Jul 02, 2022 I Paul Seaburn

Haunted Houses, Haunted Bars, Haunted Dolls and a Haunted Bordello

The regular mainstream media seems to be acting like it’s haunted these days, and that just might be having an effect on paranormal news about haunted houses, bars, dolls, TV shows and the like. Just this week, we’ve had a haunted bar go up for sale, a famous haunted house go down via wrecking ball, a haunted manor spruced up, haunted celebrities sleeping in haunted whorehouses, and a haunted doll making people sick. Ready for a break from the haunted mainstream media with some REAL haunting news?

Vacant since 2019 with no hope of selling it, the city of Jackson, Michigan, bought the abandoned house at 820 Maltby Street. City inspectors deemed it “dangerous,” so this week it was torn down. How dangerous was it? In 1961, owners Victor and Beatrice Lincoln and their four children experienced a full slate of paranormal experiences, ranging from finding lamps overturned, water running and bottles and cans scattered about the kitchen when they came home. They told the Citizen Patriot (later reported by mlive.com) that while they were home they saw dishes and bottles fly around, heard moans in the basement and heavy footsteps in many rooms, had doors open and close and books move on bookshelves. (Photos of the house and family here.) A paring knife in the kitchen flew and kicked Beatrice in the leg.

Did the ghost want apples instead? 

And yet they stayed … until word of the strange happenings at 820 Maltby St. got out and neighbors demanded a paranormal investigator be brought it. According to mlive.com, a “noted parapsychologist” heard about the house and spent three days with the family in December 1961. Believe it or not, the investigator blamed the strange activities on drafts from the windows, unsteadiness of the home’s foundation, and instability and noises from nearby abandoned coal mine shafts. Despite that, the Lincolns moved out in 1962. Mlive.com says subsequent occupants at 820 Maltby St. did not have any paranormal experiences, but the house became a popular local attraction, which may have scared the owners more than ghosts. City spokesman Aaron Dimick says nothing unusual happened during the demolition, nothing strange was found and none of the plants now growing there are bent or misshapen. The property is now available for sale to adjacent homeowners. Would you buy it?

Speaking of a haunted property for sale …

“Great Investment Opportunity. Take Advantage of the Liquor License Which Allows The Selling Of Alcohol. The Transfer Of The Three-Way Liquor License, Most All Equipment, (FF&E) Appliances & Inventory Is Included In The Sale. Selling As-Is.”

By “as is,” the real estate listing for the Breeze In Pub in the small town of Kempton, Indiana, means haunted – at least six ghosts included. The owners – sisters Cayenne Foutch and Tara Fleming – fully disclosed the non-alcoholic spirits to their real estate agent, showing him a one-inch binder full of snapshots and stories of ghosts that Foutch says “like to play with your hair." Indiana state law requires owners to tell potential buyers if the building is a “psychological affected property.” Since haunted properties are becoming popular for their potential as a paranormal attraction, the agent, Albert Stancato, is promoting it as such – look for the ghosts in the listing photos. As of this writing, there has been interest in the $250,000 haunted bar but no offers.

While it’s not for sale, the owners of the Greenville Manor in Greenville, Ohio, may want to reconsider after a local TV station included it in a series on haunted houses in the small town northwest of Dayton. The 150-year-old house is owned by Katie McKenney and Marcus Haug, who say they bought it because of the interesting history of the previous owners. One family had a military history and the other used the manor as a funeral home. To honor the second family, one room has on display an adult-sized coffin and a casket for a baby. Is Greenville Manor haunted or just plain creepy?

“Even on clean-up days, they interact with us. It just happens and you’re like, okay there you go.”

That’s a ‘yes’ for haunted, as Marcus Haug explains they hear plenty of doors slamming and feelings of others being in the house. They have cameras set up around the house although it sounds like security may be more of a concern to hem than ghosts. The couple is cleaning up the Greenville Manor – they say a few ghost hunters have helped – but they’re not interested in selling … just in preserving a beautiful old house to keep it from being torn down for a parking lot. While ghosts are often said to resent when their haunted house is remodeled, these spirits may appreciate the work of McKenney and Haug.

“Nope, we’re going to Amarillo, Texas. And we’re staying in a haunted whorehouse.”

Do the ghosts there roleplay?

If that sounds like fun, tune in to "Conjuring Kesha," the paranormal series on Discovery+ starring singer Kesha and some of her famous friends. She told Andy Cohen on his show that she loves making her crew stay in haunted houses to get them used to paranormal experiences. A quick search didn’t turn up the haunted whorehouse in Amarillo, but Kesha may want to check out the Amarillo Zoo and its Dogman/Chupacabra. And Kesha, if you’re looking for a writer for that show, you know who to call.

“I decided to bring Janet out just to see what would happen and since she has been on display in my office, I regularly walk in to find her on the floor and there is no way that she could have fallen off.”

While not a haunted house or bar, Miki York told Metro UK this week he does own something haunted – a 119-year-old creepy doll named Janet he claims blinks, has teeth, throws itself off shelves and gives people in its presence chest pains. A paranormal investigator, York says he’s owned Janet since 2016 after her owner passed away and the family was terrified of it. After his own family and friends claimed the doll gave them chest pains – York himself says she gives him a sick feeling – he has begun communicating with her through the spirit box. Besides vulgarities, the doll revealed its name to Yor but not much else. He thinks the spirit in the doll is a child who is frustrated when it opened the doll’s eyelids but can’t see anything because it has no eyes. While he has no intention of giving her eyes (that might be interesting), he told Metro UK he’s not ready to get rid of Janet and looks forward to finding out more about his haunted doll.

Haunted bars, haunted houses, haunted manors, haunted whorehouses and haunted dolls … whether you believe in them or not, this news sure beats anything being put out by the mainstream media, doesn’t it?

Paul Seaburn

Paul Seaburn is the editor at Mysterious Universe and its most prolific writer. He’s written for TV shows such as "The Tonight Show", "Politically Incorrect" and an award-winning children’s program. He's been published in “The New York Times" and "Huffington Post” and has co-authored numerous collections of trivia, puzzles and humor. His “What in the World!” podcast is a fun look at the latest weird and paranormal news, strange sports stories and odd trivia. Paul likes to add a bit of humor to each MU post he crafts. After all, the mysterious doesn't always have to be serious.

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