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Green Man's Tunnel & Winchester Mystery House
11 Plays4 years ago
We are Sinister Sick-sters this week, folks...get ready for some sultry, sickly voices. On this episode, Lauren discusses the Green Man's Tunnel in South Park Township, Pennsylvania + she tells the true story of the man behind the myth - Raymond Robinson! And Felicia covers the Winchester Mystery House, a mansion known for its architectural curiosities in San Jose, CA.
PS: If you have requests for future episodes or just want to hang out, follow us on Instagram @sinistersisterspodcast
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Transcript
00:00:12
Speaker
Welcome
Hosts' Introduction & Common Cold
00:00:13
Speaker
to the Sinister Sisters podcast. I'm Lauren. I'm Felicia. We're best friends. And we both have colds.
00:00:21
Speaker
It's true this week, guys. We are going to try to keep this fun and energetic, but you will hear our sexy, sultry, cold voices. So sultry. It's crazy. We were just saying before this, neither of us have had a cold in, you know, since the first lockdown because we just don't go around that many people. And now I'm just like, what is this feeling?
00:00:45
Speaker
We literally don't know how to handle ourselves.
Mystery of Simultaneous Illness
00:00:48
Speaker
And how insane that we haven't even been together in like two weeks and we're still so connected. We're still both sick together. Good for us. What if it's somehow the same cold that traveled?
00:01:02
Speaker
It's just like a butterfly flaps its wings and the cold comes all the way across state lines, I don't know. There was one night, I have to be honest, this is maybe graphic, dear viewer, listener, but I had snot just like streaming out of my nose one night.
00:01:21
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Why does it do that? Where does it come from? I don't know. I don't know how snot is made.
Curious Origins: Snot & Tears
00:01:27
Speaker
I have the same feeling about tears. I'm like, where are those things? Where are all those stuff coming from? I don't know. What is the science? I don't know. We need to know. Maybe that could be a topic we researched one week. Where is snot and tears come from? Turns out it's aliens. Cool. Recommendations? Yes. Go for it. Should I go first?
Classic Cinema: 'Creature from the Black Lagoon'
00:01:50
Speaker
So I, after starting this book that I talked about last week, finally watched The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Oh, oh my god. I know. After all this time, after all of my obsession with Shape of Water, what have I been doing with my life, you'll ask? Who knows? But I was so impressed with the makeup. It was a million years ago. Oh, yeah. And the fact that stuff could go on water.
00:02:17
Speaker
and like show emotion. I was really amazed. I really was. And obviously there's like all the like silly stuff about old movies. Like the treatment of women is just like so insane always. And she's just like walking around in like a bathing suit with like long legs, the whole movie. And you're like, okay. I guess. That's the look. She's like, I'm a scientist, but I'm in a bikini.
00:02:41
Speaker
Literally, literally, I'll do my research with like all of my legs showing. Yes. Honestly, it was great. But it was great. But it was awesome what I do, so I get it. Anything else? When you gotta flaunt it. What else did I watch this week? There was something else I wanted to recommend. And now it's gone from my head.
00:02:59
Speaker
I'll think if you have one, I'll think while you go.
Comfort Shows: 'Dexter'
00:03:03
Speaker
Okay. Also, to be clear, we're doing this at like 10am. So if our brains are not on, that's why. Our nighttime episodes are loose. Our morning episodes are foggy.
00:03:15
Speaker
So I have been watching Dexter and So I had seen the first season once upon a time a long time ago. That's me. I've only watched the first season Season and now I'm into season four and it is a
00:03:37
Speaker
it's becoming this like comforting show. Like it's becoming this thing, which I really like haven't had one of those in a while that was like new to me. Like I feel like mostly it's like, you know, me rewatching stuff, but it's definitely that thing where I'm just like, Oh, I just need to like zone out and watch Dexter. And it's so just good. I love Michael C Hall. I think he's amazing. He is amazing. I love that it's like,
00:04:01
Speaker
the story is ongoing, but there is like a formulaic structure to it that I'm like, it's keeping me and I don't know how to explain it. But it's just like, it's comforting. Like I like know what it's all about, you know? Yes, like in an x files or like, but yeah, like kind of like,
00:04:18
Speaker
The episodes are similar. Yeah, and it's not so much that it's not like Monster of the Week or anything. But each season, no, it's kind of like Buffy. There's like a big bat of each season or whatever that they're hunting. And it's like there's like kind of a serial killer each season. And it's just, I just love it so much. So that has been really good for me. I love that there's eight seasons. So I'm like, I'm nowhere near done. And I have basically also been like so behind on any horror movies.
00:04:48
Speaker
Have you seen malignant? Don't even get me started. No, I have not. Oh, no, everything. I haven't either. Okay, we should know. I need to. Because I know from the polarizing opinions I've heard from people, I just know I'm gonna love it.
00:05:10
Speaker
It's very mixed. Very, very mixed. Yes, absolutely. I love when something goes off the rails and some people are like, it's too much. It goes off the rails. And I'm like, that's the kind of movies I probably like. That's what I want. Yeah. And so it's been really, it's just been too busy recently, like school and, you know, I was in the show and there was just like a lot going on. But yes, everyone, did we already talk on the podcast? Felicia made her triumphant return to acting.
00:05:37
Speaker
It was thrilling. I was in a backyard bar production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. I played the fairy queen to Tanya. Of course, of course, the fairy queen. Yes, it was amazing. It was truly amazing. But yes, I'm like super just behind on watching anything except for when I get home really late at night and it's time to zone out and watch Dexter.
Felicia's Acting Ventures & Show Anticipation
00:05:59
Speaker
So but Malignant is on my list. Also Midnight Mass comes out tonight. Right. Or did it come out last night?
00:06:07
Speaker
I don't know. Oh, I don't know. But that's the new. I don't even know what that is. Oh, it's the new. Yes, you do. It's the new Mike Flanagan Netflix series. Oh, you've seen it. You've seen an ad. But I'm very excited to watch that. So I think it's kind of going to be like October 1st hits. My life has calmed down and I'm just going to just be binge watching all the things I missed from September. You'll emerge like Jack Skellington out of the cauldron.
00:06:34
Speaker
That's exactly what I'm going to do. That's exactly what I'm going to do. And I'm so excited for Paul. Me too. Me too.
New Watch: 'Mare of Easttown'
00:06:43
Speaker
My last thing that I was going to say is that I did start watching Mary of Easttown and I do love it. I know Felicia already talked about it, so I won't go too much into it.
00:06:51
Speaker
Kate Winslet's accent is wild. I mean, everyone's accents are wild. I don't even know. I guess I should know. Yeah. Isn't it Pennsylvania? It is. No, it's not. It is. But I feel like I should have heard that accent before, but it's so wild. But it really, it kind of to me is...
00:07:09
Speaker
It's like a little closer to Desperate Housewives than I thought. Not Desperate Housewives, but the like twists are much more... Oh, yes. They're more dramatic than you would expect. Yeah. Totally. But it's really fun. Are you to Evan Peters yet? Yes. I just love him. He's so good. I love him in everything he's ever done. Agreed. Agreed.
00:07:33
Speaker
Okay, cool. Should we hop into our stories for the week?
Urban Legend: Green Man's Tunnel
00:07:37
Speaker
I would love to. I'm going first. I'm so excited because I can just use all of my vocal energy and then be done. And then shut it down. But I'm actually doing, well, I'm doing what I began my research thinking was about a tunnel and it actually took a turn and it's more about a man, but I'll get into it. Taking out the journey. Oh, yeah.
00:08:02
Speaker
Oh, yeah. So I'm focusing on the Green Man's Tunnel. So there are actually many different locations that are said to be the site of Green Man's Tunnel, but the most popular is Piney Fork Tunnel.
00:08:16
Speaker
in South Park Township, Pennsylvania. So I should say really quick, this is a recommendation from my cousin Jean who listens to our podcast every week. Jean, big fan. He writes me a lot and says how much he's enjoying it or other topics he has in mind. And this one was so interesting. So
00:08:37
Speaker
Thank you, Jean. Thank you for listening. My family has this huge group text in our, like my mom's cousins really is most of them. And it is the funniest thing. It's like people send like all kinds of random things in it. So most of the time I'm like, you know, it's a big group text and most time I'm like trying to pay attention, but I can't really. And then one, like every so often people are like, Sinister Sisters podcast this week.
00:09:03
Speaker
I know. That's so sweet. It's really sweet. I don't even know if people in my family know I have a podcast.
00:09:12
Speaker
Maybe my family is just more social media savvy for better or worse because I don't tell anyone. It's not like I'm like texting people. Yeah, they just see it. They're very supportive and I love them all. So anyway, Green Man's Tunnel. So it is in the Pittsburgh area basically, which is where a lot of my family grew up.
The Real Story of Raymond Robinson
00:09:34
Speaker
Yeah, so Gene recommended it, but I have a feeling a lot of them like heard this legend growing up, which is pretty cool. So the tunnel itself is an abandoned railroad tunnel. And if you see pictures, it's like covered with graffiti, it looks very spooky. There are like, you know, vines and plants kind of growing on the outside and
00:09:54
Speaker
There's like a chain link fence that blocks off one of the sides of the entrance or exit or whatever it is. And it opened back in 1924 when it was like functional and it was built to help the B&O railroad transport coal and it stayed in use until the mid 1960s. And then since then has kind of become this abandoned, overrun, gross looking tunnel. So the tale of the green man is one of those like classic
00:10:25
Speaker
Stories kind of like keep kids inside. It's like, don't go out at night because the green man will get you kind of thing. The boogeyman thing. The boogeyman thing. And to kind of like keep teenagers out of that abandoned train tunnel. But of course, only makes people want to investigate it more, especially if you're a teenager like Felicia was. Yes. And I'm like, I'm going in that tunnel. I'm going over that fence. Climb it in.
00:10:51
Speaker
So I'll start with the myth version. And the cool part is this is one of those that like has a lot of myth around it, but there's actual fact. So I'm going to start with the myth and then I'll get into the facts. So the story goes that this green man, or he also goes by Charlie no face. Sometimes the legend calls him very spooky. Yes, Klein, right? Charlie no face. Scary.
00:11:16
Speaker
So he climbed an electric pole when he was a boy to see into a bird's nest and then was shocked by the electricity. I can't speak. And so he fell to the ground and because of that fall and the electric shock,
00:11:37
Speaker
He lost his eyes, nose, mouth, one ear and one arm. Oh my God. Yes. So we are still in legend territory, but this will matter when I get into fact too. So the legend says that when he grew older, he hid in an abandoned house and this like the green man name came from his skin, which was supposedly green because of the electric shock.
00:12:01
Speaker
So teenagers would drive up to the tunnel, turn off their lights and call out to him saying, you know, like being like green man, green man. And he would appear from the darkness. So if he touched your car, his electrical charge would either stall the vehicle or make it difficult to start, which is spooky.
00:12:21
Speaker
So another version of the story goes that he was an employee of a local power company and there was an accident at work that left him horribly disfigured and melted his face and turned his skin the green shade that I talked about. And this kind of goes along with like people say that they see sightings of like a glowing figure walking down the roads at night only to disappear into the railroad tunnel. So maybe he was a little boy that fell off a pole.
00:12:49
Speaker
Maybe he's somebody that worked at the local power company, but this idea of a disfigured man with a green glow is kind of persisting. So not many people know the story of the actual man behind the myth, but there is a true story. And to me, it's obviously much more sad than scary. So there was a real man and his name was Raymond Theodore Robinson. So he was born in October of 1910.
00:13:18
Speaker
And when he was eight years old, he was injured by an electrical line, just as kind of that first version of the story goes. He climbed up this electric pole and was reaching for a bird's nest on the Murado bridge. And this bridge is actually very close to where the tunnel was built, interestingly enough. So the bridge carried a trolley. So the electrical lines to this trolley had like, you know, were very powerful voltage.
00:13:49
Speaker
Yes. So, and actually those exact electrical lines had killed another boy less than a year prior to this. I'm like, wouldn't you keep your kid away from this power? Not good. So he did climb up, climb up this pole. He was shocked. He fell and he survived even though the doctors did not think he would live, but he was left severely disfigured. And he did just like that legend, lose his eyes, nose, and right arm. Oh,
00:14:19
Speaker
really sad. The scariest part that I will share on the Instagram is there are a lot of pictures of him because he was a real person. Oh my God.
00:14:29
Speaker
Yeah. So they're pretty, they're pretty disturbing. What year is this? Or what era? 1910 he was born. So this was like 1918. Okay. Is when he fell. I don't know that I got it. Man. That's super scary. Very scary. So he lived in Coppell, Pennsylvania, and he spent, this is really sad. So basically he spent most of his time kind of in isolation at his family's house. And he spent most of his time making doormats, wallets, and belts to sell.
00:14:58
Speaker
So as I said, because I think you're going to stay out of human skin. No, he was a normal man. Sorry. I'm so sorry. This poor guy. Oh, man. It gets worse. It gets worse. So obviously, because of his appearance, he rarely went out during the day and his own family ate separately from him. So like he ate. Yeah. Oh, my God. That is like.
00:15:24
Speaker
That's horrible. I know. I really hate it. Like how I don't know. I don't know. This is like a horror movie or like something. I know. I know. And you would think, yeah, you would think this would be like brewing him to be some kind of bad man. But he wasn't. He wasn't. He was just so he was a big, big story.
00:15:50
Speaker
He was a big baseball fan and he listened to the games on the radio. He learned Braille, but he just, you know, never kind of was able to be out in society. People called him nicknames like the zombie.
00:16:05
Speaker
children would cry when they saw him. So he started this habit of at night going out for these long walks. And mostly he went on these long walks on a stretch of State Route 351.
00:16:21
Speaker
And that was also like led kind of near the green man tunnel. So he would like walk along this road, feeling his way along with this walking stick. Some of the things I read were like he would keep one foot on the pavement and one foot on the grass so that he knew where he was. It just seems so dangerous. It's like, I don't know. I guess, you know, he needed to get out. He wanted to go out, but it just seems really interesting. Yeah, he needed air. Oh my God.
00:16:48
Speaker
after being inside all day. So groups of locals kind of started to search for him on these walks once people knew that he was going out, just trying to like catch a glimpse of him. And people called him this like faceless ghost kind of like wandering along. And so he usually tried to avoid people and like hide or get away from them. But once it kind of became this like, it really became this like big thing.
00:17:15
Speaker
By the 60s, it was causing full-on traffic jams because there were so many cars trying to come see him.
00:17:24
Speaker
And so people would come up to him and sometimes if he was in a good mood, he would like barter talking with them or a photograph with them for beer or cigarettes. And some of these locals were really kind and talked about what an incredible man he was. I mean, if you like Google this story, there are so many different like blog stories of like, I talked to my dad and he met him or like I talked to my brother and he met him.
00:17:49
Speaker
So some of these are like kind encounters, but obviously some people took advantage of him and were really cruel. There were reports of him being beaten up or sometimes people would like convince him to get into their car and then drive him somewhere and leave him stranded. Some people, it's awful. It's really awful. It's like, I don't know why, like, what is the point of that? I literally don't know. But some people would like urinate in beer bottles and give it to him to drink.
00:18:18
Speaker
all awful. But somehow all of these encounters didn't stop him from walking at night. He kept doing it. And he was even struck by cars more than once on his walks at night. Like he just, I don't
Life & Legacy of Raymond Robinson
00:18:31
Speaker
know, he just kept doing it. He just wanted to get out and needed these walks.
00:18:36
Speaker
So he did this for most of his life and he stopped like, you know, closer to the end of his life. And he ended up retiring to the Beaver County geriatric center where he died in 1985 at the age of 74.
00:18:52
Speaker
So that's a pretty good long life for someone that had had that much physical trauma and also at a time where I'm assuming hospitals were not super advanced. Exactly. I mean, yeah, he was when he was electrically shocked and fell and all that was like 1918. I don't even know what they could do for you then. So it honestly was a pretty long life. But now obviously like the rumor has persisted and kind of like legend form and people really
00:19:22
Speaker
believe that they've seen his ghost so that his ghost has been seen along route three fifty one but more frequently the legend is like around that green man's tunnel which i think it's so weird cuz it's like yes you like walked near it. But the fact that it's like i feel like that's such a.
00:19:39
Speaker
small town legend thing. Yeah, just kind of happens over time. That's like becoming this tunnel. Yeah. So he was actually buried back in Beaver Falls at Grandview Cemetery, which is a short distance from the location of that bridge and the Green Man's Tunnel and all of that. But I still just think, I don't know, I think it's interesting how it's become like
00:20:01
Speaker
this poor disfigured man has now become this like weird big ghost legend. I mean, the tunnel is named after that myth after that tunnel. I mean, it has like a, you know, what did I say it was called? It has, it's called Piney Fork Tunnel. So it does have another name.
00:20:18
Speaker
But that people have called it Green Man's Tunnel for this song is crazy. Yeah, this is like very interesting because it's also it's like kind of reminding me of something that we've been talking. I was talking about a lot last semester in school, which is this idea of like disabled people being like turned into these like horror legends just because of how they look.
00:20:42
Speaker
I'm sorry. It's too early in the morning for me to really think through this. But yeah, it's making me think more about the horror that we digest and take in, because sometimes it's based off perfectly nice people that just went through something horrible. And then their legend of their life is this horror movie thing. This is really sad. Yes. And it's such an interesting
00:21:06
Speaker
I was thinking too when you were talking about Midsummer, the deformed mentally disabled person that is revered as a god. It's almost like this man was mistreated so poorly in his life and now it's like people are like, ooh, this grand green man that could get you. It's all really interesting. It's like they're either these horrific, dangerous figures or
00:21:34
Speaker
I don't know, like othered is I guess the only way of saying it.
00:21:39
Speaker
Yeah. But the last thing I wanted to say that's really interesting is that there is a filmmaker named Tisha York who has the rights to direct and produce a film based on this urban legend. It was supposed to start in 2008 and then it was going to be completed in 2009. And so now shootings been delayed and it's on hold as of 2021. But I think it would make an interesting story. And I don't know. I think you'd have to be so careful, obviously, because as we said, you know,
00:22:08
Speaker
him being a real man and a real disfigured man adds so much weight and you need to be careful with how the story is told, of course. Yeah, absolutely. Wow, that's wild. That was a good story. You came at it from a bunch of different angles, which was good. Well, thank you. You're welcome.
00:22:36
Speaker
Since we don't have official ads for the podcast yet, we'll do one for ourselves. We would love if you could subscribe to us and leave a review. Also, if you want some pics to go along with the episodes, follow us on Instagram at sinister sisters podcast. And now on to the next story. Okay. All right. So
Mystery of Sarah Winchester's House
00:22:56
Speaker
today I'm talking about the Winchester mystery house.
00:23:03
Speaker
Yes. And this I didn't know much about. I've definitely seen pictures of it before. And also, what is her name? Is it Christine O'Connell? She had that Netflix show for one season that was about her being spooky and baking spooky things. Do you know who I'm talking about? No. Yeah, the curious creations of Christine O'Connell. Oh, maybe I do remember.
00:23:29
Speaker
Yeah, well, she like doesn't have the Netflix show anymore. But she has an amazing YouTube channel and also Patreon where she still like creates all this fabulous spooky content. But she has a whole video because she created this entire gingerbread version of the Miss the Winchester Mystery House. And it's glorious. Like it's the most detailed gingerbread house you've ever seen in your entire life.
00:23:54
Speaker
I'll post it on the Instagram just, just because I can't wait to see it. Yeah. But it was fun to look into today. Cause first of all, it's a, so it's a giant mansion that's out in San Jose, California. And when you look at pictures of it, it's just like, my thought does not think San Jose, California, my brain, whenever I think of something spooky, no offense, California, it always goes to East coast. And so like, I'm like surprised by this location.
00:24:20
Speaker
But it was fun to look into the history of it. So basically it was the residence of Sarah Winchester, who was the widow of William Wirt Winchester, who was the creator of Winchester rifles.
00:24:38
Speaker
So this is going to come back around, but he basically created these rifles that could fire 15 rounds at a time versus reloading after each one. So they were very effective killing tools in war. So this gave them like a huge, huge fortune.
00:24:57
Speaker
Wow. But unfortunately a lot of tragedy happened in their lives. So basically they had a daughter and this is like, I have many questions about this, but they had a daughter named Annie Party Winchester. I forgot to give you the years of this, but she was born on June 15th, 1866 and she died just like
00:25:23
Speaker
a little less than a year later, something called marismus.
00:25:29
Speaker
And I was looking it up and when I look it up on Wikipedia, it says, Marismus is a form of severe malnutrition. And I was like, why would a baby in a house of like super, super rich people die of something that's associated with malnutrition? Like that seemed very strange to me.
00:25:53
Speaker
But it also might be a thing that it just happens, like the body does it itself. This Wikipedia page that I see really makes it sound like it's from not eating properly. And so I'm just like, what? Like, why would that be? So that's a little strange. It's a little strange. I don't know anything past that, but
00:26:17
Speaker
Then Sarah's husband died of tuberculosis. And after, let's see, that was in 1881. So she experienced a lot of tragedy. And when he died, she inherited more than $20.5 million, which in today's money is about $550 million. So she became one of the richest women in the entire world.
00:26:46
Speaker
I mean, that's kind of fierce. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And so she bought this property out in San Jose and started renovating this property that was out there. And the weird thing about this house, and I'm going to come back to the theories about this, but the reason this house is so notorious is because it's this kind of like Victorian Queen Anne style mansion.
00:27:16
Speaker
It's huge. It's 24,000 square feet. It has over 160 rooms, but there are a lot of what are called... 160? Yes. That's huge. I know. What even are those rooms? Well, let me tell you. There's what they call architectural oddities, where so much of the house just doesn't make any sense.
00:27:42
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's very fun. So basically she started renovating it and basically renovated it nonstop for 38 years until the day she died. Like there were people working on the house every day until she died and the whole time she was living there. And so
00:28:00
Speaker
they can't find any like accurate blueprints for this house. Like, so there's questions of like, were they just kind of guessing as they went along and adding stuff as she felt like it? Or was there like a more? Was there a real plan here? But some of the oddities that we have is things like hallways that lead nowhere.
00:28:21
Speaker
Staircases that lead nowhere there are wild yes doors Doors that open to brick walls doors that open to a to literally the second story. That's just like a 12-foot drop
00:28:37
Speaker
Was she just like having fun? Well, we're not sure. There's also a lot of like what's called the aesthetic movement. So the outside of the house is very Queen and Victorian. But the inside of the house is very much this it's called the aesthetic movement, which is just kind of beauty for the sake of beauty, like adding super ornate decoration to everyday objects.
00:29:00
Speaker
So every inch of the house is decorated in this way. It's like the mantle, the doorknobs, everything about the house, the stoves, has this like super artistic, like flowers, snakes, birds, just so much artistry into every single thing in this house with 160 rooms.
00:29:24
Speaker
Wow. Yes. There's also the number 13 appears a lot in the house. So there are rooms that have, you know, 13 tiles on the ceilings. There are rooms that have 13 windows. It just, it shows up, shows up quite a bit. So it's just kind of like when you go into this house, that's why it's called the Winchester Mystery House. It's just like, what was the intention here? Why is it like this? And it's to the, it's such a huge house also. Like they're still finding weird stuff about it.
00:29:53
Speaker
like they'll open a door and it's once again just a brick wall or they're open a door and it goes into the closet of another room. It's very easy to get lost and confused in there and disoriented. I don't want to jump anything. Can you tour it?
00:30:10
Speaker
Yes, it is now after she died. There was basically like an auction to for the house and the person that bought it basically turned it into a tourist attraction. So you can go and visit it, which I must do what so we have to we should do a
00:30:25
Speaker
Can we do a Kickstarter? Just kidding. A Kickstarter to go to the Winchester Mystery House. We'll just pay for our own trip. We'll go. Yeah, but it's just like so cool. And like I'll post as many pictures, I guess makes sense. But yeah, it's just it's just a wild house. And there's a lot of YouTube videos that like kind of give you like little mini tours of the house as well. And it's just unimaginable. It's just like how could someone spend so much money on something that makes no sense?
00:30:53
Speaker
And so I love that though. No, I love it too. I love it too. So some of the reasons that people think this was first of all.
00:31:03
Speaker
The most boring reason, which I already sort of mentioned, is baby, she just didn't really have a plan. And she just kind of was making wild choices as she went along. Sarah Winchester was also known as a recluse. She didn't really go out into society much. And so the neighbors and people in this area were just watching this happen with no communication of why this is happening. That's kind of amazing. Yeah, it's super great.
00:31:30
Speaker
And then Oh, sorry, I didn't mention this, but I kind of love this too. So there were also like just multiple crews of people working on the house at once. And none of them knew what the other crews were doing. Because it was so big. So it's like there's all these people working on the house, but none of them even know like the final plan. Like they're just like, put a door here, put this here, put this here. They're just like, okay,
00:31:53
Speaker
So I just, I just love that. And it's all being, you know, orchestrated by this, like, by the way, like four foot 10. Tiny widow. Oh, I'm just loving that. Okay, so let's of course get into
00:32:11
Speaker
the sinister
Theories Behind Winchester House Design
00:32:12
Speaker
sisters part of this, which is a lot of people of course think this place is very, very haunted. And that has a lot of negative psychic energy there. And let's kind of talk about why people think that is. So there is
00:32:27
Speaker
a seance room in the house. And this was actually pretty common at the time. In her entire lifetime, spiritualism, seances, they were very popular because at this time, especially as the US was going through wars and a lot of death, people were losing family members. And so this was a way of people kind of coping with that. And they got comfort out of feeling like they could talk to their dead relatives or whatever.
00:32:56
Speaker
And it was just very popular in that era, like seances, all that stuff was very popular. So it wasn't weird that she had this, but she basically, after her child and her husband died, she had inherited all this money, but she was grieving. She was like, why has everything been taken from me? Why is my life over? Everything is horrible. And so what she did is she hired this psychic named Adam Koons to come to her
00:33:26
Speaker
seance room and try to like speak to her husband, see what was going on. And what he revealed in that session is that he believed that Sarah was actually cursed. Oh, yeah. And he said it was because of the guns that she has made all her money off of, had killed so many people
00:33:49
Speaker
that those spirits were now attached to her and she was now cursed because of all the death that was on like her head, you know? Wow. I know, which is like so brutal, Adam Koons, like so brutal. Yeah. But I mean, it makes sense. How is she supposed to live the rest of her life? Right. So after this seance, she pretty much immediately began construction on this house. And so a lot of people think
00:34:19
Speaker
that the house is built the way it is to confuse spirits. That's what I was going to say. Yes. People believe that the intention was that she would be the only one that would know the ins and outs of this property so that if spirits were trying to get her, she could outsmart them.
00:34:42
Speaker
Wow. What a twist. What an interesting way of coping. Right? It's wild. And also, so one other thing, so this had been going on for a long time, but at one point, I think the mansion was like almost seven stories high, and there was this like just a random story, but there was a big earthquake, and Sarah got trapped in a room, and they had to like come get her out.
00:35:06
Speaker
And so she made them take off like multiple stories of this mansion that she had already made. And now it's just like, I don't know, like three or four stories. And instead she started building out. So this thing also when you look at it from like a sky view, it's just like this, it's it just is vast. It just goes so big. She just built out on her property. I'm pulling up a picture. I'm so sorry.
00:35:29
Speaker
No, go for it. It's pretty wild. And then of course, because it has this Queen Anne Victorian. Oh yeah, it's great. It's great. This Queen Anne Victorian. Look to it. It looks like a giant haunted house.
00:35:46
Speaker
There are also things like spider web windows. There's a lot of like kind of gothic looking architecture. And inside, as I mentioned earlier, this kind of aesthetic movement came over from Europe. And so it was a blend of a lot of different countries, art and architecture. So inside, like you'll find everything from like kind of European influences to like Japanese influences. Like there's a lot of Japanese going on inside the house, which you wouldn't expect.
00:36:16
Speaker
But she was just pulling influences from like everything that was like popular at the time You can have weddings here. Oh, can you? Oh my god. That's amazing That's I love that. I would love to have my wedding there
00:36:33
Speaker
The last thing I want to mention is this other video that I found on YouTube talking about the non-haunted aspects of some of the things she had done to the house. One thing is that all the steps are really small.
00:36:51
Speaker
they're like, why is that? And the lady was like, Oh, it's because she was four foot 10 and had like really bad arthritis or something. And so she can, when she was older, she could only take those little steps. She also did things in the house that like made things easier for like the workers that like worked there, like her maids and like people, she did things like put in a shower before like showers were a thing. Because like her getting into a tub with her like
00:37:16
Speaker
What if it wasn't arthritis? I'm sorry if I'm saying the wrong thing. Arthritis sounds right. Yeah, like she couldn't really get into tubs. And so like, it was very uncommon for women to take showers like that was like, like people didn't even really have showers. But she like put it in a shower. It was like, this is the way I'm going to do it.
00:37:33
Speaker
She did a lot of things that there's like three elevators in the house like as new technologies like came over this thirty year period of her renovating she just like kept adding adding adding adding. I guess if you have the money why not make it easier for you to.
00:37:51
Speaker
Yeah, you know get upstairs or have an elevator was like intercom systems like we're not like not like today's but like where she could like ring people and other parts of the house like there is just so much stuff that she was like kind of on the forefront in this way that I think is is very very interesting.
00:38:13
Speaker
Interesting from it looking so old or looking so Victorian and all that. Yeah. And then inside,
Winchester House Today & Closing Thoughts
00:38:20
Speaker
it's just this mad maze of 38 years of changes in the US.
00:38:29
Speaker
It's very cool. It's very cool. So of course, many people have tried to go and stay there. There's a story of Houdini going there and spending the night trying to like prove it's not haunted. Many ghost hunters have gone. You can go on YouTube and see the various ghost hunters. But of course, people, you know, we've said it 1000 times on this podcast, but it's kind of the classic stuff. Cold spots. And this is also a lot of this rumor comes from people that were working on the house to like during those years of renovation.
00:38:59
Speaker
So cold spots, footsteps. And I think a lot of the paranormal feeling and activity also could have been put into the fact that, like, if you got lost in that house, imagine how scary it was. Like, have you seen it out? Have you seen the movie? Dang it. It came out like last year. It's about the grandmother that has like Alzheimer's. It's not relic.
00:39:28
Speaker
No, it is Relic. Is it? Relic was the three generations. That's Relic. Okay. That's how that is what you're talking about. Yeah. Okay. Okay. So thank you, Lauren. Relic. So that, in that movie, there's- Oh, yes.
00:39:42
Speaker
You know where I'm going? Yeah, there's kind of this idea of getting lost in this house that is kind of ever expanding and closing and moving. And that's what I imagine getting lost in the Winchester Mystery House is like. It's just like I'm going this way, I'm going this way, I'm going through this door. Oh, I'm in a different part of the house. I go through this closet. I'm in a ballroom. I go through this one. Oh, I'm looking out to the ground two stories below. It's just like...
00:40:11
Speaker
It's very cool. Yeah, that's basically it. I don't really have anything else to talk about it. It's mostly just very exciting to look at the YouTube videos tours and look at pictures and all that stuff. But yeah, it's pretty cool. I love that story. I have to tell everyone that
00:40:29
Speaker
Felicia, I guess, has had Toby on her lap this entire time and he just popped his head up and he's the sweetest boy. Yeah, he's the best boy. Yeah. I love that story though. That's the Woodchester Mystery House. I just, I love that it was created by this, you know, rich widow that was just like, yeah, I'm just trying to trick all the ghosts. Yeah, that's incredible. I'm obsessed with that.
00:40:52
Speaker
All right. Well, thank you so much for listening and we hope you have some sweet, sweet nightmares. Bye.