Paranormal Investigators Share Their Creepiest Stories

Have you ever watched a paranormal investigation and wanted to know more about what happened behind the scenes? What did the investigators feel emotionally? How were the investigators affected in ways that were not captured on camera or were edited out of the final footage? What did the investigators experience, personally, that could not be captured with their equipment?

On our podcast, Homespun Haints, we invite our guests to tell their own personal, true ghost stories. We want to get at the heart of what makes a real ghost story so compelling, like the emotions we feel when we hear those stories or what our guests experienced when they encountered ghosts, demons, haints, or any other paranormal phenomena. We want our listeners to feel what our guests felt during that encounter.

Most of our guests, actually, are not paranormal investigators. Many of them have nothing to do with the paranormal, outside of the chance encounters that they want to share with us on the show. But, the handful of paranormal investigators that we have interviewed have some deeply personal and terrifying experiences that go beyond what you usually see on camera. Here are three of the wildest stories from our paranormal investigator guests and how they document both the objective evidence and celebrate the subjective spookiness with equal enthusiasm.

Dr. Kristy Sumner of Soul Sisters Paranormal

Our guest Dr. Kristy Sumner of Soul Sisters Paranormal (in Episode 34: Ghosts on Camera), has a very scientific demeanor about her person. But, when she started telling us about her investigations, her eyes lit up with excitement. She exudes so much passion when describing the history of the places she investigates. What really buttered our biscuit, though, was when she described her experiences while exploring the Gilchrist County Jail.

Kristy and her friend Miranda were alone at the jail, at night, when they explored it. They found themselves returning to the same cell, where they knew a prisoner had been strangled by another prisoner. When they went into the cell the second time, Miranda felt someone grab her around her neck—someone who wasn’t actually there. Upon exiting the cell, both women saw shadows darting back and forth between the cells. They even set up a laser grid in the hallway, and sure enough, shadows broke through the lasers, strong enough that the women could see them with their own eyes. Kristy delicately describes her reaction to seeing the shadows by saying “I said a few…choice words.” Later that night, as they walked through the halls of the jail, Miranda felt something grab her ankle.

Miranda Young of Ghost Biker Explorations

The next paranormal investigator we spoke with was that same Miranda: Miranda Young of Ghost Biker Explorations (our guest in Episode 35: The Bathtub of Bones). While we chatted, we all heard strange, loud knocking noises coming from the wall in Miranda’s recording space. It sounded like something very large and heavy was trying to get in, but when she went to open the door to see what was going on (since she was the only one there) no one was there. We never did find out what was causing the knocking, which of course added to the mystery of her actual story.

Miranda has headquartered herself not too far from Charleston, Tennessee, which is home to a story right out of a nightmare. In 1867, a flood in Charleston caused a terrible trainwreck, sending dozens of passengers to their deaths. The local doctor tended to as many victims as he could. Shortly after the accident, a skeleton appeared in the doctor’s office. He had bragged to his friends that he had always wanted a skeleton for the office, and now he had one. At the same time, the family of a Franciscan monk came to reclaim their brother’s body, but no one knew where the monk’s remains could be found.

As you’ve probably guessed, the doctor, thinking a monk had no familial attachments and would not be missed, stripped the dead monk of his flesh and gained himself a fine new skeleton. It wasn’t until the doctor retired, and a new doctor took over the office, that people began hearing a clicking rosary and seeing a hooded figure wandering behind the frosted glass of the office window. Years later, when the building was finally torn down, workers found a monk’s cowl and rosary hanging behind the plaster in the wall.

This is a story that I, as a native Tennessean, grew up hearing as a local legend. I didn’t realize it was true, though, until we spoke to Miranda. She had the opportunity to explore the house that now contains the very same bathtub where the monk’s bones had been stripped. Miranda saw something that looked like the monk while she was in the house. She described to us the feelings of unease and the voices she heard while in the home. One night, she began to feel “off” while setting up her equipment, so much so that another person on the team recognized something was wrong and urged her to get out of the house. She noted the floor started vibrating and things began to fall off the shelves as she let her friend lead her out. Once outside, they looked back at the house and said it looked as if a rave were going on as the vacant home repeatedly flashed its lights on and off, taunting them.

D.C. O’Rourke of Shadow Walkers Paranormal Investigation Group

As if those two stories aren’t terrifying enough, we kicked off our third season (Episode 45: Charlie Punched A Ghost!) by talking to D.C. O’Rourke, founder of the Shadow Walkers Paranormal investigation group and host of Hauntingly Yours: A Podcast for the Paranormal. D.C.’s stories are so bizarre, so personal, and so terrifying, they could each be made into their own movie.

One story in particular made us question everything we knew about the ghostly realm. D.C. took some friends to check out the now-demolished Horn Harbor Nursing Home near New Point, Virginia. In its past, the building briefly served as a home for troubled boys. As D.C. discovered, some of those boys still “lived” on the premises. And, one of them took a liking to D.C. and followed him home. That night, the boy called to him from outside his bedroom window. The next day while he was at work, the boy entered the home, and D.C.’s mother, with whom he was living at the time, watched the entity strangle D.C.’s pet bunny.

D.C. relayed this story to us with intense emotion, describing the sadness at the loss of his bunny, the confusion in his mother’s voice as she described to him what she saw, and the amusement in D.C.’s voice as he recognized the sheer absurdity of the entire situation. D.C. then described to us how he demanded the boy get back in his car. He drove the troublesome ghost back to Horn Harbor, where he could continue wrecking havoc ad infinitum.

What This Means for Investigations

While investigations are all about documentation, there are elements to these stories that cannot be caught on investigative equipment. The human element to these stories—the fear, the wonder, the hilarity, the camaraderie—can be captured best through the medium of oral storytelling. We’re so honored that we’ve had the opportunity to listen to these stories, and to enhance the paranormal investigation experience by adding another dimension of personal story. Next time you’re on an investigation, consider how you would tell the story of your experience outside of what is captured on camera or microphone. People don’t just want to know about the ghosts; they want to learn about the people who find the ghosts as well.

If you want to hear more personal ghost stories, check out our episodes here or if you have a ghost story of your own and want to share, be sure to submit it to our podcast.

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