I get...
Christine Schiefer: Okay.
Em Schulz: To eat turkey and fall sleep faster than normal.
Christine Schiefer: Oh tryptophan. Are you a tryptophan fan?
Em Schulz: I am a fan of the tryptophan fan. Wait. Tryptophan.
Christine Schiefer: Oh it's our... Em, we're not supposed to release our Thanksgiving musical yet.
Em Schulz: Oh, speaking of Thanksgiving musicals. Pass...
Christine Schiefer: The cran... Oh, I got too excited.
Em Schulz: Pass...
Christine Schiefer: The...
Em Schulz: Cranberry...
Christine Schiefer: Sauce...
Em Schulz: We're...
Christine Schiefer: Having...
Em Schulz: Mashed...
Christine Schiefer: Potatoes...
Em Schulz: Ooh...
Christine Schiefer: The...
Em Schulz: Turkey...
Christine Schiefer: Looks...
Em Schulz: Great...
Christine Schiefer: Thank...
Em Schulz: You...
Christine Schiefer: For...
Em Schulz: Loving...
Christine Schiefer: Me.
Em Schulz: Thank...
Christine Schiefer: You...
Em Schulz: For...
Christine Schiefer: Being...
Em Schulz: There.
Christine Schiefer: Everyone's...
Em Schulz: Thanking...
Christine Schiefer: The...
Em Schulz: Whole...
Christine Schiefer: World's.
Em Schulz: Thanking...
Christine Schiefer: You...
Em Schulz: For...
Christine Schiefer: Thanking...
Em Schulz: Us...
Christine Schiefer: For...
Em Schulz: Thanking...
Christine Schiefer: You.
Em Schulz: Kill the turkey.
Christine Schiefer: Kill the turkey.
[laughter]
Christine Schiefer: Jack, can you line that up? It's a little more awkward when we're... There's a lag, but uhh I'm sure it'll sound just impeccable when it comes out into the air waves.
Em Schulz: Yeah, yeah. Impeccable like a turkey pecking away, I don't know...
Christine Schiefer: Impeckable, that's the name of our musical. Impeckable the musical.
Em Schulz: The last time we did that, we didn't have an editor, so he was pro... He's probably like what was that.
Christine Schiefer: Oh true. He's probably like what the fuck was that? Are they... Are they...
Em Schulz: [laughter]
Christine Schiefer: He's probably deleted it already, like this can't be something they want the public to hear.
[laughter]
Em Schulz: Uhhh. Okay well, happy kill a turkey month and uh, hmm, I, you know Christine, how, how are you feeling about November so far as, as we record it in October?
Christine Schiefer: Well, I'm always a little sad when Halloween is over, um and I'm not... I know that as the co-producer of the musical Impeckable, the musical I should think otherwise, but I'm not a huge fan of Thanksgiving. It's just...
Em Schulz: Wow, yeah.
Christine Schiefer: It's always just been a very loaded time you know uh literally and figuratively, and so uh I think we're going to you know... It'll, it'll be fine, it'll be fine. We're going to Blaise's family this year, which is always fun, and like it takes me directly out of all the bullshit that used to you know all that... Drown me, umm and then it's Christmas time.
Em Schulz: Christmas time is here...
Christine Schiefer: So... No, no, it's not time.
Em Schulz: Oh not that musical. Not yet. Not yet, not yet.
Christine Schiefer: Wrong musical. Em, I knew you were going to do that. That's why I whispered. You always steal my thunder with that one.
Em Schulz: I can't wait to sing that in a month with you on the listener's episode.
Christine Schiefer: I know. How are you feeling with November looming?
Em Schulz: November, well, yeah, if there's such a thing... I mean, there is such a thing as seasonal affective uh depression. Seasonal affective disorder, is that what it is?
Christine Schiefer: Yes, SAD.
Em Schulz: I forget it. Yeah.
Christine Schiefer: Seasonal affective disorder.
Em Schulz: I only get it directly after Halloween, and I'm like, oh well...
Christine Schiefer: What a weird coincidence.
Em Schulz: Well, all the joy I've had, uh I've finally found my burnout...
Christine Schiefer: It's a hard...
Em Schulz: And it is on November 1st every day, every year...
Christine Schiefer: Yeah, no, like it feels... It's just, there's such a... It's just kind of a bummer.
Em Schulz: It's a build up for all this fun, and then... Because October is always the fun month where every weekend I got something going on. I got you know Allison's birthday and that's always a thing, and so then I'm like, I've exhausted myself, so November 1st, it's like, oh no, like this is... Now I've got nothing to...
Christine Schiefer: Crashing. Crashing.
Em Schulz: Look forward to until I get to eat in 20 days. But umm, uhh I'm excited because this November 1st marks that I'm about to have my annual hang out with my aunt and my cousins, and I'm about to eat a lot of really good food, so I have that to look forward to.
Christine Schiefer: That will be delightful. Yeah, and fun fact, everyone Eva picked some very timely stories today, some Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos stories for us, and so um you know we're on theme, uh we are still celebrating even though Halloween is over, uhh and we only have some Christmas magic to look forward to. Umm so you know what, we're gonna... This is me trying to give myself a pep talk, by the way, if anyone's wondering umm...
Em Schulz: Okay, you go ahead.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah, we're gonna be, we're gonna be fine.
Em Schulz: Okay, it's fine.
Christine Schiefer: Is it working to my pep talk? I feel like I'm just shouting. Aaahhh. [laughter]
Em Schulz: Umm. Hmm. No. I think you did a great, great opener there, Christine. Did a good job.
Christine Schiefer: Thanks.
Em Schulz: Nailed it. We'll talk about it backstage. Um.
Christine Schiefer: Nailed it. Okay.
Em Schulz: So yeah, we got the day after the day, Dia de los Muertos, so um, 'cause it's November 1st. Right?
Christine Schiefer: Isn't that... That is Dia de los Muertos.
Em Schulz: Is that the actual day? I always get it mixed up. Is it... What else?
Christine Schiefer: The first, the day after Halloween.
Em Schulz: Perfectly on brand. Good job Eva.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah.
Em Schulz: In my mind, I already confused them.
Christine Schiefer: You are silly.
Em Schulz: Umm and we've got uh a handful of others I've been told, um so it's a bit of a, a...
Christine Schiefer: Mixed bag.
Em Schulz: Ooh, like a trick or treat candy bag, that you don't know what you're gonna get.
Christine Schiefer: Oh, is it tricks or is it treats? We'll find out.
Em Schulz: Are you going first this time? I think Eva said for you to go first.
Christine Schiefer: I'm going first. This is from Alicia, she/her pronouns, and it's called Being scolded from beyond the grave.
Em Schulz: Great.
Christine Schiefer: "Hello. Hola. And howdy y'all. I've enjoyed And That's Why I Drink so much since it was first suggested to me by a bookstore employee..." Oh wow. We're hitting bookstores now Em, good for us.
Em Schulz: Wee!
Christine Schiefer: Wee! "Who noticed me checking out the True Crime section, LOL, I'm always thankful that my path crossed with that one employee that day" that was probably Em or me, just trying to like insert ourselves, but it's okay...
Em Schulz: Yeah.
Christine Schiefer: "If it weren't for them, I may never have gotten into listening to any podcast. So I have to preface that my story is a little weird and some people don't really believe me, we do, but I promise you that I've been scolded and punished for being disobedient to my mother from beyond the grave."
Em Schulz: Uh-oh.
Christine Schiefer: This is a troubling because I feel like Em and I are both uh bound to experience this one day.
Em Schulz: It's ready to... It's at any day, any day. And also...
Christine Schiefer: Any day.
Em Schulz: Like how, how back talky do you have to be at your mom until like the fates have to interject, you know?
Christine Schiefer: Until she's like all right, that's it. I'm coming.
Em Schulz: Like look you can call her a lot of names, but not that one. That one's for you.
Christine Schiefer: Heading back to Earth. Okay?
[laughter]
Christine Schiefer: All right, here we go. "I currently reside in east Texas, but grew up in El Paso along the border of Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. My mother and her side of the family is from Mexico, and my father's side is from the north eastern part of the US. Due to growing up in the borderland, I am much more familiar with Mexican traditions and culture and was raised Catholic, so on most years on Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, we would go to the cemetery in Mexico and fix up my great-grandmother's grave site and fix/paint her gravestone. It's a tradition I always enjoyed being able to participate in since we get to celebrate the lives of those who have passed, due to these traditions, I've also always felt a close connection/sensitivity to family members that have passed or even to the paranormal." I love that tradition so much. It's such a joyful, I don't know, I just love the whole concept of Dia de los Muertos, I think it's really special.
Em Schulz: I, I, I don't know why um more people don't celebrate honoring the people that have passed. I feel like I've been... Not that I've been trying to like copy off them, but I've been noticing that as I'm getting older, I've had a lot of grandparents die recently, and one of my favorite things is on their birthday or on the day that they died is doing all their favorite stuff and like it's, it's so lovely, but I don't know why it's not more of a tradition uh over here, so uh...
Christine Schiefer: I know, it's a different approach to, uh, to death and dying, I think.
Em Schulz: Yeah.
Christine Schiefer: Mm-hmm. "For the purpose of this story, we are going to focus on my great-grandmother, my great-grandmother passed away a few years before I was born. I never physically met her and really only heard positive stories about her. My family always said my great-grandmother was kind, she didn't cuss and wasn't one to raise her voice. Due to financial woes, my mother's family had there are very little pictures of my great-grandmother, so I only had seen her picture a few times. My mother always mentioned that she was really close to my great-grandmother and that she did a lot for my mother while she was growing up. My mother always said that she knew she was pregnant with me and my older sister because my great-grandmother appeared before her. My mother swears up and down, she saw a physical apparition of my great-grandmother standing in front of her telling her she needed to be more careful because she was with child." Oh gosh.
Em Schulz: [gasp] Terrifying. Two scary things all at once.
Christine Schiefer: I feel like someone's gonna knock a tuna salad sandwich out of her hand or something. Like the things you're not supposed to do when you're pregnant, like cold cuts or fit or whatever. S-sushi. Get that out of here. You're with child. Disappear.
Em Schulz: Yeah [laughter]
Christine Schiefer: "Fast forward many years later, and I'm around 15 to 16 years old, my teenage years with my mother were hard, I was emotional and angsty, deep inside, all I wanted was to let my emo child out," this is... Oh, sorry. I was reading my journal by mistake, just kidding.
Em Schulz: It was that your zanga, oh, I'm sorry.
Christine Schiefer: Oopsie, my LiveJournal escaped. "Deep inside, all I wanted was to let my emo child out and my parents didn't let me. The most emo I was allowed to be was painting my nails black and listening to Death Cab for Cutie, Fall Out Boy." Okay. We were the same person.
Em Schulz: It sounds like you, it sounds like you got pretty far though. It sounds like you got where you need to be.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah, I guess. I mean, I was only allowed... I wasn't even allowed to paint my finger nails black, but I was allowed to wear Converse. That was about as far as I got. Um.
Em Schulz: I like how Converse was labeled as like for the streets, so like just the scariest type of people.
Christine Schiefer: At my private school with uniforms, it really was... It was like, woah, what are you wearing? You know.
Em Schulz: It's like, you're so offbeat. That's crazy.
Christine Schiefer: So badass. You're so whimsical. And I was like, no, I'm depressed.
Em Schulz: And now, I can't wear them anyway, so they, they win. Thanks to my flat feet. [laughter]
Christine Schiefer: Oh, I was like, wait, why? Okay, I thought they were canceled or something. I was like, oh no. "The most emo I was allowed to be was painting my nails black and listening to Death Cab, Panic! At The Disco, Fall out Boy, Linkin Park, etcetera, away from my parents. I feel like Christine and I would have been fairly similar in high school." That's...
Em Schulz: Agreed.
Christine Schiefer: Clearly, I spoke too soon. "Anyway, back to great-grandma story. During my youth days, my mother and I fought all the time, but we had one particular explosive fight that set everything off. We were yelling in the kitchen and I was so heated that I felt like I had smoke coming out of my ears. I don't even remember what the fight was about. Well, when I went to bed, I had a dream, not just any dream, an older woman appeared in my dream, she had never appeared my dreams before. In this dream, she was scolding me for the way I talked to my mom. She didn't raise her voice at me, she was calm, but she meant business. She talked to me in a stern voice and was pinching the back part of my upper arm."
Em Schulz: Ugh.
Christine Schiefer: "I remember waking up in the middle of the night with arm pain, but figured it was because it was happening in the dream, I must have thought it was real. Well, I woke up the next day with bruises in that same area from my dream, and I was a little scared, I eventually made up with my mother the following day, and we were good, but it's not over yet. The same woman came back in my dreams the following night, and I didn't see her again after that. A few days after the second dream, a few of us were looking over my parents wedding album, we were looking at a picture with my mom and dad in front of the church they got married at with the same old lady from my dreams, standing between them."
Em Schulz: Ooh.
Christine Schiefer: "My blood ran cold. I turned to my mother and asked her to verify who the woman was, I don't know why, but in my dream, I didn't recognize her, but as soon as I saw the picture, it's like I remembered she was my great-grandmother. As mentioned before, we don't have too many pictures of her, so I had to make sure I wasn't confusing her with someone else, as I hadn't seen her picture in a few years. My mother noticed that I was a little uneasy and asked me what was wrong, I told her about how after our big argument, my great-grandmother came into my dreams to scold me and even showed her some of the bruises I still had on my arms. My mother was so shocked, she wasn't even shocked over the fact that my great-grandmother visited me and my dreams, she was shocked that I was able to tell her how my grandmother physically scolded me, apparently this was her preferred method of scolding my mom, aunts, and uncles."
Em Schulz: Ooh! Oh my God.
Christine Schiefer: "I never knew this. This was never told to me by anyone. My mother never shared that piece of information with me or my siblings." Also, that's really specific to like pinch someone's upper arm?
Em Schulz: Yeah.
Christine Schiefer: As a scolding method? I don't know...
Em Schulz: I would never forget it if someone did that to me.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah, and I would never just like...
Em Schulz: Yeah!
Christine Schiefer: Randomly come up with that, I feel like subconsciously. You know what I mean?
Em Schulz: Yeah, definitely, it's really weird. As a believer is very good evidence.
Christine Schiefer: I think so.
Em Schulz: Explain that skeptics. Well I'm sure they can.
Christine Schiefer: Explain that to me. "After the shock passed, my mother laughed and couldn't believe that even after all this time she had someone looking out for her from the other side. To this day, I'm still wary of any arguments I have with my mother." You're gonna get, you're gonna get pinched again.
Em Schulz: Yeah, can you imagine...
Christine Schiefer: No!
Em Schulz: Can you imagine being like knowing that someone's looking out for you from your bratty teen...
Christine Schiefer: Yeah.
Em Schulz: You know and it's like you better lookout.
Christine Schiefer: I would be... As a bratty teen, I would be pissed. I'd be like listen, it's hard enough. Don't gang up on me. Okay.
Em Schulz: In your next Zenga post, it's like the gods are against you.
[laughter]
Christine Schiefer: The God isn't real. But he hates me apparently.
Em Schulz: The underworld has spoken.
[laughter]
Christine Schiefer: Nobody understands me. "Whenever I argue with my mom, I wonder if my great-grandmother will show up again to scold me. She hasn't come back to scold me yet, but I'm well aware that she can and will. Since this incident, I've had a few more family members in my life, pass on that I have actual memories with. I sometimes wonder if these dreams are my self-conscious, just wanting to have some more encounters with them, or if they are true visitations, but I'm happy to at least know that I have my great-grandmother looking after us. Alicia."
Em Schulz: Excellent. I like that you've turned it into a happy story because I would literally lose sleeping, so... I'd find a way to make it all about myself and be so embarrassed that even ghosts are like feeling the need to come down and do something about my attitude.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah, about your attitude.
Em Schulz: I would be...
Christine Schiefer: So embarrassing.
Em Schulz: I would be so embarrassed 'cause I'd be like even people I can't see are judging me.
Christine Schiefer: I'd be pissed because they can see all... Like it's not even like I can have an attitude by myself, 'cause like great-grandma's probably watching then too, you know, like she knows.
Em Schulz: Then I would turn it into like oh my God, it's like I'm on a reality show. People are just...
Christine Schiefer: Oh yeah. Big Brother.
Em Schulz: They can't get over the... They can't get over me. Oh my God. They just keep watching.
Christine Schiefer: She's like so obsessed with me. You know. Anyway, Alicia thank you for your story.
Em Schulz: All right, the next one I have, um, it's high promises, I think because the subject line is, Help me, I drank an entire bottle of wine before typing this!
Christine Schiefer: [gasp] Of course, my brain went oh no, I thought I was gonna say I drink an entire Tide bleach pod or something. I don't know why I thought we had to call poison control. Um.
Em Schulz: Nope. I think it's letting us know that this is gonna maybe be a bumpy ride.
Christine Schiefer: A doozy. Got it. Okay.
[laughter]
Em Schulz: Um. This is also a pre-pandemic email, this is from 2019.
Christine Schiefer: Shut up. Wow.
Em Schulz: Um. So this person has been waiting for a while.
Christine Schiefer: The old days.
Em Schulz: They've probably given up entirely on the show... That's okay.
Christine Schiefer: Probably. [chuckles]
Em Schulz: Um. Listening...
Christine Schiefer: They need to go to the book store where Alicia went.
[overlapping conversation]
Em Schulz: Yeah. If you're listening know the patience is a virtue. Um. This is from, uh, Cyndy, and it says, "Hello, Em, Christine, Eva, and Gio. As I said in my subject line, I indeed drank an entire bottle of wine before writing you, so I will do my best to clean up the grammar." Thank you, that's nice. "I have been listening to your podcast non-stop since August and have now just caught up, I'm a new born baby photographer." At first I thought it said I'm a newborn baby.
Christine Schiefer: [laughter] Oh don't drink that wine. Now I am concerned.
Em Schulz: I was like, girl. "I'm a new born baby photographer. And listen to you while I'm editing. It's probably in poor taste, but who cares? Anyways, I live in Bolingbrook, Illinois, Bolingbrook, Illinois and I used to live three minutes away from Drew Peterson, so I hope you cover him at some point."
Christine Schiefer: I have not covered Drew Peterson yet, but as Em said, uh, patience is a virtue. Okay, so just wait a minute. Wait a few more years.
Em Schulz: Yeah, I don't know what his story is, but... Oh, here it is. Well, it says, he's a peach. So now, I'm confused. Um. He once...
Christine Schiefer: Huh? I think that must be sarcastic.
Em Schulz: Oh, "he once came into the local chicken joint I was working at after his wife's disappearance and my boss made me serve him by myself." Ooh. "I'm here to tell you some ghost stories, I have a lot, and I would like to say I'm sensitive to the paranormal, but it's possible, I just really want to be. But I would like to say I'm, I'm sensitive to paranormal, but maybe I just really wanna be. I was 18 and going to college in downtown Chicago when I saw my grandfather on the train sitting across from me, it was 2010, and he died in 1997."
Christine Schiefer: [gasp]
Em Schulz: "I don't remember much about him because he lived in Mexico and I was only six when he died, but when I saw him, I knew he was a short man, kind of skinny, slightly hunched shoulders with a red baseball hat, torn denim, he was carrying a lunch tote."
Christine Schiefer: Aww.
Em Schulz: "He looked like he was going to work and he was looking out the window and was rubbing his stubble, which is something my grandfather used to do. I stared at him for what felt like forever. He turned to me, smiled, and now from my grandfather, when he smiled, he did with his whole face, his eyes would sparkle and he would practically light up. I knew it was him, he'd gotten on at one stop and gotten off at the next, and as soon as he was off the train and the doors closed, he was gone. I didn't see him walk in any direction, he was just gone."
Christine Schiefer: Woah.
Em Schulz: "I called my mom right away and she didn't believe me at first, but as soon as I began to describe him, his gestures and his smile, she knew it was him too. In November 2017, my grandmother from my mom's side died and she had been bedridden for sometime, and it was a long time coming, but still was heartbreaking for all of us. My mother and I were the only ones able to go to her burial in Mexico, and when we got there, everyone was sleeping in the bedroom in the back or in the living room where her casket was, but I, for some reason, found it more comforting sleeping in her bed, even though she died in it the day before." Ooh, that's I understand and also like, what a odd space to be in.
Christine Schiefer: Em's your cousin who's like, "Okay, go for it." Uh, I'll be out here watching TV." [laughter]
Em Schulz: I'm... I'm not gonna fight you for that space. But also, I, I see the... I see the emotional value to it.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah, yeah, you feel...
Em Schulz: But like, what a...
Christine Schiefer: Close to them.
Em Schulz: What a heaviness.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah.
Em Schulz: "Anyway. After her burial, my mom and I were getting ready to go back, and we were going through her stuff, and my uncles had said if I wanted to take anything of hers to remember her by, I could. I decided on taking one of her oldest copies of the Bible, because that's what she cherished most. Anyway, going through her stuff, my mom came across the last visa she ever got, which was when she visited us in the US last... Last in 2007. My mom held the ID in her hand and recalled the date she took her mom to go get it. She asked me if I wanted it, and I said, "No." I figured my mom packed it for herself or something. Flash forward to this past October, my mom and I had made... Had made an altar to celebrate Dia de los Muertos, and we put up photos of both of my grandfathers and my grandmother. A couple of days later, I walk into the dining room and I see in a little envelope, my grandmother's visa card smack dab in the middle of the dining room table."
Christine Schiefer: [gasp]
Em Schulz: "I think to myself, "Oh, that's weird," and put it right back where I found it. The next morning, my mom is screaming and freaking out, "Where did you find the card? How did that get here? Did you put that here?" I said, "No, I found it on the table and figured you put it there." And she swore she didn't. And I told her the last time I saw that card was in Mexico..."
Christine Schiefer: Mmm.
Em Schulz: "The day after we buried her, and I figured my mom had packed it. My mom said, "No, I didn't." And we burst into happy tears, we knew that she was letting us know that she was there. I didn't..."
Christine Schiefer: She's like, "I still need a visa in the afterlife to get to you guys." [laughter]
Em Schulz: So yeah, I still have to travel all the way here." And it was a lot harder on a plane...
Christine Schiefer: Yeah, and your grandpa's on the train. I feel like somebody needs to let your grandparents know that they can probably astral travel now, like they don't need to take the train or the visa.
Em Schulz: Can't she just like blink or something and be there? The other one didn't have to.
Christine Schiefer: Maybe. I don't know how it works, but...
Em Schulz: Did the other one also need like a boarding pass or something to go pinch her arms, you know like... Wild.
[laughter]
Em Schulz: Uh, "it didn't help that for the entire month, the altar was up, and our dogs wouldn't stop barking at it."
Christine Schiefer: Ooh.
Em Schulz: Umm, "and here... Sorry for the long email, but here's the worst ghost story I have." I like that you went through the rolodex in your mind and you're like, "I'll give them what... I'll give them all I've got." So...
[laughter]
Christine Schiefer: While the wine's still, uh, kicking.
Em Schulz: Yeah. "When I was 18, my dad was going on three years sober from alcohol, and he found a lot of help from the Catholic church at the time. And was really deep into it, and was doing a lot to help find solace. Well, one particular day, I was in class and my brothers were out, my mom was in Mexico, my dad decided to do a quick blessing of the house, he grabbed the jug of holy water..." I love that you have a jug.
Christine Schiefer: A jug. [chuckle]
Em Schulz: Umm, "and it was going from room to room, when he arrived to my door, and was about to splash water. When he was about to splash water, a force held his arm back..."
Christine Schiefer: [gasp]
Em Schulz: "Keeping him from throwing the water."
Christine Schiefer: Uh-oh.
Em Schulz: "He tried for several seconds, until he let go. And it scared him so much, that he had to stop and pray. And he did not end up blessing my room." Which, okay.
[laughter]
Em Schulz: That alone, I feel like it goes against every exorcist story we've ever heard, where they were able to throw holy water. If they can just grab your hand before.
Christine Schiefer: They're like, "Nope."
Em Schulz: Wouldn't like...
Christine Schiefer: Not so fast.
Em Schulz: Holy water have never been spilt. You know?
Christine Schiefer: Yeah, that seems...
Em Schulz: If like demons can just hold you down.
Christine Schiefer: Also, that seems like the room that's the most in need of some holy water, but...
Em Schulz: Right. Yeah.
Christine Schiefer: Oh, well.
Em Schulz: It's like maybe find a squirt gun or something it doesn't recognize and get it in there.
[chuckle]
Em Schulz: Uh...
Christine Schiefer: What about like an automatic sprinkler system, then you don't have to worry...
Em Schulz: Ooh.
Christine Schiefer: About like your arm getting held, you know?
Em Schulz: Interesting.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah. Just an idea. Just a thought.
Em Schulz: You gotta shoot it through the window or something. You gotta get crafty.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah. Exactly.
Em Schulz: Pretend you're drinking a cup of water and then go, "Oh, no. Oh, no."
Christine Schiefer: Or just drink it. 'Cause like, if you're like me at all, you will spill it eventually.
Em Schulz: You know, I've always wondered, if you are possessed, why don't you just drink holy water?
Christine Schiefer: Like, 'cause it has like oil in it, I think. It just sounds gross.
Em Schulz: If there's a demon in you, like...
Christine Schiefer: I mean, it's not worse than being possessed... I guess.
[laughter]
Em Schulz: I'm just saying like, get it from the inside, like a tapeworm or something, you know?
Christine Schiefer: Eww.
Em Schulz: Umm. Okay. "So he didn't end up blessing my room. I was going through a lot at the time with school and was on the verge of a nervous breakdown." Umm, I don't blame you, now that your room's also possessed.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah, been there.
Em Schulz: "But it wasn't after me, it was apparently after my dad. That very same night in Mexico, my mom had a vicious nightmare and never told me the details, but she said it was so evil and so scary, it woke her right up at 3:30 in the morning."
Christine Schiefer: Uhh.
Em Schulz: "She prayed right then, told whatever it was to leave her alone, leave her family alone, and go away. A few weeks later, my dad relapsed."
Christine Schiefer: Aww.
Em Schulz: "It's 10 years later, and he is now just going back to the program and trying to get back on track." Oof. Umm...
Christine Schiefer: Good for him.
Em Schulz: "If you've made it this far, thank you for reading. And I can't wait to see you two, at the Vic, March 31st 2019."
Christine Schiefer: Ahh. Awkward.
Em Schulz: I'm glad you saw us.
Christine Schiefer: Oh, wait, wait, wait. Wait, wait. Oh, oh, oh, it happened in 2019. So it did... That one did happen.
Em Schulz: That one did happen. So...
Christine Schiefer: Okay. Good, good, good.
Em Schulz: Glad you caught that. Umm... [laughter] Uh, "so excited for the show. Love you guys, Cyndy." [chuckle]
Christine Schiefer: Oh, Cyndy, none of us knew what was happen... What was coming for us.
Em Schulz: Just... Just com... Comparatively total bliss. [chuckle]
Christine Schiefer: Wow, just ignorance is bliss, you know?
Em Schulz: Yeah.
Christine Schiefer: Woah. What a doozy, man. Umm, it's just... It makes me sad when these stories kind of end up like affecting real life, when it comes to like addiction and things like that. It's like... Life's hard enough without demons getting involved, you know?
Em Schulz: Yeah. Not... Not umm...
Christine Schiefer: Boy, oh, boy.
Em Schulz: Not something worth adjoining on, it's adding on to my list of struggles I'm dealing with on a daily basis.
Christine Schiefer: Your to-do list. Yeah. Ah, okay. Well, thank you, Cyndy. Let's see what we've got next. This is from Jennifer, she/her/they.
Em Schulz: [gasp] Ooh.
Christine Schiefer: And the subject is, I tried the Estes Method while sitting in a haunted chair in New Orleans.
Em Schulz: [gasp] Okay, I don't know if it'll explain it in there, but for people who don't know what the Estes Method is, would you like to general...
Christine Schiefer: Uh, and let me just check and see if it has a little umm... Little description, 'cause it might. Umm, buh, buh, buh. Hold on.
Em Schulz: For those of you who don't know, while Christine's reading, umm, we have done the Estes Method, so that's why we are personally very interested in this topic. We've done it when we were umm, at our most recent location that we are still not disclosing, 'cause we're still in the middle of tour LOL.
Christine Schiefer: 'Cause we're still waiting for Cyndy to see us at the Vic.
[laughter]
Em Schulz: But umm...
Christine Schiefer: No spoilers.
Em Schulz: It... It's one of Christine's favorite uh, ghost hunting methods.
Christine Schiefer: Is. Okay, I... I can explain it to you. I can explain. Umm, so the Estes Method... Uh, I wanna also give like credit, where credit is due, 'cause I sure as hell didn't come up with it myself.
Em Schulz: That's 'cause Christine is not the inventor. Um. Just a fan.
Christine Schiefer: Uh, no, no, no. I'm not an inventor of anything. Umm, so it was first developed by Carl Pfeiffer at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, which is why it's called the Estes Method. And basically, what you do, is you put on noise isolating headphones and listen to a spirit box, the thing that kind of umm, scans through radiofrequencies and uh, spirits are able to talk in real time. And the person with the noise isolating headphones on, basically just says whatever they're hearing in their ears. And they are unable to hear the rest of the group. So say, Em and Eva are in the room with me, and I volunteer to put on the headphones and a blindfold, uh, Em and Eva I could ask questions, and I, as the uh, victim, will put the headphones on and just repeat whatever... Uh, whatever I'm hearing. And when we've tried it in the past, it's pretty incredible, umm, because you can have a full-on conversation, uh, because you kind of are depriving... You're like sensory deprivation, so you don't... You're not getting distracted by the questions people are asking, you're not getting lead in a certain direction subconsciously. Umm, so it's a really cool, cool method, and we've tried it. Em's done it too. Uh, and I don't think we ever got Eva to do it.
Em Schulz: Didn't work very well or it worked very well.
Christine Schiefer: It worked too well, I think. [laughter] Umm, so that's what it is. So I'm so excited that Jennifer's like, Hey, I thought about you when I did this. So... Jennifer says, "Hello, parasocial friends..." Love that. "I have a doozy, but I'll try to keep it short-ish, so I have a better chance of being chosen. Love the show. Love the After Chats." Wow, okay, so you are fucking on it. I love this.
Em Schulz: That alone, got you on the show, my friend.
Christine Schiefer: I know, right. I love that.
Em Schulz: Like we... We love a compliment, I tell you that. And you threw quite a lot our way just now. Okay.
Christine Schiefer: If nothing else, tell us we're pretty.
[laughter]
Christine Schiefer: And feed us some cheese. Oh, but that's... Sorry, that's just me. Okay.
Em Schulz: That's just what you do.
Christine Schiefer: "Love the show. Love the After Chats. Love everything and everyone. Let's crack into it. Recently, I was in New Orleans with some family, and decided/booked with zero input from the rest of my party, a paranormal investigation tour." Wow, that sounds familiar to probably both Em and me.
[laughter]
Christine Schiefer: "This caught my interest as the guides bring the group to two locations and walk you through, using an SLS camera, dousing rods, EMF readers, light up cat toys..." We've used those too.
Em Schulz: We've also used those.
Christine Schiefer: "And spirit boxes, which I was exceptionally excited about."
Em Schulz: Ooh.
Christine Schiefer: "In fact, I was so excited the guide asked if I knew about the Estes Method, and my excited little dumb self was all, "Heck, yeah, I do." And he said, "You seem really open, so let's try that in our first location. Which I never have let anyone do before."" Uh-oh. Warning signs. Red flags.
[chuckle]
Christine Schiefer: "The first spot was a storage closet/shed with a super haunted chair that we all got to sit in. Parentheses, (why did we all just do this, no questions asked). As we all took our turns in the chair and with the equipment, and not much at all going on, my older sister who was scarily tuned into the spirit world, said suddenly, "They don't like the door being open."" Ooh.
Em Schulz: Absolutely not.
Christine Schiefer: "In a monotone voice, the sister said this. Our guide said, "Okay..." And beckoned us all inside the cramped shed. And as soon as the door shut behind the last participant, the EMF meters lit up like Christmas lights and a second figure appeared on the SLS beside my nephew in the haunted chair." The SLS by the way is the stick figure camera you sometimes see on Ghost Adventures. It's, it's really creepy. "Finally, it was my turn to sit in the chair. The guide handed me the blindfold and headphones and asked me if I was still up for it. "Let's do this." I sat down, flipped on the spirit box and blocked out the outside world. At first, nothing. Garbled backwards AM radio talk."
Christine Schiefer: "Then old boy, honor, honor, ready to go. As it turns out, one of the spirits in this location is a man who was wrongly convicted of a murder he didn't commit and hanged for the crime. And our guide has been working tirelessly to convince him to move on. So tirelessly, in fact that he has gotten a judge to agree to visit the shed and commute the sentence in the coming weeks."
Em Schulz: Oh my God!
Christine Schiefer: Wow! "And apparently I was answering the questions that our guide was directing to the spirit." Oh. I got like scalp chills.
Em Schulz: I... Yeah, that honor, honor, honor is very... A little too much.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah it's a little too far I think.
Em Schulz: If I was standing there I would go, oh time to take a walk outside, take a... Go to a bathroom break.
Christine Schiefer: Let's take a quick breather. You know is there a 7-11 around here? "Then the back legs of the chair which were against the wall opposite where the group were standing lurched forward." Ooh I don't know if this is...
Em Schulz: That's, that's a no for me dawg.
Christine Schiefer: That's, that's a big no. But also I wonder... I mean I know that that's probably not how it happened but if you think about like hanging, someone hanging and the chair...
Em Schulz: [gasp]
Christine Schiefer: Getting pushed. Just a thought.
Em Schulz: Oh my God, Christine.
Christine Schiefer: I'm assuming that's not how they hang prisoners you know back then. But it's just a thought.
Em Schulz: Oh not... Oh the imagery though.
Christine Schiefer: Ew. Yeah gross. "I knew if I said anything the session would end so I kept quiet. I wanted to get the most out of this experience. I continued to listen to the static." This is in quotes, so this is the spirit talking. ""I'm done, enough, end it." Oh my God! And then a masculine roar in my right ear so loud I threw the headphones. And the guide immediately grabbed me, took my shaking self outside and sprayed me down with holy water." [cackles]
Em Schulz: You know what, that guide came fucking prepared, he was like walking into some treacherous waters but I'm gonna handle it by the end.
Christine Schiefer: Don't even worry. He's gonna bring the judge over, we're all gonna be okay.
[laughter]
Christine Schiefer: He knows what he's doing.
Em Schulz: That guy's onto something, maybe we should do that on our next ghost hunt. Maybe we...
Christine Schiefer: I kinda love it that he has this spray method for the holy water.
[overlapping conversation]
Em Schulz: Yeah I'm chill with that. I'm chill with that.
Christine Schiefer: Oh my goodness, "the haunted chair belonged to one spirit who was known to be particularly malicious. And his patience for people in his seat would run out during the tour visits. I guess being the last in the chair and talking to someone else was enough for him to make his presence known. It was incredible, and if not for And That's Why We Drink I wouldn't have known half of what was happening. Thank you Em. Also, huge shout out to the Paranormal Society of New Orleans. And it says not sure you read this part," too late. "But they're doing incredible work. And I feel like they deserve a shout out." Sounds like they do know what they are doing. "Also my sister and I accidentally connected with my dead grandmother at the second location. But that's a story for another time. Thanks for all you do, Jennifer." That was a good one.
Em Schulz: Ah. I'll tell you, I don't wish to be Jennifer. So um...
Christine Schiefer: Yeah, Em's like I like sitting right here in this chair. And no other chair.
Em Schulz: If I watched... If I watched her or you or anyone throw their headphones off out of fear I'd be like and let's... I'm just gonna go get the car keys, I'm like I don't need to be here.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah.
Em Schulz: If you're out, I'm out. Like that's always been my line.
Christine Schiefer: I feel like that's enough of a jump scare. You know like okay I'm scared enough just watching you be scared. So I'm out.
Em Schulz: Yeah. I do like that you... That we all do have that... You, me and Eva have that understanding though that if you're out I'm out.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah. Yup.
Em Schulz: And that goes outside of paranormal investigations, it goes for like recording days, it goes for like...
Christine Schiefer: Yeah.
Em Schulz: It like... If we like uh... This has never happened but if something were to go terribly wrong on tour and the show's just not going as planned, if it were to get really bad, if you're out on that like I...
Christine Schiefer: We have, we have a safety... Safe ho... What's it called? A, uh...
Em Schulz: A safe... We have a code.
Christine Schiefer: We have safe holder... What am I talking about?
Em Schulz: I don't know I'm talking about our secret code...
Christine Schiefer: I know but I'm just saying we have a structures in place in case anything.
Em Schulz: The structure is if you're out, I'm out.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah, correct. That's the structure. And uh you know... Hopefully we don't have to use it again anytime some. But you never know.
Em Schulz: Jennifer, maybe make that agreement with your friends um next time you go on one of those things. It's like... The second I hear a goddamn growl we haul ass and like...
Christine Schiefer: Seriously.
Em Schulz: Don't, don't look back.
Christine Schiefer: You are giving me chills. Blegh.
Em Schulz: Um, okay the next one uh is from Maddie who uses she/her pronouns. Thank you for normalizing pronouns. And the subject line is A Ghost Slapped My Booty which we have that in common. So...
Christine Schiefer: Oh-hoo-hoo-hoo. Polter-gropped.
Em Schulz: Polter-gropped. So uh this says, "Hi Em and Christine I'm currently listening to your episode where Em covers the Shakers Cigar Bar in Milwaukee." We got a lot of uh people writing in about that one.
Christine Schiefer: That's right you did say that.
Em Schulz: That one was super creepy. Um. "I got so excited as I took a tour there recently. Shakers is a very popular for spot for fans of ghosts and true crime. My friend and I went uh first to take a Jeffrey Dahmer tour."
Christine Schiefer: Oh.
Em Schulz: Wow. "And the rode that Shakers is on was a hotspot for Dahmer to pick up his victims." Yikes. "Also Shakers was a place for... Where Dahmer visited and they even have the stool he used there on display." Now that feels like they... I, I hope for the um for the sake honesty that's true, but I kinda call bullshit.
Christine Schiefer: Mm, yeah.
Em Schulz: Because I feel like you wouldn't know which bar stool he sat at... Like he got away with it for so long... First of all he probably sat at a bunch of bar stools.
Christine Schiefer: Mmm.
Em Schulz: Second of all like... I feel like by the time he was famous there was a huge gap between the last time he went there... I mean I don't know the story, maybe he was there the day he got arrested or something.
Christine Schiefer: This is hilarious. Everybody take note, Eva write this down. This is the first time Em's been the skeptic of anything ever. Um.
Em Schulz: I just... Well so I, I want it to be true, I tr... I want it to be. And I hope I'm wrong, but I feel like if I ran a bar that like now an infamous person had been at I would just grab a, a stool and be like...
Christine Schiefer: I would just like...
[overlapping conversation]
Christine Schiefer: Scratch the initials into the stool and be like, look what I found you guys.
Em Schulz: Yeah, it's like crazy...
Christine Schiefer: Has JD on it...
Em Schulz: I hope I'm wrong. But I feel like they probably just wanted to make a quick buck and I totally get why they would wanna do that 'cause enough people would come in for that.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah, yeah. Em's just jealous that they didn't think of it first.
Em Schulz: I think I'm just jealous I didn't think of it first. So I hope, I hope that's true. Um. Uh. "No I did not sit on the bar stool." Okay that's good thing to know.
Christine Schiefer: That's probably for the best just in case. Yeah.
Em Schulz: Okay. Um. "Onto the ghost. I convinced my husband a couple of months ago to go on a ghost tour there, which I don't think he really believes in," Blaise. "But that man embraces my weird interest," Blaise.
Christine Schiefer: [laughter] Aww.
Em Schulz: "So I'm happy. Anyways, the first place that we went was the basement." I feel like that's the last place you should go.
Christine Schiefer: Yup. [laughter]
Em Schulz: Uh, "and man did I hate it." [laughter]
Christine Schiefer: Uh.
Em Schulz: "There's a safe down there which they think may be from the Capones that they have not been able to open." I love that they still haven't opened it. Um. "But our tour guide said that she never wants them to get it open. And the owner has a camera watching the safe. And it will literally move." First of all...
Christine Schiefer: Ew.
Em Schulz: Safes are fucking heavy.
Christine Schiefer: That's heavy.
Em Schulz: Why is it moving?
Christine Schiefer: Wasn't that the one where in the basement the guy saw somebody, like saw himself?
Em Schulz: Yes.
Christine Schiefer: And he ran at himself from the perspective of a spirit.
Em Schulz: Yeah. He like went into a trance and he astral projected...
Christine Schiefer: Mmm. Ugh!
Em Schulz: And he could now see through the demon's eyes who was staring at him.
Christine Schiefer: As it like ran at him. Yeah, forget it.
Em Schulz: And it charged at... He charged at himself through the eyes of the demon.
Christine Schiefer: Ugh. In that basement, yeah. Creepy place.
Em Schulz: So a heavy ass safe is also moving on its own.
Christine Schiefer: Yes.
Em Schulz: Um, and it says here "the safe is heavy. Like you need multiple people to try and move that thing." So that's terrifying.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah.
Em Schulz: Um, "so we were walking into another area of the basement and our tour guide used dowsing rods to try and talk to O'Connor, a male ghost that y'all talked about on the episode. She asked to have the rods point in the direction of where he was, and of course, it's right next to me." [laughter]
Christine Schiefer: These are dowsing rods we're talking?
Em Schulz: Mm-hmm.
Christine Schiefer: Okay.
Em Schulz: Yeah, point where... Point wherever you are, and then it pointed next to her.
Christine Schiefer: Oh it spins to you. It's like spin the bottle, but the worst version ever.
Em Schulz: It's... Yeah. It's not good. "Funny enough, right before she asked the spirit to do this, it popped into my head that he was standing by me."
Christine Schiefer: Bleh.
Em Schulz: "So freaked out, we started walking up the stairs to get out. And my husband and I were the last people walking up. He was behind me, but far enough away that he couldn't touch me. As we were going up, I felt a hand hit my butt."
Christine Schiefer: [gasp]
Em Schulz: "I immediately looked at my husband and he had no idea what I was talking about. Pretty sure it was O'Connor. Anyways, the experience was a little creepy, but also I had a good laugh, guess I made that ghost's day."
Christine Schiefer: Ooh. Ooh.
Em Schulz: I hate that it was standing next to you. It wanted people to know it was next to you.
Christine Schiefer: He clearly has a thing for you.
Em Schulz: Yeah. He... You have a bit of some paranormal rizz I think.
Christine Schiefer: Some rizz! Yeah. [laughter]
Em Schulz: Uh I don't think you knew what you were doing there...
Christine Schiefer: Some ghostly rizz.
Em Schulz: Uh, "I have a more terrifying story of a time I heard a woman cackling in an asylum but that's for another day."
Christine Schiefer: Oh, come on!
Em Schulz: "Thanks for reading. And keep doing what you're doing, Maddie."
Christine Schiefer: These guys know what they're doing with these stories for another day, keeping me on my toes.
Em Schulz: Oui.
Christine Schiefer: Wowsa, what a tale Maddie. Uh. I hope he just left it at the booty slap. And moved, moved on to someone else, 'cause uh that's enough.
Em Schulz: Yeah, 'cause it, it makes me not feel bad about the time my butt got grabbed because it was so much simpler than that, um and it was not in one of the scariest topics we've ever covered. So...
Christine Schiefer: [laughter] Yeah, uh yeah, at least yours, but yours was in a bed right, so that's kind of scary...
Em Schulz: Mine was in a...
Christine Schiefer: 'Cause you can't really escape.
Em Schulz: And it was right above, the bed was sitting on top of the decomposition stain.
Christine Schiefer: You know, you remember.
Em Schulz: So I wonder... Sometimes I wonder was my butt being grabbed or was he just rolling over in his own sleep, you know and I just kinda got swatted.
Christine Schiefer: Oh. You know what? That's a story for another day.
Em Schulz: Story for another day.
Christine Schiefer: Okay, this one's from Tracy, she/her. It's called A Tale of Dowsing Rods, Top Hats, and Flashing Balls. Okay
Em Schulz: How razzle dazzle. Okay.
Christine Schiefer: Ooh la la. Uh. So Eva did say that some of these are dowsing rod stories, which uh I'm especially excited about 'cause I love me some dowsing rods. This says, "Greetings one and all from down unda." Did you get it?
Em Schulz: I got it.
Christine Schiefer: Down unda.
Em Schulz: Down unda.
Christine Schiefer: Is this thing on?
Em Schulz: I'm sorry. It's on, and everyone else has turned us off. So...
Christine Schiefer: Cool, okay, great. Uh. Just as I suspected. "I had an experience on a ghost hunt last night." Oh, when was this sent? Oh July of this year.
Em Schulz: Oh, nice.
Christine Schiefer: "I had an experience on a ghost hunt last night that I just have to share with you. As for me, it was 100% evidence that ghosts are real."
Em Schulz: Ooh.
Christine Schiefer: "Over the course of three and a half hours, my BFF and I went on an investigation tour in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. While the night was giving us a few spooky moments with REM pod, Ovilus, EMF and SLS camera evidence, it was when I picked up a pair of dowsing rods for the first time, that shit got real." Isn't how it always goes on Em with these dowsing rods?
Em Schulz: I mean, I feel like... Yeah...
Christine Schiefer: You had zooming. I think that's what it is.
Em Schulz: Everything else looks so like high tech Ghostbusters, and sometimes you just gotta work with the classics.
Christine Schiefer: The basic. Yeah, yeah, the tradition. I feel like that's why I was always uh not expecting it to go as dark and crazy as it does with those dowsing rods. I don't expect it to be as scary as it is.
Em Schulz: I feel like skeptics out there can easily argue this, but in my brain, I feel like also with all the high tech stuff, you can always, if you wanted to try to debunk something, you could try to say that the machine glitched or something, but...
Christine Schiefer: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Or the lights or batteries are dying or whatever.
Em Schulz: But dowsing rods, they got no batteries, they got nothing going on, they just move and it's... You know there's no... I feel like a lot... This is where I think skeptics would be like umm, it's your own hands or whatever, but I feel like there's a lot less room, there's a lot less excuses for why it...
Christine Schiefer: Yes, for less margin for margin of error, and I don't know, there's something especially creepy about just like the simple movement of them, I don't know.
Em Schulz: And there are tales as old as time...
Christine Schiefer: Yes.
Em Schulz: like everyone has been able to rely on them throughout a century.
Christine Schiefer: And people have used them not just for... You know for a lot of other things. So... They work for a lot of people for a lot of reasons. Just saying. Okay, uh, buh, buh, buh. "Through an app on one of the attendees' phones, we'd gotten some suspiciously accurate words and sentences over the course of the evening, including the name Larry. We decided to have a conversation with Larry and after setting the answers with the rods and testing some questions, all with accurate answers, we got to work. It was fascinating stuff. We deduced that there were 17 people in the room, though whether or not that included the six of us that were there and alive, I'm not sure..."
Em Schulz: Uhh.
Christine Schiefer: "But with us having been told the name Larry, he was our focus. I playfully asked him if he liked me and the answer was a resounding, No."
Em Schulz: Bye girl. I'd be like, you know what, Larry? It's been a real. Peace. Goodnight.
Christine Schiefer: Larry, the feeling is mutual my man.
Em Schulz: I'd be like we went from 17 people to 16, 'cause I'm out of here.
Christine Schiefer: And I'm calling you Lawrence now, 'cause I am not even gonna give you the nickname, okay. "Weird, but we can't be liked by everyone right. I guess not. Shortly afterwards, I handed it over the dowsing rods to someone else while I went off to participate in another experiment. When I returned, they were still talking to Larry and slowly we pieced together his story. After a run of constant yes answers with the rods not moving, I had the bright idea to ask a question that Larry, who had just told us he'd gotten a girl pregnant would surely say no to, to make sure he was still with us. Well, let's just say that you should never question someone's gender, even if they're dead."
Em Schulz: Oh.
Christine Schiefer: "I got the no I was after, sure, but it seems that Larry took my joke as an invitation to turn the tables."
Em Schulz: Uh-oh.
Christine Schiefer: "We had a ball on the nearby table that would flash when it was touched, and boy did it start flashing when I got that no." So just to clarify, folks, if, if... 'cause I think I had to read between the lines a bit. She had asked if uh, the, the ghost was a woman, and that's when it said no in a resounding fashion and made him... Made Larry very mad.
Em Schulz: Mm-hmm.
Christine Schiefer: "I apologized instead, asking if he was the manliest man alive. A resounding yes. With more flashing."
Em Schulz: Sounds like, sounds like an alpha male.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah, yeah. He sounds like a badass. "I asked if he forgave me. I have never seen the rods move so quickly to no." [laughter]
Em Schulz: Oh shit. Insecure.
Christine Schiefer: We were all... Yeah, yeah, seriously. Like give it a rest guy. "We were all incredibly amused and I continued to apologize with the lights flashing almost every time I asked a question. I grovel telling him, I only asked if he was a girl so that we could get a no pleading for his forgiveness. That's when the most batshit fucking insane thing happened. The girl's app on her phone, it said my last name..."
Em Schulz: Ugh.
Christine Schiefer: Aahh-ha-ha-ha!
Em Schulz: I hate when they know information you haven't offered at all.
Christine Schiefer: Eww, I'm so creeped out dude. Ooh.
Em Schulz: Oh, that's a rough one.
Christine Schiefer: I hate this.
Em Schulz: I like to think that she has the craziest batshit last name too, instead of like Smith.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah, I know, right? I'm trying to think of what it could possibly be, I don't know, but... That is creepy, dude. "Now listen, I'm very suspicious of most ghost hunting equipment, especially apps. We all know that our phones listen to us and had it said my first name, I wouldn't be so bothered. It had been said multiple times that night." Uh-oh.
Em Schulz: Great.
Christine Schiefer: "But my last name, only my best friend and the tour operator who wasn't with our group at the time would know that. Sure, it's a common name, but you cannot convince me that that shit was a coincidence. I was noping out hard and honestly was starting to panic a little, but that was nothing compared to when the ball started flashing and her phone added one more word. Kill."
Em Schulz: Ugh. See ya.
Christine Schiefer: I can't. "I was a sobbing mess by this point, and it wasn't helped when Lucifer followed a few seconds later."
Em Schulz: Ooh.
Christine Schiefer: "Another lovely lady in the group quickly stripped off her crystal protection necklace and handed it to me while the guide who was with us addressed Larry directly and told him that enough was enough. She knew that the ghosts in this particular location could be very cheeky, and it seems Larry had decided to give me a good ribbing. Once the group got me settled down, I addressed Larry again asking if he was just messing with me. Yes. I asked if I was forgiven now. Yes. I was filled with relief. For a minute there, I'd been sure I was about to be brutally murdered by a demon."
Em Schulz: You know I do wonder like, like if you're a 12-year-old prankster and then now you're a ghost you know you're gonna fuck with people on the other side with ghost hunting equipment. So you almost can still never tell if...
Christine Schiefer: No.
Em Schulz: The information you're getting is accurate because...
Christine Schiefer: Like you know saying Lucifer is gonna freak everyone out you know/
Em Schulz: Yeah.
Christine Schiefer: You could just say it and be like no it was just me. I'm 12.
Em Schulz: Yeah. [laughter]
Christine Schiefer: But I don't know, I'm totally with you. "After this encounter, Larry and I started to get on well. In our private investigation time, my friend and I took the dowsing rods to have a more intimate conversation with him, asking him questions about his life, whether he liked having visitors. Yes. Whether he liked talking to us. Yes. And whether he would miss us when we left. No."
[chuckle]
Em Schulz: You know what? He's still direct, I appreciate that.
Christine Schiefer: Fair point. Yeah. You know, uh, if you don't want the answer, don't to ask the question. "After a while, we said our goodbyes and went off to investigate other areas, feeling pretty okay about our encounter now, but oh, this was not the end of Larry."
Em Schulz: Uh-oh.
Christine Schiefer: "After a fruitless investigation in another room, we walk through a small touristy room where there was a mirror and a hat rack with a sign inviting you to try on the hats." That's fun. "As we were walking through the exit of the room, we heard a loud thud on the wooden floor, assuming my friend had dropped her phone or Ovilus, and with her assuming her phone had fallen from her pocket, we stopped and turned back. But no, there on the floor, just behind her about two meters away from the hat rack was the gray top hat sitting the right way up on the floor."
Em Schulz: Hmm.
Christine Schiefer: Oh God. Oh God. Two meters, that's six feet people. Just in case you're wondering.
Em Schulz: Oh, yep.
Christine Schiefer: "Now, I'm no runner, but we left that area in record time. When the guide coaxed us back in to investigate what had happened, logic soon told us that this hat was not there because it fell. We'd only heard one thud. It hadn't fallen and bounced or rolled. We would have heard more noises and it likely would not have been sitting right side up. On a suspicion, I went back to the dowsing rods and after setting them up, and I have to say I'm a little unsettled that they knew the color of my underwear..."
Em Schulz: Uhh!
Christine Schiefer: "I asked... I asked Larry if he'd thrown the hat at us. Yes. Is a time for us to leave we asked yes."
Em Schulz: Yeah. I... By the way, Larry didn't have to tell you that. I could have said that an hour ago.
Christine Schiefer: I was gonna say I would have, I would have volunteered that information for free, just saying. "Satisfied that we were now outstaying our welcome, I apologized and said another goodbye just in time for us to be called for a quick debriefing. Time was up and honestly, not a moment too soon. So there you have it, the most convincing encounter I feel I might ever have in my entire life. I have no explanation for my name coming out of that phone, no explanation for the dowsing rods getting every test question right, and definitely no explanation for the hat, but I plan on going back there later this year," [laughter] so Larry is like...
Em Schulz: Girl, learn.
Christine Schiefer: Larry is like uh how many times do I have to tell you.
Em Schulz: Larry is like read the room. Read the room.
Christine Schiefer: I know. I'm, I'm literally throwing things at you. Read the room. "So I guess we'll see if I have anything to share with you next time, lots of love. Tracy." Oh my gosh, Tracy, be careful.
Em Schulz: Tracy is a rabble rouser, 'cause I'd be like...
Christine Schiefer: She's...
Em Schulz: I'd be like, hey remember that one time and that only one time, that one time that we went somewhere and we'll never go back, 'cause it was one time. And Tracy would be like, what are you talking about? We're in the car on the way there again.
Christine Schiefer: Remember that place where the ghost said I will not miss you when you leave?
Em Schulz: Right. Yeah. Uhh. Well I do like the I... I mean the hat landing on just one thud is super creepy and it landing right side up. But you also know... What is it? Isn't it Vans shoes, they never they never flip upside down?
Christine Schiefer: Huh?
Em Schulz: Isn't that a thing, where Vans shoes...
Christine Schiefer: Really?
Em Schulz: No matter how you throw them, they always are right side up. I wonder if a top hat does the same thing.
Christine Schiefer: I don't know if you caught this, but I'm a Converse girlie so I don't really know about the Vans.
Em Schulz: Right. Sorry. Converse. They are not like Vans. They will...
Christine Schiefer: They're not the same.
Em Schulz: And they'll land in any which way direction.
Christine Schiefer: Gotcha.
Em Schulz: I think Vans... I don't know if it's true or not, but the, the rumor is if you throw them...
Christine Schiefer: Sounds like an urban legend.
[laughter]
Em Schulz: If you throw them in any way, they'll always end right side up. They're always landing...
Christine Schiefer: Really?
Em Schulz: Yeah.
Christine Schiefer: I have never heard that. But, umm, that's a fun little fact.
Em Schulz: Fun fact. So maybe top hats are the same way is what I'm getting at.
[laughter]
Christine Schiefer: Okay. Apparently, it's really real. Umm, that, that, that this happens.
Em Schulz: Oh.
Christine Schiefer: There's an article from 2021. People shocked after realizing Vans shoes always land the right way up. But I'm included in that. I'm shocked.
Em Schulz: Yeah. I feel like now a bunch of people are taking their Vans off really quickly to throw them somewhere.
[laughter]
Christine Schiefer: I'm about to go get mine and try it out.
Em Schulz: I thought you said you were a Converse girlie... Ooh.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah, but also I lied 'cause I have both. 'Cause I have zero loyalty to anything.
Em Schulz: Rothy's?
Christine Schiefer: Well, that's, that's its own.
Em Schulz: Ooh, damn.
Christine Schiefer: I'll throw those [overlapping conversation].
Em Schulz: We're just walking you through fire today Christine.
Christine Schiefer: I'm sorry. I love my Rothy's, you know that.
Em Schulz: Although they will land in any direction, so.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah. And they're machine washable and made of water bottles.
[laughter]
Christine Schiefer: Just in case you forgot.
Em Schulz: Okay. This, this next one, umm, sounds like you wrote in, because the subject line is Dowsing Rods and A Lot of Crying.
Christine Schiefer: Is it my...
[laughter]
Christine Schiefer: I didn't hear the crying. And is this my birthday episode? I feel like these are all catered toward me. Maybe Eva was, uh, remembering me fondly when she picked these stories.
Em Schulz: If I find a goddamn cowboy in this, it's over for Eva.
[laughter]
Christine Schiefer: Someone said howdy y'all and I didn't forget it.
[laughter]
Em Schulz: So this is from Alex, uses she/her pronouns. Thank you for normalizing pronouns. And Alex says, "Hi Eva and friends, my name is Alex and I want to submit a story after hearing the July 2023 listeners episode." Oh, a recent one. Okay.
Christine Schiefer: Hmm.
Em Schulz: "During the first story, you were all discussing having feelings or pulls to something in the universe. And I knew I had to write in my experience. In October 2022, my..." Oh, a year from right now. "My husband and I went on our honeymoon to," oh God, now I'm gonna mess it up. "Galena, Illinois."
Christine Schiefer: I think it's...
Em Schulz: Galena.
Christine Schiefer: Oh, Galena.
Em Schulz: Galena.
Christine Schiefer: I think it must be Galena. Right?
Em Schulz: "Which is in the upper part of Illinois. Umm, almost to the..."
Christine Schiefer: We went on a honeymoon to the upper part of Illinois.
[laughter]
Em Schulz: You know what? Maybe you had a really cool memory over there. I don't know. Uh, "almost to the state lines connecting Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa." If that's the case, I hope part of your, umm, honeymoon was like being in all three states at the same time.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah.
Em Schulz: Like one of those pictures.
Christine Schiefer: By the way, when I said that I wasn't making fun of the honeymoon being there, I was saying instead of saying the name of the town, we should just say my honeymoon was in the upper part of the state.
Em Schulz: I know.
Christine Schiefer: So that...
Em Schulz: I just wanted to...
Christine Schiefer: Oh, okay.
Em Schulz: I wanted to make to make you look focused...
Christine Schiefer: I was like I didn't wanna be like bitchy. Yeah, no, I was just making the joke about the pronunciation.
Em Schulz: Yeah. Yeah. No.
Christine Schiefer: I, I always wish that Blaise and I had done like a not traditional honeymoon and had done something more like road trippy or I don't know. But I'm sure...
Em Schulz: If there is one place that I need to go in the United States, I don't know this location, but if you know this location, you let me know. I want a picture where I can be in multiple states at one time. Okay?
Christine Schiefer: What, you don't know that location?
Em Schulz: There's multiple places like that. I know there's like four corners. I haven't done that. Oh so...
Christine Schiefer: Oh, I was like, I'm pretty sure you put that in our book when we published it.
Em Schulz: I want, I'm not done with my listicle. I need a place that has that. I need a place with at least two giant Adirondack chairs. At least two.
Christine Schiefer: Okay.
Em Schulz: Photo ops.
Christine Schiefer: At least.
Em Schulz: I need a place with a good sandwich and I need a place that, umm, has cobblestone. So good luck.
Christine Schiefer: Oh, that's a perfect combination.
Em Schulz: Is it? I don't know.
Christine Schiefer: Can I come?
Em Schulz: It doesn't have to all be cobblestone, but I would like one alleyway where I can take a picture. You know what I'm saying?
Christine Schiefer: Hell yeah. Can I come with you on your honeymoon?
Em Schulz: Yeah. If anyone knows that place, you let me know. Okay. Back to the story.
Christine Schiefer: Anyway.
Em Schulz: Umm just like, I'm describing my perfect honeymoon. So, umm, you know, maybe it's in Galena.
Christine Schiefer: Back to, I guess back to Alex's honeymoon.
[laughter]
Em Schulz: "All the buildings in the center of this town are historical, umm, with modern day shops, restaurants, and local businesses within them." Ugh. I love a boutique strip. Add that to the list.
Christine Schiefer: Wow, that sounds cool.
Em Schulz: Add that to the list.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah.
Em Schulz: If that one's cobblestone boutique...
Christine Schiefer: Cobblestone, boutiques. Yeah. Maybe we just go here to upper Illinois.
Em Schulz: It does sound, so far it's got a few things on my list.
Christine Schiefer: I kinda love it Em.
Em Schulz: I'm waiting for the Adirondack chairs to pop up.
[laughter]
Christine Schiefer: Yeah.
Em Schulz: "There are wineries and breweries throughout the whole territory and it's..."
Christine Schiefer: I'm in.
Em Schulz: "Hella civil war and industrial age history. Don't quote me, but the reason that this city is so haunted is that it was settled on a large limestone quarry and limestone holds onto energy very well."
Christine Schiefer: Oh. Shit.
Em Schulz: Umm, yeah, we have to go here.
[laughter]
Christine Schiefer: I... It sounds amazing. I bet you, we could drive there from my house. Let's do it.
Em Schulz: We... Let's... We could do it. Look it up. Look it up. Okay. Galena.
Christine Schiefer: Galena. Oh, Illinois. We probably should learn how to say it umm...
Em Schulz: Yeah.
Christine Schiefer: Before we go. But...
Em Schulz: There's time for that you know.
Christine Schiefer: We could do that in the car on the way. Umm. Oh man. It's seven hours still. Seven hours. We could do that.
Em Schulz: That's road trip territory.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah.
Em Schulz: That's road trip. We wake up early...
Christine Schiefer: And on the way through, we stop at uhh in Chicago, we get get some, uh...
Em Schulz: Wait. Halfway is Chicago?
Christine Schiefer: Halfway is Chicago.
Em Schulz: Oh my God. Look, we wake up in the morning. Christine, this is what we're gonna do. We wake...
Christine Schiefer: Oh, come on, this is perfect.
Em Schulz: Up in the morning. We wake up in the morning.
Christine Schiefer: Give the itinerary.
Em Schulz: And we wake up in the morning. Okay. And then we stop for lunch in Chicago. We just have a good time and just hang out.
Christine Schiefer: Oh my God.
Em Schulz: We get a little, we get a little, we get a little, ooh, ooh, ooh. You know what, we do, we we get a little, we get a little Portillo's, little shakes...
Christine Schiefer: Cake shake.
Em Schulz: Little hot dogs. Ooh.
Christine Schiefer: Little cake shake.
Em Schulz: Then we drive a little more. Then we end up in Galena and now we're on cobblestone with the boutiques. Adirondack chair. We find one, there's gotta be one within seven hours.
Christine Schiefer: Imagine sitting in the Adirondack chair and doing the Estes method.
Em Schulz: Shut the fuck up, that's...
[laughter]
Christine Schiefer: And then I come behind it and push it forward.
Em Schulz: And truly, and then I would say, turn the car around. We're done here.
[laughter]
Christine Schiefer: You're gonna leave without me. Probably.
Em Schulz: Okay. So anyway, this place sounds amazing. I understand why you went on your honeymoon here now.
Christine Schiefer: Me too.
Em Schulz: "Being October, my new husband and I were fully in the Halloween spirit and listening to And That's Why We Drink on our car ride there, and the nature of the podcast, we decided to go on a brewery ghost tour called the Matthews Haunted pub crawl." This place has everything.
Christine Schiefer: I mean, what more could you want?
Em Schulz: "Put drinking and anything spiritual together, and my husband and I will absolutely be there. Uh. The entire town goes head first into the Halloween season, embracing their rich history along with the ghosts that come with it. It is truly my type of place. Our tour guide, Matthew," which I love that this was called Matthew's haunted pub crawl.
Christine Schiefer: I thought that was gonna be a ghost or something, that's the tour guide.
[laughter]
Christine Schiefer: He just named it after himself. This is Christine's ghost hunt. It's me at a bar telling you ghost stories. I mean oh my gosh, that's hilarious.
Em Schulz: "Our tour guide Matthew was born and raised here and currently lives in a historical house here. He had so much knowledge to relay during our time hopping from tavern to tavern. He was clad in a top hat and period coat, which added to the fun and lure of the evening." I love that Matthew was like, I have these things in my closet, let's just make a tour of it.
Christine Schiefer: He's like uhh well, what else am I gonna do with this top hat?
Em Schulz: "The tour started at 10:00 PM, so the antique l-lanterns and dim lights of the pubs were the only light source illuminating the cobblestone streets."
Christine Schiefer: No. [cackles]
Em Schulz: Christine, this is the place for us.
Christine Schiefer: Oh my God.
Em Schulz: We made it into the first location...
Christine Schiefer: You know what, we're gonna bring our own Adirondack chairs, who cares. Put them in the back seat.
Em Schulz: I'm sure they got a good sandwich somewhere over there...
Christine Schiefer: Yeah, we'll will find it.
Em Schulz: Yeah, we'll...
Christine Schiefer: We'll make do.
Em Schulz: I love this place. Okay.
Christine Schiefer: By the way it's... You were right, it's Galena. I looked it up.
Em Schulz: Okay, okay, okay. Good, good, good. We have to call Matthew. You know he's gonna...
Christine Schiefer: Matthew, we're coming!
[laughter]
Em Schulz: Matthew is going to handle this tour for us. I already know.
Christine Schiefer: I'm so excited.
Em Schulz: "We made it into the first location, which was the basement of the DeSoto House Hotel on Main Street, and let me tell you, the place was hella old and hella creepy. It is still a functioning hotel and restaurant to this day, and harbors a ginormous yet gruesome history. But that's a story for another day."
[laughter]
Em Schulz: "After getting our drinks, Matthew starts telling stories and showing pictures of what goes on in the Desoto House Hotel on the daily. He talked about people seeing shadows, hearing noises and feeling cold spots in the very room that we were in. He had photo proof from previous tours with him of apparitions and orbs that other tour goers had taken and shared, which sent chills down my spine each time I saw them. He also handed out EVP detectors for uh..." I think that was EMF detectors, "for everyone to hold during the tour as well, after a few historical facts in ghost stories, he decided it was time to pull out his dowsing rods..."
Christine Schiefer: Heyy.
Em Schulz: "and like Christine, I love dowsing rods." I love Matthew. I love Galena...
Christine Schiefer: Em's like all right forget everybody else.
Em Schulz: "Matthew asked if anyone had intentions or feelings to come up and try out the rods and my hand shot up."
Christine Schiefer: [gasp]
Em Schulz: "I'm absolutely not someone who likes the attention on me and would not have normally done something like this, it was almost hard to get married being in front of people without passing out from the embarrassment."
Christine Schiefer: Aww. It's scary. It's really embarrassing, I feel you.
Em Schulz: It's one of the reasons I won't get married. Um.
Christine Schiefer: Except you have to officiate my wedding and do all the talking, so I kind of made it worse for you. Sorry.
Em Schulz: I've already walked down an aisle and Christine was already there, so what more do I need...
Christine Schiefer: And you had your soulmate Gio with you, you walked with him down the aisle, what more do you need...
Em Schulz: That's exactly... I walked down the aisle with the most handsome man...
Christine Schiefer: Yeah.
Em Schulz: The world has ever seen. I've already done it.
Christine Schiefer: Short, dark and handsome.
Em Schulz: And we did... He gave lots of kisses, very furry. A very furry man. You know, I love them. Oh, I miss a little tummy of his.
Christine Schiefer: I know. He was a little bug.
Em Schulz: "After a few historical facts..." Oh, dowsing rods. Blah, blah, blah, blah. "I got to the front of the room and suddenly everyone's uh EMF detectors start going crazy, and the video my husband took, you can hear him whispering what the fuck over and over again."
[laughter]
Em Schulz: "I had to focus my breathing and had the rods show me their yes and no," like how to do yes and no.
Christine Schiefer: Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
Em Schulz: "I then asked the spirit uh connected with me, if they knew me and they swung to the right saying no. Matthew prompted me to ask if they knew anyone in the room, and they crossed slightly in front of me signaling yes. I immediately looked to my left and noticed a woman start becoming emotional."
Christine Schiefer: Ooh.
Em Schulz: Um. "Matthew tells me to say point to who you know in this room and the rod swiveled directly to her,"
Christine Schiefer: [gasp]
Em Schulz: Um, "And then almost stopping pinpoint on her."
Christine Schiefer: Oh my God.
Em Schulz: "The EMF detectors were going crazy as well, and Matthew then goes over to the woman and asks, who are we connecting to? The woman goes on to s..."
Christine Schiefer: Imagine to, imagine that lady is the person who doesn't want attention on her, and all of a sudden the things are pointing at her and everyone's like, who are we talking to? Uh. Pressure.
Em Schulz: Regale me with all of your dead loved ones.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah, tell me whose passed. Yeah.
Em Schulz: Yeah. Umm God. Yeah. Nightmare central is like...
Christine Schiefer: That's a lot.
Em Schulz: The last thing I wanted was to be in this spotlight...
Christine Schiefer: Yeah, I just thought I'd grab a beer and see what this was all about, but okay.
Em Schulz: I got dragged here by my husband, I don't know...
Christine Schiefer: Yeah.
Em Schulz: "The wife goes on to explain that she and her partner visited her best friend's grave earlier that day."
Christine Schiefer: [gasp]
Em Schulz: "She... Her friend died exactly 12 years ago...
Christine Schiefer: [gasp]
Em Schulz: "Near Galena in a car accident, and when she went to the friend's grave site, she asked for a sign saying she was okay. It turns out that the person who died was named Kelsey, and she came through uh to let her best friend know that she was okay."
Christine Schiefer: Aww.
Em Schulz: "Kelsey made the rods answer that she was indeed fine on the other side and was happy, and the woman took that as a very sure sign and cried happy tears as did I. It was such a heart-warming moment that I'll never forget, and after that interaction, Matthew prompted me to say goodbye to Kelsey's spirit and had me move on to someone else that was with me. My maternal grandmother came through and showed me her yes and no on the dowsing rods, and she had passed away when I was five years old, and everyone always talks about how much she adored me as a child."
Christine Schiefer: Mmm.
Em Schulz: "I always felt that she has been my spirit guide or guardian angel throughout my life, and I prompted her to see if she was present on my wedding day, and she answered, yes."
Christine Schiefer: Aww.
Em Schulz: "I began crying and she also answered that she loved my husband Luke, and she was very proud of me."
Christine Schiefer: Oh.
Em Schulz: "Matthew then asked me to say goodbye, and when I did, the rods crossed and shot around to me very quickly. Um. Matthew said that my grandmother in that moment gave me a hug."
Christine Schiefer: [gsap] So sweet. Oh so, so they crossed arms over you.
Em Schulz: Yeah.
Christine Schiefer: That's really sweet.
Em Schulz: "All in all, Galena was an amazing experience, and my husband and I just went for our one year anniversary..."
Christine Schiefer: [gasp]
Em Schulz: "And had many more creepy experiences in that haunted town. Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I promise we aren't all bad. Signed Alex, the November Scorpio." Mm. I don't know about that, but okay, that's [mumbled words].
Christine Schiefer: Wow, what a tale. When I heard crying or it was a lot of crying or whatever in the subject, I thought it was gonna be something like really upsetting, but it sounds like it was a happy, happy moment.
Em Schulz: When we've got a true crime paranormal show, and then you hear crying from a listener, you assume it is tragic. [laughter]
Christine Schiefer: Exactly, exactly. You don't get your hopes up for any happy tears, but...
Em Schulz: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Christine Schiefer: Wow. This... Em, this town looks unbelievable. I found...
[overlapping conversation]
Em Schulz: Honestly, I'm afraid to look at it because then I'll obsess.
Christine Schiefer: I know, I think we're meant to go here.
Em Schulz: Okay. [laughter]
Christine Schiefer: But not to be like that guy, but like it is...
Em Schulz: It's just like how we say if you're out, I'm out. If you're in, I'm in.
Christine Schiefer: Yes! I know it goes both ways. We swing both ways, you know?
[laughter]
Em Schulz: Just you.
Christine Schiefer: Just me. Uh Here's a picture of it, Em it's beautiful. UH, I'm sending you a little photo.
Em Schulz: I think by the end of the day, I will have an entire itinerary planned for us.
Christine Schiefer: I think by the end of the day, I'm gonna check, Find My Friends and you're gonna be in Northern Illinois, and I'm gonna be like huh, what?
[laughter]
Em Schulz: Oh it's so cute.
Christine Schiefer: And then there's a picture of it at Christmas time, and it's so...
Em Schulz: Stop it.
Christine Schiefer: It's so... Oh it's so cute. Oh my gosh. We gotta go Em.
Em Schulz: Oh my God. It looks like the inside of a snow globe, it's so precious.
Christine Schiefer: Literally. I think when uh...
Em Schulz: It's literally... Talk about nature cozy, there's a restaurant in this picture called The Log Cabin Fine Food, forget it...
Christine Schiefer: And cocktails...
Em Schulz: Forget it.
Christine Schiefer: I love it. Let's go.
Em Schulz: Okay, fine. I'll move there. Okay, I will be on Zillow tonight.
Christine Schiefer: Okay, fine. If you insist. Oh I just threw my own headphones off. I got a little too excited. Um. We're definitely going. Okay. End of story. Anyway, back to this. Uh. This is a bonus story, folks, there's one more story, uh, that I get to read to you, it's called Public Library Ghost Hunting Kit, and it was sent in by Kate. All right, here we go. "Hey, not really a story, but found out my public library has a rental ghost hunting kit in the Maker's Lab."
Em Schulz: Amazing.
Christine Schiefer: Okay, so this isn't even a story, it is a...
Em Schulz: What is this, Galena? Okay.
[laughter]
Christine Schiefer: This is like a fun fact for the end of the episode. Wow. A rental ghost hunting kit? In the Maker's Lab. Oh my gosh. This is so fun. Okay, here's a list of what it includes, quote, "Our brand new ghost hunting kit includes everything you need to search for a ghostly spirit, a spirit box used for communication with radio waves, EMF reader, used for sensing changes in electromagnetic fields, voice recorder used for recording sessions and picking up EVPs, infrared thermometer used a scan for changes in the temperature, dowsing rods... " So we should basically read this email before I tried to explain all the other shit...
Em Schulz: Or before we ever went to the Queen Mary or anything...
Christine Schiefer: Or that. Yeah.
[laughter]
Christine Schiefer: Who knew we could rent this from the library, probably would have saved us a lot of money.
Em Schulz: I know, it would have been so much cheaper. Oh my God.
Christine Schiefer: Mm-hmm. "Dowsing rods and pendulum used for communication. Head lamps used for illumination and safety, and then haunted Roche..." Rochester, Christine, I was gonna say haunted Road Atlas, ""Haunted Rochester a Supernatural History of the Lower Genesee" by Mason Winfield. So... Oh and then finally, last item, "Ghost-Hunting for Dummies" by Zak Bagans."
Em Schulz: Of course. Of course.
Christine Schiefer: Of course. It's a library, they have to put some books in there.
Em Schulz: You know, this just goes to show everybody...
Christine Schiefer: Oh wait, wait. And then Kate wrote, "happy taxpayer here. Cheers."
[chuckle]
Em Schulz: I was gonna say, this is just a reminder to everybody how we don't even know the benefits that come out of our public library.
Christine Schiefer: That's right. Pay your taxes folks.
Em Schulz: This is a PSA that everyone should appreciate their library a whole lot more than we do.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah, I hope some libertarians out there change their mind because of this.
Em Schulz: Yeah. Yes, yes, yes. And also, dare I say, let's all go to our public library and demand a ghost hunting kit be put on rent.
Christine Schiefer: And when we say demand, don't yell at the employees there, it's a lot...
Em Schulz: When I say demand, I mean... Write please a lot to the nicest one.
Christine Schiefer: Please. Pretty please.
Em Schulz: Nicest librarian.
Christine Schiefer: Okay, I just Googled library ghost hunting kit. Uh. Wow, okay. There are multiple libraries that have these folks.
Em Schulz: Oh!
Christine Schiefer: So I can't believe it.
Em Schulz: So we're already half way done.
Christine Schiefer: We did it. Good job everyone.
Em Schulz: We did it. Look at us.
Christine Schiefer: Wow, okay there's one in Southwick, Massachusetts, that has one. So yeah, I mean, listen, let's... Library, librarians, they know what... They know what's up.
Em Schulz: I like that a librarian was just sitting around being like, you know what this place could fucking use...
Christine Schiefer: You know what this place needs.
Em Schulz: And you know what, maybe it's because their library is haunted and maybe on her lunch break, she checks it out and she goes ghost hunting in the library...
Christine Schiefer: She's like I did this because it's for the taxpayers, but not really...
Em Schulz: [chuckle] I like to think that she Dewey Decimaled it into the occult section of the book.
Christine Schiefer: Yes! Oh my God. Genius.
Em Schulz: Well, good one to end on. For sure.
Christine Schiefer: Yeah, that was a, that was a doozy. Also just go check out your library. It's... It has fun stuff, even if it doesn't it, you can still get "Ghost Hunting for Dummies" at most libraries so you know...
Em Schulz: In the words of Arthur having fun isn't hard when you've got a library card.
Christine Schiefer: That's right. Words to live by.
Em Schulz: That's the truth, and hey that just, it also invites people like me who don't like reading into a library anyway, 'cause you know I wanna go look up the ghost hunting kit.
Christine Schiefer: All are welcome. I'm sure there's some pictures in "Ghost Hunting for Dummies."
Em Schulz: There are. Um.
Christine Schiefer: Em's like there are, don't even ask how I know.
Em Schulz: At the very least, there's a picture of Zak Bagans on the front to kind of gawk at. So you know if that's your thing.
[laughter]
Em Schulz: Well, I hope everyone has a happy November and the next time we see you, it will be our last listener's story of the year.
Christine Schiefer: Ooooooh.
Em Schulz: Mwuah-ha-ha-ha-ha.
Christine Schiefer: Hard to believe.
Em Schulz: Uh. Get me out of here. Um. 2023 is, we can be done, it's so okay...
Christine Schiefer: We're done? Got it.
Em Schulz: It's okay. I mean it's, it's... I'm excited... I think 2024 could be, could be the one, we'll see.
Christine Schiefer: Watch your mouth. You know how that turns out for us.
Em Schulz: Could be. I didn't say will be. I said could be. Could also not be. So no matter what, I'm right. Okay.
Christine Schiefer: Okay.
Em Schulz: Uh. Hmm. How do we end this?
Em Schulz: Pass...
Christine Schiefer: The...
Em Schulz: Cranberry...
Christine Schiefer: Sauce...
Em Schulz: We're...
Christine Schiefer: Having...
Em Schulz: Mashed...
Christine Schiefer: Potatoes.
Em Schulz: Ooh...
Christine Schiefer: The...
Em Schulz: Turkey...
Christine Schiefer: Looks...
Em Schulz: Great...
Christine Schiefer: Thank...
Em Schulz: You...
Christine Schiefer: For...
Em Schulz: Loving...
Christine Schiefer: Me.
Em Schulz: Thank...
Christine Schiefer: You...
Em Schulz: For...
Christine Schiefer: Being...
Em Schulz: There...
Christine Schiefer: Everyone's...
Em Schulz: Thanking...
Christine Schiefer: The...
Em Schulz: Whole...
Christine Schiefer: World's...
Em Schulz: Thanking...
Christine Schiefer: You...
Em Schulz: For...
Christine Schiefer: Thanking...
Em Schulz: Us...
Christine Schiefer: For...
Em Schulz: Thanking...
Christine Schiefer: You.
Em Schulz: Kill the turkey.
Christine Schiefer: Kill the turkey.
[laughter]
Christine Schiefer: It's just fun every time.
Em Schulz: And...
Christine Schiefer: That's...
Em Schulz: Why...
Christine Schiefer: We...
Em Schulz: Drink.
Christine Schiefer: Kill the turkey.